2 of 2

But it wasn't the film that got him, he says. "When I missed church for a few weeks, nobody would call," he tells the Times. "But if you missed anything at Rocky, somebody calls and asks if you're OK."

Midnight Insanity even has a crisis hotline. "We've had calls from people who are at the end of their rope and wouldn't call a regular hotline," Tomaino says. "We're not trying to rush [them] to the hospital. We [tell them] we care, and to say 'hi' at next Saturday's [Rocky Horror] show. Then they have something to look forward to."

Expect quite a few folks in the Innovators group to clip and save that story as evidence that a church emphasis on community is the answer to a postmodern world.

"Mexico City Policy" still solid as fight against AIDS moves forward
Over the weekend there seemed to be a battle over whether the White House's $15 billion plan to fight AIDS abroad would clash with Bush's efforts to limit the promotion of abortion around the world.

In 2001, President Bush reinstated a ban on federal funds for family planning agencies that provide abortion overseas (the ban, instated by President Reagan in 1984 and repealed by President Clinton in 1993, is known as the Mexico City policy because Reagan announced it at a United Nations International Conference on Population in that city).

Friday night, the White House announced what some took to be a significant change in that policy. "Any agency that provides treatment for AIDS will get the money, as long as none of the funds are used for family planning purposes or for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger," a senior White House aide told the Los Angeles Times. The New York Times had a similar report.

It turns out that the reports were overstated. Organizations that provide or encourage abortions will have to set up wholly separate anti-AIDS programs to receive any of the federal AIDS funds. By Saturday, Planned Parenthood was complaining to the Associated Press about a "gag rule," and the National Right to Life Committee was praising Bush's AIDS policy.

But while this story seems to be a flash in the pan, it will be interesting to see if there's any fallout. Will religious organizations claim that groups like Planned Parenthood can't separate their abortion advocacy from anti-AIDS work? Be careful: That's the same logic that critics of Bush's faith-based initiative are using to say that religious organizations can't separate religious indoctrination from their social service.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Suggest links and stories by sending e-mail to weblog@christianitytoday.com

What is Weblog?

See our past Weblog updates:

February 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10

February 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 |3

January 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27

January 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20

January 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13

January 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6

January 3 | 2 | December 31 | 30

and more, back to November 1999

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

February (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47