"Plus: Jeb Bush attacks murderer's Jesus claim, Baylor faculty challenges president, call for Christian state in Fiji, and other stories from online sources around the world"
Supporters say freedom's on the line | It didn't take long to find out the crowd was overwhelming in support of the chief justice (Montgomery Advertiser)
Finding references to God easy in America | Whatever the outcome of the battle over the Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama state Judicial Building, religious symbols and words will continue to be embedded in the government, the courts and other public places (Associated Press)
Judge's family says he hasn't changed | Those who have known Moore through childhood, West Point, Vietnam, and a sometimes stormy legal career say the standoff is hardly surprising from a man who has never compromised when it comes to his faith (Associated Press)
Commission will review complaint | Filings say Chief Justice Moore violated the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics (Mobile Register, Ala.)
Moore's colleagues vote to move display | No plans were revealed about when or where the 5,280-pound granite display might be moved. The justices' order only said it would be done "as soon as practicable." (Montgomery Advertiser)
Thou shalt not, colleagues tell Alabama judge | The eight associate justices of the Alabama Supreme Court ordered the removal of a monument of the Ten Commandments installed in the court by their chief justice. (The New York Times)
Push has come to shove | Beyond the fight-or-flight reactions to the Alabama Ten Commandments controversy, questions about strategy have gone undebated. Here's a start (Marvin Olasky, World)
Judge Roy Moore deserves jail | How is this in any way different from David Koresh's refusal to abide by the commands of the federal agents in Waco? (Michael Newdow, Beliefnet)
Religious genocide | Dashing toward the godless public square (Jerry Falwell, Beliefnet)
Why Roy Moore lost | Is the removal of the monument the tragedy that some will consider it? (M. Casey Mattox, Beliefnet)
Taking a stand | Court upholds law in Ten Commandments fight (Editorial, The Birmingham News, Ala.)
Commandments safe, despite Roy Moore | Let's make this perfectly clear: Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is not a good friend to the Ten Commandments (Editorial, Mobile Register)
Back from the brink | Once again, Alabama flirted with disaster (Editorial, Huntsville Times, Ala.)
Justices did what was right | Because of the legal tactics Moore employed in federal court and his own testimony in the case, Moore himself shifted the central issue from the legality of the monument (Editorial, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.)
Write commands on heart, not just on monuments | Warring over religious tokens and symbols has never been an effective way of renewing the spiritual climate (Editorial, Bowling Green Daily News, Ky.)
Between the rock and a hard line | Like that of Sisyphus in Greek mythology, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore's struggle has come to take on a larger meaning in the angry world of American politics and justice (Doug Saunders, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
Behold the armies of the Lord | You can no more disengage religion from politics than you can extract beliefs from public life (Douglas Farrow, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
'It's not about God' | 2nd alcohol hearing draws more in favor of Sunday sales (Kentucky New Era, Hopkinsville)
Right gives Arnold second look | Conservatives yesterday indicated more support for Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid to become governor of California (The Washington Times)
Adoption ruling cited as threat to families | The recent California Supreme Court decision to uphold "second-parent" adoptions has been hailed as a victory for homosexual couples, but some people see it as a step toward the further unraveling of the traditional family (The Washington Times)
President Bush:
President says faith gives him 'great comfort' | In an interview appearing next week in the October issue of Ladies' Home Journal, Bush says it is possible to function in the presidency without believing in God, and probably some of his predecessors did not believe in God, but he finds that faith helps (USA Today)
Utmost | George Bush's faith (Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic)
Foreign politics:
Religious groups uneasy over call for Christian state in Fiji | It has been claimed some Fijians fear they may be forced to change their religion, following a renewed call for the country to declare itself a Christian state. (ABC Radio Australia News)
Church man chosen to lead Liberia | Liberia's rebels and government selected Gyude Bryant, head of the country's Episcopal church, as interim leader, closing the peace talks after 78 days (The Guardian, London)
Church and state:
Thou shalt not pray | Does the Constitution hate God? (Dahlia Lithwick, Slate.com)
Prayer row is part of ancient debate | Religious studies expert says the country has a double standard over prayer, in relation to North Shore row (New Zealand City)
Speakers gear up for textbook battle on evolution issue | The State Board of Education will hold its second and final hearing on the textbooks Sept. 10. Already, more than 80 people have registered to testify (Houston Chronicle)
Wheaton College still the second-most sober | Wheaton College may have relaxed its stance on drinking alcohol, but that doesn't mean students are boozing it up (Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)
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Choice, if you're gay | Why not vouchers for everyone? (Editorial, Wall Street Journal)
Baylor University:
Sloan decries faculty critics | Baylor leader says he will not resign; some say he's courageous (The Dallas Morning News)
Bible course given element of risk | An Exeter church has become the first in Britain to offer extreme sports as part of its Bible College curriculum (Express & Echo, Exeter, England)
Football: God's law | Dundee United were left stunned last night when Marvin Andrews claimed God told him not to sign for them (Daily Record, Scotland)
Warning: Church can make you ill | Irish Roman Catholics have been warned that churchgoing could pose a threat to their health because incense contains potentially dangerous chemicals (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Missing sheep is 'on the lam' | A spooked sheep is on the lam today, nearly a week after it escaped from a Clinton church just before taking to the stage for a starring role in the Bible school production of "The Good Shepherd." The first act, ironically, was titled "The Lost Sheep." (Clinton Herald, via Obscure Store)
Coptic congregation welcomes patriarch | Pope Shenouda, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, visited Metro Detroit for the first time in 26 years to check on the progress of the St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Troy, whose cornerstone he laid 26 years ago (The Detroit News)
Evangelical extravaganza | Today's worshipers expect big budget performances (Dale Buss, The Wall Street Journal)
Episcopal Church breakup?
Local Episcopal rector resigns from diocesan duties | H. W. "Skip" Reeves Jr., rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, is stepping down in part due to concerns over the Episcopal Church's recent appointment of an openly gay bishop (Wyoming Tribune-Eagle)
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Anglican Church in 'real crisis' | This matter is huge in the Anglican Communion and in the American Church, as is shown by the extraordinary meeting called by the Archbishop of Canterbury … this is unparalleled, so it indicates a real crisis," says Sydney's Anglican Archbishop, Peter Jensen (AAP, Australia)
CofE, RIP | The Anglican church's infighting about gays masks the real issue - that its days are numbered (Theo Hobson, The Guardian, London)
Welcoming the new bishop | At the end of the day, my faith is in no way threatened by the action of the convention (Douglas B. Edwards, Los Angeles Times)
Billions at stake in Episcopal Church | "This could be the biggest church real estate sale in history," says the Rev. Charles Nalls of the Washington-based Canon Law Institute (Associated Press)
Sexual ethics:
Inching forward: the Canadian way on church and state | No wonder Liberal members of Parliament meeting in North Bay were of two minds and conflicting passions over same-sex marriage. Canadians are similarly torn (William Johnson, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
Debate hot on marriage bill | Measure aims to avert recognition of same-sex unions (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Aftermath of Iraq War:
Pastor to defy U.S. on Iraq trip report | Methodist pastor Frederick Boyle, who went to Iraq in March to protest the war, said he will defy a government order to report his spending there, even under threat of fines or imprisonment (Associated Press)
Elsewhere in Iraq | Most Assyrians are Christian. What will their fate be? (Paul Marshall, Wall Street Journal)
Life ethics:
A viable solution | Why it makes sense to permit abortions and punish those who kill fetuses (Jeffrey Rosen, Legal Affairs)
Miss. top court rules fetus is a person | The Mississippi Supreme Court, in a decision criticized by one of its members as an assault on Roe v. Wade, held Thursday that a fetus is a "person" under state law and wrongful death claims can be filed on its behalf (Associated Press)
DCF criticized for seeking guardian for unborn child | Florida's social service agency has stirred a controversy by asserting its authority to ''protect the state's compelling interest'' in the well-being of unborn children (The Miami Herald)
Bar raised for minors seeking abortions | Judges deciding whether to let juveniles have abortions without their parents' consent must use a higher evidence standard because of the stakes involved, an Arizona state appeals court ruled Tuesday (Associated Press)
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Guardian sought for fetus of a retarded Floridian | Gov. Jeb Bush dispatched state lawyers to argue that the fetus of a retarded rape victim is entitled to its own guardian, a position that both sides of the abortion debate see as an effort to weaken Roe v. Wade (The New York Times)
Also: Bush attacks murderer's remarks, says execution's on | "I find I have no sympathy for someone who would kill someone else and then say it's following the teachings of Jesus," says Fla. Gov. "That's not my Jesus." (The Miami Herald)
Treasurer 'stole thousands from church accounts' | A churchwarden milked parish coffers out of more than £50,000 after taking on the job of treasurer, a jury heard this week (Croydon Advertiser, England)
Bishop denies allegations | The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall, has taken the extraordinary step of releasing a public statement denying allegations against him involving sexual abuse (Sydney Morning Herald)
True and false reform | At many times in her history the Church has been threatened by false reforms that, if accepted, would have denatured her (Avery Dulles, First Things)
AIDS:
Kenyan women reject sex 'cleanser' | Traditional requirement for widows is blamed for aiding the spread of HIV-AIDS (The Washington Post)
Christians in India urge U.S. to protect rights | At a meeting on Capitol Hill, Ezra Sargunam, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Church of India, submitted a memorandum on behalf of the Social Justice Movement of India highlighting alleged human rights violations (Los Angeles Times)
Free speech falls prey to 'human rights' | This trend to subordinate free speech to offended feelings is not confined to Canada, although this is one area (often, I think, the only area) where Canadians may justifiably claim to be world-beaters (Ian Hunter, National Post)
A push to map the mystical | As researchers study how spiritual experiences happen inside the brain, theologians question the point (The Baltimore Sun)
Astrologers fail to predict proof they are wrong | Good news for rational, level-headed Virgoans everywhere: just as you might have predicted, scientists have found astrology to be rubbish (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Bible:
Denominations can count on intense debates in future | Much of the tension is between those who have a strict interpretation of the Bible-which they see as opposing ordination of women, divorce, and other Biblical prohibitions—and others who believe in cultural adjustments and evolution of Biblical ideas (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
The times they are a'changing | Theology must ask if the human writers of the Bible reflect their own prejudices or the unchanging voice of God? (Michael Hare Duke, The Guardian, London)
Aussie Bible? No worries, mate | One of Australia's top Anglican leaders yesterday admitted to being skeptical about the idea of an Aussie Bible—until he'd actually read it (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
Also: Bible rewritten, Aussie style | It starts with the word "G'day" and tells the yarn of how a very special sheila in the backblocks called Mary gets preggers (The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
Also: Struth, it's the gospel | Stone the crows! Jesus and his mob of disciples have chucked another shrimp on the barbie and settled down for a fair dinkum chinwag (Herald Sun, Melbourne, Australia)
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Theology:
A reasonable assumption | You'd have to be mad to believe in a dodgy dogma invented in 1950. But here's a rationally long view of it (Christopher Howse, The Spectator, U.K.)
Farewell to consideration | In post-modernity the accomplishments of the French revolution have reached their highest level of absurdity so far (Uwe Siemon-Netto, UPI)
Film and stage:
The Magdalene misery | Supposedly wayward girls slave in a workhouse 'asylum' in a film that examines part of Ireland's past. Critics call it 'anti-Catholic propaganda'; defenders say it's no exaggeration (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Punk-rock preachers aim to deliver good news | The Extreme Tour, at Marion Square, and the Doctor Jesus Holy Ghost in Your Face End Times Medicine Show, at Riverfront, offered different approaches to similar topics: spirituality, religion, Christ (Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore.)
Christian quandary | Christian artists are being hemmed in, their creativity "stifled" by an overwhelming demand for worship music, a style that has become popular in the past four years, according to Christa Farris, editor at CCM Magazine (The Washington Times)
Magazine parody burns biblical Bush | GQ's depiction of President Bush as Jesus Christ in its current issue is likely to have many readers saying "Holy. … !" (WXIA, Atlanta)
'Monumentally patronizing' | A response to a New York Times column about evangelicals (Michael Horowitz, World)
Other stories of interest:
Atheists find their comfort in numbers | This weekend, leaders of seven like-minded but distinct national groups will participate in the Minnesota Atheists Conference, which organizers say will be an unprecedented gathering of freethinkers of various persuasions (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.)
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Archbishop: church, culture at crossroads | An interview with Charles Chaput about The Passion, Harry Potter, and controversial judicial appointments. (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
The plight of the ECG | For an Elderly Christian Gentleman, the culture shock is, simply, quite devastating (Reid Buckley, National Review Online)
The love of nature | There is a human duty of stewardship of the Earth (P.J. Kavanagh, The Tablet, U.K.)
Religion news in brief | First union negotiation with the Catholic Church, Alabama pastors feel political heat on tax plan, and other stories (Associated Press)
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
As my doubts about his teachings grew, so did a secret fascination with Jesus.
The Grammy-winning artist was found dead at her home in Nashville at age 47.
