State of Emergency Declared in Nigeria

No commentary today. Too many links.

Nigeria riots:

• Nigeria leader declares state of emergency | The declaration gives President Olusegun Obasanjo sweeping powers and he immediately exercised them by replacing the elected governor with a former military general and dissolving the state legislature (Associated Press)
• Apologize now, CAN tells Obasanjo | Christian leaders in Plateau State at the weekend demanded an unreserved apology from President Olusegun Obasanjo for his attack on the Church (Daily Champion, Lagos, Nigeria)
• Obasanjo should apologize to Christians—CAN | Chairman of Christian Association (CAN) Plateau State Branch, Reverend Yakubu Pam, has demanded an apology from President Olusegun Obasanjo over the derogatory language used on the association on Thursday in Jos, Plateau State (This Day, Lagos, Nigeria)
• Lawmaker supports Obasanjo over abuse on religious leaders | The senator representing Plateau South district, Mr. Cosmos Niangwan, has risen to the defence of President Olusegun Obasanjo over his verbal attack on religious leaders in Jos last week, saying the president was provoked by them (Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria)
• CAN president appeals for peace in Kano, Plateau | Emphasising the need for understanding, Peter Akinola said Nigerians should see themselves as one and love each other (This Day, Lagos, Nigeria)
• Yelwa, Kano Riots: Obasanjo, the Target—Rev. Akinola | The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Most Reverend Jasper Peter Akinola, has said that recent ethno-religious crises in Plateau and Kano States were not a war against the church but the leadership of the nation under President Olusegun Obasanjo (Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria)
• CAN faults police on death toll | Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kano State chapter has faulted official claim that only 30 people were killed during the religious crisis that engulfed Kano last week, just as over 10,000 displaced people scattered around the refugee camps and churches have refused to accept relief materials from the state government (Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria)
• We’ll never forget these evils, victims lament | For two consecutive days, a heavy pall of smoke and sadness enveloped Kano, just as relics of bonfires littered the streets in those troubled spots. But the ugly face of the riots that left the ancient city in utter ruins, is more on display today at different military barracks where the fear-filled residents especially non-indigenes had run to take refuge (Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria)
• Nigeria police attacked over Kano | The New York-based group Human Rights Watch says Nigerian police have used “excessive force” in the northern city of Kano (BBC)
• Kano riots: Non-natives shun calls to return | Scores of non-natives who fled their homes in Kano during last week mayhem are yet to return despite assurances by the state government and traditional rulers that they are safe (Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria)
• The Plateau and other crises | On Tuesday last week, a presidential committee on the incessant crises in Plateau State submitted its report to President Olusegun Obasanjo at the Aso Villa. One remarkable point made while the report was being submitted was that ethnicity or the “indigene-settler” question and religion were usually at the bottom of most of the crises (Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria)
• Ethno-religious crises: A polity endangered? | Hundreds have been killed, thousands displaced, and it is not a time for recriminations. But that is exactly when Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, President and Commander-in-Chief, chooses to accuse the leader of a side of idiocy (Jide Ajani, Vanguard, Nigeria)
• Killing in the name of religion | What’s going on in Plateau State (This Day, Lagos, Nigeria)
• How ethno-religious crisis again shattered Kano | How a demonstration became a riot (Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria)
• Madness in the north | The long chain of victims continues to grow by the day, threatening a major humanitarian disaster (Sylvester Asoya, The News, Lagos, Nigeria)

War & terrorism:

• Hezbollah’s passion play | The Hezbollah-backed TV channel, Al Manar, in Lebanon, has adapted the trailer for the film The Passion of the Christ into a station ident reflecting the channel’s anger over events in Iraq (BBC)
• Leaders of many faiths condemn violence in Iraq | Area religious leaders representing Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths issued a joint statement Monday condemning brutality in Iraq (Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, N.Y.)
• Should Bush ask Pope’s pardon for Iraq war? | Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he should (Reuters)
• Related: A pope & a president | A meeting of the minds and hearts (Michael Novak, National Review Online)
• Seeking spirituality amid war | Navy chaplain Joseph Estabrook works with personnel from all services to instill ethical standards (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
• On war and Christianity | The war in Iraq is putting our Christianity to its toughest test (George Plagenz, Williamson County Review Appeal, Franklin, Tenn.)
• War sows divide among clergy | Horrific events in Iraq in recent weeks raise questions about the morality of war, the role religion plays in U.S. policy decisions and the need for reconciliation, some Inland and national religious leaders said (The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Ca.)
• Sports replace combat in religious warfare | Introducing competitive prayer (Morton Marcus, The Times, Munster, Ind.)

Prisoner abuse scandal:

• From pulpit, clerics decry Iraq abuse | Soul-searching across the U.S. (Chicago Tribune)
• Righteous hard to fathom in prisoner abuse | Some experts in human behavior have found common threads among those who stand up to collective wrongdoing (Associated Press)
• Abuse photos spur Christian peace teams’ return to Iraq | Activists say they’re willing to die for cause (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Bush speaks out on Iraq abuse | At Christian college, President says U.S. should show the world its ‘good heart’ (The Washington Post)
• Also: Bush points out lesson in prisoner abuse scandal | The president reminds Concordia graduates that failures of character have far-reaching effects (Los Angeles Times)
• On Abu Ghraib and war itself: See through relativism of abuse | If we arrogate the right to kill, it is inevitable that many other dehumanizing abuses will ensue (Earl Martin and Pat Hostetter Martin, The Christian Science Monitor)

U.S. prison life:

• Improvements to U.S. prisons sought | The spotlight on abuse of detainees at a U.S. military prison in Iraq has spurred hopes that some attention will spill over to prisons stateside, where reformers say get-tough policies and public indifference have let longstanding problems fester (Associated Press)
• Minister seeks communion wine for inmates | Jesus didn’t drink grape juice at the Last Supper. A Wisconsin minister says jail inmates who want to take Holy Communion shouldn’t either (Associated Press)

Crime:

• Minister guilty in attempted grand larceny | The Rev. Carrie Wilson to get a year in jail for pocketing thousands in shelter scam (Newsday)
• Test of two faiths | A lot of people, it seems, have something to say about a troubled boy and a virgin mother – and about forgiveness and punishment as well (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
• Pray for thieves—with your eyes open | Over the last year, by my count, there have been more than 60 police reports filed by churches in the metro area whose properties have been robbed, trespassed, burglarized, broken into or vandalized (Mike Nichols, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
• Starks faces death in murder | Windgap man charged with kidnapping, killing estranged fiancée at church and trying to shoot the pastor (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Sudan:

• Sudan ‘blocking US aid workers’ | The United States has accused Sudan of deliberately preventing American relief workers from visiting the troubled western Darfur region (BBC)
• Their villages plundered, Sudanese struggle in desert | Survivors of attacks by Arab militias, farmers have sought refuge across border in Chad (Los Angeles Times)
• From rogue state to pariah state | The more Sudan’s dictatorship wages wars on its own citizens, the more impossible it becomes for the U.S. to enlist the country’s Arab-led government as an ally (The New York Times)
• Sudan’s ignored genocide | Thousands of blacks face death in Darfur (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal Europe)

Religious liberty in Pakistan:

• Pakistan ruler wants review of strict Islamic laws | Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf called on Saturday for a review of controversial Islamic laws that human rights groups say are discriminatory against women and non-Muslim minorities (Reuters)
• Kidnapped Christian preacher in Pakistan returns | A Christian preacher abducted in southwestern Pakistan escaped from his captors and reached the capital, Islamabad, police and friends said on Tuesday (Reuters)
• Earlier: Christian preacher feared kidnapped in Pakistan | Pentecostal preacher was feared kidnapped in Pakistan on Sunday, apparently by an unknown Islamic militant group after he disappeared in the southwestern city of Quetta, his friends and family said (Reuters)
• Also: Christians form action committee for priest’s release | Members of the Christian community announced the formation of an action committee on Monday to expedite efforts for the release of Father Wilson Fazal who was allegedly kidnapped on Sunday (The Daily Times, Pakistan)

Religious liberty in Canada:

• Canada’s anti-gay violence law worries some | Some of Canada’s religious leaders are worried about the recent passage of a national law that makes it illegal to advocate violence against gays and lesbians (Fox News)
• Stop Christian-bashing | The Liberal Party of Canada would never dream of asking Canadians whether they’d be “more or less likely to vote for the Conservatives if you knew they had been taken over by Jews?” Or, say, “Muslims.” Why, then, do the Liberals see nothing wrong with making evangelical Christians the subject of their scare-mongering? (Editorial, The National Post)

Religious liberty elsewhere:

• AICU to demand Christians’ rights from Govt | The national vice president of All India Catholic Union, John Dayal said on Monday that they would impress upon the new Congress-led government to legislate the laws that would ensure equality to the community (The Times of India)
• China reportedly detains two priests | Authorities in northern China detained two priests from the underground Roman Catholic Church as they were about to begin classes on natural birth control and theology, a Connecticut-based lobby group said Monday (Associated Press)
• French law means Sikhs can’t wear turbans | Sikh school boys must exchange their turbans for hair nets when a new law banning religious apparel in public schools takes effect in September, France’s education minister said Monday (Associated Press)
• Americans are fanatical about freedom of speech | We are a nation of gentle fanatics. Our commitment to the ultimate freedom of religion—that is, freedom of speech—is more deeply embedded in our worship, our prayers, and our skepticisms than our political leaders, liberal or conservative, would have us believe (Jeff Sharlet, The Dallas Morning News)
• Census highlights divide on religious discrimination | Most Britons who belong to a minority religion believe that enough is being done to tackle religious discrimination, but only half of UK Christians agree, according to data published today (4NI, Northern Ireland)
• Faith on trial | America not immune to religious intolerance (The Journal Gazette, Ft. Wayne, Ind.)
• Religions find city accepting | There is so much religious diversity in the Fort Wayne area that some members of various faiths say discrimination isn’t a problem (The Journal Gazette, Ft. Wayne, Ind.)

Religion & politics:

• Evangelicals play canary in culture-war coal mine | Evangelicals’ Rodney Dangerfield attitude is precisely what’s driving the culture war, which keeps the electoral map divided into red (Republican) and blue (Democratic) states. People on different sides of issues like abortion think their views are mainstream, while the “other people” are the problem. And those “other people” give them no respect (William McKenzie, The Dallas Morning News)
• Strip club owner invokes a sign from above to criticize president | “Is Bush the Antichrist?” he asks (Ernest Hooper, St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
• Political passion | Bush’s support for a gay-marriage ban marriage is unrealistic pandering to religious conservatives. But it could energize the Dems more than the GOP (Eleanor Clift, Newsweek)
• Bush’s Bible belt | Ole Miss students vote Republican as a matter of faith (Newsweek)
• Bush plugs religion-oriented initiatives | Instead of ignoring religious charities and other organizations, “this country will encourage … good works in every way we can,” Bush said in a commencement speech at Concordia University in Wisconsin (Associated Press)
• No place to stand | When you’re Christian, progressive, and “pro-life,” voting your conscience is often easier said than done (Sojourners)
• Beware the self-fulfilling prophesies of millenarians | The propaganda of Islamists notwithstanding, the problem with how the United States conducts its foreign policy today is not too little, but too much religion (The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon)
• Prolife Democrats? | There are millions of votes at stake in this liberal miscalculation (Jim Wallis, Sojourners)
• A matter of faith | Scripture-based activism on the rise as ‘Religious Left’ strives for a comeback (Daily Camera, Boulder, Co.)
• Values eroded: Barnett | Opposition Leader Colin Barnett has challenged Premier Geoff Gallop to a “presidential style” election campaign fought on family values (The Sunday Times, Australia)
• The ‘God-gap’ | President George W. Bush is a man who’s not afraid to declare his personal faith in Jesus Christ. Most of the president’s opponents and supporters can at least agree about that. But the manner in which Bush’s faith shapes his worldview and, therefore, public policy continues to spark debate (The Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Va.)
• Christians must not shirk the duty they have to vote | Fight the popular notion that the `safe’ thing to do is abstain (Michael Eudy, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
• President right to practice his faith | It is a frightening thing to have a political leader, especially one who hopes to be president, say that a religion cannot instruct its people in what to do publicly (J. Larry Hood, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
• Kerry’s grandfather left Judaism behind in Europe | Kerry said he did not know his paternal grandfather was Jewish until a reporter for The Boston Globe told him last year that it had been discovered by a genealogist in Vienna who scoured church records from the Austro-Hungarian empire (The New York Times)
• Wilson, FDR, Truman, Bush | A “messianic militarist” in the White House? It’s happened before (Joseph Loconte, The Wall Street Journal)
• Law, religion mix at conference | A Washington conference on the legal issues facing religious organizations, including the way they are taxed, their connections to terrorist activities and whether they should receive government funding, is slated for Wednesday and Thursday (The Washington Times)
• Religion separates statehouse | Religious partisanship helps stifle Minnesota lawmakers during an unsuccessful session (Duluth News Tribune)

Communion & politics:

• Pawns take bishop | Bishop’s litmus test won’t change many minds (Editorial, The Daily Camera, Boulder, Co.)
• At Mass, politics squeezes into the pews | For the last several days throughout the Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, the issue that has dominated conversations is a pastoral letter by Bishop Michael J. Sheridan that was published May 5 (The New York Times)
• Bishop adds voters to Communion ban | A Catholic leader in Colorado will deny the sacrament to members who back politicians in favor of abortion rights and stem cell research (Los Angeles Times)
• More bishops inject faith into Catholic political life | Two more Catholic bishops have waded into election-year politics by telling members of their dioceses they should stop taking Communion if they are at odds with church teachings and if they vote for politicians who advocate policies contrary to church teachings (The Washington Times)
• Showdown at the Communion rail | When bishops threaten to deny the sacrament, they’re hurting the church (Andrew Sullivan, Time)
• Church should reconcile conflicting viewpoints | Church, state tear Catholic pols (David Bonior, The Detroit News)
• Rites and wrongs | Understanding the communion flap (Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review)
• Politics, faith on collision course | Bishops’ edicts divide Catholics (The Denver Post)

Life ethics:

• A baby, or cash back | Some IVF centers offer risk-sharing deals (The Washington Post)
• Abortion boyfriend ‘wanted baby’ | The 14-year-old boyfriend of a schoolgirl who had an abortion without her mother’s consent wanted to keep the baby, it has emerged (BBC)
• Opposition to condoms | The administration is using pseudoscience to justify siphoning AIDS prevention funds into programs that promote abstinence alone (Editorial, The New York Times)
• Archbishop hits at abortion lobbyists | Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki has reacted angrily to calls to legalize abortion in the country (The East African Standard, Nairobi)
• Church clarifies on condom use | The Church of Uganda has clarified that it allows the use of condoms among married couples only (New Vision, Kampala, Uganda)
• Bush letter sees promise of stem cells | The Bush administration has acknowledged that additional lines, or colonies, of embryonic stem cells could speed scientific research, a statement that advocates for patients say could mark the first step toward easing limits on taxpayer financing for the studies (The New York Times)
• Bush’s stem cell policy reiterated, but some see shift | NIH director’s letter to lawmakers acknowledges that science could benefit from added cell lines (The Washington Post)
• In fetal photos, new developments | At fetal photo studios, expectant mothers can get sepia-toned prints to give to family and friends, but along with keepsake pictures, the studios are also generating some concern (The New York Times)
• Message in a test tube | Science and religion on collision course as academics debate ethics versus morality (Toronto Star)
• Family fury over death in suicide clinic | Police have opened an inquiry into the death of a British pensioner who was given help to take his own life at a Swiss clinic that carries out “assisted suicides” (The Telegraph, London)
• I wasn’t told my daughter was going to have a baby … or that she was keeping it | Does a parent have a right to know? David Townsend recounts his reaction to his 14-year-old’s pregnancy (The Guardian, London)
• Embryo test offers hope of doubling IVF success rate | A simple test could more than double the rate of test tube baby pregnancies, according to a study conducted by an American team (The Telegraph, London)
• Stem cell research on course, director says | Some members of Congress seeking expansion of federal research for Alzheimer’s and other ailments read hope into NIH letter (Los Angeles Times)
• Bush reiterates conservative core to students | President Bush yesterday urged nearly 500 graduates to “build a culture of life in America,” asserting that the Declaration of Independence defines life as “an endowment of the Creator” (The Washington Times)
• Stem cell breakthroughs | If Bush doesn’t change his policy, Congress should act to do so on its own (Editorial, The Boston Globe)
• Couple ordered to stop having children | When a drug-addicted homeless woman had her newborn taken away last spring, she agreed the baby should be placed in foster care with her three other children. A year later, a judge delivered a startling postscript: She ordered the parents to have no more children until they prove they can look after the ones they already have (Associated Press)

Church & state:

• Homegrown radical extreme | Digging at America’s constitutional underpinnings (Editorial, Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fla.)
• Court oaths draw anger | District Court judge criticized by Lake, other court officials (Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.)
• Irish PM sees ‘no possibility of a compromise’ on Christian reference | Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, yesterday said that he did not see the possibility of a compromise with regard to the reference of the Christian Heritage in the EU Constitution (The Malta Independent)
• Bible verse to remain on fire truck | Mayor allows it to stay because it makes no mention of God (Chronicle-Tribune, Marion, Ind.)
• Council settles Nativity lawsuit | The Nativity lawsuit was settled Friday, with the town giving Maureen Donnell and Fern deNarvaez $1 each in “nominal damages,” reimbursing their attorneys $50,000 in fees and apologizing for delaying action on their request (Palm Beach Daily News, Fla.)
• Ten Commandments hauled away from city hall | A block of granite that withstood 47 years of nature’s elements couldn’t stand up to federal judge’s order (Duluth News Tribune, Minn.)
• Bringing the Bible to school | Extremists dominate debate, but the center offers rational view on religion in the classroom (Stephen R. Haynes, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
• They bring God to the Capitol | Over the past two weeks, the Capitol has become a House of Prayer, with an estimated 1,000 fervent Christians standing a shift for the Lord in the center of secular government. And they really stand (Nick Coleman, Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
• Surprise! Most say change the pledge | Somewhat to my surprise, most of those responding to this week’s Burning Question want “under God” taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance (David Horsey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Taxes:

• Unitarian group denied tax status | According to the office of Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a Denison Unitarian church isn’t really a religious organization—at least for tax purposes. Its reasoning: the organization “does not have one system of belief” (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
• Workshop aims to discover the Word on taxes | The Bible may have more to say about taxes and justice than “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (The Oregonian)

Public prayer:

• Jesus’ name banned | In deeply religious Porterville, the name of Jesus Christ is now banned from prayers that open City Council meetings, and a Lindsay ban probably is on the way (The Porterville Recorder, Ca.)
• Keep prayers neutral | Settlement moot if limits not enforced (Editorial, Bradenton Herald, Fla.)

School integration:

• Pastor schooled in tolerance upholds the lessons of integration | The Rev. Grainger Browning Jr., pastor of Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fort Washington, was one of the 13 students who first integrated Thorp Junior High School in Hampton, Va. (The Washington Post)
• Walkers step into students’ shoes | Episcopal church’s meditative journey focuses on hardships of black schoolchildren (The State, Columbia, S.C.)
• How civil rights were won | A moral struggle (Rich Lowry, National Review Online)

Education:

• Seminary searches its soul concerning mission | The board of trustees at Denver’s Iliff School of Theology is scrutinizing everything from the school’s mission to the job status of employees, including its first Hispanic president, officials said (The Denver Post)
• Mount Vernon Nazarene University student files lawsuit against another student | Scott Cameron is seeking $6 million in damages from Joshua Diehl for what he said are false allegations made by Diehl. The allegations accuse Cameron of sexual harassment, sexual assault and inappropriate sexual contact (Mount Vernon News, Oh.)

Southern Baptists propose school boycott:

• Exodus? Hey, public schools are on Baptists’ side | It would be big news if the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution for all Southern Baptists to pull their children out of public schools. But here’s what would be bigger news. If the SBC answered that urge, it would be renouncing an essential principle that Baptists helped sculpt in making the United States a beacon of religious freedom (John Young, Waco Tribune-Herald, Tex.)
• School-withdrawal call raises concerns among local Baptists | Some local Baptist pastors have expressed opposition to a proposed Southern Baptist Convention resolution that calls for removing all children of Baptists from what it labeled “godless” public schools (The Allen American, Tex.)
• Convention doesn’t speak for all Baptists | A proposal to have Christians yank their children out of public schools is on the agenda of the Southern Baptist Convention, which meets June 15 and 16 in Indianapolis (Rick Badie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Finding Baptists who support mandate could be tough | Out of the 16 million Southern Baptist members in America, two members came up with the “Exodus Mandate” idea (News 9, Oklahoma City)

Church life:

• Priest loses his job over his 2nd vocation | Clergyman sues church, town (Chicago Tribune)
• Auditorium preserved | Harvest Rock, Maranatha pool funds, buy portion of Ambassador campus (Pasadena Star News, Ca.)
• Ambassador Auditorium is sold | Harvest Rock Church and Maranatha High School buy that and other buildings on the 13-acre site in Pasadena (Los Angeles Times)
• Sunday school class features famous teacher, huge crowds | Welcome to Plains, Ga., idyllic home of the world’s most famous Sunday school teacher — former President Jimmy Carter (Religion News Service)
• Church dispute spills onto Internet | Web site airs accusations of impropriety by pastor (The Baltimore Sun)
• Ministering to the masses | Technology and showmanship combine to bring thousands every week into megachurches like Fellowship in Grapevine (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
• De-emphasizing the denomination | Churches lack denominational titles for two main reasons: to attract new members and to jettison controversies or misconceptions associated with a particular denomination (News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.)
• A teacher and a preacher | Academic from Fuller Seminary takes over as senior pastor at Emmanuel Evangelical church (Burbank Leader, Ca.)
• Services fit for an arena | Number of megachurches drawing thousands of worshipers each weekend swells (The Washington Post)
• Driver plows into parishioners in N.J. | A 72-year-old driver plowed into parishioners exiting a communion service, seriously injuring two women and a girl and nearly crushing an infant, police said (Associated Press)
• Restoring the cupolas of a landmark cathedral | The five copper onion domes of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord at 228 North 12th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, are being reclad as part of a $1.2 million restoration (The New York Times)
• Service helps heal Russian Orthodox rift | Christians have attended an open-air service outside Moscow marking another step forward in improved relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (BBC)
• Controversial pastor begins new legacy | Views on salvation, homosexuality led to split from RCA (Grand Haven Tribune, Mi.)
• Onward, Christian soldier | The presumed new head of the Southern Baptist Convention was brought back to his faith by a combat brush with death in Vietnam. Today, a sense of spiritual warfare continues to guide him (The Orlando Sentinel)
• Bishop denounced from the heavens | Police in central Greece were searching for a runaway monk and a retired army officer yesterday after they flew over the city of Larissa at the weekend in a microlight, dropping leaflets denouncing the local bishop (The Times, London)
• First minister makes Kirk history | First Minister Jack McConnell has delivered a historic speech to the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly, becoming the first person in his post to address the annual gathering on The Mound in Edinburgh (BBC)

Online church:

• Cyber church: Now God goes online | In a new non-denominational virtual church, you can log on and come dressed in your cartoon best to worship and attend services (CNN)
• Services at the First Church of Cyberspace | Richard Chartres, Anglican bishop of London, is not used to having congregants wandering around in front of him swearing as he preaches. Then again, he does not normally transform himself into a three-dimensional computer image in an imaginary sanctuary as he did Tuesday to deliver a sermon to animated representations of churchgoers (The New York Times)

Anglican Communion:

• Cult experts snubbed by archbishop | Inform, based at the London School of Economics, has had the active support of both Rowan Williams’ predecessors (The Guardian, London)
• Fallout of gay problem in Anglican Church | Nigerian branch to ‘plant’ churches in US (Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria)
• Church of England finds fertile ground in France | An unlikely corner of the Church of England is bucking the trend of declining church attendance and creating new parishes to accommodate the rapidly growing numbers. The trouble is, it is in France (The Telegraph, London)

Women in ministry:

• Congregations keep faith with women priests | Women priests are now almost fully accepted by worshippers in the Church of England, although one in five male clergy still opposes female ordination, according to a report (The Times, London)
• The lament of the Magdalene, a scorned woman in another time | To mark the ordination of women, the Archbishop of Canterbury imagined the frustration and hope of the other Mary (Ruth Gledhill, The Times, London)
• Kirk inducts woman to top post | The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has confirmed its first ever female moderator (BBC)
• Female Moderator must breathe fire back into the Kirk | For Christians it is appalling that Scotland is to all intents and purposes no longer a Christian country, and that so many of our young people – probably the great majority – have no idea whatsoever of the basic teaching of Jesus Christ. For many non-Christians it is equally appalling that the Kirk has so little confidence that it has lost the will to speak out on all sorts of issues (Harry Reid, The Scotsman)

Homosexuality & religion:

• Black clergy gathering to fight gay matrimony | Conservative evangelical groups—including the Christian men’s movement, Promise Keepers—are mobilizing African American church leaders for a renewed campaign against same-sex marriage (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Thou shalt bite thy tongue | Christian groups fear they will be muzzled by changes to hate propaganda laws to protect gays. They fear being called homophobes (The Toronto Star)
• Baylor student disciplined for gay rights rally | A Baylor University student who organized an off-campus gay rights rally graduated Saturday, but he says he doubts he would have received his diploma if he had not admitted violating the Baptist school’s conduct code (Associated Press)
• Luther, love, and Gloria Gaynor | The debate about homosexuality is about a great deal more than sex. It is about the nature of God’s love for human beings, and has much in common with debates that drove the Reformation (Giles Fraser, The Guardian, London)
• Rebel parish to fund ‘cure’ for homosexuals | A parish disgruntled by the appointment of Canon Jeffrey John as the Dean of St Alban’s will divert thousands of pounds it normally sends to central Church funds to a Christian charity that seeks to “cure” homosexuals (The Telegraph, London)
• Gays find a spiritual oasis | Northeastside church is largest of its kind in Midwest (The Indianapolis Star)

UMC lesbian pastor remains on leave:

• Lesbian pastor won’t return to post | Dammann said she may seek an appointment next year, but has not decided where (Seattle Times)
• Lesbian minister won’t return to church | The Rev. Karen Dammann chose to remain on family leave rather than return to First United Methodist Church in Ellensburg (Associated Press)

UMC & homosexuality:

• Methodist split not seen as answer, bishop says | But church still deeply divided on gay issue (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
• Sexuality debate threatens to tear us apart | Now that Methodists have joined other denominations in dancing close to schism over sexuality, two questions arise (Tom Ehrich, The Indianapolis Star)

Gay marriage (describing yesterday’s ceremonies):

• Gay wedding day in Massachusetts | Laughter, tears at rites for couples who sued to be able to marry (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Some couples avoid 3-day wait to wed | Gay couples who arrived at courts around the state yesterday smiling, holding hands, some carrying single long-stem roses, were ushered before judges more accustomed to navigating the tense issues of divorce and child custody than the joyful rush to marry (The Boston Globe)
• From this day, paired for life | The wedding of Wilson and Compton, one of seven couples who sued Massachusetts for the right to marry their partners, was among the first to be held in a church or temple on the day gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts (The Boston Globe)
• ‘It was a new experience for us’ | As the world’s attention focused on Cambridge and Boston, on protests and tears and vows, gay marriage arrived in the 351 cities and towns of Massachusetts yesterday morning in the most routine of ways: the act of filling out paperwork and filing it away (The Boston Globe)
• Wedding day | First gays marry; many seek licenses (The Boston Globe)
• Altared state | After decades of courting and waiting, same-sex couples line up early for a marriage made in Massachusetts (The Washington Post)
• Gay couples marry in Massachusetts | Hundreds tie knot on day one, but questions remain (The Washington Post)
• Gay couples tie the knot in Massachusetts | On the first day of legal same-sex marriages, hundreds apply for licenses and a few obtain waivers so they can wed immediately (Los Angeles Times)
• Same-sex couples marry in Massachusetts | Yet even as champagne corks popped and confetti swirled, opponents of such unions declared their determination to fight back (Associated Press)
• Homosexuals ‘marry’ in Massachusetts | Yesterday’s events were a culmination of a three-year battle to legalize same-sex “marriage” in the state led by plaintiffs Hillary and Julie Goodridge (The Washington Times)
• Hundreds of same-sex couples wed in Massachusetts | Hundreds of couples streamed into city halls on Monday, when the state became the first to allow gay marriages (The New York Times)
• Survey finds women in majority | Two-thirds of the gays who applied for marriage licenses yesterday were women, half of the couples had been together for at least a decade, and an enormous majority were Massachusetts residents, a Globe survey of 752 couples in 11 cities and towns found (The Boston Globe)

Gay marriage (the opposition):

• Groups hold out for public furor before acting | Opponents of gay marriage said yesterday they are counting on a backlash to the legalization of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts to help them marshal public support, as they fight to get the Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling overturned (The Boston Globe)
• Black pastors assail gay analogy | More than 50 black pastors yesterday decried efforts to compare the battle over same-sex “marriage” to the civil rights struggle of blacks, and called on the Congressional Black Caucus and legislators to support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman (The Washington Times)
• Gay marriages meet frosty silence | The attitude of mainstream America towards gay marriage is ambivalent (BBC)
• Show of support for heterosexual marriage | Hundreds celebrate, hear warning against gay unions (Mercury News, San Jose, Ca.)
• Arizona Capitol rally protests same-sex marriage | ‘Family values’ activists, gays mix at march (The Arizona Republic)
• Ministers to challenge state’s gay-marriage ban | As the nation prepares for the first legal same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, four Arizona church ministers and a busload of same-sex couples will challenge Arizona’s marriage laws by attempting to get marriage licenses Friday (The Arizona Republic)
• Also: Rally crowd takes a vow to love, honor and abhor | We are at war with extremists whose hatred is based on moral superiority and religious fanaticism. And while our soldiers die in Iraq, a large crowd gathered in Phoenix on Monday to protest love (E.J. Montini, The Arizona Republic)

Gay marriage (opinion):

• Civilization in ruins | One day into a new, threatening reality, everything’s changed (Brian McGrory, The Boston Globe)
• Legal at last | Acceptance under the law is coming long after gay and lesbian couples have been embraced by their communities, places of worship, employers, childrens’ schools, and pop culture (Editorial, The Boston Globe)
• The bench vs. people | In the debate over traditional marriage, the cultural dominoes are falling in the wrong direction. Activist judges, who specialize in taking issues away from the people and deciding those issues instead, intend to make traditional marriage a thing of the past (Orrin Hatch and Jim Talent, The Washington Times)

Gay marriage and politics:

• Bad timing? | The Massachusetts ruling on gay marriages could hurt Kerry by playing into the nation’s cultural war and energizing the religious foot soldiers of the GOP (Eleanor Clift, Newsweek)
• Kerry again opposes same-sex marriage | But Democrat has gay groups’ vote (The Washington Post)
• Gay unions stir up election | The start of same-sex “marriages” in Massachusetts yesterday — just six months before the presidential elections — all but guarantees that President Bush and Sen. John Kerry will have to face the issue in coming months (The Washington Times)

Gay marriage outside Massachusetts:

• Gay marriage bill expected to die in California Assembly | Democratic lawmakers say they plan to revive the measure in 2005, after state courts have had time to rule on pending cases (Los Angeles Times)
• R.I., Conn. may grant recognition | The attorneys general of Rhode Island and Connecticut yesterday raised the possibility that Massachusetts same-sex marriages will be honored in their states, a sign that the Supreme Judicial Court’s landmark ruling legalizing gay matrimony may soon shift the legal ground in other states (The Boston Globe)
• Decisions on out-of-staters in courts’ hands | Legal specialists say that the opinions issued yesterday by the attorneys general of Rhode Island and Connecticut will not be the final word on whether gay marriages are recognized in those states (The Boston Globe)
• Miss. gays, lawmakers turn focus to Mass. | Mississippi has banned same-sex marriages by law since 1997 (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss.)
• Despite uncertainties, out-of-staters line up to marry | Provincetown is among those defying Gov. Mitt Romney’s decree that out-of-state gay couples cannot be married in Massachusetts unless they fulfilled a requirement, like the intention to move to the state (The New York Times)
• In court, mayor backs weddings | Jason West, the New Paltz mayor who brought the same-sex marriage debate to New York State with solemnization ceremonies for 24 gay and lesbian couples in late February, defended his action before a judge on Monday (The New York Times)
• Local gays fail to get county marriage license | Texas law prohibits same-sex marriages (Waco Tribune-Herald, Tex.)

Gay marriage (other articles):

• Romney keeps low profile, but reiterates that voters should decide issue | Governor Mitt Romney remained out of public view yesterday as Massachusetts sanctioned the nation’s first legal gay marriages over his frequently stated opposition (The Boston Globe)
• 70% in poll back ban of gay unions | Sides prepare to stress views on amendment (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
• More and more American children are growing up with same-sex parents (US News & World Report)
• Rush of reporters worldwide attracts some limelight, too | On the first day of legalized same-sex marriage, media members descended on Massachusetts to chronicle it, representing news organizations from as far as Japan, London, and the Dominican Republic (The Boston Globe)

Media:

• News, faith, and Frank Turner | On the air three times a day, the WXYZ anchorman is filled with the Spirit 24-7 (Detroit Free Press)
• Religion in media shows hunger for spirituality | If you want a sure-fire investment, forget Google. Think godly (James N. Watkins, The Journal Gazette, Ft. Wayne, Ind.)

Christian cool:

• Christian cool and the new generation gap | For evidence of generational upheaval these days, you might skip over sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll and consider instead the church (The New York Times)
• Revelation plus makeup advice | A new generation of Bibles by religious publishers, Thomas Nelson Inc. and Zondervan, are marketing the Scripture in much the same way as Seventeen sells itself to the average adolescent (The New York Times)
• New Testament as easy to read as … Cosmo? | Glossy ‘biblezines,’ complete with top 10 lists, mix the secular with Scripture in an attempt to get teens to pick up the Good Book (Los Angeles Times)
• The Bible that looks like a magazine | It’s the New Century version of the New Testament and though the stories in it aren’t new, the way they’re presented surely is (Daily Journal, Park Hills, Mo.)

Music:

• I feel sad for Britney, says Christian rock star | Rebecca St. James, a star of the U.S. Christian music scene, said she was disappointed that role models from the world of music and movies such as Spears led youngsters astray with their message of “anything goes, if it feels good do it” (Reuters)
• Christians rock at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Event quite unlike former Snake Pit (The Indianapolis Star)
• Making ‘Superstar’ even more modern | Unity Church of Dallas sets musical in modern times (The Dallas Morning News)

Film:

• Caviezel plays golfing god in ‘Jones’ tale | Since “The Passion,” Jim Caviezel said he has far more scripts than ever to choose from (Associated Press)
• Clueless in Hollywood | Who can’t see the difference between The Passion and Saved! (David Lewis Schaefer, National Review Online)
• The Python of the Christ | The Life Of Brian hit screens 25 years ago to outrage and nuns picketing cinemas. Now the Monty Python team hope to have the last laugh—and cash in on Mel Gibson’s The Passion—by re-releasing it in the US. But will the joke be on them? (Ian Bell, Sunday Herald, Glasgow, Scotland)

Nigeria nixes TV miracles:

• Televangelists told to verify miracles or pull the plug | Nigeria clamps down on bogus religious broadcasters (Sunday Times, Johannesburg, South Africa)
• NBC has not banned miracle broadcast—cleric | General Overseer of the Victory Life Bible Church said Christians and a chunk of concerned citizens were only reading in-between the lines of NBC action (Daily Champion, Nigeria)

Books:

• Armageddon: now available in paperback | In 2003 the appetite for faith-based literature increased by 50%, according to the American Association of Publishers, giving religion the third-biggest share of the book market, after popular fiction and cookery (Scotland on Sunday)
• In the beginning was the wheel | Régis Debray argues that belief in a universal, transcendent God is inconceivable without early technological advances in his map of the divine, God: An Itinerary (The Guardian, London)
• Naughty but nice | There’s nothing deadly about the old sins any more. Julian Baggini reviews Greed, Lust, Envy, and Gluttony (The Guardian, London)
• Author who left that religion writes ‘love poems to Judaism’ | Lauren Winner didn’t realize when she converted to Christianity that she would miss many things about Judaism, but that’s just what happened (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion’ and its images | Mel Gibson’s recent film, “The Passion of the Christ,” taps some of the major themes explored in Eleanor Heartney’s new book, Postmodern Heretics: The Catholic Imagination in Contemporary Art (The Kansas City Star)
• Conservatives, controversy, and Catholic artists | A critic’s new book offers a view of art and the culture war (The Kansas City Star)
• Pleading the First | Scott McLemee reviews Susan Jacoby’s Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism (Newsday)
• Best-selling author under fire from religious historians | More than 10 books that “debunk” the historical and theological content of Brown’s novel reportedly have been published or are on the way (New Hampshire Sunday News)
• Unmasking the code | Christian scholars deem it necessary to debunk popular work of fiction (The Kansas City Star)

Pope’s book released:

• New Pope book: Last trip down memory lane? | Pope John Paul takes perhaps his last trip down memory lane in a new book recalling everything from carrying a sleeping bag in a grubby Polish train to his twilight years as leader of one billion Roman Catholics (Reuters)
• Pope recalls communist era in new book | “Get Up, Let Us Go,” being published Tuesday on the pope’s 84th birthday, is a sequel to “Gift and Mystery,” an account of the pontiff’s early priesthood that was released in 1996 (Associated Press)
• Pope marks birthday with launch of book | “Get Up, Let Us Go” mixes memories from his native Poland, a touch of self-criticism and a defense of priestly celibacy (Associated Press)

Catholicism:

• Catholic panels reach abuse policy deal | The committee of U.S. Roman Catholic bishops that deals with sexual abuse reached an accord in Chicago Monday with a lay watchdog panel that monitors church reform policies, but details were not announced (Associated Press)
• Church documents referee agrees to make rulings public | In an unexpected about-face, a retired judge acting as referee has decided that the public has a right to see his rulings on whether the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles can withhold documents from a grand jury probe of priests accused of child molestation (Los Angeles Times)
• Laying down the law on the liturgy | Both clergy and laity divided over new Vatican guidelines (The Times, London)
• Free Presbyterians hoping to convert Catholics | The North’s Free Presbyterian church has announced plans to send letters and CDs to 3,000 Catholic priests in Ireland in an effort to convert them (Irish News)
• Catholics on march in Northern Ireland as Protestants leave | An exodus of some of the brightest young Protestants is contributing to an extraordinary process of social change in Northern Ireland, according to an academic study (The Independent, London)
• Catholic principal focus of inquiry | The state is looking into a complaint that she threatened to whip sixth-graders at Notre Dame Interparochial School because they did not know the songs for a recital (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
• West Side Catholics win a brief reprieve | A committee of laypeople and pastors Monday night offered three scenarios for making decisions on which of 10 West Side Roman Catholic parishes to close but fell short of offering specific choices (Chicago Tribune)
• Also: Parishioners debate future of W. Side Catholic churches | Ten parishes, established about a century ago, have very small congregations, buildings in dire need of repair and dwindling budgets, officials said (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Also: Faith alone can’t sustain parishes | Dwindling attendance at West Side Catholic churches leaves a community committee with the task of deciding which of them will have to close (Chicago Tribune)
• ‘Too short a time’—Catholic Bishop Kevin Britt dies 7 months into office | Just seven months after welcoming Bishop Kevin Britt as their spiritual leader, more than 160,000 West Michigan Catholics reel with grief and shock today at the sudden death over the weekend of the personable prelate (The Grand Rapids Press)

Pope canonizes six, including prolife heroine:

• Gianna’s message | The newest saint represents our choice (Raymond J. de Souza, National Review Online)
• Pope canonizes prolife heroine | Pope John Paul has created six new saints at a ceremony in the Vatican (BBC)
• Pope canonizes mother who refused abortion | A mother who refused cancer treatment and died so her fourth child could be born was elevated to sainthood yesterday in a move seen by many as a strong statement from the Vatican against the legalization of abortion (The Guardian, London)
• Pope makes saint of woman who died after refusing abortion (The Independent)
• Lebanese monk among 6 granted sainthood | Lahoud expresses gratitude to Pope (The Daily Star, Beirut)
• Antiabortion icon among six new saints | The Vatican has long championed the case of Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian pediatrician who died in 1962 at the age of 39 — a week after giving birth to her fourth child (Associated Press)

Vatican on Muslim relations:

• Vatican discourages marriage with Muslims for Catholic women | In an official church document released Friday, the Vatican discouraged marriage between Catholics and Muslims, especially Catholic women and Muslim men (The New York Times)
• Vatican notes status of Muslims’ wives | The Vatican last week took special note of the inferior status of women under Islamic law in its pronouncement that Catholic women should try to avoid marrying Muslims (The Washington Times)
• Vatican addresses worldwide migration | Catholics should welcome Muslim immigrants without prejudice, and Muslims must also respect the values of a democracy — including equality between men and women, the Vatican said Friday (Associated Press)
• Vatican paper frowns on Catholic-Muslim marriages | The Vatican issued documents recently that warned against marriage between Catholic women and Muslim men (All Things Considered, NPR)

Islam in America:

• Reporting ‘hate crimes’ against Muslims | CAIR’s data is phony (Editorial, The Washington Times)
• Culture clash | An Islam expert details her struggles with Christianity (Newsweek)

People:

• Prince visits ‘monastic republic’ | Prince Charles has arrived at a remote monastery in Greece for a private visit, Buckingham Palace has said (BBC)
• An extraordinary care for his patients | Jed Holmes’ uncommon care for his patients is so well known it earned him the Kansas Family Physician of the Year award (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)

Billy Graham hospitalized:

• Graham’s injury more serious than originally thought | It isn’t clear yet whether the injury will affect two upcoming Billy Graham crusades (Associated Press)
• Billy Graham hospitalized after taking a spill | Evangelist fell while getting out of bed at home, where he was recovering from a partial hip replacement performed in January (Asheville Citizen-Times, N.C.)
• Evangelist Billy Graham treated after fall (Associated Press)
• Press release: Billy Graham admitted to Mission Hospitals (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)

Missions & ministry:

• Minister testifies in his defense | Founder of Barberton Rescue Mission faces cross-exam next week (The Beacon Journal, Akron, Oh.)
• Orthodox Christian archbishop calls charity ‘God’s work’ | Orthodox Christians in Greater Cleveland gathered Monday night to hear a message about the importance of humanitarian aid and world relief efforts (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
• Pint-size preaching | Bible-themed festival aims to build faith in children (Los Angeles Daily News)
• Former UGA lineman finds true calling: mission work in Uganda | Long before Alec Millen grew into the 6-foot-7 bulwark on the offensive line at the University of Georgia and for the New York Jets, a decade before his spiritual passion stirred him to become a missionary to sub-Saharan Africa, he was a mischievous seventh-grader at Marist School (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Religious group tied to N.O. joins Taco Bell boycott | Jesuits join three-year protest to improve lot of migrant workers (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
• Churches played big role in bringing Billy Graham to Turlock almost 50 years ago | Pastor John Boswell wants to make sure the event is remembered as Turlock approaches its 100th anniversary (Turlock Journal, Ca.)
• Sharing ‘good news’ | Evangelicals proclaim Gospel (Lawrence Journal-World, Kan.)
• Christian missionaries battle for hearts and minds in Iraq | With a population estimated to be more than 95 percent Muslim and outbreaks of violence in the name of Islam occurring on an almost daily basis, Iraq is not a place where Christian missionaries can openly evangelize on street corners, hold community prayer meetings or hand out stacks of Bibles (The Washington Post)
• Jewish community leads way on civic participation | The next highest group for civic activity were Buddhists at 44% and Christians at 39% (PA, U.K.)
• In murderous path in New Orleans, signs of faith | As New Orleans struggles to lower its homicide rate, a pastor went on the offensive—posting signs with the biblical phrase `Thou shalt not kill’ (The Miami Herald)
• Punch at the pulpit | As pastor, George Foreman flexes his spiritual muscles by piling the joy on his congregation (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
• Preaching prosperity | Televangelist Joyce Meyer directs people to a God who can fix their all of their earthly problems (Religion News Service)
• Heeding his call | Feed My Lambs ministry reaches out to preschoolers in poorest neighborhoods (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• For Salvation Army preachers, it’s ‘soup, soap, and souls’ | In the Christian denomination, ministers are majors, and God and after-school pudding go down with equal ease (Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fla.)

Christian history:

• No historical evidence of Jesus | Bible scholars today know that the Gospels never were historical biographies even though they may appear to be such (Tom Harpur, The Toronto Star)
• Skeptics may refuse to relent but, yes, there’s evidence of Jesus outside the Bible | Did Jesus even exist? The question may seem absurd, but years ago some radicals treated him as an imaginary figure. Today’s experts don’t take the canard seriously (Omaha World-Herald, Neb.)
• Biblical or mythical? | Lots of Bible myths are mistaken for gospel truth: We think there’s stuff in the Good Book that simply isn’t there (The Dallas Morning News)

Other stories of interest:

• The do-it-yourself ethical investor | Investors who feel socially responsible mutual funds don’t fully reflect their values can build a portfolio of their own (The Christian Science Monitor)
• God’s gift to football | In the beginning, there was the word. And the word was … well, louder than Mark Brunell expected. (The Washington Times)
• Churches sometimes must take stands | Today’s ACLU-ist separationists would prefer that Americans forget the central role churches have played in the major political debates of American history (Wheeling News-Register, W.V.)
• Let’s make Cleveland the next ‘holy city’ | If Iraq can have so many holy cities, surely we can qualify, too (Tom Feran, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Oh.)
• From Lenin to Jesus and back | Zipping along country roads in a seat-beltless Soviet Zhiguli is the ideal way to explore Lithuania’s fascination with sculpture. From crosses lining the highways to a forest of Communist statues and an avant-garde park, these monuments reflect the nation’s history and its hope for the future (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)

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