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And so Thacker took his name out of the running. "I feel I must withdraw my name from consideration to serve at this time due to my family's personal concern about my ability to be effective with the council, given the current controversy," he wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. "I do not consider myself anti-gay. I am, however, anti-HIV/AIDS. The three infected people in our family … would not wish this disease on any other human being."

So far, one of the only people sticking up for Thacker is Bill Pierce, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services. He says Thacker "has an extraordinarily powerful, very tragic story, and he has done great outreach on how to prevent AIDS in the conservative and religious communities. That's what he has taken up as his mission, and that's important. That community is no different from any other community that needs to be hearing these messages."

Education:

• Teaching of Christianity is being ignored | Call to define role of Kirk chaplains in schools (The Herald, Glasgow)
  
  
• Most say religious group should be allowed to meet | Monroe Board of Ed. stands its ground after listening to residents (North South Brunswick [N.J.] Sentinel)
  
  
• Texas teaches abstinence, with mixed grades | In the seven years since their schools began teaching abstinence-only, young people here have been anything but abstinent (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Enrollments drop at Catholic schools | Catholic education officials attributed the declines to tighter family budgeting in the recession, competition from charter schools and the migration of families out of inner cities, rather than to parental concern that pupils in parochial schools might be at risk of abuse (The New York Times)
  
  

InterVarsity:

• UNC student leaders question Moeser's decision on Christian group | Scott Vermillion, InterVarsity's area director, said the column in the student newspaper and the stance taken by the student leaders disappointed him (The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.)
  
  
• Clause violates religious freedoms | InterVarsity wants University policy to change (Michelle DeRitter, The Daily Targum, Rutgers University)

Archeology:

• Does the 'James Ossuary' bring us closer to Jesus? | Even if the provenance and historicity of the much celebrated James Ossuary could be confirmed as on some level being actually the bone box dedicated for the physical remains of James the brother of Jesus, the religious significance of such a finding has been rather precipitately assumed, than analytically engaged (Margaret M. Mitchell, Sightings)
  
  
• Of biblical dimensions | A newly found tablet that is either a hoax or pivotal corroboration of the existence of the First Temple is pitting geologists against archeologists (The Jerusalem Post)
  
  

Music:

• Christian rapper explains 'letter' to Shady counterpart | One of the more talked-about Christian hip-hop singles of the year has been "Dear Slim" by Florida rapper KJ-52 (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
  
  
• Billy Corgan in search of personal 'Jesus' on Zwan debut | While Corgan's lyrics for the Smashing Pumpkins were often concerned with the search for transcendence, spirituality, and love in dark hours, his Zwan lyrics are even more focused on messianic visions of love, but with a more uplifting vibe (MTV)
  
  

Film and television:

• The passion of Mel Gibson | His Jesus film is bloody, bold—and in Aramaic. Here's an exclusive look (Time)
  
  

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January (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47