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Florida'a adoption notification law under fire
The state of Florida requires that mothers who want to give their children up for adoption must notify the child's father. That sounds awfully family-friendly, doesn't it? But the law goes further: mothers who don't know who the father is must place a newspaper advertisement announcing she plans to do so. The National Post of Canada reports, "It requires that they publish details of every sexual encounter that could have caused the pregnancy, along with names—if possible—and descriptions of the men, in the local newspaper where the incident took place, so any men who may be the father and want to contest the adoption can come forward."

And that, say critics, is not only ridiculous, it's anti-life. Lawyers fighting the law claim mothers are choosing to have abortions rather than submit to such embarrassment. Just how bad is this law? Find another abortion-related issue where Jerry Falwell and the National Organization for Women have joined forces.

"Gov. Jeb Bush, who allowed the legislation to become law without his signature, supports a system that allows men who believe they might have fathered a child to put their name in a confidential registry that must be checked during adoption proceedings," reports the Associated Press. The St. Petersburg Times notes that 30 other states already have similar registries.

In other adoption news, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that unmarried couples—including homosexual couples—can legally adopt children.

Drew University gets the finger of evangelist George Whitefield (maybe)
What Drew University librarian Ken Rowe knows is that in a donation of rare Methodist books and engravings was a human finger, along with a note that it belonged to George Whitefield, the Methodist evangelist who launched the Great Awakening. Is it really Whitefield's digit? No one knows.

Persecution:

• Minority report | Pakistani Christians bear the brunt of militants' rage; state pussyfooting (ABCNews.com)
  
  
• Uganda district bans night prayers | Ntungamo Commissioner says they've become a security threat and breached public peace (New Vision, Kampala, Uganda)
  
  
• French missionary ordered deported from Malaysia after distributing Christian literature | Bastin Fabien Henri Andre charged with "acting in a manner which could lead to disharmony between Christians and Muslims" (Associated Press)
  
  
• Letter to Touro Synagogue provides a guarantee that still stands | The letter, in 1790, from the country's first president to the Touro Synagogue congregation promises a government which will give no quarters to bigotry or persecution (The Providence Journal)

Nigeria:

• Religious peace pact in Nigeria | Christian and Muslim leaders in Kaduna State in Nigeria have signed a declaration of peace between the two communities (BBC)
  
  
• Nigeria opposes stoning death | Government lawyers will assist Amina Lawal's legal team (The Washington Post)

Education:

• School without a mascot | Board unaminously axes Satans name (Devils Lake Journal)
  
  
• So much for the Satans (KRT/Houston Chronicle)
  
  
• Also: Devils Lake school drops Satan name | School board voted unanimously (Associated Press)
  
  
• Cobb board to clarify how origin of life can be taught | Faced with equally impassioned pleas to allow creationism to be taught in the classroom or to ban it, the Cobb County school board chose to do neither (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• Also: Georgia school board requires balance of evolution and Bible | Georgia's second-largest school district adopted a policy last night that requires teachers to give a "balanced education" about the origin of life (The New York Times)
  
  

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August (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46