Christian Radio Show Hosted By Anti-Missionary Canceled

NYC Christian radio station dumps show of Jew who works against Jews for Jesus Salem broadcasting’s WMCA, one of New York’s largest Christian radio stations, pulled the plug on the Tovia Singer Show — hosted by a non-Christian Jew who works against Christian missionaries.

Singer calls himself an “anti-missionary,” and his Outreach Judaism organization claims to “rescue” Jews from Jews for Jesus and other evangelistic organizations.

In a letter explaining the cancellation, obtained by the Associated Press, station general manager Carl J. Miller said that listeners’ knowledge of Singer’s “‘anti-Christian missionary’ efforts is problematic … given WMCA’s primary commitment to our core audience, I simply cannot allow that particular broadcast to continue.”

Singer blames “a full court press” by Jews for Jesus. “With all the breast-beating and loud ‘We love the Jews and Israel’ slogans emanating from the conservative Christian world these days, I didn’t want to believe that this could happen — at least not now,” Singer says on his website.

Only nine shows aired, from June 26 to August 28—all of them, including his earlier shows on another station, are archived on his site.

Take a look at Singer’s website, especially the questions area. The real question is why a Christian radio station put him on the air in the first place.

Burnhams:

U.S. effort against guerrillas in Philippines is messy success | More details emerge about the rescue attempts (The Wall Street Journal)
The prayers to heal | Gracia Burnham speaks at 9/11 service (The Wichita Eagle)
Burnhams humbled by gift of new home | Plans for the one-story home, built entirely by volunteers and with donated supplies, show a 4-bedroom, 1,700-square-foot house with a walk-out basement (The Wichita Eagle)

September 11 and faith:

Noah and 9/11 | What do we do after the flood? (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times)
Religious Lessons Of Sept. 11: Do Good – And Fight Evil | PBS’s two-hour special was particularly useful because, surprisingly, America’s churches seem to have avoided the job of helping the country process this great national horror (Morton Kondracke, Roll Call)
Remembrance Day: New York prayers on 9/11/02 | Are any Christian clerics left who reject appeasement? (Rod Dreher, National Review Online)
Moving on | People will be examining religious, personal beliefs to commemorate Sept. 11. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Church and state:

Prayer ban for public meetings upheld | California city councils that begin meetings with an invocation will have to reassess that practice (Los Angeles Times)
ACLU says SB schools mixed culture, religion | In-school events that taught about American Indian culture cut across boundary, lawyer says (Traverse City Record-Eagle)
Burbank loses prayer ruling | No invoking the name of Christ at City Council meetings, says state appeals court (Associated Press)
Judge OKs prayer at 9/11 ceremony | “There is an undeniable religious aspect to ceremonies such as this, for people often seek solace in religion after events as horrific as Sept. 11,” says U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle.
Classroom karaoke | If California schools keep the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, there will be kids like I was, who will remain silent, move their lips and hope that patriotic peers don’t catch them (Susan McCarthy, Salon.com)

First Amendment:

School violated club leader rights | A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a school district violated a Bible club leader’s rights by refusing to give her club the same status and benefits granted to other school groups (Associated Press)
Also: School religious groups get equal benefits | 9th gives Bible club status as Associated Student Body school entity (California Law Recorder)
Also: Bible group wins ruling on school rights | A federal appeals court rules that it must be treated the same as any other campus club. Experts see a strong precedent. (Los Angeles Times)
Waxahachie Wiccan can wear pentacle | Policy protects religious symbol, Waxahachie school chief says. (The Dallas Morning News)
Religious group accuses Missouri city of blocking Sept. 11 service | Lawsuit claims town’s policy barring use of its community center for political or religious purposes violates First Amendment. (Associated Press)

Life ethics:

Abortion fight might scuttle bankruptcy bill | July compromise reconsidered (The Washington Post)
California passes broad abortion-rights legislation | With most states hostile to extending rights, the package of bills is remarkable (The Christian Science Monitor)

Politics and law:

Pat Robertson favors tax hike for roads | Supporters of the campaign say the endorsement from Robertson may encourage conservative voters to reconsider anti-tax positions (The Virginian-Pilot)
Narrow victory for gay rights in Dade | Repeal group vows another petition drive (The Miami Herald)
Faith-based bill’s hopes revive in Senate | Jim Towey expects a vote sometime in the next two weeks (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Depoliticize food aid, Zimbabwe’s Catholic bishops say | The bishops’ appeal comes after allegations that officials were denying suspected supporters of political opponents access to donated maize (The Daily News, Harare)
Catholic lawyer to face Yasser Arafat in January elections | Two other longshots, too (Associated Press)
Florida death-penalty battle rages over sentencing | A legal fight over who determines capital penalties could impact many states (The Christian Science Monitor)

Other religions and conversion:

Religious wars | U.S. Jewish groups and their anti-Christian hostility (David Klinghoffer, National Review Online)
Can any good come of radical Islam? | A modernizing force? Maybe. (Francis Fukuyama and Nadav Samin, The Wall Street Journal)
Frenzy without, peace within | 10 million American adults meditate regularly (Los Angeles Times)
Uzbeks convert to Christianity | On rise despite official government efforts (UPI)

Education:

Holy ivory investments | Conservatives should invest more in religious colleges (Naomi Schaefer, National Review Online)
Teens encouraged to abstain (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)

Crime and violence:

Violence flares in the Greek Orthodox Church | Atallah Hanna says his house was attacked (The Jerusalem Post)
Accused ‘possessed by demon’ | A man who stands accused of murdering a 19-year-old woman told a church friend three days after the incident that “something demonic came over him” when he repeatedly hit her with a brick (Die Burger, Cape Town, South Africa)
Ethnicity, identity blamed for increasing tensions in church | Delegates to the Annual School of theological lectures heard that the Church had succumbed to tribalism, with leaders showing open hostility towards members of other ethnic communities (African Church Information Service)

Television:

Holy rolling | On Truthquest—a spirited version of MTV’s Road Rules—teens go wild, but without the pagan excess (Outside)
TBN habla Español | Controversial Christian network’s Enlace network should be available in 10 of the country’s largest Hispanic markets within a year (Associated Press)
‘Pole’ event expected to draw 5,000 | Coliseum rally will feature ‘Survivor’ player (The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.)
Christians Look to Saint Simpsons | Experts agree that despite the show’s jabs at institutions like organized religion, the education system and government, the characters’ morality remains resolute (Fox News)

Missions and ministries:

Jerry Falwell to host ‘Jerusalem Prayer Summit’ with Jerusalem Mayor | The event, known as a “Jerusalem Prayer Summit,” is part of a campaign kicked off by Olmert in a visit to Dallas in June (The Jerusalem Post)
Habitat for peace: Crossing religious boundaries | Jews, Muslims, and Christians unite for Habitat for Humanity (KING, Seattle)

Church life:

Area sees church boom | As more houses of worship expand or relocate, relationships with neighbors can become strained (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
Battling bishops | Theological dispute raises questions of authority in the Episcopal Church (World)

Bible and theology:

The times that try one’s faith | Does God cause or condone evil? Do murder victims who do not believe in God go to heaven or hell? Can Islam, Judaism and Christianity co-exist? (The Orange County Register)
What the Left Behind series left out | A biblical text taken out of its original context can mean whatever anyone wants it to mean (Ben Witherington III, Bible Review)
Dissenting voices from the past | Stanley Hauerwas mixes what comes across like a snobbish appraisal of his fellow Americans with an eloquently argued pacifist theology that nonetheless bucks the question of what practical solution he might have up his sleeve (Uwe Siemon-Netto, UPI)

Religious sites and artifacts:

Satellite combs mountain for Noah’s Ark (Discovery News)
Palestinian Authority blasts Israel over sacred site | Israel’s security cabinet ordered the defense ministry on Wednesday to consider ways to safeguard Jewish access to Rachel’s Tomb (The Guardian, London)

Catholicism:

Russia’s Catholic Church protests | The head of the Roman Catholic Church decries a “large-scale anti-Catholic campaign” (Associated Press)
Also: Russian Catholics criticize expulsion of five priests (Reuters)
Mel Gibson launches scathing attack on the Vatican | Catholic actor says it’s a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” and doesn’t believe in church as an institution (The Times, London)
Also: Holy ‘warrior’ Mel rips papacy (New York Post)

Australia’s weeping Madonna:

Tests on crying Madonna fail to show hoax | Researcher says he knows it’s a fake, but he can’t show how (UPI)
Also: Weeping statue survives tests (UPI)
Virgin seeping, not weeping | Examiner says figurine was built to make tears (News.com.au, Australia)
Weeping statue ‘no trick’: Archbishop | Barry Hickey, Archbishop of Perth, says he was skeptical but is now believer (News.com.au)

Sex abuse scandal:

Recovered memory is focus of abuse review board controversy | Johns Hopkins University’s Paul McHugh has vowed to fight child abuse “tooth and nail.” But victims groups don’t like where he stands on therapy (Associated Press)
Church clears Foster of abuse | Monsignor to regain job as canon lawyer (The Boston Globe)

Other stories of interest:

Religion news in brief | David Moyer, Vancouver’s “flying bishops” idea grounded, Woman Lutheran bishop quits WCC over Orthodox deal, and other stories (Associated Press)
Ayub Masih flees Pakistan | Christian prisoner thanks God, prayer, Open Doors for his release (Assist News Service)
Zimbabwe bishop mum on priest’s departure | So-called war veterans forced Patrick Joseph Kelly to leave (The Daily News, Harare)
Christianity’s new center | Philip Jenkins, the author of “The Next Christianity” in the October Atlantic, argues that most Americans and Europeans are blind to Christianity’s real future (The Atlantic Online)
Fundamental lessons for our secularized society | The fact that our churches, on both sides of the sectarian divide, have often been disfigured by misogyny, bigotry, and neurotic sadism does not in itself mean that religion is bunk (Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman)