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Persecution:

• Commission cites countries on religious freedom | An independent advisory group funded by the U.S. government has recommended that the administration add India, Laos, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam to its black list of countries that restrict religious freedoms (Associated Press)
  
  
• Commission recommends 12 nations for designation as 'countries of particular concern' (Press release)
  
  
• Belarus to impose strict curbs on religion | Human rights activists call legislation the most suffocating religion law in Europe (The Washington Post)

Church and state:

• Judge denies motion for summary judgment in Commandments case | Alabama chief justice's case will go to trial (Associated Press)
  
  
• Federal appeals panel OKs university's student-fee distribution system | 7th Circuit judges find standards University of Wisconsin uses in distributing grants are sufficient to guarantee that decisions are neutral (Associated Press)
  
  
• Plaques at city plaza become source of conflict | Another Ten Commandments battle (The Tomball Potpourri)
  
  
• Mexico's Protestants disturbed by narrowing line between church and state | An expert on minority religions is warning that Mexican President Vicente Fox's increasing displays of ardent Roman Catholicism are angering the country's Evangelical Protestant community (Voice of America, audio)
  
  
• Kunonga asks court to bar parishioners | Zimbabwe Anglican bishop wants to ban those who disagree with his support of Mugabe government (The Daily News, Harare)
  
  
• Catholics refuse to hand mission hospital to Zimbabwe government | Church fears the hospital might deteriorate like other government controlled health institutions countrywide (Zimbabwe Standard, Harare)
  
  
• Christian church wins right to build in spiritualist community | A town of psychics didn't want a church; they didn't foresee a suit (National Law Journal)

Courts:

• Fallen Christian puts faith in the law | Loraine Daly is suing the Sydney Christian Life Centre for $750,000 after she was "slain in the spirit" and not caught. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  
• Minister's troubles not over | Creator of rescue mission, newsletter facing civil court fight (The Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio)
  
  
• TV ministry in Arizona to get refund of property taxes | Suit contended that the television production facilities were an integral part of Ron Hembree's Good Friends ministry (The Washington Times)
  
  
• Falwell, city, state settle lawsuit | Lawyers on both sides agreed that an 18th-century law limiting how much land a church can own does not apply to the Thomas Road Baptist Church, which plans to expand (The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.)
  
  
• Also: Va., Falwell Church to End Suit (Associated Press)
  
  
• A legal tattoo hullabaloo | The U.S. Supreme Court considers whether tattooing is a protected form of religious or political speech under the Constitution (Jonathan Turley, Los Angeles Times)

Franklin Graham:

• Graham is news because many listen | Just seeing his words on the front page of our newspaper can evoke emotional outbursts (Bob Gabordi, Ashville Citizen-Times, N.C.)
  
  
• Earlier: Franklin Graham not afraid to stand out, in words and deeds (Ashville Citizen-Times, N.C.)
  
  
• Also: Evangelist Franklin Graham says that America is being 'Islamized' (Associated Press)
  
  
• Earlier: Graham's positions are holding up well | Franklin Graham is less interested in a ministry permeated by protocol than one steeped in the actual practice of saving lives and doing the work he has been called on to do (Editorial, Ashville Citizen-Times, N.C.)

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September (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46