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• Judge gives offenders option of church | A Kentucky judge has been offering some drug and alcohol offenders the option of attending worship services instead of going to jail or rehab _ a practice some say violates the separation of church and state. (Associated Press)
• Judge OKs Utah polygamous church request | A judge on Friday approved the state's request for independent parties to temporarily take control of a polygamous sect's assets. (Associated Press)
• Is there a god-country link? | As conservative Christian groups in America protest against the Air Force Academy's decision to investigate complaints of institutionalised proselytisation at its Colorado Springs campus, questions arise about the status of religious freedom in that country. (Sandhya Jain, Daily Pioneer, India)

Religion & politics:

• Bitter battle over judges | Conservatives work to undo successes by the left (Terry Paulson, Ventura County Star, Calif.)
• Waiting for Harris has GOP antsy | Republicans are hoping that U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris will run against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson in next year's Senate elections. James Dobson, the evangelical leader who warned in January that some U.S. senators ''will be in the bull's-eye'' if they block President Bush's judicial nominees, has already run ads targeting Nelson. (Miami Herald)
• 'Bad faith' has tainted evangelical Christianity | In the most recent exercise of presidential hypocrisy, Bush told reporters that he would not support federally-funded stem cell research because he did not support the destroying of life in order to save life. (Ryan Bachtel, Elkhart Truth, Ind.)
• Right wing losing pull with electorate | Polls finding conservative agenda less popular. Americans seem to grow increasingly uncomfortable with an agenda shaped by evangelical Christians. (Connecticut Post)
• Extremes are always on the march | Religious extremism joins forces with political opportunism, tribal hatred buys weapons, the rich demand too much, mobs shout for blood, and the crafty plot while their targets relax. (Tom Ehrich, Religion News Service)
• N.Y. court rules mayor will face trial | The village mayor who challenged New York law by attempting to marry gay couples last year will face trial, the state's highest court ruled Friday. (Associated Press)
• What happened to compromise? | The increasing prominence of religion in politics is adding passion and moral certainty to issues like embryonic stem cell research and the judiciary, where the struggles over abortion and gay marriage are playing out. Christian conservatives say they are fighting to preserve a "culture of life," while the left accuses the right of trying to impose its morality on the nation. (The New York Times)
• Microsoft cuts ties to lobbyist | The Microsoft Corporation said on Friday that it had severed ties with Ralph Reed, a Republican lobbyist and former leader of the Christian Coalition who is running for lieutenant governor of Georgia. The move came a month after liberals, upset that Microsoft had withdrawn its support for a gay rights bill here, urged the company to stop using Mr. Reed as a political consultant. (Associated Press)
• Fault lines apparent at the polls | Religion remains divisive in Beirut. (Washington Post)

Christian Democrat to challenge Germany's Schröder:

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June (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49