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• Prayer bill for schools generating controversy | Ohio school districts soon could designate daily moments of silence for "prayer, reflection or meditation" under a bill sent to Gov. Bob Taft yesterday for his expected signature (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
  
  
• A moment of irrelevance | Rather than tackle a tough issue like how to raise enough money to pull the state out of debt, lawmakers concentrated their boundless energy on an issue wholly separate from the economic future of Ohio. They established the option of a moment of silence in schools. (Editorial, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)

Politics & Law:

• Civil libertarian fights tape airing | The director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State is being sued in federal court in Alexandria for not allowing distribution of a tape in which he discusses homosexuality's compatibility with Christianity (The Washington Times)
  
  
• White House and DeLay at odds | Administration wary of declaration of support for Israel (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Supreme justice | Scalia weighs in on his Catholic faith and the death penalty. (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Lawmaker criticized for harsh words | A Florida lawmaker is being criticized by Jewish colleagues and the American Jewish Congress for remarks he made during a battle over religious rights language he wants inserted into the state's school code. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Clarity needed | In deciding to clarify the rules under which social and political protesters must operate, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken on what may be its most important First Amendment case in years. (Editorial, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville)
  
  
• Religions mostly mum on dump | Few clergy join fight against bringing the nation's nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. (Las Vegas Sun)

Missions & Ministry:

• Setback frustrates Burnham relatives | A congressional adviser says the Rose Hill couple is serving as an "insurance policy" for the Philippine rebel group Abu Sayyaf. (The Wichita [Kan.] Eagle)
  
  
• Chaplain resigns after insensitive messages | Fire department chaplain responded to woman's support of protest (Seattle Times)
  
  
• Team flexes muscles, then spreads gospel | Power Team adds woman to act (Lake City [Fla.] Reporter)

Church life:

• Episcopal rector to return to pulpit | Cranbrook reverend was accused of plagiarism (Detroit Free Press)
  
  
• Pastor accused of dividing families | Parents claim Pentecostal church is keeping daughter from them (WRTV, Indianapolis)
  
  
• Lutheran bishop stresses unity here | "There's no brand loyalty any more," says Bishop Mark S. Hanson (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Sexual ethics:

• Gay bill heads to Senate floor | Legislation to ban workplace discrimination against homosexuals is headed to the Senate floor after being approved yesterday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's committee. (The Washington Times)
  
  
• Most other religions, too, frown on gays (Philadelphia Daily News)
  
  
• Birth control challenge to church admonitions on sex | Over the past 25 years, Italian women - in a country where more than 90 percent of the people are at least nominally Catholic - have just said "no" to more babies, and most of them are either forgoing motherhood entirely or insisting that their family planning stop at just one child (The Hartford [Conn.] Courant)
  
  
• A dirty word | Abstinence-phobia clouds credible reporting. (Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online)

Church abuse:

• The Pope's words | Catholic leaders need to follow the Pope's tough talk with tough action. (Editorial, The Orlando Sentinel)
  
  

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April (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46