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Religion News Service reports that PC(USA) headquarters "has been 'inundated' with hundreds of angry phone calls and e-mails from Jews" on the votes.

Tuesday, PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick issued a three-page statement clarifying and defending the votes. "These actions are rooted in a longstanding commitment to the secure existence of Israel and the Israeli people, in a similar commitment to the security and existence of Palestinians in their own state, and in a passionate vision of negotiated peace as the only viable way forward," Kirkpatrick said. "I encourage Presbyterians to maintain their relationships with people of other faiths, with sensitivity to the fragility of trust in the present climate of violence and terror."

Baylor:

• Sloan speculation pursues Baylor regents | The fate of Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. is still up in the air and the next 48 hours will likely determine whether he continues to lead the university, administrative and regent officials said Wednesday (Waco Tribune-Herald, Tex.)
• Take closer look and see where Baylor is failing | To erect these buildings, Baylor incurred a massive debt with severe consequences (Matt Dawson, Waco Tribune-Herald, Tex.)
• Considering the unthinkable | The idea that Robert Sloan could be dismissed for making Baylor University one of the most important stories in higher education seems absurd. But it could be about to happen (Hunter Baker, The American Spectator)

Religion & politics:

• Lecturer exhorts pastors to activism | A Republican National Committee-sponsored lecturer urged more than 100 pastors gathered Tuesday in Eugene to push their parishioners to register to vote and become more politically active (The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.)
• Fighting class, culture wars-- for a big loss | How would Jesus vote? That appears to be the great unspoken question as President Bush and Sen. John Kerry engage in a culture war for the hearts and minds of the elusive mainstream voter (Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune)
• Conservative no longer describes political right | Call them orthodox instead (Gerald Plessner, Pasadena Star News)
• Women senators balk at controversial nominee | senators are expressing outrage at a controversial judicial nominee who co-authored a 1997 article with his wife in which he suggested biblical passages about wives being subservient to their husbands should be taken literally (Fox News)
• Guess whom you endorsed | The political fringe has plenty of candidates for president this year, and one third-party candidate is already claiming support from a local conservative Republican. Not so, she says (Bud Kennedy, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
• Rules apply to Catholic politicians | Finally, news from the Roman Catholic hierarchy that doesn't involve a bankrupt diocese or the bankrupt souls of sexually abusive priests (Nicole Brodeur, Seattle Times)
• 'Our nation can be built on virtue' | Public office-holders, particularly, Christians have been advised to use their offices to reflect the glory of God (This Day, Nigeria)

Campaigns & religion:

• Kerry makes a bid for Hispanic votes | "Faith," a campaign commercial, begins running today on Spanish-language television stations in 10 states (Associated Press)
• Be wary of loud affirmations of faith | Some folks are so enamored with President George W. Bush that they nearly swoon when he says he is a Christian. Bush is wearing his "Christian" uniform to fool the faithful into believing he is a man of God, when he's nothing of the kind (Curt Andersen, The Green Bay News-Chronicle, Wis.)

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July (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48