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1. Will K.A. Paul face more scrutiny after moment in spotlight? Or will his platform grow?
You won't find much about K.A. Paul on the Christianity Today site. Every reference to the Indian preacher is from a Weblog, mostly from outlets raising questions about his ministry. (One exception: The New Republic was mildly positive, apparently because he talks about poverty more than he does about abortion.) We didn't report on his expulsion from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability over oversight and financial transparency concerns. We didn't report on the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention taking the unprecedented step of issuing a vote of no confidence in his ministry, or of the Assemblies of God leadership similarly criticizing his work. We haven't followed up on reports that his orphanage ministry spends more on jet fuel for Paul's plane than on actual orphans, nor that he has taken credit for other people's work. We have no plans to report his recent claims that the Republican Party is delaying the Second Coming of Christ and that the Iraq war is "genocide." Quite honestly, we haven't covered him because there are many self-promotional ministers out there with grossly exaggerated claims, outrageous statements, and problematic finances. Paul has had more success in getting himself into The New Yorker and other publications, but getting such clips seems to be his ministry's real focus. So why give him more attention?

Well, he's certainly getting attention this week. Amid the Mark Foley scandal, Paul scored a meeting with House Speaker Dennis Hastert at the speaker's home. What's more, Paul claims that Hastert promised him he'd resign. He told Mother Jones, "God convinced him through me in prayer." Paul claims Hastert said, "God gave me this position that I don't deserve. For the good of the people, I will do it." The Mother Jones story is full of other … eccentricities. (Example: Paul says he knew Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "when he was nobody.")

Hastert's office told the Chicago Sun-Times that the meeting was a mistake, that Hastert thought the hastily scheduled meeting was with a constituent of his district, and that the Speaker will not resign.

The thing is, this meeting is the buzz of Washington right now and raises his profile. It might raise Paul's reputation as a publicity hound, the "craziest preacher ever," and a "nut job," but that hasn't stopped the press corps from quoting every crazy thing Pat Robertson says. Is Paul going to be the new media darling for reporters looking for a juicy religious quote? Don't bet on it: His political views are probably too unpredictable for "fill-in-the-blank" reporting.

2. The New York Times: "American religious organizations benefit from an increasingly accommodating government"
Much of The New York Times series can be summarized (no surprise) at the end of its final article:

[T]ax and regulatory exemptions that have become available to religious organizations in America … benefit religion in ways that some critics say go beyond the limits of the Constitution.

Until several years ago, "it was inconceivable for most to think that religion might well be aggressively expanding its power in a way that is harmful to the public good," said Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor. … But now, Professor Hamilton said, the power of religious entities "is at its apex."

Defenders of these exemptions deny that they raise any questions of excessive power or constitutional violations.

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October (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50