Christianity Today

Joel Osteen, superstar
"Tickets to see the Rev. Joel Osteen this weekend in Dallas are going for as much as 10 times their face value," the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports. Dallas' American Airlines Center has only about half the seats of Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, and now the $10 tickets—long since sold out—are selling for more than $100. (seems like it would be cheaper to make the four-hour drive to Houston).

"Joel Osteen is now to the Christian religion what Michael Jordan was to the NBA," Perfectseats.com's Gary McBride told the newspaper. "When Michael Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls, game tickets sold out months in advance. In Christianity, Joel Osteen is that much of a superstar."

Religion & politics:

• Democrats for life? | Political parties may change, but principles don't. Pro-life voters just might follow their conscience wherever it leads, even into the Democratic Party (Paul Greenberg, The Washington Times)
• Gotta have faith | It may be time for the religious left to adjust the volume on its moral broadcast (Salt Lake City Weekly)
• Lib Dem stance on religious hatred law could lose votes | Charles Kennedy has been given warning that the surge in Liberal Democrat support among Muslim voters after the Iraq war is being put at risk by his party's failure to back planned laws against religious hatred (The Times, London)

Bush tapes:

• From psst to oops: Secret taper of Bush says history can wait | Doug Wead pledged to turn over to President Bush the tapes on which he secretly recorded some of their phone calls (The New York Times)
• Friend regrets tapes of Bush | The friend of President Bush's who secretly recorded private conversations with him before his first bid for the White House says he will surrender the tapes and donate proceeds from a book based partly on them to charity (The Washington Times)

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