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Religion & politics:

• GOP senator in Democrats' cross hairs | A conservative favorite, Rick Santorum's blunt take on cultural issues may give ammunition to opponents in the battle for his seat next year. (Los Angeles Times)
• Congressman threatens Islamic holy sites | A Colorado congressman told a radio show host that the U.S. could ''take out'' Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons. (Associated Press)
• The pulpits vs. the pews | Why are so many news stories on religion in America about sex, politics, and litigation? Answer: Religion in America is grappling, as seldom before, with hot-button issues that congregate under the broad topics of sex, politics, and litigation. (New York Sun)
• Five from the 5th Circuit mentioned for high court | Southern appeals bench known for conservatism (Washington Post)
• Environmental 'crisis' can unite religions, rabbi says | The degradation of the environment is a "universal human crisis" that affects rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, Christian, Jew and Muslim - and cooperation across these national and cultural boundaries may be the only way to meet such an overwhelming challenge, according to Rabbi Lawrence Troster, a world-renowned scholar of the relationship between religion and science. (Bangor Daily News, Maine)

London bombings:

• Blair appeals for Muslim backing as parties agree to fast-track terror laws | British Muslim leaders will be asked today to assist state authorities preparing an unprecedented encroachment into mosques, Islamic schools and community organisations. (Times, London)
• We have the laws: use them | Defeating terrorism, the Prime Minister explained in a robust speech yesterday, means arguing against "the terrorists' politics and their perversion of religious faith". He is right. The trouble is that the Government has so far not shown much inclination to tackle the fundamentalist preachers whose hate-filled sermons incubate suicide bombings. (Daily Telegraph, UK)
• Pakistani religious schools face scrutiny | Pakistan's religious schools face intensified scrutiny after the London suicide bombings, with Western leaders claiming that madrassas are breeding grounds for violent extremists. Defiant, educators insist their schools are unfairly targeted in a campaign against Islam. (Associated Press)
• Extremists orbit around Islam's rebirth | Every morning, Jean-Pierre Timbaud street bursts forth with a bouquet of sights, sounds and smells that belie its location -- eastern Paris. Like a magnet, the long, narrow street draws young Muslims from throughout the region trying to fill a void in their quest for Islamic culture in the West. (Associated Press)
• Islamic leader, son agree to be deported | A San Francisco area Islamic religious leader and his son have agreed to be deported to Pakistan after being detained on immigration charges in connection with a federal investigation into possible terrorist activity. (Associated Press)
• Islam is a weapon that can be turned against the suicide bombers | The horrific bombings in London last week drew immediate response from dozens of Muslim leaders and organisations worldwide, condemning the attacks as barbaric acts that stand contrary to the teaching of Islam. Their statement sounded unequivocal, but unfortunately secular condemnations, however sincere, are ineffective when dealing with fanatics capable of such irrational and cruel crimes. (Times, London)

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July (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49