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"I especially feel that because I believe in prayer. I pray. I pray for strength, I pray for guidance, I pray for forgiveness. And I pray to offer my thanks for a kind and generous Almighty God."

It's unclear whether other addresses from the National Prayer Breakfast, including the main speech by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, will appear online. If they're posted, we'll link to them here later.

Politics and law:

• Utah lawmaker pushes mandatory pledge bill | Measure to require weekly recitations at secondary schools would allow students to opt out of oath only if they have parental permission (Associated Press)
  
  
• Experts: Religion affects foreign policy | Part of growth is more activism, part is just more noticing it (UPI)
  
  
• City considers taxing nonprofits | More then 25% of Spartanburg city property is owned by nonprofits (WHNS, Greenville, SC)
  
  
• Bishop bars priests from partisan politics | Anglican Bishop of Lokoja, the Rt Rev George Bako, warns against financial motivation (This Day, Lagos, Nigeria)
  
  
• In God's Name | When leaders say they're pro-family and Christian, look for the devil in the details (David Schimke, City Pages, Minneapolis)
  
  
• Ohio Amish in quandary on road repairs | Amish residents in northeast Ohio think it's only fair they chip in to fix roads torn up by their horse-drawn carriages, but Ohio law prevents local governments from accepting donations (Associated Press)
  
  
• EU divided over invoking name of God | EU officials said Wednesday the draft charter is not likely to mention God directly. They also said the text could be changed (Associated Press)
  
  
• Archbishop of Canterbury sparks asylum row | Rowan Williams said that he supported the detention of asylum seekers (The Scotsman)
  
  
• Also: Archbishop steps into asylum debate (BBC | video)

First Amendment  and religious discrimination:

• Federal judge, as expected, reverses order on Mormon plaza | Utah court was required to vacate its earlier ruling after 10th Circuit panel decided that church's speech restrictions violated First Amendment (Associated Press)
  
  
• Students trying to form clubs have free speech, law on their side | School administrators in Colorado, Texas prove attacks on First Amendment can come from both ends of the ideological spectrum (Charles Haynes, Freedom Forum)

• Firing of Muslim pilot was unfair, agency says | Ruling allows man to sue airline (San Jose [Calif.] Mercury News)
  
  
• Jail drops prayer policy aiding Christians only | The Orange County Jail has nixed a policy of rewarding inmates who attended religious services with time off their sentences because the rule did not apply to all prisoners (The Orlando Sentinel)

War with Iraq:

• Anti-war Christians gather in Berlin (BBC)
  
  
• Howard ambushed at church with sermons on Iraq | Attending the traditional Christian service to commemorate the opening of Parliament, Howard was forced to sit through a sermon that implicitly reproached him for deploying troops to the Middle East without the Australian public's approval (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
  
  
• 'Pacem in Terris,' and the debate over it, resonate again | The drama now being played out on the world stage necessarily draws attention to John XXIII's plea for the evolution of a universal public authority commensurate to the problem of menacing armaments and the promotion of that "universal common good." (Peter Steinfels, The New York Times)
  
  
• Norwegian state church leaders oppose war in Iraq | Leaders of the state Church of Norway released a statement Tuesday calling any war in Iraq "unethical, illegitimate, and unwise." (Associated Press)
  
  

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February (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47