2 of 3

• Catching the eye of the godless blinds the wise men | Western church leaders are opposing war against Iraq but some are going too far (Mark Steyn, The Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  
• Saddam: Iraq's Christians prepared to die for me | Saddam's comments on state television were introduced as: "Our valorous leader sending Christmas wishes to Christians"—a stark break with the Islamist rhetoric he has relied on so far (The Scotsman)

• Blunkett challenges archbishop | Home Secretary says Rowan Williams was "misleading and selective" in his criticism of the government (BBC)

• Also: Anglican archbishop under fire from Blunkett (The Guardian, London)

Crime:

• Police: Minister stabbed wife, neighbor and killed dog | When police asked him what happened, he said he stabbed his wife "because the universe was evil" and later stated "he is evil," officers reported (The Battle Creek [Mich.] Enquirer)
  
  
• Burglar jailed for church thefts | Christopher Coulthard, who admitted robbing hundreds of churches, has been sent to prison for four years (BBC)

Education:

• Professors argue intelligent design | Phoenixville Area School District recently added new language to its mission statement that permits science teachers to discuss theories of intelligent design alongside evolution (The Phoenix, Phoenixville, Penn.)
  
  
• Religion replaces Lenin for children of Russia | School administrators in the Noginsk district, with some 20,000 students, 22 miles south-east of Moscow, added religion to the curriculum as a moral framework to replace Lenin's discredited Communist dogma (Associated Press)

Courts:

• Woman who refused to wear pants gets paid | Brink's will pay Carol Grotts, a Pentecostal, $30,000 and train its Peoria managers about religious discrimination (Associated Press)
  
  
• Former student settles case with Regent U | Herbert Chadbourne had accused the school of ordering him to undergo counseling after classmates labeled him a "demon" (The Virginian-Pilot)

Politics and law:

• Anti-conversion law challenged in High Court | The Madras High Court issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a petition challenging the state's anti-coversion law and seeking to declare it as "unjust and constitutional" (PTI)
  
  
• Onward, Christian soldiers | With its allies now controlling Congress and the White House, the religious right launches a crusade to cleanse America of sin. The first battlefield: Women's bodies (Louise Witt, Salon.com)
  
  
• U.S. awards marriage grants to 12 states | In step with President Bush's faith-based initiative, the government on Thursday sent money from its child support programs to religious and nonprofit organizations so they can promote marriage (Associated Press)
  
  
• Abortion foes involve police in new tactic | Group's linking of child abuse to teen pregnancy alarms rights advocates (Austin [Tex.] American-Statesman)

• Abortion in the tides of culture | Where did the prolife movement go? (Frederica Mathewes-Green, First Things)

Missions and ministries:

• Ala. mourns slain medical missionary | Dr. Martha Myers, a medical missionary shot to death this week by an Islamic militant at a hospital in Yemen, was eulogized Thursday as a "beacon of light" and a Christian martyr (Associated Press)
  
  
• Missionary aims to convert addicts | East Bay man found Jesus, spreading word (The Argus, Pleasanton, Calif.)
  
  
• Reality stems from pastor's Vision | Ted Haggard sees things other people don't (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)

Other religions and interfaith relations:

• Mosque apologizes for message | Christmas e-mail unauthorized; Didn't intend to `cause distress' (The Toronto Star)
  
  

next page... |  2 of 3

share this page

December (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46