2 of 4

• Howard shows faith in abilities | For Dwight Howard, making the jump from high school to the NBA is truly going to be a leap of faith. While attempting to outplay his opponents on the court next season, Howard also wants to give them a lift spiritually (The Washington Times)
  
  

Iraq:

• Church prays for kidnapped Ohio soldier | About 900 people attended two morning services at First Baptist Church of Glen Este, near where Pfc. Keith M. Maupin grew up (Associated Press)
  
  
• Pope brands Rantissi killing, Iraq hostage-takings 'inhuman' | "I am following with great sadness the tragic news coming from the Holy Land and Iraq. The shedding of blood by brothers must end. Such inhuman acts are contrary to the will of God," he said (AFP)
  
  
• Pope appeals for Iraq hostage release | Pope John Paul II appealed Sunday for the release of hostages in Iraq, calling on the kidnappers to show "humanity" (Associated Press)
  
  

Sudan civil war:

• Sudan clashes force thousands from home | At least 50,000 people have fled their homes in recent weeks because of militia attacks and fighting between Sudanese government and rebel forces in southern Sudan, the United Nations said Sunday (Associated Press)
  
  
• Thousands flee new Sudan unrest | The UN says at least 50,000 people have fled their homes in southern Sudan over the past month because of violence (BBC)
  
  

Religion & politics:

• Below the campaign radar, a values war | Advocacy groups on the left and the right are convinced that the country is at a turning point on them, and that the consensus of the next election — no matter how narrow — could be locked in for a generation, because of the number of judges the next president will appoint (The New York Times)
  
  
• No politics are local | The wired world has made every fight everybody's fight, and each of us an intolerant global villager (Christopher Caldwell, The New York Times Magazine)
  
  
• John Kerry, in the Catholic tradition | He's no Mario Cuomo (Joseph Bottum, The Weekly Standard)
  
  
• Bush letter cites 'crusade' against terrorism | Years after President Bush set off alarm bells in the Muslim world by referring to his war against terrorism as a "crusade," the word that Arabs equate with Christian brutality has resurfaced in a Bush campaign fund-raising letter, officials acknowledged on Sunday (Reuters)
  
  
• Cyprus bishop says yes voters will go to hell | Be good and you will inherit the kingdom of heavens, said Jesus. Vote yes in Cyprus's crucial referendum on April 24 and you will go to hell - or so says a Greek Cypriot bishop (Reuters)
  
  
• French Muslims allowed bandannas | The French government is not ruling out bandannas as discreet forms of headwear for Muslim students, the country's education minister has said (BBC)
  
  

Church & state:

• Unappealing to a higher authority | The case of the Supreme Court v. the Supreme Being (Gene Weingarten, The Washington Post)
  
  
• God and the devil in Texas | The frightening implication here is the jury may have reasoned that a "message" from Satan should have been resisted, while one from God was more problematic (Frederick Grab, The Weekly Standard)
  
  

Abortion:

• Final arguments begin in abortion ban case | A new federal law that bans certain kinds of abortions constitutes a burden on a woman's right to choose, an attorney for Planned Parenthood said during closing arguments (Associated Press)
  
  
• Scout's honor | We suspect it is a healthy relationship wherever it occurs, but whether the Girl Scouts should have any links with Planned Parenthood is a decision best left to the Girl Scouts and their parents and troop leaders (The Lufkin Daily News, Tex.)
  
  

next page... |  2 of 4

share this page

April (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48