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• Rwanda's religious reflections | Before the genocide more than 60% of Rwandans were Catholic. And when the killings started, tens of thousands of Tutsis fled to churches for sanctuary. But they found little protection there (BBC)
  
  
• The blood of the lambs | Members of the Voice of the Martyrs Sneak into perilous regions to aid persecuted Christians. Not that they want the suffering to end (Los Angeles Times Magazine)
  
  

Church and state:

• Church at odds with city | Institute wants council to approve zoning request, threatens suit (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Quakers, developer clash over meetinghouse project | Restoration, luxury-home proposals spark criticism (The Baltimore Sun)
  
  
• Banned in Laguna | The City's Planning Commission Wednesday night denied an application by the Easter in Laguna Committee to hang an 18-foot "Psalms Banner" by Laguna artist Jeff LeFever in front of the Festival of Arts Grounds (Laguna Beach Independent, Ca.)
  
  
• LA couple suing IRS to win deduction for religious school tuition | In their lawsuit, Michael and Marla Sklar of Los Angeles contend the IRS erred by disallowing their tax deduction while permitting Scientologists to write off the cost of spiritual counseling and instruction on that religion's tenets (Associated Press)
  
  
• Bowing heads in silence of free speech? | Newport-Mesa leaders have made recent changes to the language allowed during invocations at the council meetings. Readers were asked if those changes limit free speech (Daily Pilot, Newport Beach, Ca.)
  
  
• US opposes Oklahoma headscarf ban | The US justice department has filed a complaint on behalf of a Muslim girl who was twice sent home from school for wearing a headscarf (BBC)
  
  
• Also: Berlin city bans headscarves | Following weeks of controversy over Islamic headscarves, municipal lawmakers Wednesday barred Berlin city employees from wearing "visible religious symbols" of any kind (DPA, Germany)
  
  

Politics:

• Mayor, ministers meet face-to-face | Both sides mum on 'productive' church meeting (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
  
  
• Taking a bet on gambling | Religion does not everywhere and always condemn gambling. But the preponderance of belief among faith communities is that gambling often is a social evil and should be resisted (Bill Tammeus, The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• Study gives state a sermon on gas use | Pa. could save millions over 10 years by gradually replacing its fleet with more efficient vehicles, an interfaith group says (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  
  

Education:

• 'You must include non-believers' | Student leaders at Hull University have angered young Christians by telling them they must allow non-believers to join their committee (Hull Daily Mail, England)
  
  
• Also: We do not believe this (The Sun, U.K.)
  
  
• Testing the conscience of public servants | Thursday night's Westminster school board meeting has all the makings of a donnybrook (Dana Parsons, Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Teachers will be punished for not singing anthem | The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education said Tuesday it will punish teachers at public high schools in the capital who refused to stand up and sing the "Kimigayo" national anthem at graduation ceremonies this month (The Japan Times)
  
  
• Christians belong in public schools | When Jesus said "you are the light of the world," he certainly did not intend that we would hide that light under the bushel of an exclusive community (James L. Evans, Birmingham Post-Herald, Ala.)
  
  

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March (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48