California's Dark Horse Known for his Christian Activities

Bill who?Bill Simon Jr won the Republican nomination in the California governor race on Tuesday. It’s the shocking political upset of the … of the week, anyway. Everyone, including President Bush, expected former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan to be the victor. The two men were former fellow parishioners, but ran very different campaigns: Simon took strong political stands while Riordan hemmed and hawed on his positions. There are countless articles this week rushing to explain who this newcomer is, but Christianity Today readers will be interested in these details. His father was Nixon and Ford Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, whose courageous stands posthumously earned him the Wilberforce Award from Charles Colson’s Prison Fellowship Ministries. He’s also one of the major financial backers of PAX-TV, and served as vice chairman of the family-friendly network. He also used to host a Sunday morning show on the network, “Sunday With Simon” (guests included Colson, VeggieTales head Phil Vischer, and Os Guinness). He’s also the vice chairman of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, chairman emeritus of the crisis shelter Covenant House of California, and served on the board of The Heritage Foundation and other organizations. Oh yeah, and he’s a big-time lawyer, too. (Marvin Olasky profiled Simon in World magazine last November.)

Politics:

Bush meets with Orthodox leader | Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I talks about Iran, Middle East (Associated Press)
Marriage proposal | Debate looms over Bush plan to spend $300 million promoting unions (ABCNews.com)
Views on AIDS unchanged, Helms says | Senator cites extent of health crisis in his support for efforts in Africa (The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina)

Church & State:

Religion, county’s rules hit head-on at rabbi’s home | Josef Konikov simply ignores that his neighborhood is for residences only and continues to use his living room as a synagogue, outraging his neighbors. (The Orlando Sentinel)
Posts bearing hamlet’s anti-Satan proclamation stolen | Mayor says the posts will be replaced by 8-foot posts anchored into the ground with concrete. (Associated Press)
Earlier: The Holy City | A mayoral ban in Inglis, Florida, designates the town free of Satan (Christianity Today, Feb. 12, 2002)
Pastor thankful ex-sheriff lent help | New Jersey officials are investigating work prisoners did at church (The Bergen [N.J.] Record)
Christian wings in jails win reprieve | Director of Prison Service says he’s “content for it to continue” though he remains concerned about its “evangelical slant.” (The Daily Telegraph)

Religious liberty:

Student actor who refused to swear asks court to reinstate suit | Christian film group, theologians file briefs supporting Mormon woman’s appeal to 10th Circuit (Associated Press)
Woman receives payout after employer forces her to take religion blessing | Boss thought employee was possessed (Ananova)

Catholicism:

Pope taking it easy for a few weeks | Appointments canceled on advice of doctors (Associated Press)
A mystic in our midst? | A priest with the markings of something more (Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Wall Street Journal)
Two more scholars censured by Rome | One is a German Benedictine who is also a Zen master, the other reportedly is accused of denying the divinity of Jesus (National Catholic Reporter)
Priest not only ‘Father,’ but also husband, dad | David Medow, an ex-Lutheran minister, is the first married priest in the Chicago area. Many of his parishioners hope it’s a sign of the future. (Chicago Tribune)
Saints and spinners | Bishops launch campaign for Spanish queen’s rehabilitation (The Guardian, London)
The saints just keep marching in | In a church that seems to need all the role models it can get, even the saints are stirring a surprising amount of controversy. (The New York Times)
Pope makes a virtual visit to Russia | Teleconference in Moscow delights the Roman Catholic faithful. The Orthodox patriarch, however, denounces the event as ‘an invasion.’ (Los Angeles Times)
Also: Pope speaks to Russians in satellite ‘invasion’ (Reuters)
Also: Pope leads prayers in Moscow by satellite (The Washington Post)

Abuse:

Archdiocese nears accord in abuse suits | The Archdiocese of Boston has tentatively agreed to pay $20 million to $30 million to settle scores of cases against a former priest accused of molesting nearly 200 children in six parishes over 30 years. (The New York Times)
Sacrifice and celibacy | Beyond correcting the tragic mistakes made in our local church, the broader lesson we draw from these abuses is not that celibacy is no longer meaningful or possible but that we must once again learn how to believe (Kevin R. White, The Boston Globe)
A crisis of clergy, not of faith | Far-reaching reform can only take place when lay people have a more powerful voice in church decisions, on both the local and national levels. (Lisa Sowle Cahill, The New York Times)
Ouster of priest marks a change in Orange County diocese | Bishop Brown draws praise and criticism for his openness in handling the dismissal of Michael Pecharich, who molested a teen boy 19 years ago. (Los Angeles Times)
Diocese free of errant priests, Baltimore cardinal says | Some uneasy in wake of scandal in Boston (The Baltimore Sun)

Crime and courts:

Religious zeal infused Yates’ lives, testimony shows | Fears of demonic influences and social ills pervaded the home where a woman drowned her children, witnesses say. (Los Angeles Times)
Also: Thou shalt be Christian mothers | There was a time in my life that I, too, believed I was a bad mother to my four children. (Dale Koscielny, Los Angeles Times)
Pastor gets life for family murders | Hungarian-born pastor killed several family members and dissolved the remains in drain cleaner. (BBC)
Forgery, theft trial opens for ministers | Pastor, son accused of diverting funds for personal gain (The Baltimore Sun)
Andersen settles Arizona lawsuit | Auditor agrees to pay $217 million in damages for failing to uncover fraud in Baptist Foundation investment fund. (Los Angeles Times)
Police to monitor churches for robbers | The police in Lagos State have decided to extend the search for criminals to churches and mosques in the state as robbers continue to target Lagos churches (P.M. News, Lagos, Nigeria)
Legalities aside, copying puts you on slippery slope | What’s wrong with copying CDs (Ken Vaux, Chicago Sun-Times)
Rocky finances, unbuilt churches | Local congregations are among creditors trying to recover money paid to a clergyman-builder. (The Baltimore Sun)

Church life:

Former temple, now a church—next an eatery? | For $6.5 million, Turner Memorial AME Church is up for sale (Marc Fisher, The Washington Post)
Court sides with opponents of AME church | Maryland’s second-highest court rules against building a 3,000-seat sanctuary (The Baltimore Sun)
Rector is suspended in Episcopal rift | The Rosemont priest violated canon law, the Pa. Diocese said. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Also: Father Moyer starts ‘retreat’ with a ruckus | Episcopal priest calls six-month suspension “invalid, illegal, unjust and unchristian.” (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Also: Episcopal rector suspended | David L. Moyer leads a 19,000-member national conservative movement called Forward in Faith (Associated Press)