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State Rep. Judith Spang, a Democrat who represents Durham, said she "felt as strongly as anyone [in support of Robinson's] consecration," but warned the town about moving the polling place. "This church has been a wonderful member of the community," she said. "How are we going to get out of this if we say right now, you're not a respected member of the community?"

This week, the town council moved the polling place to a local business, Heidelberg Web Systems.

No comment yet from Sharbaugh, but his earlier comments in the Democrat probably sum up his feelings now. "The sad part of it for me is, though we know we have opponents in this town, I'll guarantee you we have treated them better than they have treated us," he said. "A part of this that always does hit me, in this town, a university town that likes to talk about tolerance, how incredibly intolerant people can be."

Religious freedom and persecution:

• 11 detained over Christmas prayer meetings in Laos, says rights group | More than 10 other Christians are currently sought by the police in the same province for organizing Christmas prayer meetings, says the Lao Movement for Human Rights (AFP)
  
  
• Conversion row rerun | The specter of anti-Christian violence has raised its head again in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district, notorious for attacks on churches and missionaries (The Telegraph, Calcutta, India)
  
  
• Two sides of Hanoi at Christmas | The secular holiday of Christmas has also proved a hit in communist Vietnam. (Hugo Restall, The Wall Street Journal Europe, sub. req'd)
  
  

Politics:

• Can Democrats overcome the Bush advantage on religion? | In a crowded Democratic field, presidential candidates are increasingly trying to show that they "get" religion (Mark O'Keefe, Newhouse News Service)
  
  
• What a friend we have in Jesus | How come the usual suspects aren't alarmed at Howard Dean's religiosity? (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal, sub. req'd)
  
  
• The fear that silences our churches | Clerics who will not toe the line have a necessary role in an effective democracy (Geoff Kitney, The Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  

Anglican woes:

• Episcopals deal with differing views | Several advocacy groups several springing up nationwide are fighting to prevent their conservative dioceses from separating from the church (Associated Press)
  
  
• New Episcopal bishop to have hands full | Nobody knows what 2004 holds for Bishop Rob O'Neill, other than the need to confront a rift over decisions by the Episcopal Church USA last summer that recognized same-sex unions and endorsed the church's first openly gay bishop (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
  
  
• Also: God had other plans for aspiring pilot | Already, O'Neill has drawn criticism from conservatives for his support of the gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire (The Denver Post)
  
  
• New bishop: Gay marriage a 'civil right' | The embattled bishop of the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire is not making any apologies for his openly gay lifestyle and said he and his male partner of 14 years would be married if New Hampshire legalized marriage or civil unions between partners of the same sex (Eagle-Tribune, Lawrence, Mass.)
  
  

Church life:

• With singles prevalent in pews, churches shift views | Being single is increasingly seen as a condition to be accepted, whether as a temporary challenge or a lifelong blessing, in a religious landscape where singles groups in churches are being transformed (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  
• Why aren't twentysomethings going to church? | Religious leaders respond (Los Angeles Times)
  
  

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December (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47