President of Montreat College Resigns, Investigated for Soliciting Child Sex
Federal appeals court approves Ten Commandments courthouse display, what Franklin Graham is doing in Iraq, and other stories from online sources around the world
Note: Come back to our website later this afternoon (around 5 EST) for a complete roundup of what Christian and mainstream pundits and media are saying about the Supreme Court's decisions.
This week, those personal reasons were revealed: a 13-year-old girl has accused him of soliciting sex over the Internet.
"The individual that was communicating knew that the victim was 13, or less than 15," Stephen Hampton, Chief of the Statesville Police Department, told Charlotte television station WCNC. "There are no indications they knew one another prior to his contact with her via the Internet."
Police said they are convinced that the e-mail was sent from his Internet address, but no charges have yet been filed.
Yesterday, a judge sealed court documents related to the investigation, including the search warrant "until an arrest warrant is issued, or until a true bill of indictment is returned by the Grand Jury."
The college said they didn't know about the investigation. "We are learning of this investigation at the same time as everyone else," interim president Don King said.
Whether Lindberg is either arrested or cleared, Weblog will of course follow up on this very sad story.
More articles
Ten Commandments:
Court upholds Ten Commandments plaque on courthouse | The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals said a reasonable person familiar with the Chester County plaque's history would regard the decision to leave it in place as religiously neutral, rather than evangelical (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Emergency relief | The embattled Franklin Graham sends aid to Iraq despite a welter of hand-wringing over what it will do to Muslim-Christian relations (World)
Franklin Graham's works defy anti-Muslim image | In the summer of 1999 in a boggy field on the Albanian coast, I saw a dozen Samaritan's Purse staffers build and run a small tent town for 2,000 mostly Muslim refugees who had fled ethnic violence in Kosovo (Van Kornegay, The State, Columbia, S.C.)
Faith, hope, and government | A former Bush adviser explains why the consensus favoring federal support for faith-based social services collapsed—and why it must be revived (John J. Diiulio Jr, The Boston Globe)
Bid to defund faith-based groups fails | Rep. Chet Edwards (D.-Tex.), offered a hastily crafted amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill that would ensure that none of the funds appropriated in the bill would go to any group that "discriminates in job hiring based on religion." (The Washington Times)
Head Start flim-flam | Thousands of Head Start workers and volunteers could be displaced as Bush Administration claims faith-based organizations have 'religious hiring rights' (Bill Berkowitz, WorkingForChange.com)
Not a leap of faith | The empirical case for faith-based social services (John J. DiIulio Jr., The Weekly Standard)
£350,000 blow for church couple | The Law Lords agreed with the parish's claim that the Wallbanks are obliged to foot the bill for repairs to the chancel in the village on the basis that the Wallbanks' farm is rectorial property (BBC, audio)
Professor steeped in religion | Statues, crucifixes and other objects adorn every room of religious studies professor Susan Kwilecki's house (The Roanoke Times, Va.)
Politics:
Low-income child tax credit must wait, Republicans say | Republican Senate leaders said there would be no agreement with the House this month to increase the child tax credit for 6.5 million low-income families (The New York Times)
Young Latinos: strong believers | Figure this one out: the very young are religious and ethically as conservative as the first generation of immigrants; yet they identify predominantly with the Democratic Party (Uwe Siemon-Netto, UPI)
A challenge in India snarls foreign adoptions | Indian law allows only Hindus and Buddhists to adopt; Christians, Muslims and Jews in India may only become guardians (The New York Times)
Clergymen threaten to shun first gay bishop | More than 30 church leaders, including five bishops from Britain and abroad, said last night that they would not recognise the authority of the first openly homosexual bishop in the Church of England if his appointment was confirmed. (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Dr. John: I am not driven by a liberal agenda | The full text of Canon Jeffrey John's statement on his nomination and appointment as Bishop of Reading, and the issues being hotly debated in the Church as a result (Reading Chronicle, Berkshire, England)
Gay rights law threatens holy row | Gay rights have been extended to the workplace under a new law … so long as your work is not with the Church. But you don't have to wear a dog-collar to be caught out by this exemption (BBC)
Fired church music director sees both sides | Bill Stein is gay. He has had the same companion for 10 years. Asked point-blank to promise to lead a "chaste" lifestyle or lose his job, he had to choose the latter (Judy Emerson, Rockford Register Star, Ill.)
Case against Hustler's Flynt revived | Flynt and his brother could be arrested and tried for violating a 1999 court agreement banning them from distributing sexually explicit videotapes in Hamilton County, the county prosecutor said (Associated Press)
That old-time evangelism | Believers take campaign door-to-door in Laurel, Md. (The Washington Post)
Newton prison program faces more lawsuits | A federal judge has consolidated two civil lawsuits against the InnerChange Freedom Initiative at the Newton prison and has asked whether two more suits against the program should be added to the consolidation order (Newton Daily News, Kan.)
It is time to get serious about Jesus, pastor says | The Rev. Rickey Nelson Jones could not find the religious leadership he was looking for, so he started a ministry that seeks to put Christ's teachings into practice daily (The Baltimore Sun)
Church life:
Church ban for feuding family | Squabbling in the pews between a Church Hill woman, her ex-lover and his new wife have led to her being banned from church services (Redditch Standard, England)
Sydney's soldier of Christ set to smite | Peter Jensen is leading a crucial fight that will determine the future attitudes of the Anglican church worldwide (Piers Akerman, The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
Joyce Meyer's $57 million evangelism empire | The Joyce Meyer Ministry has had no hint of the taint of scandal and corruption that has stricken some televangelists, but she's not a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, either (St. Louis Business Journal)
Australian Bible gets church backing | The book has been endorsed by both the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Australia's deputy prime minister (BBC)
Ghostwriters in the machine | Evangelical publishers are taking steps toward more honesty, but some trends are cause for concern (World)
Modern religious pilgrims | Paul C. Elie helps to explain why Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy continue to speak to us (The Washington Times)
Churches debate hip-hop as a bridge to youth culture | To some it's a wack evangelical tool to honor God and keep a word that was made flesh fresh. To others it's the devil's handiwork leading youth into a world that glorifies rape and murder (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
Too much media harmful: study | Canadian Pediatric Society claims excessive media consumption may lead to a sedentary lifestyle and risky sexual behavior (Calgary Herald)
Religion news in brief | Re-Imagining Community appears to be dissolving, Operation Rescue leader moves office, Louisiana court dismisses ACLU bid to end church sales tax exemptions, and other stories (Associated Press)
'Christian terrorist' is oxymoron | To call Rudolph a "Christian terrorist" is like calling a dog a cat (Bill Graves, The Oklahoman)
For Shakers, elegance was plain | The 19th-century American religious sect that emphasized simplicity and plain living (The New York Times)
Science and religion cease fire | The Biotechnology Industry Organization and the National Council of Churches signed a pact here to open channels of communication between them about the promise and potential perils of biotechnology (Wired News)
Unsocial gospel | D.G. Hart on American Protestantism (Robert W. Patterson, The Weekly Standard)
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.
C.S. Lewis recommended discernment over diatribes in exactly the moments we’re most eager to indulge in critique.
