Weblog Gets Testy

The pogrom problem Weblog has seen far too many articles about whether Mel Gibson’s The Passion is anti-Semitic, but comments appearing in today’s Washington Times go way beyond reason. About two dozen Jewish demonstrators and New York lawmakers yesterday protested the film outside Fox News Corp. They hadn’t seen the film, of course. Just a seven-minute clip, which the protesters say is anti-Semitic itself because it shows a Jewish mob calling for Jesus’ crucifixion.

“It will result in anti-Semitism and bigotry,” Assemblyman Dov Hikind promised. “It really takes us back to the Dark Ages … the Inquisition, the Crusades, all for the so-called sin of the Crucifixion of Jesus.”

The Jewish demonstrators carried signs that said, “The Passion is a lethal weapon against Jews”—a slogan they also chanted.

Malka Moskowitz, who says she’s a Holocaust survivor, suggested that the film will lead to genocide. With her voice breaking, she told the Times, “This is the way it started.”

William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League, was present to offer reporters and others an alternative view. “How anybody could watch this movie and come out with hatred toward Jews, that person belongs in Bellevue Hospital,” he said.

But a rabbi from Brooklyn claimed that by making such a comment, Donohue himself “would be responsible if violence broke out.”

Let’s put aside the fact that it was completely pointless to protest outside Fox News Corp., since that company has absolutely no connection to The Passion apart from having first rights to distribution (which the company says it has refused). These comments are utterly off the wall. First, they say that Gibson’s film itself is a form of violence against Jews. By extension, that would mean that every church in America that does a Holy Week play on the life of Christ is engaged in an annual pogrom. Has any film on the life of Christ, in any place around the world, ever, led to such violence? There have been dozens upon dozens of Jesus movies, most of which were far less careful in their efforts not to suggest all Jews are responsible for the crucifixion. The Jesus film is the most widely seen film in history, and there has never been a recorded case of it promoting anti-Jewish violence. In another case, a new movie shows the entirety of the Gospel of John, word for word, which means that narrated references to “the Jews” will abound. So far, Weblog has heard not a peep of concern (as it should be).

Let’s be clear: The film does not depict Jesus’ death (which Christians see as a good thing) as a kind of Christ vs. “the Jews” battle. The only people who are tying the film to anti-Semitism—the only people who are suggesting that “the Jews” were responsible for killing Jesus—are these Jewish protesters. If they’d just be quiet, any debate over the film would center on its biblical faithfulness, its historicity, and on Christian theological issues. But by making Jews vs. Jesus the center of the film, Passion critics may in fact be encouraging anti-Jewish feelings.

Newspapers need to read the news Regular Weblog readers may notice that there are no more links to The Times of London, which used to be a staple of this feature not too long ago. That’s because The Times has closed off access to its site except for paying subscribers. But via the BBC today, Weblog came across this link: “Death of a sacrificial lamb: An autistic boy was suffocated during a faith-healing service in Milwaukee, but the minister will not be charged with his death.”

The article appears to have run within the last 24 hours, which is problematic: Ray Hemphill, the minister who oversaw this service was charged with felony abuse on Tuesday. But what’s with that headline: Death of a sacrificial lamb? Folks are welcome to disagree over whether 8-year-old autistic boy Terrance Cottrell Jr. should have been the subject of a two-hour deliverance service. And certainly something went wrong during that service. (Not much is known about what happened. The Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith says the boy’s mother didn’t tell anyone that the boy had just taken medication. Hemphill reportedly sat on the boy’s chest for much of the service.) This is clearly a very sad story.

But a headline suggesting that Cottrell was sacrificed is inexcusable. It’s pure bigotry. And, unfortunately, it puts many of us who want to discuss the dangers of these deliverance services in the position of defending this church’s beliefs and practices.

Sigh. Yeah, as you can see, Weblog is a bit more on edge today. That’s probably less because of the news than because today is the last day that Todd Hertz, Christianity Today‘s online assistant editor, will be working for us. Regular visitors to the site will remember his many, many articles, including his popular evangelistic interview with the Austin Powers IM bot.

Todd is leaving CT, but he’s staying in the company: Starting Tuesday, he’ll be the new associate editor for sister publication Campus Life, a magazine for teens. We wish him all the best, and are glad he’ll still be around the building, and his byline will appear on the Campus Life channel of ChristianityToday.com (which, it should be noted, is the corporate website of Christianity Today International, which includes Christianity Today’s website and that of our 10 other magazines.)

And for you journalists reading this, it means there’s an opening. Apply here—quickly.

Ten Commandments:

Ten Commandments monument stirs debate over religious freedom in U.S. | Some see the display of the Biblical symbol in a public courthouse as a violation of American law. The monument’s defenders view the struggle to remove it as a rejection of God (Voice of America)
Monument now rallying point | Christians use controversy in Alabama to push agenda (Chicago Tribune)
I bring you ten—no, five—Commandments | If the ACLU et al. won’t accept Ten Commandments, how about five? (Jonah Goldberg)
Mississippi covets neighbor’s monument | Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove volunteered Thursday to join neighboring Alabama in the fight over the Ten Commandments monument by offering to display it in his state’s capitol building for a week starting September 7 (CNN)
An offensive work of art | Civil-liberties groups defend other controversial public art, so why not the Ten Commandments? (Gene Edward Veith, World)
U.S. wrestles with role of God in public life (Reuters)

Alabama tax reform:

Poor in spirit? | If Riley loses, we’ll have pretty convincing proof that for all the moral high ground Christians claim, in a showdown they open themselves to criticism that they hate taxes more than they love Jesus (Neal Peirce, Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
What would Jesus tax? | We’re not sure where the Bible comes down on tax-and-spend politicians, but we have a pretty good idea of what it says about people who break their word (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal)

Aftermath of Episcopal gay bishop vote:

Episcopalians revolt with their pocketbooks | Offerings withheld after gay-bishop vote (The Denver Post)
Attempt to expel US Anglicans at summit | Conservative archbishops are increasingly confident that they can force the expulsion of the American Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion over its liberal line on homosexuality (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Episcopal bishop, others propose resolutions to disengage from national church | Six resolutions that could pave the way for the 20,000-member Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh to disengage from the national church were mailed this week to local clergy and lay deputies who will vote on them at a special diocesan convention scheduled for next month (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Religion news in brief | Episcopal Church head defends Robinson vote, Nebraska court upholds dismissal of Lord’s Prayer lawsuit, and other stories (Associated Press)

Gay marriage:

Marriage represents a history of change | What marriage means to society and to individuals has long been debated in this country (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Feds seeks to stop gay marriage appeal | Religious coalition not a party in case, justice brief says (The Ottawa Citizen)
Gay Americans go north to take the plunge | U.S. couples unable to marry cross Niagara to make the most of Canada’s liberal laws (The Guardian, London)
Gay nuptials causing rift in Canada | In a country where morality is rarely the subject of public debate and where religious leaders seldom take political stands, onlookers have been surprised by the passionate bolts of denunciation hurled from Roman Catholic cathedrals and conservative Protestant pulpits at Chretien’s pledge to rewrite the country’s legal definition of marriage from the “lawful union of one man and one woman” to the union of “two persons” (The Boston Globe)
South Africa could recognize gay marriage | South African Law Reform Commission. has made seven proposals, addressing both homosexual and heterosexual relationships, which are open for public comment (The Star, South Africa)
Also: State gay laws a first | The last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality has become the first to institute a registry for same-sex couples and others in significant relationships (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)

Sexual ethics:

Detractors denounce Southern Decadence | Promoters warn about public sex (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
Also: Decadence fans set to welcome protesters (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
Also: Conservative Christians, gays to share Quarter | Southern Decadence will draw visitors as well as protesters (WDSU, New Orleans)
After the mourning | A progressive church copes with the removal of its pastor (Cincinnati CityBeat)
Groundbreaking gay-themed channel enters the picture | After a year or so of industry talk about the concept of a gay-themed TV channel, DirecTV is taking the plunge tomorrow, launching the nation’s first channel aimed exclusively at the gay and lesbian market (The Boston Globe)
Kenyan Anglicans re-affirm stand on gays | “The Church has to uphold the Biblical mandate on marriage and sex and appeal to all Christians not to be swayed by advocates of homosexuality,” says Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi (East African Standard)
Unfaithful priest fired | A vicar in Florø, Norway, was fired on Monday after having an affair with a female member of the congregation when being married to another woman (Nettavisen, Norway)

Persecution:

Clergy speak out | According to a delegation of Zimbabwean pastors who are in Botswana “to seek solidarity” with their brothers and sisters, President Robert Mugabe’s government has become so paranoid that church ministers are monitored on a 24-hour basis by security intelligence (Gregory Kelebonye, The Daily News, Harare, Zimbabwe)
Verdict postponed for Canadian accused by Beirut | The verdict in the Bruce Balfour case, expected Wednesday, was postponed until Sept. 1 to give the prosecution more time to summon witnesses and study new documents received by the court (Associated Press)
A painful separation ends | Prem Awaes, a Christian Pakistani refugee, reunites with son, Julius (The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.)

Anti-missionaries:

VHP to launch reconversion drive in Kerala (KeralaNext.com, India)
Christian conversion threatens hill tribe culture | The hill tribes of northern Thailand have survived centuries of displacement, hardship and discrimination. But now their uniquely colorful culture is under a new threat, albeit a well-meaning one: Christian evangelism (Asia Times)
Evangelist missionaries target poor rural youth | Reports from Tibet suggest that Evangelist missionaries have increased and diversified their long-term activities in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet because of the closer interaction between Tibetans and foreigners operating in Tibet (Times of Tibet)
Jewish and Christian leaders launch countermissionary campaign | B’nai Brith Canada today announced the launch of a campaign to inform members of Toronto’s Jewish community about the activities of “Jews for Jesus” (The Jerusalem Post)

Missions and ministry:

New Tribes missionary looks to save lives | Hostage survivors speak out (WESH, Orlando)
Two million hours of prayer and counting | Since 1878, an order of nuns in La Crosse, Wisconsin, has prayed around the clock, without pause (Minnesota Public Radio)
Believers pray for incarcerated at main jail | But there were more signs than people at a pray-for-the-inmates event Thursday outside the Ventura County Main Jail (Ventura County Star, Calif.)
City Council member says he’s learning, but is in sync with constituents | If people find the former minister scary, it’s because they don’t know him yet, he says (King County Journal, Wash.)
World Council of Churches chooses African leader | Samuel Kobia of Kenya is currently the council’s special representative for Africa (Associated Press)

Bible and theology:

Ikea bigger than the Bible | More copies of its catalogue are printed worldwide (Nettavisen, Norway)
Pop goes the Bible | The New Testament meets Cosmo, as pop culture and religion intersect (ABCNews.com)
On language: Bible | Eponymous phrases based on biblical names have been increasing. Unfortunately, Bible mistakes are also multiplying (Jeffrey McQuain, The New York Times Magazine)
Bible might be the most subversive book | Attorney General John Ashcroft uses personal reading lists to identify dangerous people. He should know better. His favorite book is radically subversive (Steve Gushee, Palm Beach Post)
All equal under God, but submission for women? | Evangelical group challenges claim of a biblical basis for male leadership (The Christian Science Monitor)
Column by priest fires church row | A Sunshine Coast Catholic priest has been accused of undermining church teachings by saying the crucifix should never have become the symbol of Christianity and that Jesus would have been crucified naked (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Australia)

Life ethics:

Hill’s execution threatens to fuel extremists | After Paul Hill is executed in Florida’s death chamber next week, one aspect of his life likely won’t be buried with him: the movement to kill doctors who perform abortions (The Miami Herald)
Also: Countdown to execution of anti-abortion killer | Security is being tightened at America’s abortion clinics amid warnings that the execution of an anti-abortion extremist in Florida next week could trigger violence by the movement’s fanatical fringe (The Guardian, London)
After decades, Russia narrows grounds for abortions | Hesitantly and with little public debate, Russia has increased its restrictions on abortion for the first time in nearly half a century (The New York Times)
Canadian government fears revolt on embryo legislation | Senior government officials are growing increasingly fearful of a back-bench uprising that threatens to scuttle a long-awaited bill regulating the controversial use of human embryos for medical research (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
“Terminal sedation” different from euthanasia, Dutch ministers agree | The Dutch ministers of health and justice have rejected a call from the attorney general, Joan de Wijkerslooth, for “terminal sedation” to be covered by the same legal controls as euthanasia (British Medical Journal)
Russia begins to reconsider wide use of abortion | Though the abortion rate has almost halved since the USSR collapsed and other forms of birth control became available, Russia still has one of the world’s highest rates. For every baby born, two are aborted, according to official statistics (The Christian Science Monitor)

Public prayer:

Appeal planned for ruling on prayer | Town Attorney Brian Gibbons said Monday plans are under way to appeal a recent decision that bars the Great Falls Town Council from mentioning Jesus Christ in pre-meeting prayers (The Rock Hill, S.C.)
Jesus’ name barred from prayers at S.C. town council meetings | Federal judge sides with Wiccan high priestess who challenged officials’ prayers; mayor says town will appeal (Associated Press)
There is still prayer at The Citadel | School’s response to ruling was to replace the cadet-led prayers in the mess hall with a moment of silence that will give each cadet the opportunity to individually pray or express his or her own beliefs (Maj. Gen. John S. Grinalds, The General’s Journal, The Citadel, via Presbyweb)

Church and state:

Lights must dim for Ventura cross | To avoid a legal battle, the City Council has added a clause in the site’s deed that, after its sale, the icon can be illuminated only by muted ground bulbs (Los Angeles Times)
Texas woman wants Bible out of courthouse monument | ‘We have this insane rush to eliminate every Christian tradition and symbol from our culture,’ says judge who made refurbishing tribute his ‘personal cause’ (Associated Press)

Discrimination suits:

Dallas jet company is sued | EEOC case accuses Bombardier affiliate of religious discrimination (The Dallas Morning News)
Also: Texas jet firm sued for discrimination | Executive allegedly said Mormon he would offend customers by refusing to smoke or drink (Associated Press)
Atheist sues over school uniforms | If religion-based objections are heeded by the district, a parent asks, why aren’t hers? (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Education:

College spirit | Students who are serious about their religion — or exploring spiritual issues — don’t have to struggle alone (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Debating homosexuality in schools: Censorship doesn’t work | Trying to stifle speech for or against homosexuality rides on false hope that harmony, tolerance will prevail if no one is allowed to say anything that might offend anyone (Charles Haynes, First Amendment Center)
Plan calls for home-schooler testing | Policy would help confirm students’ work when entering district (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Cross lowered, seeks new place to rise | Caltech, known for its scientific studies of the heavens above, launched a successful earthly operation Thursday when a pair of cranes tugged a towering cross off the dome of the school’s latest real estate acquisition (Los Angeles Times)

Geoghan murder:

The murder of John Geoghan | In death, Catholics finally began to speak the language they should have been speaking about the scandal of priestly sexual abuse (Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, Canada)
Prisoners of hate | John J. Geoghan’s murder should offend every citizen’s sense of justice. We do not leave it for prisoners to pass sentences and carry them out (Ted Conover, The New York Times)
Predator becomes prey | Saturday’s prison murder laid bare flaws of yet another powerful institution — a prison system (Editorial, The Washington Post)
Prison policy put priest in unit with his killer, experts say | The Massachusetts Department of Correction has long shunned using protective housing for vulnerable inmates and has only two such units for its 9,500 prisoners (The New York Times)

Clergy sex abuse:

Vatican memo cited in sex abuse cases | Significance of 1962 secrecy order disputed (The Washington Post)
Boston church officials may face charges | The chief federal prosecutor in Boston said Tuesday he is weighing whether to bring charges against officials of the Boston Archdiocese for covering up the sexual 7abuse of children for more than 60 years (Associated Press)
Former pastor admits sex abuse; gets probation | Andrew Jay Goffinet, former senior pastor of First Evangelical Free Church of Moline, pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, but won’t spend any time in jail (The Dispatch, Moline, Ill.)
Devil made me do it—pastor | The devil apparently took over when a Pretoria youth pastor started touching a teenager on a bed a few of them had made on the floor (Beeld, South Africa)

Crime:

Financial scandals test trust in churches | Places of worship and their members can protect themselves, and locally they are shoring up their financial policies and demanding accountability. What is at stake goes to the heart of the church: its integrity (The Kansas City Star, Mo.)
Small-town church led by sex offender | 25-member congregation knows about his past (Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.)
Ex-director of Habitat of Humanity ordered to prison | Lynn Carter Black had pleaded guilty to forging organization checks (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
Christian radio employee faces child pornography charge | Kerry Dwayne Stevens has been a producer for the American Family Association for the last three years (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
Catholic priest charged in player’s death | Night of drinking preceded Gaines’ fatal fall in Homestead church (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Church life:

Anglicans celebrate homecoming | Crowd blesses restored church sanctuary, which had been damaged by fire in March (The Charlotte Observer)
Outside the comfort zone | Church members focus on taking teachings to the secular world (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram)
What’s the etiquette for church tardiness? | Can I receive Communion if I arrive late to Church? (Los Angeles Times)
Let women hear confession and grant absolution, says bishop | Bishop Vincent Malone, auxiliary bishop in Liverpool, said that the Church should consider choosing lay women to be confessors because some people might prefer disclosing their sins to a woman rather than a man (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Preacher, be a teacher | The Church’s media image is at rock bottom. What better time for Christians to teach the riches of their tradition? (Laurence Freeman, The Tablet, U.K.)
Putting pop culture behind the pulpit | A Swedesboro priest tries to keep her parishioners connected (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Internet:

Internet vicar uses virtual religion to woo stayaway flock | The Rev Alan Bain, the parish priest of St Philip and St James Anglican Church in Bath, is planning to deliver the first live broadband internet sermon in Britain (The Daily Telegraph, London)
Germany claims world’s biggest Christian Internet search engine | The www.crossbot.de engine searches cyberspace for websites with Christian content. So far it only has 300,000 web pages in its directory, all regularly scrutinized for their quality and topicality (AFP)

Music:

What do Bob Dylan and P. Diddy have in common? | Well, besides being music legends Dylan and Diddy are both profiled in a new book about pop stars and their religion (Jewsweek)
Junior Tucker: A worshipper | When popular music chart topper Junior Tucker got saved, he saw in his future a life as a gospel artiste (Jamaica Gleaner)

TV and film:

PBS film looks at gay kids and families | “Family Fundamentals,” from filmmaker Arthur Dong, is an intimate look at homosexual children and their devout parents (Associated Press)
Shaking up Christian television | Changes at WLMB aim to change viewers’ lives (The Toledo Blade)
Love, faith and dry ice: The afterlife on screen | Heaven, sang Fred Astaire, is dancing cheek to cheek, which for Jean-Paul Sartre pretty much sums up hell. What does this curious dissonance suggest? (The New York Times)
KOCE’s future role to affect its sale | Christian broadcasters with money vie with a public partnership that has less. Then there’s the question: Should the sale be for top dollar? (Los Angeles Times)
Barney the Dinosaur? Meet Jan Crouch | KOCE boss Mel Rogers is betting he can kill KOCE to save it (O.C. Weekly)

Books:

Harry Potter: A closet Jew? | Wizards keep themselves separate from muggles (non-magical people). They live, work, and study in their own community and have their own values, rules, traditions, and way of life (Rosally Saltsman, The Jerusalem Post)
Who would Jesus be? Intriguing pictures from thoughtful writers | George Scialabba reviews Beyond Belief and A Serious Way of Wondering (The Boston Globe)
Four writers forged by their Catholic faith | Interview Magazine‘s Patrick Giles reviews The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Paul Elie (Los Angeles Times)
Author counts her blessings | Joni Eareckson Tada must use a wheelchair but says she’s never felt so free (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Sunday school moves out of church | Novel follows church leader who relies on the morals and teachings that he learned as a child (News-Press, Glendale, Calif.)
Christ-haunted hero battles evil supercomputer in thriller | Readers have proven they have an appetite for thrillers that also delve into spiritual matters (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Unfaithfully yours | If you have a “that’s not funny!” mentality, you’d better stay away from Against Love (The Washington Post)

Sports:

The final serve | Michael Chang is retiring from professional tennis, but that just means more time for his first passion—serving up the gospel (Christian Reader)
Death and deception | The murder of basketball player Patrick Dennehy has exposed a lying coach, a cheating program, and an attempted cover-up at Baylor University (The New York Times)

Money and business:

Christian value | Conservative Christians are getting into everything these days, from restaurants to theme parks (The Early Show, CBS)
Businesses put their faith where their money is | Many people appreciate this a -based approach among businesses, and they patronize certain businesses because of it (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.)

Education:

Baylor U. president’s future debated | The faculty senate may take up a no-confidence vote on Sloan when it meets Sept. 9, and at least one major newspaper, the Houston Chronicle, has called for his resignation, saying he “failed dramatically” in his duty to ensure that Baylor ran an upright program (Associated Press)
Massive scheme to boost Church schools | The Church of England is considering plans to spend millions of pounds expanding its network of church schools in a bid to revitalize the Christian faith (The Observer, London)
College wants to be in vanguard of bringing feminism to church | University in Costa Mesa plans to offer a minor in women’s studies, a rarity for Christian schools. ‘It can’t be extreme,’ says one student (Los Angeles Times)

Politics and law:

Tax breaks urged to spur giving to religious charities | Entering the contentious area of church-state relations, Republican congressional leaders intend next month to take up legislation to encourage individual donations to religious charities, promoted by an $11.5 billion tax cut (The Sacramento Bee)
Stopping prison rape | The greater significance of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 is the unanimous recognition in both houses of Congress that prison rape is a problem that can no longer be ignored (Editorial, The Washington Post)
Bush’s ‘compassion’ agenda: A liability in 2004? | Some supporters admit that the president’s “compassionate conservative” agenda has fallen so far short that he could be vulnerable on the issue in 2004 (The New York Times)
Conservative lament | The conservative movement has scored historic gains but has yet to achieve several of its basic goals (The Washington Times)
Growing churches using law to fight local governments | Dozens of cases have been filed by churches and other religious institutions across the country in the three years since Congress passed a law designed to give them the upper hand in zoning disputes (Scripps Howard News Service)
Lobbyists line up on D.C. school vouchers | On Sept. 4, the full House is expected to take up D.C. appropriations legislation that Republicans plan to amend to provide $15 million to create a school voucher program for the District. School voucher legislation has been stalled in the Senate Appropriations Committee (The Washington Post)
Downer chides church leaders | Some Australian church leaders were headline seekers who were ignoring their pastoral obligations, the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said yesterday (Sydney Morning Herald)
Welfare groups ‘exploited’ | Victoria’s Christians are being asked to top up the state’s welfare budget, church groups say (The Age, Melbourne, Austrralia)
Law no threat to charities, as long as they are charitable | It is up to donors to take a hard look at what such charities are doing with their money (Padraic P. McGuinness, The Sydney Morning Herald)
A judge prejudged | Pryor takes it from both sides (Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post)
U.S. ends funds for African AIDS program | A state department official said yesterday that US law prohibited the funding of organizations that support China’s repressive population policy—a definition sufficiently elastic to include Marie Stopes International (The Guardian)

California Recall:

Recall hopefuls’ views vary widely on social issues | Differences over illegal immigration and gun control could be key factors, experts say (Los Angeles Times)
Conservatives of two minds on backing Schwarzenegger | Many California conservatives remain queasy about his moderate-to-liberal views on social issues, which match the opinions of a majority of Californians but offend many die-hard Republicans (The New York Times)
Arnold outlines views on homosexual rights, abortion | While he is pro-choice and backs homosexual rights, he is against same-sex “marriage” and partial-birth abortion (Associated Press)

Christian Europe:

Put Christ in Europe’s charter, Lithuanians and Poles declare | The presidents of Lithuania and Poland both support enscribing specifically Christian values in a new constitution for the European Union, according to a communiqué issued here today after talks by the two leaders (AFP)
Pope repeats call for Christian constitution | “The explicit recognition in the treatise of the roots of Christianity in Europe would become the principal guarantee of the future of the continent,” the Pope said (EU Observer)

God and country:

Controversy follows the Rev. Boyle | When the Rev. Frederick Boyle traveled to Iraq last February to protest the war, many parishioners in his United Methodist Church in North Jersey saw it as an anti-American act. (The Times, Trenton, N.J.)
Perplexities of loyalty: Which kingdom to serve? | Some American citizens feel torn between allegiance to God and to their country — or even to another country. (Jack Perry, The Charlotte Observer)
See Constitution for civics refresher | The United States is not a Christian nation. It seems sensible to begin there, since it’s the crux of the dispute (Leonard Pitts, The Miami Herald)
Are we God’s country, or not? | Judge Moore’s defiance exposed to all Americans the naked hostility of the Supreme Court to any official expression of belief that we are still a nation under God (Patrick J. Buchanan, The Washington Times)

Tourism:

Curse of Dracula? | Romania embraces the fictional vampire and his real-life namesake. A theme park, though — that may be going too far (Los Angeles Times)
Ancient monastic island turns back pleasure-seekers | One of France’s oldest monastic communities, on an island less than a mile off Cannes on the Côte d’Azur, has barricaded its land against a tide of tourists (The Daily Telegraph, London)

Other religions:

Is Buddhist seminar okay for police? | Religious leaders respond (Los Angeles Times)
City limits | A mosque in Rome? Sure. A non-Muslim in Mecca? No. (Jonathan V. Last, The Wall Street Journal)

Catholicism:

A border crossing of the spirit | Traditionally Roman Catholic, Latinos in the Pacific Northwest are seeking out other branches of Christianity (Associated Press)
Conservative U.S. Catholics plan summit | Forty conservative Catholic leaders are planning a Sept. 8 summit with several U.S. bishops to discuss their vision for the future of the church in the United States (The Washington Times)
Pope to make key appointments | He needs to find a replacement for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and other compulsory retirements (Roland Flamini, UPI)
One region, many faiths | Can’t remember who believes what? You need a primer (The State, Columbia, S.C.)
Bishops’ chief stands firm on celibacy rule | The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in an interview yesterday that the American bishops were unlikely to be receptive to a recent request from priests in Milwaukee to discuss opening the priesthood to married men (The New York Times)
Vatican’s stargazers place faith in science | The priests at the pope’s observatory near Rome try to correct a Galileo- linked perception about the Roman Catholic Church (Associated Press)

Advertising:

Marketers turn monks into product pitchmen | The men in hoods and robes are marketers’ darlings, having starred lately in campaigns for America Online’s broadband service, General Mills’ Oatmeal Crisp Fruit ‘n Cereal Bars and PepsiCo’s Pepsi Blue brand. These followed appearances in commercials for companies like I.B.M., Nintendo and Sony (The New York Times)
Bibles with advertising was con | Norwegian media were all tricked when protest group Adbusters Norway launched the ‘news’ that bibles sponsored by advertising were to be offered to school children all over Norway (Nettavisen, Norway)

Other stories of interest:

Bishop Jenky, petitioners want name change for R.I. bar | Don’t want the words “Hail Mary” used (The Dispatch, Moline, Ill.)
From critic to Christian | Nietzsche scholar’s search ends in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the place, he believes, where authentic Christian faith began (The Wichita Eagle)
After the story: Couple’s first kiss was worth waiting for | When Jill Merry and Adrian Burwell wed Aug. 16, they also shared with one another — at the altar — their very first kiss (The Seattle Times)
Will man return to the ‘Garden of Eden’? | Doubts have arisen that the former marsh dwellers even want to go back to the rushes (BBC)