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Today's Top Five Stories

1. Evangelicals dislike media, but they dislike 'Islamo-fascists' more
"Many conservative Christians have long regarded the media as enemy territory, where traditional values are at best misunderstood and often mocked," writes Matt Stearns of the Knight Ridder news service. "So you might think they would relate sympathetically to Muslim outrage over the Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban." You might think it, that is, if you haven't been paying attention to much conservative Christian rhetoric since 9/11. "They see this phenomenon as part of an orchestrated effort by what they call Islamo-fascists to take over the Islamic world," explains the University of Oklahoma's Allen Hertzke, who has chronicled earlier Christian-Muslim political alliances. The ubiquitous John Green says the anti-Semitic tone of many Muslim responses has also turned off evangelicals. For NAE head Ted Haggard, it's all about the violence: "Maybe the radical protests are validating the cartoon instead of proving that cartoon wrong." Not quoted, unfortunately: the very solid statement from the European Evangelical Alliance.

2. Churches observe "Evolution Sunday"
The ratio of churchgoers who this week celebrated "Evolution Sunday" to the newspapers that covered it is almost even. The New York Times notes two churches taking part: one with 85 parishioners, the other with 21. Sounds like these churches should be more concerned about their own extinction than about evolution. Then the paper also warns that the official numbers may be inflated: "The Clergy Letter Project [which sponsored the celebration] said that 441 congregations … were taking part in Evolution Sunday, but that was impossible to verify independently. Around Chicago, two churches that were listed on the project's Web site as participants in the event said they were in fact not planning to deliver sermons on the subject." From the media reports, it sounds like the sermons were more about opposing "fundamentalists" than about how science declares the glory of God.

3. Black churches in danger
The biggest threat to historic black churches isn't fire, says the Chicago Tribune: It's changing demographics and social issues. "Churches such as Pilgrim Baptist [one of Chicago's most historic black churches, which recently burned in an accident] have largely lost the vibrant community of middle-class blacks who built them up and now are struggling to attract a younger generation," the paper reports. At a time when many of the mid-19th century buildings need major repairs, renovations, and replacements, there's less money to fund such projects. "While we value the architecture, it should not be at the expense of ministry, and oftentimes that's the dilemma that we're faced with," says Michael Noble, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church.

4. Evangelicals to get a worship center on Mount of Olives
While all eyes have been on plans for an evangelical center near the Sea of Galilee—it particularly made headlines when Israel banned Pat Robertson from participating—along comes news that another evangelical tourism site will open on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives. The Jerusalem Post reports that "a large prayer tent" will host up to 500 worshipers, and that the driving force behind it is evangelicals from Asia rather than from North America. It's temporary for now, but "organizers hope that the center will become a permanent fixture," says the Post.

5. Is ECI DOA?
The folks behind the Evangelical Climate Initiative have to be happy that op-eds and news stories are still talking about its call-to-action statement. But they're probably not thrilled with the Associated Press reporting that it won't make any real political change. "Activists banking on a quick shift in President Bush's environmental policies will be disappointed — support from just any evangelical figure won't do," writes AP religion reporter Rachel Zoll. "Evangelical activism on AIDS in Africa, the civil war in Sudan, and sex trafficking has deeply influenced the Bush administration. But environmental causes don't yet store the same kind of passion among conservative Christians." The suggestion is that the ECI's power won't be in getting Bush's attention, but in getting the attention of evangelical churchgoers. "If you look at public opinion surveys, there's a basis in the evangelical community for these kinds of initiatives on the environment," explains John Green (there he is again!) "But they're not there yet." Well, if they get desperate, there's always the potential for Air Pollution Sunday …

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February (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50