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It's even rarer to hear someone say that God speaks through them regularly, or that God's speaking through me is essential to one's vocation. You'll hear pastors praying that God would speak through them every Sunday, but the pastor who tells his congregation that God really does speak through him week after week is taking a pretty serious risk. How much more so for the President of the United States?

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. The problem with criticizing Bush for the comment is that he may not have said it at all. The Lancaster New Era story seems based entirely on the account of historian Sam Stoltzfus, who "spoke with a number of people present at the session with the president." In other words, there are four degrees of separation between Bush's comment and Brubaker's story. (It's common for conservative Christians to say that God speaks to them. Perhaps someone got the preposition wrong?) Before pouncing on the quote, it would be wise to get firsthand confirmation.

Big Idea Productions moves:

• VeggieTales crew, friends setting up shop in Franklin | Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato have landed in Franklin at The Factory (The Tennessean)
• VeggieTales creators moving to Franklin | Chicago-based Big Idea Productions, creators of the popular VeggieTales series of videos and products, is relocating to Franklin (Nashville Business Journal)
• VeggieTales creator Big Idea relocates to Nashville area (Baptist Press)
• Big Idea pops up in Franklin | Big Idea Inc.'s relocation to the Nashville area is a feather in the cap of 18-month-old Nashville Commercial Real Estate Services, which brokered the national entertainment company's lease in Franklin (The City Paper, Nashville)
• Bredesen welcomes Big Idea to Franklin | The biggest cheers and applause yesterday at The Factory at Franklin were for Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber, stars of children's VeggieTales videos produced at this town's newest corporate headquarters (Review Appeal, Franklin, Tenn.)
• Growth rated 'G' | VeggieTales' move to Franklin could put family entertainment businesses in high cotton (The Tennessean)
• Related: Singing stars | Producers of Christian children's entertainment have typically set the bar pretty low. But things have slowly changed in the past few years, and the industry is getting better. (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)

U.S. again says no to funding U.N. Population Fund over Chinese abortions:

• U.S. to withhold $34M to U.N. fund | The Bush administration will withhold $34 million in congressionally approved assistance to the U.N. Population Fund because of the fund's connection to China and forced abortions, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday (Associated Press)
• Citing Chinese abortions, U.S. refuses to fund U.N. program | Bush administration says the $34 million due the Population Fund would support coercive family-planning rules (Los Angeles Times)
• US again denies money to population fund | Chinese practices on abortion cited (The Boston Globe)

Bush on human trafficking:

• Bush speech on human trafficking targets Castro | Remarks at official event are tailored for Cuban exiles in florida and religious conservatives (The Washington Post)
• Bush assails Castro and human trafficking | "Human life is the gift of the Creator, and it should never be for sale," he said, adding, "It is a terrible tragedy when anyone comes here, only to be forced into a sweatshop, domestic servitude, pornography or prostitution." (The New York Times)
• Bush hits Cuba for 'sex tourism' | President Bush yesterday castigated Fidel Castro's regime for contributing to the worldwide problem of human trafficking by becoming a destination for "sex tourism" and vowed to work toward "the rapid, peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba." (The Washington Times)

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July (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48