But while the White House may want to move ahead at warp speed, the Senate might slow the program down. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), one of the Senate’s biggest supporters of Bush’s plan and the lead sponsor in the Senate of implementing it, says he’s splitting the legislative side of Bush’s proposal in two. The first, which will be offered within days, will seek to implement the less controversial aspects of Bush’s faith-based initiative, such as allowing taxpayers who don’t itemize to claim deductions for charitable contributions, creating tax break for banks that use individual development accounts, and limiting the liability for companies that offer in-kind contributions. The heart of Bush’s plans, however—expanding the kinds of social service grants that churches and religious organizations can compete for—will be postponed for “several months to a year,” according to The Washington Post. “My sense is we’re looking within the next year for them to work out the bugs,” Santorum tells the paper. “The timing may be right then.”
More news articles on Bush’s faith based initative:
- Bush visit sets off debate about religion and state (The New York Times)
- Charitable tax break seen as costly (Associated Press)
- Critics Protest Bush Religion Plan (Associated Press)
- Faith in government? | Debate heats up over plans to reshape ties between the state and religious groups. (The Christian Science Monitor)
Opinion on Bush’s faith based initative:
- Fund individuals | A way to save President Bush’s faith-based initiative (Marvin Olasky, World)
- You’re clear to land | A great proposal for how to deal with all the air traffic delays in America these days: “faith-based air traffic control.” (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times)
- Faith-based politics | Obstacles to providing services can be overcome (Editorial, The Dallas Morning News)
- A faith-based quagmire | Mr. Bush’s goal, “to invigorate the spirit of involvement and citizenship” in America, is laudable. However, that goal is best achieved through secular nonprofit groups. (Editorial, The Hartford Courant)
Thomas Jefferson and Bush’s faith-based initiative:
- What Would Jefferson Do? | The man who invented the “wall of separation” attended church services on government property. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Church and lawsuit | When it comes to government funding of church-run entities, President Thomas Jefferson took a few tentative steps more than 200 years ago. President Bush just made what he hopes will be many thousands more. (The Christian Science Monitor)
More politics and law:
- Christian, but no longer a powerful Coalition | Rocked by financial debt, lawsuits and the loss of experienced political leaders, the Christian Coalition has become but a pale imitation of its once powerful self (The Washington Times)
- Religious Tolerance 101 | “We have no position on the morality of artificial contraception – but, as Egan said yesterday: ‘The government must not interfere in matters of religious faith … to do so is un-American.'” (Editorial, New York Post)
- Wyoming Supreme Court: State must allow religious waivers from inoculations | Justices “confident in our presumption that parents act in the best interests of their children’s physical, as well as their spiritual, health” (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)
- Ten Commandments hang in courtroom | ACLU files federal suit to remove them (WEWS, Cleveland, Ohio)
- Bill would require Mississippi public schools to display ‘In God We Trust’ | ACLU objects, blah blah blah same song different verse (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)
- Putting their faith in new religious act | Bay Area groups try to protect space, practices (San Francisco Chronicle)
- California appeals panel: Christian club wrongfully barred from school (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)
- Colorado’s debatable divorce bill | State legislature is considering divorcing parents to get a year’s counseling, but a critic suggests only 6 hours are needed to educate (CBS News)
- Irish woman sues priest for church fall | Woman was getting out of a pew to take communion when a kneeling board fell down and trapped her foot. She is seeking £25,000 ($36,715) (The Irish Times)
- British school told to reinstate religion in assemblies | Replacing God with humanism is breaking the law, says Department of Education (The Telegraph, London)
- Vatican radio charge fails | Court officials unable to serve Vatican Radio leaders with papers notifying them of the hearing. (The Times, London)
More stories:
Britain:
- Catholic bar to throne ‘must be ended’ (The Guardian, London)
- Sacked choirmaster accepts £7,500 after ‘living in sin’ row (Ananova)
- Earlier: Church ousts pastor who ousted organist for affair (Christianity Today Weblog, second item)
Bones idenfied as those of Madalyn Murray O’Hair and relatives:
- Bodies identified as those of atheist O’Hair and kin | The five-year hunt for the atheist leader Madalyn Murray O’Hair is over, a forensics expert said, confirming that bones dug up at a remote ranch in Texas were those of Ms. O’Hair and two of her family members. (The New York Times)
- Remains of missing atheist identified | More than five years after Madalyn Murray O’Hair and two relatives mysteriously disappeared, forensics tests have confirmed that human remains found in January in a shallow grave are those of the missing trio. (Associated Press)
Pop culture:
- Taking God for a spin | Carman in New York for a free concert at Madison Square Garden, but who the h*** is he? (New York Post)
- Study finds Protestant pastors often tune out Christian TV (Religion News Service/Star Tribune)
- Norwegian Christians urged to slam BigBrother TV show | The Christian weekly Norge I Dag (Norway Today) will issue stickers to its readers with the phone numbers of the nation’s television stations so they can ring in and complain about “trash-TV” (Aftenposten, Oslo)
- Wrestling with religion | The West Wing dramatizes a president’s conflict of faith and duty. (The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina)
- And for Best Representation of Religious Practice in a motion picture, the winner is — (The New York Times)
- Jed, Jesus paired in BeverlyHillbillies Bible lessons | Author of Andy Griffith Bible study moves on to more shows (Abilene Reporter-News)
- ‘Greatest Story’ comes to DVD | If Zeffirelli’s TV miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth” is the ultimate Catholic film version of Christ’s life, then “Greatest Story” represents the definitive Protestant rendition in its solemn restraint and academic fastidiousness. (Variety)
Persecution:
- Egypt prosecutors to appeal sectarian riot verdict | Egypt’s highest appeals court will consider an appeal against the acquittal of 92 people accused of taking part in the El Kosheh riots that left 19 Coptic Christians two Muslims dead (Reuters)
- Earlier: Egyptian Court Releases All 89 El-Kosheh Defendants | Muslim murder suspects all set free without bail. (Christianity Today, Dec. 12, 2000)
- Earlier: Prosecutors say they will appeal El-Kosheh verdict (Christianity Today Weblog, Feb. 12, 2001)
- ‘My job is to throw bombs and burn houses,’ Moluccan boy says | Christian and Muslim youths in Indonesia are on front lines of a deadly conflict both sides call a holy war. (Los Angeles Times)
- Sins of the father | In Vietnam, there is religious freedom. Pray quietly, keep out of politics and you won’t go to jail (Time Asia)
- Manipur missionary schools under threat from militants | Catholics ordered to pay or be killed (The Indian Express)
- Dara Singh insists he is innocent | “I am innocent. I never believed in violence. I oppose any kind of violence,” says Hindu accused of leading murder of missionary Graham Staines. “After my release, I would like to carry out my mission of prohibiting the missionaries who are taking advantage of the poverty of the tribals and are converting them.” (The Economic Times, New Delhi)
- Two dead, four kidnapped in Sudan | Dozens of gunmen loot and attack Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Associated Press)
- Sudan war getting U.S. attention | Colin Powell meets with senior State Department officials to talk about crafting a U.S. policy for ending the war and human rights abuses as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom plans to add recommendations (Associated Press)
Racial and Religious Vilification Bill in Victoria, Australia:
- Political correctness threatens to become law | There should be one law for everyone on vilification. Christians would be ill-advised to support legislation that could be used to prevent or inhibit Christian teaching, while leaving racists and the enemies of religion, who are artists or academics, exempt and free to vilify. (George Pell, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
- A slur or free speech? | What the racial and religious vilification bill is about (The Age)
Christians and Jews:
- Religious row blazes over Greek identity | Leader of Greece’s Orthodox Church claims that Jews are behind bitter dispute over identity cards. (BBC)
- Cardinal: ‘Whatever we do is wrong’ | Despite Catholic attempts to arrive at a new understanding of Jews and Judaism, there is often a sense that Jews disapprove of everything that the Church tries to do, says Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Religious Relations with the Jews. (The Jerusalem Post)
Church life:
- It’s not a merger made in heaven | The plan to share clergy with Episcopalians is opposed by a growing number of Lutherans. (Los Angeles Times)
- When God’s work doesn’t pay, pastors scramble | More than half of Protestant clergy in U.S. metropolitan areas lack a full-time salary, experts say (Stockton News/Contra Costa Times)
- Some oppose Willow Creek church expansion | Residents say megachurch is too big already (Chicago Sun-Times)
- Reformed Church in Zambia excommunicates moderator, general secretary, and six others | No reasons reported for massive sacking (Post of Zambia, Lusaka)
- Earlier: Reformed Church conflicts traced | Worship wrangle has been going on since 1998 (The Times of Zambia, Jan. 13, 2001)
Life ethics:
- House GOP pushes new abortion limits | Republicans start with a bill that would impose penalties on people who harm a fetus during an assault on a pregnant woman. (The Washington Post)
- Crime bill seen by some as move against abortion | Measure would make hurting fetuses illegal (The Sun, Balimore)
- Churches angry at cloning claims | Church groups have been angered by reports that secret human cloning experiments have been taking place in Australia for the past two years (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
Missions and ministry:
- Cardinal turns heads at bar sermon | “You have to go where the people are,” says Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, D.C. (Associated Press)
- Pastor takes pain’s purpose to people | Bob Sorge can barely speak, but Christians are lined up to hear him (The Washington Times)
- Man tried to leave McVeigh a Bible | “I just recently became a born-again Christian and thought as a nice, kind, human gesture that I would try and stop out at the prison and see if I could give him a Bible,” says Georgia trucker (Associated Press)
Are disasters divine communication?:
- E-mail from the man upstairs (that’s E for earthquake) | Seattle wonders if God is upset at dependence on technology (Erik Lacitis, The Seattle Times)
- Church blames Queen for disasters | Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland says hoof-and-mouth disease, flooding, and other woes are God’s judgment for meeting with Pope John Paul II. (The Times, London)
- Earlier: Politician Who Saw God’s Hand in Gujarat Quake Forced to Resign | Civil aviation minister had told Christians that quake was God’s judgment against persecution of Christians. (Christianity Today, Feb. 5, 2001)
Internet:
- People find names and woes aired on well-meaning prayer sites | Stories are often exaggerated and obsolete (The Financial Express, Bombay, India)
- Racy ads expose inconsistency in publishers’ stance | The recent pledge by New York magazine’s parent company, Primedia, which last week completed a merger with the Web site network About.com, to sell or block sites that contain explicit sexual content. If those sites are unacceptable, why is it acceptable, at a time of concern over the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted disease, to publish advertisements like this one in New York magazine last week: “Sue & friend: Midtown, expensive, and worth it.” (The New York Times)
Mormons:
- Mormon is nation’s first porn czar (Associated Press)
- Mormons await golden moment | Church of Latter-day Saints prepares for Olympic spotlight to shine on Salt Lake City (The Washington Post)
- Utah high court sides with Mormon church in sexual-abuse case | “Claims against clerics that require the courts to review and interpret church law, policies or practices … are barred by the First Amendment” says decision (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)
- Mormon church: Don’t call us the Mormon church (U.S. News & World Report)
Catholicism:
- Indian Catholics gain new identity, independence | Pope John Paul II appointed Rev. Jacob Angadiath as bishop of the Syro-Malabar church in Chicago and around the U.S. (Chicago Tribune)
- Chicago gets diocese for Eastern Rite | The Eparchy of St. Thomas of the Syro-Malabarians of Chicago is the first Syro-Malabar diocese outside India (Associated Press)
- Lutherans split over Pope’s role | Hans Christian Knuth, presiding bishop of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany, suggested that Protestants might recognize the pontiff as a universally accepted spokesman for all Christianity, but others balk at idea. (UPI)
- Pope to beatify 233 Spanish martyrs (Associated Press)
- A merciful moralist | Touted as the leading Italian contender for the papacy, the cardinal of Genoa is strict about doctrine. But he is known as a compassionate pastor in the field. (Los Angeles Times)
Exhibits:
- Roman Catholic and evangelical churches in Germany protest corpses as art (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Seeking salvation in the world’s major museums | Exhibition devoted to the image of Christ through the ages couldn’t get sponsorship, but ended up being the fourth most popular exhibition in the world last year (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Money and finance:
- In good conscience | Refined niche funds focus on targeted social values. (Newsday)
- Online giving suffers setback with charity conduit’s demise | Internet, non-profit cultures didn’t mesh (San Jose Mercury News)
Other stories of interest
- Taliban not the first group to destroy icons | Iconoclasm not only marked the Protestant Reformation in Europe but dates to far earlier times (Associated Press/Chicago Tribune)
- The FCC brings low power to the people | Small Christian stations get most of the dial (U.S. News & World Report)
- Y2K scare brings Christians together | Virginia community shares values that make it flourish (Associated Press/Detroit News)
- Anchor away at CNN | “Moneyline News Hour” coanchor Stuart Varney resigns over boss Turner’s “Jesus freaks” comment (New York Daily News)
- Journal’s ‘the culmination of theological endeavour’ | Africa Challenge: All Africa Journal of Theology, which launched March 6, aims to help African theologians articulate theological issues from the African point of view (African Church Information Service)
Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere
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March 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5
March 2 | 1 | February 28 | 27 | 26
February 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19
February 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12
February 8 | 7 | 6 | 5
February 2 | 1 | January 31 | 29
January 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22
