Related articles and links |  1 of 7

Today's Top Five

1. Deadly riots continue in Nigeria
Mobs of Christian youths, armed with clubs, machetes, and gas cans, beat several Muslims to death in the southern Nigerian city of Onitsha and set fire to two mosques. The rioting, which began yesterday and continued today, has left at least 20 people dead, Reuters reports. At least 39 people were taken to the hospital. A Red Cross official told Reuters, "Thousands of people who have been displaced from their homes are now sheltered at the police and army barracks." The violence comes as Muslim attacks, largely tied to outrage over the Muhammad caricatures, have left at least 50 people dead in Nigeria's northern cities. The attacks come a day after a dark statement from Church of Nigeria Archbishop Peter Akinola, in which he told "our Muslim brothers that they do not have the monopoly of violence in this nation" and that groups such as the Christian Association of Nigeria (which he leads) "may no longer be able to contain our restive youths should this ugly trend continue." It will be interested to see whether that message is seen as prescient or provocative, insightful or inciting.

2. Supreme Court to consider partial birth abortion ban
In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against Nebraska's partial-birth abortion ban. When a federal version of the ban was written in 2003, lawmakers specifically addressed the Court's concerns in that case. However, three federal appeals courts have struck down the 2003 law, saying that it does not have ample protections for the mother's health (the issue at the heart of the 2000 decision). Yesterday, the Supreme Court said it will hear the case, Gonzales v . Carhart (05-380), in its next term, which starts in October.

3. Supreme Court unanimously favors religious freedom in tea case
Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal (04-1084) wasn't just about whether the U.S. could prohibit a Brazilian sect from using a hallucinogenic herbal tea. It was seen as a major religious liberty test case, and groups including the Christian Legal Society and the National Association of Evangelicals filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of the sect and the law it invoked: The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2003. "The government's argument echoes the classic rejoinder of bureaucrats throughout history: If I make an exception for you, I'll have to make one for everybody, so no exceptions," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. "But RFRA operates by mandating consideration, under the compelling interest test, of exceptions to 'rule[s] of general applicability.'" The government didn't prove its "compelling interest" in putting drug laws above religious freedom, Roberts said. Religious liberty organizations are jubilant, but the story seems to be overshadowed by the abortion news.

4. A second gay bishop for the Episcopal Church?
It's by no means certain that the new bishop for the Episcopal diocese of California will be someone who openly has sex outside of biblical marriage. But consider this: Two of the five candidates are currently in same-sex partnerships, Chicago's Bonnie Perry and Seattle's Robert Taylor. And then consider that the diocese doesn't really cover all of California: Its territory is more or less the San Francisco Bay area. And it's one of the most liberal dioceses in the Episcopal Church.

5. Private equity firm buys Thomas Nelson
Thomas Nelson, publishers of business books, political books, gardening books, humor books, and also some Christian books, was a publicly traded company. No more. A private equity firm bought it yesterday for $473 million. Every few years, it seems, there's a run on Christian publishing companies, and the season has come around again. Last week, Simon & Schuster bought Howard Publishing, and two weeks ago, Time Warner announced that it was selling Warner Faith, along with the rest of its book lines, to Lagardère, the French media-and-weapons company.

next page... |  1 of 7

share this page

February (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50