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Today's Top Five Stories

1. Winning the non-existent Valentine wars
Did the war over Christmas really exist, or was it purely a fabrication cooked up by activist groups and media outlets? First Things recently argued the former, and ran a compendium (in a less hoity-toity mag like CT, it'd be called a "list,") of "instances in which any reference to Christmas was expunged from the season, frequently with the threat of government force."

But do the Valentine's Day wars really exist? A group of parents in Texas's Katy Independent School District got a judge to issue a restraining order today to make sure that children can pass out Valentine's Day cards with religious themes. The school district, however, says it doesn't understand what the parents' lawsuit is all about, and was never contacted by the parents about the issue. "This restraining order is telling us not to do things we don't do anyway," spokeswoman Kris Taylor told the Houston Chronicle. The Alliance Defense Fund claims, "A memo recently distributed to parents prohibited students from including religious symbols on holiday gifts and cards, including ones related to St. Valentine's Day." Taylor said that any teacher who might have done so in an isolated case was acting contrary to the policies of the board. (Widely supported guidelines on religious holidays in the public schools are available from the First Amendment Center.)

In any case, kids in the district get to give out religious cards today. But did you ever consider what historically accurate religious Valentine's Day cards might look like? Here are some ideas: "I Love Your Martyr Complex." "Baby, I'd Rather Die Than Renounce Our God." "If Love Is Blind, Maybe I Can Cure It." "I May Not Exist, But My Love Is Real."

2. Bible Society of India shuts down office after police detention
A few days after India saw a massive anti-evangelism rally, much is being made of accusations against two Bible Society of India workers in Jammu and Kashmir, where the society is engaged in post-earthquake relief work. "The group of missionaries from the Kashmir chapter of the Bible Society of India had been visiting Madian village in Uri sector and had distributed gas cylinders, water bottles, audio cassettes, and a copy of the New Testament in Urdu to 230 families of the village," the PTI news service reported. In India, offering spiritual and physical help together is seen as enticement, and it is illegal in many states. After police detained the two workers, the Bible Society shut down operations in the area.

3. "Gay bishop" Gene Robinson enters alcohol rehab center
Gene Robinson, who may be the most prominent clergyman in the Episcopal Church USA because of his status as the church's first openly practicing homosexual bishop, announced yesterday that he entered an alcohol treatment center earlier this month. Some response from conservative Anglicans has been compassionate. Some has not.

4. Kelly Clark has guts
Considering how little press the Olympics is getting in general, perhaps it's not surprising that there have been few profiles of athletes' faith—something that's quite common around the Summer Games. But since Weblog has a bit of Olympic fever, we'll point out a Denver Post column highlighting Kelly Clark, who had that amazing run last night before falling at the end of her 900-degree spin. "I love Jesus," she said after her run. "It's more joyful knowing him than all that snowboarding stuff. And so being able to snowboard for him is amazing." That was David Crowder's "O Praise Him" (sample) playing during her run, by the way. Good for her, says Post columnist Mark Kiszla: Her comments were as risky and strong as her run; she's putting herself on the line. "Expressing something as personal as faith on a world stage as big as the Winter Games can be risky business," Kiszla wrote. "But I admire Clark for having the guts to do it."

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February (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50