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David Beckham is not God.
The News and Observer of Raleigh, N.C., spots a troubling trend: literally idolizing pop stars.

"Fans of European soccer star David Beckham show their appreciation by filling the Internet with 'Becks is God' posts," writes Matt Ehlers.

Some replica jerseys have replaced the name "Beckham" on the back with "God." St. Louis Cardinals phenom Albert Pujols has been praised with an "Albert is God" sign at the ballpark. A check of recent news stories finds similar references to Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, with "Lance is God" signs held aloft along the race route; a connoisseur who described a particular Belgian beer as "God in a bottle"; and an article from South Africa in which Nelson Mandela is referred to by a supporter as "the second Jesus."

Russell Bush, academic vice president at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, disapproves. "It's not something to play around with," he tells the paper. "The Bible says we shouldn't take God's name in vain. People should be cautious about using the name of God for something that's purely secular."

Kristine L. Fitch, an associate professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa, suggests that the trend is, in Ehlers's words, "a form of subtle resistance to the increasing fundamentalism" in American culture.

Or, of course, it may be a sign that the Judeo-Christian ethic that says you don't go around blaspheming at the drop of a hat is diminishing in American culture.

Fight over Roy Moore's Ten Commandment monument:

• Judge Roy Moore's lawless battle | The Alabama chief justice can spare the nation a divisive constitutional showdown by announcing that he will stop ignoring the separation of church and state (Editorial, The New York Times)
  
  
• No place for religion | The issue here is religious freedom, not voting rights or school desegregation, but the principle is the same: If Alabama Chief Justice Moore can decide which federal court opinions he likes, nobody's rights are safe from state officials who don't believe in them (Editorial, The Washington Post)
  
  
• Moore's motives | Why didn't chief justice ask 11th Circuit for stay? (Editorial, The Birmingham News)
  
  
• Justice Moore should obey federal court | The time has come for Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore to obey the lawful order of U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson that he remove the Ten Commandments monument from the State Judicial Building rotunda (Editorial, Mobile Register, Ala.)
  
  
• A briar patch for Pryor? | Alabama attorney General Bill Pryor should have little problem meeting a noisy challenge from longtime liberal activist Barry Lynn (Editorial, Mobile Register, Ala.)
  
  
• Alabama monument mocks Supreme Court's authority | Moore's actions test whether the Supreme Court is the ultimate authority for interpreting the U.S. Constitution (Editorial, USA Today)
  
  

Other Ten Commandments battles:

• U.S. answers to higher law | No matter how many laws we have against murder, how many police we have to catch the culprits, how many courts we have to prosecute and punish them and how many prisons we have to lock them up, only a conscience informed by a law greater than a human law can stop a murder before it happens (Rob Schenck, USA Today)
  
  
• Commandments battles proliferate (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
  
  
• La Crosse mayor vetoes monument appeal | La Crosse Mayor John Medinger on Wednesday vetoed the Common Council's decision to appeal a federal court order to remove the Ten Commandments from Cameron Park. An override is likely (LaCrosse Tribune, Wisc.)
  
  

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August (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47