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It is better to argue how religious belief should manifest itself than whether or not it should be part of public life.

2. The next Anglican wrestling match

The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, responded to the Episcopal Church's General Convention, which ended last week. Williams offered some criticism of the American church. "Whatever the presenting issue, no member church can make significant decisions unilaterally and still expect this to make no difference to how it is regarded in the fellowship."

Divisions run between provinces and within provinces, he said. In order to solve the current dispute over the practice of homosexuality, the Anglican Communion should explore adopting a covenant, which provinces could sign on to. "Provinces that agree would retain full status as 'constituent churches,'" reports The New York Times, "and those that do not would become 'churches in association' without decision-making status in the Communion, the world's third-largest body of churches."

Conservatives are suggesting that they will be included as constituent churches, while the majority of the Episcopal Church will be in association. Such an outcome is not certain. Presumably, the communion's covenant would represent orthodoxy Christianity. But the writing of that document will be the next wresting match in the communion. "Church liberals said that any 'covenant' would be crafted with the participation of the American church and other provinces that favored full inclusion of gay people," The Times reports.

Williams also said that this proposal could take years to complete. It seems those Episcopalians hanging on to orthodoxy are in need of prayer for stamina.

3. You gotta fight for your right to raw milk

Milk that comes straight from the cow tastes a lot different than the kind you buy in the store. Partly, that's because pasteurization kills off the bacteria and destroys the milk's vitamins. In response a lot of farmers, including many Christians, drink their milk raw. Unfortunately for them, it's illegal to sell raw milk. But you can drink your milk from your own cow. Some farmers sell shares of their cows and give the "owners" their raw milk.

You can be sure that plenty of farmers are watching the case of Arlie Stutzman, who was busted for selling an undercover agent raw milk. "While I can and I have food, I'll share it," said Stutzman, who is Amish. "Do unto others what you would have others do unto you."

"We know people are deprived of this real food," he told The Washington Post.

There's some interesting discussion at the WorldMagBlog.

4. Billy Graham to preach next month

Though he retired from crusades, Billy Graham will be preaching the final sermon at Franklin Graham's Metro Maryland Festival. The Washington Post reports, "Franklin Graham said a group of ministers has been trying to get the crusade to Baltimore for four years."

5. Nigeria's Catholic explosion

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the growth of Catholicism in Nigeria. "Islam had been here for over 1,000 years," said Archbishop John Onaiyekan, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria and head of the Archdiocese of Abuja, the capital. "Christianity came here in the last 100 years. Now Islam and Christians are about equal."

It's a fascinating look at the growth of the church and tension with Islam in one of the most influential African countries.

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June (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50