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The decision may put pressure on SIU to settle the suit, or we'll see it again when the district court (which had earlier denied the injunction) considers the case. And, no doubt, we'll continue to see related cases as CLS chapters battle schools around the country.

3. Church attack thwarted in Egypt
Mohammed Masoud Khalil was reportedly set to stab Christians inside St. George's church in Qus, Egypt, when he was stopped by police, Reuters reports. "Police said he was mentally ill," says the report, which rightly notes that the same explanation was given for church attacks in April. "Many Christians," Reuters explains, "say the government used mental illness to cover up sectarian motives behind the attack."

4. Spirituality in a 'shroom
So, if spiritual feelings help medical patients, then shouldn't medical doctors try to make their patients feel more spiritual? What if spiritual feelings were something you could get from a pill—or, more accurately, from a mushroom? The Los Angeles Times raises some really interesting questions about a new study (pdf | html) published in Psychopharmacology, where Johns Hopkins University researchers found that psilocybin—the chemical found in "magic mushrooms"—"can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance." This, the Times reports, "might have therapeutic value in improving the outlook of addicts and terminal cancer patients under enormous psychological burdens."

Lead researcher Roland R. Griffiths also says that further research into how psilocybin works with the brain could, in the Times's words, "explain the biology underlying spiritual experiences." In Griffiths's words, the research could uncover "the basis of ethics and morality."

Other people might disagree, Richard Sloan, a professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University School of Medicine, warns the Times. "I would think religious people would find it objectionable to describe the religious experience as a product of neurochemistry with no intrinsic truth," he said. (Watch for Richard Sloan's essay on the limits of the scientific study of religion coming in the August issue of Christianity Today. Don't get Christianity Today? Then subscribe, you freeloader.)

By the way, if anyone has access to the Psychopharmacologyeditorial on the study, or to the four commentaries, I'd be interested in reading them.

5. More trouble for Jews for Jesus' underground campaign?
Friday's Weblog noted the predictable controversy over Jews for Jesus advertising in New York subway stations. Tuesday's New York Post reports a different angle, which is the skirmish between the evangelistic organization and the MTA:

Transit officials demanded the controversial evangelical group … stop using the brown and orange circular logos for the J and F trains in their literature, on their Web sites, or on T-shirts. The insignias were used to spell out the initials for the organization. The material includes a doctored photo of a subway station with the logos indicating J-F-J trains stop there.

But by the time the Post reported the story, Jews for Jesus had changed the logos and the MTA had backed off. So now Jews for Jesus can just go back to being "controversial" for being evangelistic.

Quote of the day:
"To show that they're cool."

—Jilene Framke of Angel Toes Inc., explaining to the Rocky Mountain News why Christian kids should wear the company's temporary Christian tattoos. Angel Toes is one of 410 exhibitors at the International Christian Retailers Show (formerly CBA) in Denver. Previous generations of Christian tattoo companies might have marketed such products as "conversation starters" for evangelism, or remarked about the socializing aspects of tattoos, even temporary ones. Now, it seems, the intent of Christian tattoos is to demonstrate solidarity with mainstream culture.

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July (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50