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3. Jesus prayers are okay, federal court rules
For those who want to pray in Jesus' name at government meetings, there's good news: U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story ruled that invocations at Cobb County commission meetings do not violate the Constitution, even though several prayers specifically invoked the name of Jesus. In his decision, Story quoted his denial of a preliminary injunction:

To be sure, many of these speakers, in offering their invocations, identify the deity to whom they direct their prayer. In that respect, they surely convey their alignment with one religious creed to the exclusion of others. But viewed cumulatively, given the diversity in the denominations and faiths represented, it is difficult to extrapolate from any one speaker's affiliation a preference on the part of the Cobb County government.

Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Star reports that a federal appeals court in Indiana is likely to overturn a lower court's ban on sectarian prayer in the state legislature. That decision is expected in the next couple of months.

But there is news on coercive prayer. Our last Weblog talked about forced conversion to Islam and other religions. There are few Christian examples, or at least there were when we posted the item. But someone writing a story on the subject could, in theory, bring in the example of Randy Doss, who was held at gunpoint by his sister and two roommates as they prayed for his repentance. Police "were skeptical at first because his story was so bizarre," the Associated Press reports. Yes, it's bizarre that someone would have a gun pointed at them and be put under religious pressure. In America.

4. More good news, bad news in Iraq
Good news: Hanna Saad Sirop, the Chaldean Catholic priest kidnapped in Baghdad August 15, has been released. "He is really tired and exhausted," a colleague told AsiaNews.it. "He was threatened and tortured. He'll be able to talk about his painful and fearful experiences later."

Bad news: One of Baghdad's most prominent Christians has left the country. Donny George, president of the of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, has fled to Syria. The violence is bad, he says, but so is the radical Muslim influence in the state board. "They are only interested in Islamic sites and not Iraq's earlier heritage," he told The Art Newspaper. "I can no longer work with these people who have come in with the new ministry. They have no knowledge of archaeology, no knowledge of antiquities, nothing."

5. Are evangelicals more susceptible to fraud?
Last month, the Associated Press ran a story about how religion-based fraud, particularly those targeting conservative Christians, was getting worse. Last week, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument that conservative Christians are more vulnerable to fraud than others. "

"While we recognize that a fraud grounded in religious themes may pose an especially effective threat … membership in religious groups cannot, standing alone, make victims 'vulnerable' for purposes of the enhancement, even where a fraud involves reliance on religious themes or imagery," the court ruled. " We have no reason to believe that evangelical Christians as a class are 'unusually susceptible' to fraud." A lower trial court had ruled that evangelicals were more susceptible, and so in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines enhanced the offence of a two men convicted of wire fraud.

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September (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50