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1. Morning-after contraceptive back on the table
The Food and Drug Administration is planning to reopen discussions with the manufacturer of Plan B, while debate continues on whether it's a contraceptive or an abortifacient (pro-life critics say it prohibits embryonic implantation in the uterus). Talks are only beginning, but it appears that FDA officials want the "morning-after pill" available without a prescription—but only to women over 18.

2. What did Naveed Haq believe and when did he believe it?
"Naveed Haq, now widely portrayed as a Muslim American so angry at Israel that he shot up a Jewish charity in Seattle, had recently converted to Christianity," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported yesterday. The article went on say that the suspect in the Jewish Federation shootings fell away from Christianity as well, but it adds an interesting twist to a story that captures the tension between religions in America.

3. Greg Boyd: "America is not the light of the world"
Greg Boyd may be the black sheep of evangelicals for his opinion that the church needs to keep its hands out of politics, a New York Times profile suggests. The Times quotes Boyd saying, "When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses," in a six-part series he delivered from the pulpit. His remarks have unsurprisingly angered some parishioners: 1,000 of his 5,000 parishioners reportedly left over the series. The article doesn't make much of Boyd's theological controversies or whether his promotion of open theism cost the church any members, but it would have made an interesting comparison. Leadership's blog "Out of Ur" has excerpts from Boyd's The Myth of a Christian Nation (part 1 | 2), if you're interested. The Times links to audio files.

4. Mel-tdown
After the success of The Passion of The Christ, Mel Gibson gained a lot of fans among an evangelicals who may have not warmed up to the actor in his Lethal Weapon days. Gibson may lose some of those very fans, though, after he spewed anti-Semitic insults to L.A. police while being arrested for drunk driving.

5. Cutthroat competition. Mimicking "idols." Ah, gospel music at its finest.
American Idol has been converted before—but nothing like this. The "Gospel Dream," which pits future gospel artists against each other in a bid to receive a recording contract, is in its second season on the Gospel Music Channel.

Quote of the day
"He's been killed! Maybe a dingo got my boy!"

—The Genesis 37 account of Jacob mourning the death of Joseph, as told in the second volume of the "Aussie Bible" series (fair dinkum!). The first volume, the Gospels, sold 100,000 copies in the land down under.

Contraceptives | Abortion | Stem cell research | Evolution and intelligent design | Gay marriage | Politics | Middle East | Religious freedom | Church and state | Church life | Evangelism | Catholicism | Sex abuse | Financial scandal | Entertainment | Mel Gibson | People | Other articles of interest

Contraceptives:

1. FDA may loosen sales of "morning-after pill" | Non-prescription sales of a "morning-after" contraceptive could be approved for women 18 and older within weeks. (Reuters)
   
   
2. FDA to reopen discussions with Plan B manufacturer | The FDA said it is ready to engage in detailed discussions with the maker of the "morning-after pill," sold as Plan B—talks that could lead to over-the-counter sales of the controversial emergency contraceptive to women at least 18 years old. (The Washington Post)
   
   
3. Plan B pill may be approaching wider release | The FDA, in a surprise move that angered religious conservatives, offered a proposal to allow the "morning-after" birth control pill to be sold without a prescription to women age 18 and older. (The Los Angeles Times)
   
   

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August (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50