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The court said Abu-Akel had the "right and responsibility" to confirm signatures on a petition calling for the special assembly, and that signatories had the right to change their mind. But the moderator's impassioned pleas for them to do so "had the appearance of seeking to undermine the rights of commissioners," the commission said. When presented with the petition, the court ruled, Abu-Akel was "obliged to cease advocacy of a particular position and act with impartiality."

Paul Rolf Jensen, who argued that Abu-Akel had violated church law, called the decision "a tremendous victory—not a total victory, of course, but one we celebrate." He also called for the resignation of Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to resign. "He has lost the confidence of the evangelicals in our church," Jensen said.

Reaction to the decision is available from Presbyterian News Service, The Presbyterian Outlook, and The Layman. Expect Presbyweb to have some in its today's posting, too.

Religious response to war with Iraq:

• Vatican faults both sides in Iraq war | "The pope has spoken and has screamed and it was his duty to do so," says Cardinal Pio Laghi. "Yet this unacceptable position has been taken on." (Associated Press)
  
  
• Poll shows sermons on Iraq influence few Americans, even among regular churchgoers | Only 10 percent of Americans said religious beliefs were the strongest influence on their thinking, though that increased to 17 percent among people who attend worship at least monthly (Associated Press)
  
  
• Religious leaders condemn war | But they're not having much impact on the people in the pews (The Orlando Sentinel)
  
  
• Different faiths, different messages | Americans hearing about Iraq from the pulpit, but religious faith not defining opinions (Report, The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press)
  
  
• Evangelical chief: Pray to avert war | Ted Haggard, whose 9,200-member New Life Church is the largest in Colorado, is among a large number of evangelicals who have been reluctant to support U.S. military action against Iraq (The Denver Post)
  
  
• Threat of war puts believers on their knees | 'You have this sense of wanting to be in touch with God' (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• A mostly antiwar clergy faces a new public role | American clergy, who have been almost unanimously against US military action against Iraq, are now preparing to play the potentially awkward role of providing support for a nation engaged in a war they oppose (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• U.S. church leaders issue statement on Iraq war | Churches for Middle East Peace deeply regrets the decision by the United States and other nations to begin military action against Iraq (Press release)
  
  
• The exhausting pursuit of peace | A problem with just-war theory today (Joseph Loconte, National Review Online)
  
  
• The morality of war | As troops await their battle orders, arguments continue about the rights and wrongs of going to war (BBC)
  
  
• For soldiers, 'ministry of the present' | A chaplain comforts troops on eve of war, with camouflaged Bibles and prayer (The Christian Science Monitor)

Templeton prize awarded to Holmes Rolston III:

• Colorado professor wins religion prize (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Virginia pastor wins Templeton cash prize (The Washington Times)

Politics and law:

• Showdown at the voucher corral | A high-stakes school board election in Milwaukee (Eli Lehrer, The Weekly Standard)
  
  
• Also: The empire strikes back | Why 92% of poor blacks in Milwaukee are "right-wingers." (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  

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March (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47