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• Malaysia to revoke Iban Bible ban | Move should allay fears among Christians that the space to practice their religion is being narrowed by rising intolerance (The Straits Times, Singapore)
  
  
• Earlier: Iban-language Bible: Church leaders hopeful | Malaysian church leaders are hopeful that a positive decision over the banning of Bup Kudus, the Iban-language Bible, can be reached after a meeting on Tuesday with Acting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (The Star, Malaysia)
  
  
• Last Christian in city is always ready to run | It was not difficult to find Joseph Akaeredolu. The residents of Tudu Wada were not sure what he was called or what he did but they knew what he was: the last Christian in the Kaduna, Nigeria, neighborhood (The Guardian)
  
  
• Human Rights Watch says it has documents proving persecution in Vietnam Central highlands (AFP)
  
  
• Also: Vietnam hill tribe community still repressed-group (Reuters)

History and artifacts:

• A hoax or a holy relic? | Scholars are divided over the authenticity of an ancient box that may contain the remains of a sibling of Jesus (The Times, London)
  
  
• Also: Burial box 'held the bones of Jesus's brother' (The Telegraph, London)
  
  
• The Dead Sea Scrolls: Middle West miracle | The Public Museum of Grand Rapids, Mich., has mounted an exhibition of the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls. It is a remarkable show for several reasons (The New York Times)
  
  
• A judgment about Solomon | Evidence supports Hebrew kingdoms in biblical times (San Francisco Chronicle)

Iraq relief and aid:

• Don't stir ferment | It's ominous that U.S. fundamentalists such as evangelist Franklin Graham and Southern Baptist agencies are preparing to send missionary relief workers to Iraq (Editorial, The Charleston (W.V.) Gazette)
  
  
• Faith-based groups see key postwar role | One thing American religious leaders—most of whom vehemently opposed the war—agree on is that religion is essential to the rebirth of a nation (Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• U.S. role to save lives, not souls | The perception that the United States is engaged in a war on Islam itself can only be worsened if our troops are followed into Iraq by a horde of Christian soldiers who view conversion as part of their human relief effort (Editorial, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

War in Iraq:

• Bush believes he is leading a holy war | The war on terrorism is being hijacked by right-wing fundamentalists (Editorial, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• State of grace in Texas Army town | Spirituality is a big presence at the base, hit hard by deaths in Iraq but uplifted by the return of ex-POWs (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Presbyterian churches in Iraq escape major damage | Services are held in Baghdad on Good Friday, Easter (Presbyterian News Service)
  
  
• U.S. shuns Iran-style theocracy for Iraq | Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld declared yesterday that the United States would not tolerate an Iranian-style theocracy in Iraq (The Boston Globe)

God and war:

• God only knows | Rogue deity must decide which side he is on (Jodie T. Allen, Reason)
  
  
• Faithful grapple with forgiveness | Some draw the line at prayer for enemies (The Star-Ledger, N.J.)
  
  
• 'Does America really merit God's blessing?' | We must not forget that 13 times in Israel's history God allowed that nation to be conquered by pagan armies, and only when there was true repentance did God restore the nation (Editorial, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis)

The Fellowship:

• Jesus plus nothing | Undercover among America's secret theocrats (Harper's)
  
  
• Religious group helps lawmakers with rent | Six members of Congress live in a $1.1 million Capitol Hill town house that is subsidized by the Fellowship (Associated Press)

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April (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47