News

Terri Schiavo Dies

Columnist

Plus: Villain of the day George Felos, what the Colorado court really said about the Bible and juries, Catholic school deemed exempt from antidiscrimination law, Falwell improving after losing consciousness, and other stories from online sources around the world.

Christianity Today April 13, 2006

Terri Schiavo dies:

  • Terri Schiavo dies but feud continues | Schiavo, 41, died quietly at about 9 a.m. in a Pinellas Park hospice 13 days after her feeding tube was removed (Associated Press)
  • Terri Schiavo dies; bitter divide remains (Reuters)
  • Schiavo dies nearly two weeks after removal of feeding tube | The severely brain damaged Florida woman who became the subject of an intense legal and political battle died today at age 41 (The New York Times)
  • Bush says Schiavo’s death saddens millions (Associated Press)
  • Vatican denounces Terri Schiavo’s death (Associated Press)
  • Autopsy may shed light on Schiavo case (Associated Press)

Judges:

  • Schiavo judge, church part ways | What happens when faith in God collides with commitment to the job? (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
  • Judge in Schiavo case faces death threats | A leading player in the Terri Schiavo debate is a Florida judge whose fame began five years ago when he ruled that no compelling evidence showed Mrs. Schiavo wanted to be kept alive (The Washington Times)
  • Florida judge is villain to Christian right | Florida Judge George Greer, who ordered the feeding tube of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo removed, has been called a murderer and told that he’s going to hell (Reuters)
  • Judge dread | The judiciary may end up the big losers in the Schiavo mess (Bert Brandenburg, Slate)
  • Supreme Court rejects Schiavo appeal (Associated Press)
  • Supreme Court again denies request by Schiavo parents (Reuters)
  • Schiavo’s parents hit more legal hurdles | Tube may not save her now, some say (The Boston Globe)
  • Federal judge condemns intervention in Schiavo case (The New York Times)
  • High court rejects request by Schiavo’s parents | Justices Decline to hear case on reinserting feeding tube hours after dismissal by appeals judge (The Washington Post)
  • The court of the problem | Terri Schiavo and Supreme precedent (Matthew J. Franck, National Review Online)

Schiavo protests:

  • Inside a hospice, the usual serenity despite chaos outside | Officials with Hospice of the Florida Suncoast say that while there have been threats and at least 47 arrests outside the building, they have received few complaints from the families of the other 71 residents who live at Woodside (The New York Times)
  • Circus of death | Self-described evangelical Christian husband-wife jugglers stole the limelight outside Schiavo’s hospice (New York Post)
  • Finding common ground in Schiavo case | From the Rev. Jesse Jackson to ubiquitous protesters, the hospice site has united diverse groups (Newsday)

Strange bedfellows:

  • ‘Court-imposed homicide’ | Focus on the Family teams up with Ralph Nader. Seriously (CitizenLink, Focus on the Family)
  • Case ‘transcends politics’ in coalition of right, left | Jesse Jackson, a civil rights activist and two-time Democratic presidential candidate, joined a group ranging from Ralph Nader and Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat, to President Bush and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texas Republican, who have fought either to have Mrs. Schiavo’s feeding tube reinserted or to allow further federal court review of her case (The Washington Times)
  • Not just the God squad | Americans outraged over Terri Schiavo’s “mercy” killing are not all praying for her (Deroy Murdock, National Review Online)
  • Black leaders split on Schiavo case | While Jackson’s appearance on behalf of Schiavo’s parents reflected a strain of social conservatism, others say the attention on one tragic case is excessive and unfair because it obscures larger concerns for poor Americans (Associated Press)

George Felos:

  • Schiavo’s attorney carves out niche | Death does not scare George Felos, nor does it make him uncomfortable. It doesn’t even bother him to be called a “death attorney” (Associated Press)
  • Unwitting disciples . . . medical unknowns | There is a perverted, sinister sickness in Michael Schiavo’s attorney, George Felos, glamorizing Terri Schiavo’s death, saying she looks “beautiful” and is “resting comfortably” (David Limbaugh, The Washington Times)
  • Odd Felos | Michael Schiavo’s very strange lawyer (Eric Pfeiffer, National Review Online)

Schiavo and religion:

  • Schiavo’s faith under attack, too | Very few people would want to be kept alive as Terri Schiavo. But if that is what her faith instructs and that is what she believed, shouldn’t that be respected? (Jonathan Gurwitz, San Antonio Express-News)
  • Exposing prolife zealotry | Terri Schiavo’s legacy could be the opposite of what the right intended. Americans are being reminded that the religious right and its politician-allies are zealots (Robert Kuttner, The Boston Globe)
  • The passion of Terri Schiavo | Listening to the passion reading from Matthew’s Gospel last week on Good Friday in St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, it was difficult to escape the parallels of the two passions (Vince Haley, UPI)
  • Catholic doctrine on the end of life | Father John J. Paris, professor of bioethics at Boston College, talks about Catholic doctrine concerning the end of life. He discusses church teaching on the subject and a 2004 statement by the Pope on administering food and water to patients (All Things Considered, NPR)
  • Monks comfort Schiavo’s parents | Conspicuous in their simple black friar’s robes, two Roman Catholic monks move daily among the colorful knot of protesters and reporters outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo lies dying (Associated Press)

Schiavo and law:

  • Lessons . . . and lapses | Should Gov. Jeb Bush have defied the courts and ordered that Terri Schiavo be “rescued”? Perhaps he had such authority, perhaps not. But that does not give people, especially Christians, the right to rebel against judicial authority. Only when they are ordered to stop preaching the Gospel are they permitted to disobey. They can, and should, work within the system to change judges and the way laws are interpreted (Cal Thomas)
  • States taking a new look at end-of-life legislation | Some legislative proposals are drawn straight from the battle between Terri Schiavo’s parents and her husband. (The New York Times)
  • Schiavo case: Should government pay? | Few have dared to raise the issue of dollar cost in the Schiavo case. But once the emotions of the moment cool down a bit, it might be worth asking just how much of a burden society wishes to undertake in the name of “life” (James P. Pinkerton, Newsday)
  • Spouse as next of kin law has many roots | Especially the Bible (Associated Press)
  • It is ended | How the justice system failed Terri Schiavo, and us (William Anderson, The Weekly Standard)
  • ‘Criminal or hero?’ mom asks | She supports son’s principles, not armed Schiavo rescue try (Chicago Tribune)
  • How we die: choice and chance | In practice, we’ve designed a health care system in which the fulfillment of one’s wishes on this matter depends on serendipity (Anne Applebaum, The Washington Post)

Schiavo lessons:

  • Schiavo’s lesson for us all | People on all sides share a moral obligation. We need to let the people we leave behind mourn with the clear conscience that, as much as possible, they did what we wanted (The Boston Globe)
  • Farewell to Terri | What is it that divides us? (Maggie Gallagher)
  • Public execution | On the bitter divisions created in American society by the case of Terri Schiavo (Mark Steyn, The Spectator, U.K.)
  • The Terri Schiavo legacy | Her death Thursday ends a contentious battle, but ripple effects could persist in courts, Congress, and personal lives (The Christian Science Monitor)

Schiavo politics:

  • Santorum’s profile high in Schiavo case | His party is split, but he says he has obligation in Fla. Visit (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  • Following their own path | Social conservatives after Terri Schiavo: The problems and the opportunities for George Bush in managing his party’s most fervent supporters (The Economist, U.K.)
  • As newly minted celebrity, `Terri’ makes ideal political icon | But suffering that resists celebritization cannot pull our present leadership out of its moral gridlock (Tom Beaudoin, The Mercury News, San Jose, Ca.)
  • Seek honest deliberation, not radicalism | The extremists are in charge (Eric Mink, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Pope John Paul II:

  • Pope getting nutrition from tube in nose | Vatican acknowledged his convalescence from throat surgery last month has been “slow” (Associated Press)
  • Pope being fed through nasal tube | “To improve his caloric intake and promote an efficient recovery of his strength, nutrition via the positioning of a nasal-gastric tube has begun,” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said (Reuters)
  • Doctors insert feeding tube through Pope’s nose | The tube is intended to improve what the Vatican described as a “slow and progressive” recovery from his tracheotomy (The New York Times)
  • Pope: Chronically ill still have dignity | The use of a feeding tube for Pope John Paul II illustrates a key point of Roman Catholic doctrine he himself has proclaimed toward the aging and chronically ill: The administration of food and water to a patient is morally necessary (Associated Press)
  • Ailing pope being fed through nasal tube (Los Angeles Times)
  • Pope’s ‘living will’ wants life support to the end | Pope John Paul, now being fed through a nasal tube because of his throat problems, effectively wrote his own “living will” last year in a speech declaring some life-extending treatments a moral duty for Roman Catholics (Reuters)
  • Frail Pope stresses dignity for ill | The use of a feeding tube for Pope John Paul II, struggling to recover from throat surgery, illustrates a key point of Roman Catholic policy he himself has proclaimed: It is morally necessary to give patients food and water, no matter their condition (Associated Press)
  • Pope is being fed with a tube | The Vatican’s announcement raised new alarms about the pope’s health and his ability to lead the Roman Catholic Church (The New York Times)
  • Pope being fed through tube | Public audiences with the pope are canceled until further notice (Los Angeles Times)
  • The way of suffering | Life involves suffering. Too often we forget this or don’t like to be reminded of it. But suffering and pain are as much a part of our lives as joy and celebration (Lawrence Kudlow, The Washington Times)
  • Ailing Pope is no longer actively running Catholic Church, spokesman indicates | In a statement announcing that the ailing pontiff was now being fed through a tube in his nose, his spokesman said merely that the pontiff was “following” the church’s activities (The Guardian, London)
  • Catholic Church at end of an era | Pope will leave behind an enduring ‘culture of life’ (David C. Steinmetz, The Orlando Sentinel)
  • The blessed sounds of silence | Pope John Paul II, teacher (Marc A. Thiessen, National Review Online)

Catholicism:

  • New order of Catholic priests is forming to fight abortions | The Roman Catholic Church plans to establish its first religious society devoted exclusively to fighting euthanasia and abortion, church leaders said this week (Los Angeles Times)
  • Vatican war of succession? | There have been telltale signs that an “Italian faction” of influential prelates is taking indirect potshots at Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a German, who is currently seen as a possible choice for pope when the ailing John Paul II dies (Uwe Siemon-Netto, UPI)
  • Assassinated archbishop to join beatification path | The Vatican says it will open the process for Oscar Arnulfo Romero, who spoke out against the death squads in El Salvador’s civil war (Los Angeles Times)
  • Pope appoints new bishop for Providence | The pope on Thursday accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Mulvee as leader of the Providence, R.I., Diocese, and appointed a new bishop, the Vatican said (Associated Press)
  • Priest fired from school chaplain job | Instant messages to students cited (The Boston Globe)

Jerry Falwell:

  • Falwell stable after unconsciousness | Falwell, 71, was unconscious in the car by the time he arrived at the hospital’s emergency room. But emergency medical technicians and emergency-room staffers quickly revived him (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
  • Hospitalized Falwell said to be improving | Doctors are investigating possible heart disease (The Washington Post)
  • Falwell remains in critical condition (Associated Press)
  • Christian activist Falwell taken to hospital (Reuters)

Life ethics:

  • Dutch gov’t considers euthanasia questions | The Dutch government, the first to legalize euthanasia for some terminally ill people, will tackle an even thornier ethical dilemma: what to do when doctors say it is best to end the lives of infants, the mentally handicapped or the demented (Associated Press)
  • “Mercy”! | Infant euthanasia creeps into acceptability (Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online)
  • Why Oregon is at the forefront of change on end-of-life care | Wave of suicides hasn’t happened (The Christian Science Monitor)
  • Abortion foes get more vocal as EU expands | Catholic Church pushes its message (San Francisco Chronicle)
  • Churchmen take stance on abortion | The row over British abortion laws intensified this week as another Catholic archbishop joined the debate (The Irish Post)
  • Mass. Senate passes stem cell bill that may face governor’s veto | The Massachusetts Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of a bill to promote stem cell research in the state while outlawing human reproductive cloning and imposing a series of new regulations on the cutting-edge field (The Washington Post)
  • In Vermont, a bid to legalize physician-assisted suicide | In Vermont, a group of citizens has begun an effort to pass a bill allowing doctors to prescribe suicide drugs for the terminally ill (The New York Times)
  • Stem cell wars | The biggest problem for proponents of stem cell research lies in general confusion over what the proposed legislation would do and why there is such a rush to get it done. (Joan Vennochi, The Boston Globe)
  • Woman refused abortion before killing, official says | Emmanuel Pierre strangled his pregnant companion, 20-year-old Sandra Bonaventure, wrapped her body in a trash bag, and dumped it on a Manhattan sidewalk because he did not want her to have his baby, prosecutors said (The New York Times)
  • The feminine touch | Creative coalitioning comes to the cloning debate? (Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online)

Bible death penalty case:

  • Book, not faith, broke court rules | According to the Colorado Supreme Court, there’s an important distinction between reciting Scripture verses from memory in the jury room and bringing in a Bible that never was admitted into evidence (The Denver Post)
  • Is court a place for morals? | This Colorado ruling suggests an even deeper divide in the American legal system than the separation between church and state — the one between the legal and the moral (Thane Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Times)
  • Bible thumped | Bloggers debate whether jurors should have been allowed to consult the Bible in a Colorado death penalty case (Slate)
  • Colorado ruling in murder case angers Christians | Barry Arrington can quote entire books of the Bible from memory, which could present a problem if he’s ever called for jury duty, given a decision this week by the Colorado Supreme Court (The Washington Times)
  • Opinion: People v. Harlan (Colorado Supreme Court)

Colorado contraception:

  • Pill bill to test Owens | Catholic hospitals would have to provide emergency-contraception information (The Denver Post)
  • Colo. Gov. faces contraception law dilemma | Gov. Bill Owens, a Roman Catholic who campaigned for office on conservative values, could face a tough choice deciding whether to sign a bill requiring hospitals to tell rape victims about emergency contraception (Associated Press)

AIDS:

  • When marriage kills | President Bush’s abstinence program in Africa is misplaced, since it is marriage, more than promiscuity, that kills young women here (Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times)
  • Uganda accused of shift in AIDS fight | A U.S.-based human rights group accused the Ugandan government Wednesday of a worrying shift toward promoting abstinence in the fight against AIDS and minimizing efforts to promote the use of condoms (Associated Press)
  • Abstinence-only programs faulted | Critics say U.S.-backed AIDS policy falls short (Chicago Tribune)
  • Uganda ‘not dropping’ Aids condom | Uganda has strongly denied charges that it no longer promotes condoms as part of its fight against Aids – seen as one of the most successful in the world (BBC)

Polygamy:

  • Muslims insist on polygamy | Thousands of Muslims marched through Kampala city yesterday and declared a jihad (holy war) against the Domestic Relations Bill (DRB) 2003, which is yet to be enacted into law (New Vision, Uganda)
  • Polygamy next threat to marriage? | While battling on the same-sex marriage front, pro-family groups also have to worry about another potential threat to the institution of marriage: lawsuits attempting to legalize polygamy (Agape Press)

Homosexuality:

  • Church turns away lesbian couple | Warren woman says priest called them ‘sinners’ (The Macomb Daily, Mi.)
  • Also: Gay couple says church turned them away | Archdiocese issues statement on same-sex couples (WDIV, Detroit)
  • Mission, synod are talking; lesbian minister is leaving | Lutheran lesbian minister is leaving. The urban mission’s leaders meet with the bishop (The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Ca.)
  • In but not of this world, Southern Seminary hires gay-friendly firm | Just how far should religious convictions take you, especially if you’re running a signature institution of the religious right? (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
  • Calif. judge stays pro-gay marriage ruling | The California judge who ruled that gay couples should be allowed to marry stayed his decision Wednesday pending the outcome of anticipated appeals (Associated Press)
  • Gay marriage foes eye new petition | Push for total ban in Massachusetts may aim for 2008 (The Boston Globe)
  • Maine gives final okay to gay rights bill | State lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday night to a bill to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. It was expected to be signed Thursday by Gov. John Baldacci (Associated Press)
  • Some clergy oppose marriage amendment | A Christian vote on the proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriages and civil unions is not necessarily a yes vote, a group of Wichita clergy who oppose the amendment said Wednesday (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
  • There is a fine line between hating and violence | Amendment will lead to anti-gay pogroms (Bill Roy, The Capital Journal, Topeka, Kan.)

Jerusalem gay parade:

  • Religious leaders: Ban J’lem gay parade | In a rare alliance, senior religious leaders of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Holy Land joined forces Wednesday to thwart a major international gay parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem this summer, urging the government to ban the event which they said could provoke a violent reaction from the faithful (The Jerusalem Post)
  • Clerics urge J’lem to ban gay parade (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
  • Clerics of 3 faiths protest gay festival planned for Jerusalem | Leaders of three faiths are making a rare show of unity to try to stop a WorldPride festival and parade in Jerusalem (The New York Times)
  • Opposition to gay pride event in holy city unites diverse faiths | Jewish, Christian and Muslim clergymen issued a declaration warning that holding the gay event in Jerusalem would “desecrate its sanctity and character and cause a breakdown in public order,” and they called on Israeli authorities to prevent it (Chicago Tribune)

Israel conversions:

  • High Court approves conversions done abroad | But the court did not address the final question of whether non-Jews who convert in Reform or Conservative ceremonies inside Israel should be considered Jewish (The Jerusalem Post)
  • Court orders change in status of non-Orthodox conversions | In a ruling which drew harsh criticism from Orthodox leaders and may have far-reaching implications, the High Court of Justice on Thursday morning ordered the state to recognize “leaping conversions,” non-Orthodox conversions in which the study process was conducted in Israel but was finalized overseas (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
  • Israel court expands conversion definition | Israel’s Supreme Court agreed Thursday to recognize non-Orthodox conversions to Judaism partially performed in Israel, delivering a blow to the Orthodox monopoly over religious affairs in the country (Associated Press)
  • Israel eases Jewish converts law | Israel’s supreme court has ended the Orthodox monopoly on conversions to Judaism in the Jewish state (BBC)
  • Israel court expands conversion definition (Associated Press)

More on Israel:

  • New tack in divestment war | As Jewish groups set to break off with Presbyterians, AJCongress takes Israel’s case to boardroom (The Jewish Week)
  • The Presbyterian divestment train | Why does the national church continue to support economic sanctions against Israel? (David Shtulman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
  • Drop in requests for New Testament in IDF | There has been a remarkable drop in the number of New Testaments requested by Israeli Defense Force soldiers. Conversely, the army says the number of soldiers seeking conversions to Judaism is on the rise (The Jerusalem Post)

Church property:

  • Greece puts pressure on Jerusalem Patriarch | Greece’s Foreign Ministry has added pressure on the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Irineos I, to resign, urging him to face his “historic responsibility” over an alleged land scandal in Jerusalem (Associated Press)
  • Also: Church land deal enrages Palestinians | Inside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, there is a battle going on (BBC)
  • Church’s £1bn property boom | The Church of England has made £100 million a year from property sales in the past ten years (The Times, London)

Church life:

  • Presbyterians move to cut off funds for church aimed at Jews | Presbyterian leaders voted Tuesday to cut off its funding of a controversial church for Jews midway through the five-year project (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  • Church officials on the spot for destroying artifacts | Top officials of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) now face the sack over destruction of precious symbols and other artifacts, claiming they were linked to Freemasonry (The East African Standard, Kenya)
  • Episcopal bishop has surgery to remove foot | Episcopal Bishop J. Jon Bruno, who heads the six-county Los Angeles diocese, underwent surgery earlier this week to amputate his left foot and ankle to stop a persistent staph infection, the diocese said Wednesday (Los Angeles Times)
  • Church’s new metropolitan eager to take spiritual reins | Ascension Cathedral in Oakland will host Saturday enthronement ceremony (The Oakland Tribune, Ca.)
  • Reaching out to the flock | Jimmie Knodel does a lot of his preaching on a sign above Tremont Evangelical Church on Southeast Woodstock Boulevard (The Oregonian)
  • Evangelical churches appear to be booming in Maine (Associated Press)

Mormons:

  • Mormons on a mission | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most powerful forces working to defeat gay equality. And openly gay and lesbian Mormons are the most powerful force working to change their church (The Advocate, gay magazine)
  • Strip club a winner vs. LDS Church | Fight isn’t over: A jury is expected to decide if the downtown Crazy Goat is a public, private nuisance (The Salt Lake Tribune, Ut.)

Religious freedom:

  • State to enact law to prevent forcible religious conversions | Maharashtra law will be similar to that introduced by Tamil Nadu (Cybernoon, India)
  • BJP takes govt to task on issue of conversions | The Congress-NCP alliance on Wednesday was caught on a wrong foot on the issue of religious conversions with both parties making contradictory statements (The Times of India)
  • Sri Lanka may outlaw all missionary efforts | LDS Church is among groups targeted by plan (Deseret Morning News, Ut.)

Hate crime law:

  • Hatred law needs overhaul: churches | Worried about curbs on free speech, religious leaders will push Premier Steve Bracks for change (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
  • Law curbs free speech, says church | The Presbyterian Church wants the State Government to repeal the religious part of its racial and religious tolerance legislation, which the church believes is fatal to freedom of speech and religion (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)

Islam:

  • Muslims, Copts reject talks to ease tensions | Meeting was called to calm hard feelings in Armanious slayings (Associated Press)
  • Rethinking the use of Muslim law | The imposition of corporal punishment, stoning, and execution in the name of religious texts on an entire society is unacceptable. We must all condemn such repressive practices carried out without due legal process (Tariq Ramadan, The Boston Globe)

Indonesia quake:

  • Aid begins flowing to Indonesia’s quake-hit Nias | Indonesian island is predominantly Christian (Reuters)
  • Indonesia quake strengthens groups’ ties | Unlike other places in Indonesia, islanders on mostly Roman Catholic Nias have always lived in peace, an example of religious tolerance in a nation better known for interfaith clashes than harmony (Associated Press)

Crime:

  • Explosives expert speaks in Rudolph case | Attorneys for serial bombing suspect Eric Rudolph tried to show Wednesday that traces of explosives found at his home could have been inadvertently spread there from the site of a deadly abortion clinic explosion by federal agents (Associated Press)
  • Brazil panel finds plot behind nun’s death | Members of a Senate commission said Wednesday they had found evidence of a broad conspiracy behind the killing of American nun Dorothy Stang (Associated Press)
  • Vicar disappointed killer deacon’s parole was denied | Governor foiled church’s plan to hire prison inmate (San Francisco Chronicle)

Abuse:

  • Bishops survey church sex abuse victims | America’s Roman Catholic bishops started an online survey of clergy sex abuse victims Wednesday, asking how the church can better help them recover and protect young people in the future (Associated Press)
  • Web survey to seek advice from clergy abuse victims | US bishops say goals include prevention, shaping of programs (The Boston Globe)
  • Church defends two deceased bishops named in sex abuse suit | Church officials said they have found nothing in their records to support the allegations, and defended the late bishops and priests (Associated Press)
  • Abuse crusader defends porn pay | Child abuse campaigner and failed Senate candidate Hetty Johnston last night defended taking election campaign donations from the porn industry, saying 80 per cent of Australian used adult services (The Daily Telegraph, NSW, Australia)
  • Rev faces girl-rape rap | Woman tells jurors he bedded her at 16 (New York Daily News)

Education:

  • Good Friday rally at Gilbert High just TGIF to many | If you thought the protest at Gilbert High School last Friday appeared to be more about a day off from school for reasons other than observing Good Friday, you’re not alone (Editorial, The Arizona Republic)
  • Catholic schools’ enrollment drops again | Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools dipped again this school year, continuing a trend that has seen the student population drop from 2.6 million in 2000 to 2.4 million in 2004-05, according to the National Catholic Education Association (Associated Press)
  • Expert: Don’t bar religion in school | Plano district officials coached on contentious issue; Dallas staff next (The Dallas Morning News)
  • Bible elective weighed at West Texas high schools | A packed audience gave a standing ovation Tuesday after the Ector County school board heard a presentation from a man representing the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools on offering such a class (Houston Chronicle)
  • Silence is golden, but bill isn’t needed | Since state law already allows for a moment of silence, there was no need to mandate it in the classroom (Editorial, The Indianapolis Star)

Higher education:

  • County panel says school is exempt from bias law | The Westchester County Human Rights Commission has said it does not have the authority to investigate the banning of a gay student group at New York Medical College. The commission said that because the school, based in Valhalla, has ties to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, it is exempt from the county’s antidiscrimination law (The New York Times)
  • Academy begins religious sensitivity classes | Religious sensitivity training began Tuesday at the Air Force Academy, an effort focused on teaching respect for all spiritual beliefs (The Denver Post)
  • Group, in lawsuit, says U of M program promotes religious faith | The Freedom from Religion Foundation in Wisconsin has filed suit against the Minnesota Faith/Health Consortium at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
  • More students applying to America’s religious colleges | For a growing number of such students, school choice is based on religion as well as academics (Voice of America)
  • Baylor’s success providing healing boost | If ever a college sports program needed a shining light, it was Baylor University. The further the Lady Bears go in the NCAA tournament, the brighter things look in Waco, Texas (Associated Press)
  • Also: Baylor’s Final Four berth excites Waco | The message on the Baptist church marquee near the Baylor campus lists what’s important to people in the excited Texas college town: “He is Risen … Go Lady Bears.” (Associated Press)
  • Easter egg culprit admits to Law School prank | Second-year Law student confesses to planting eggs filled with anti-Jesus cartoons before hunt (The Daily Pennsylvanian, U.Penn.)

Evolution:

  • Not intelligent, and surely not science | The term “intelligent design” is nothing more than a linguistic place-filler for something unexplained by science (Michael Shermer, Los Angeles Times)
  • Teachers feel pressure on evolution | Teachers feel pressured by students, parents to play down evolution (The Dallas Morning News)

Public display of religion:

  • Miss. Congress okays Commandments display | The Mississippi House on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would allow the Ten Commandments and other religious texts to be placed in public buildings, a day after the Senate also approved it (Associated Press)
  • The debate over public Ten Commandments displays | Later this year, the Supreme Court issues a decision about government displays of the Ten Commandments. Defenders of the displays say that the Commandments are being displayed not to endorse a religion, but to show their influence on the development of American law. Neither argument makes me comfortable (Ian Wrisley, All Things Considered, NPR)
  • Mississippi bill would allow Sermon on the Mount posting | State Senate votes to allow Ten Commandments, ‘In God We Trust’ motto and Jesus’ famous sermon to be posted in all public buildings (Associated Press)
  • Get cross signatures, Murphy tells pastors | San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy told pastors yesterday that as many petition signatures as possible should be collected to help persuade the City Council to reverse its decision and keep the cross atop Mount Soledad (San Diego Union-Tribune, Ca.)

Politics:

  • In the name of politics | The Republicans’ current fixation on a religious agenda has turned us in the wrong direction (John C. Danforth, The New York Times)
  • Hating the “Religious Right” | Should people of faith also be allowed a say in the law-making process? (Hugh Hewitt, The Weekly Standard)
  • Candidates for governor appeal to religion | It can backfire in a state that tends to be liberal, but some find it effective at reaching key groups (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  • Jewish, Christian leaders in environmental conference | As environmental problems become more serious, a variety of religious groups are coming to see conservation as part of their mission (Pulse of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis)
  • Casey on deck | Pennsylvania’s great Democratic hope warms up for 2006 (Duncan Currie, The Weekly Standard)

Questionable Christian leaders:

  • Loudmouth leaders | You know who they are, and they know who they are: Christian or conservative camera hogs beloved by media liberals pleased to broadcast the threatening image of right-wing would-be dictators (Marvin Olasky)
  • Born again: Evangelist sex scandal | Popular California televangelist Paul Crouch – founder of the world’s largest Christian broadcasting outlet, the Trinity Broadcasting Network – apparently has some scary lawyers (New York Daily News)

TV:

  • Run DMC star to spread the word on reality TV show | What happens when rappers grow up? A new reality show starring former Run DMC star Joseph “Reverend Run” Simmons aims to show you (Reuters)
  • Death by television | The plight of Terri Schiavo would be sad enough if there had been no media coverage. But as she evolved into a media plaything, her situation became sadder than it was before (Editorial, Broadcasting & Cable)
  • BBC rejects ‘Jerry Springer’ complaints | The BBC has rejected complaints from a record 55,000 viewers about its decision to screen the profanity-laden musical “Jerry Springer — The Opera.” (Reuters)
  • Jerry’s last judgment | The BBC governors’ backing for the Springer musical is right. After 2,000 years, Christianity can survive a barrage of swear words (Colin Morris, The Guardian, London)
  • Show religion some respect, bishop tells broadcasters | The Church of England was at war again yesterday, not over homosexual clergy or Iraq but over the merits or otherwise of the popular BBC television sitcom The Vicar of Dibley (The Times, London)

Music:

  • ‘Head’ Welch to 50 Cent: ‘You’re a huge force for the Devil right now’ | Ex-Korn guitarist releases lyrics to ‘A Cheap Name,’ which he calls ‘personal letter from God’ to 50 (MTV.com)
  • Faith in music | Calvin College’s Festival of Faith and Music is a biannual celebration of “the ways grace, love, compassion and the Christian faith are expressed” in popular music (The Grand Rapids Press, Mi.)
  • Songs for God, sung only for ourselves? | Why worship albums from Jars of Clay are bad for Christianity (Christopher Ashley, Yale Daily News)

Film:

  • The apocalypse, rated PG | Can a socially conservative Christian Republican succeed in Hollywood? By investing millions in a movie of C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Philip Anschutz is betting he can (Ross Douthat, The Atlantic)
  • ‘Sins will not hurt Christian community’ | Bollywood film director Vinod Pande, today said his controversial film ‘Sins’ had not made any remarks against Catholic priests and he did not believe that it would hurt the Christian community. (PTI, India)
  • ‘After this movie, there may be hate crimes committed’ | The Real Crusades: part one (The Herald, Glasgow)

History:

  • The church in the centre of the village | This year marks 850 years since the arrival of Christianity in Finland – it has shaped the Finns’ identity and their image of themselves (Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki, Finland)
  • Also: A jubilee year for the Western Church | The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland regards 1155 as the year when ecclesiastical activity got under way in Finland (Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki, Finland)
  • U.S. rabbi rescues sacred scrolls lost in Holocaust | Over the past 13 years, Rabbi Menachem Youlushas found and rescued 435 of the holy Jewish scrolls, which contain the Hebrew text of the first five books of the Bible (Reuters)

Books:

  • Supporter of chastity is young and not afraid of ridicule | Chastity remains a vital biblical virtue, argues Lauren F. Winner in her candid, common-sensical 21st-century manifesto, “Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity” (Associated Press)
  • New book rekindles celibacy debate | “Priests in Love: Australian Catholic Clergy and their Intimate Relationships” is a major study chronicling the personal turmoil of 50 Catholic priests struggling to balance the demands of the church and their need for close, sexual companionship (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Book store, coffee shop give witness to owners’ faith walk | Heaven Scent and Cody’s Coffee in Canby support Christian ministries with books, music and more (The Oregonian)
  • Author infuses humor into moral lessons | Bob Reed likes to poke fun at the `pious posturing’ of some Christians (The Orlando Sentinel)

Other articles of interest:

  • Charles taking common route to remarriage | The couple’s decision to take the well-traveled path around Anglican objections to divorce and remarriage underscores colliding opinions in Britain that could eventually rattle the Church of England, which plays an anchor role for the world’s 77 million-strong association of churches known as the Anglican Communion (Associated Press)
  • Memo shows U.S. inmate interrogation plans in Iraq | The top U.S. commander in Iraq authorized prisoner interrogation tactics more harsh than accepted Army practice, including using guard dogs to exploit “Arab fear of dogs,” a memo made public on Tuesday showed (Reuters)
  • Troy religious groups to share National Day of Prayer services | Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus will be among those gathered in front of Troy City Hall to express their faith on the National Day of Prayer (Detroit Free Press, Mi.)
  • Jesus doll ready for market | Press button, hear figure repeat Scripture (Los Angeles Daily News)
  • Witchcraft, coercion alleged in lawsuit | A second woman has filed a lawsuit against Delnor-Community Hospital claiming a former psychologist there subjected her to witchcraft under the guise of therapy (Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)
  • Many reject commentary on Christians | Sunday’s column about America getting dangerously narrow in its view of Christians triggered more response than anything I’ve written in the past year (Bob Welch, The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.)
  • Only the ethical need apply | In the heavily automated workplace of the future, a keen sense of right and wrong will become a highly valued job skill (The Christian Science Monitor)

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