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I have, I think, somewhat of an odd version of God. I do not have an intervening God. I don't think I can pray to him—or her—to cure me of cancer. I appreciate other people's prayers for that, but I believe that we are given a set of guidelines and that we are obligated to live our lives in a view to those guidelines. And I don't believe we should live our lives that way for some promise of eternal life, but because that's what's right. We should do those things because that's what's right.

4. Lebanon election divides country's Christians
The story of Lebanon's Christian political influence is complicated and difficult to summarize here. But Associated Press has a good outline:

Sunnis are the base for the ruling coalition, which opposes Syrian influence. Shiite Muslims, led by Hezbollah, overwhelmingly back the pro-Syrian opposition. Neither side has been able to decisively lure the Christians, around a third of Lebanon's 4 million people, to their camp.

That deadlock was reinforced when pro-government candidate Amin Gemayel, a former president and the head of one of Lebanon's most powerful Maronite Christian families, conceded defeat by a mere 418 votes in Sunday's election in the Christian stronghold of Metn north of Beirut. …

Under Lebanon's division of power among its sects, the presidency must be held by a Maronite Christian-chosen parliament. Now, no Maronite leader can boost his bid among lawmakers by claiming to represent the entire community.

The Toronto Globe and Mail's analysis puts it this way:

[T]he surprising victory of Camille Khoury, a candidate from General Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, in a predominantly Christian riding in the mountains east of Beirut immediately makes the controversial Gen. Aoun the favourite to win a presidential election this fall.

It also allows the Shia Hezbollah to claim it has the support of the majority of the country's Christians in its prolonged showdown with Mr. Siniora and his Sunni-dominated government.

5. Trying to convert in Egypt
Mohamed Hegazy, a journalist and political activist, is married, and his wife is four months pregnant. They're Christians and want their child to be identified as Christian when born. But the Egyptian interior ministry refuses to let Hegazy change his official religious identification from Islam to Christianity. Hegazy, 24, converted to Christianity several years ago (Reuters says four years; Compass Direct says eight). Now Hegazy has filed suit to have the change made. Yesterday, after a series of death threats — including some, reportedly, from the security police, Hegazy's lawyer resigned. "If you add to the state of alert in Egyptian society, and to protect the feelings of our Muslim brothers, and to protect our national unity … we decided to abandon this case," said the lawyer, Mamdouh Nakhla. "We ask all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians, to close this file and refrain from talking about this sensitive area. Not speaking about this is much better than blowing up such subjects, which could set society on fire."

Quote of the day
"Whether a woman works outside or strictly in the home, her first priority is her family and home. We just really want to step up and provide some of these skills."
Terri Stovall, dean of women's programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is offering a new bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in homemaking. Only women may enroll in the program, which offers courses on food and nutrition, design and apparel, the value of a child, and the "biblical model for the home and family." She was quoted by the Associated Press.

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August (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51