Weblog Bonus: Three Dozen Editorials on Intelligent Design, But Only One Opinion

Weblog will be on vacation next week, and is highly unlikely to post anything before January 3. Fresh articles, including news, will continue to appear on the Christianity Today website from Dec. 27-30.

Merry Christmas. God bless us every one.

ID ruling (news):

1. Schools nationwide study impact of evolution ruling | Educators and legislators in communities that are considering including intelligent design in science classes may not be swayed by the recent court decision in Dover, Pa. (The New York Times)
2. Reactions to testimony mixed | The judge said two former board members lied during the Dover trial (York Daily Record, Pa.)
3. Santorum now critical of Dover case | He denies he is contradicting earlier statements of support for the cause (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
4. Advocates of ‘Intelligent Design’ vow to continue despite ruling | A federal judge’s ruling in Pennsylvania that “intelligent design” is religious fundamentalism dressed in the raiment of science has wounded a politically influential movement (The Washington Post)
5. Case seen as setback to Intelligent Design | Intelligent design advocates say the judge’s lengthy, pointed rebuke of the concept Tuesday in a case out of Pennsylvania may energize supporters, many of whom view his opinion as part of a broader pattern of hostility by courts and the government to religion in public schools (Associated Press)
6. Court ruling won’t stop evolution row: experts | Opponents and supporters of the concept said it could also energize and spread the campaign to put it on the curriculum (Reuters)
7. Theory’s value for a science class debated | Alvin Plantinga and other scholars weigh questions of science, God, parent input (South Bend Tribune, Ind.)
8. ‘Victory for science, victory for religion’ | Rebuke to intelligent design hailed by much of Jewish community (The JewishWeek, N.Y.)
9. Idols of a ‘jealous God’ | Are Darwinists the real fanatics in the evolution debate? (The Washington Times)

ID ruling (editorials):

1. Ruling on ‘intelligent design’ is one for the history books | The problem with comparing evolution with intelligent design is that ID is a matter of faith, not science. It can’t be tested. Evolution, by contrast, is backed by overwhelming scientific evidence (Editorial, USA Today)
2. Intelligent Design derailed | Any community that is worried about the ability of its students to compete in a global economy would be wise to keep supernatural explanations out of its science classes (Editorial, The New York Times)
3. Religion, science and civility | By writing that science and religion need not be sworn enemies, however, Jones offers Americans something valuable: a way to think and talk, respectfully, about issues that divide us (Editorial, Chicago Tribune)
4. Intelligent decision keeps religion out of science class | We can speculate on evolution all we want, but to cast doubt on the science on which it is based is to undermine future breakthroughs (Editorial, Chicago Sun-Times)
5. No pseudo-science in class | While Jones’ decision will undoubtedly be contested, his reasoning seems unassailable: Religion cloaked in pseudo-science has no place in science classrooms (Editorial, The Newark Star-Ledger, N.J.)
6. Of faith and facts | Ruling correctly separates science and religion (Editorial, The Dallas Morning News)
7. A forceful rejection of `intelligent design’ | Evolution consensus prevails in ruling to keep religion out of science class (Editorial, The Mercury News, San Jose, Ca.)
8. Science versus belief: Evolution upheld | It doesn’t require a science or law degree to understand the bedrock American principle that government must operate by the Constitution rather than the whims of politicians, publicists and ideologues who seek to transform religion, faith and scientific inquiry into “wedge” issues (Editorial, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
9. On the ropes | We hope that intelligent design proponents in other parts of the country suffer the same fate as those in Dover – trounced at the polls and in court (Editorial, The Baltimore Sun)
10. Religion by any other name | It’s not that religious views don’t have validity. It’s just that, in a society that properly values separation of church and state, religion cannot be given the state’s imprimatur by allowing it to be passed as science in public classrooms (Editorial, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
11. A precious gift | Judge’s legal precision deserves hallelujahs from faithful (Editorial, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
12. Victory for science | The “argument” is more accurately between science and faith. And while no one should object to a history or social studies class considering various religious beliefs, including biblical literalism, biology classes should teach science (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
13. Religious study belongs in church | Tuesday’s ruling by a federal judge that teaching intelligent design in classrooms is unconstitutional upheld the First Amendment. It is religion, not science and, therefore, should not be taught in public school (Editorial, Des Moines Register, Ia.)
14. Federal court ruling keeps faith with science | Intelligent design should be confined to houses of worship, philosophy class (Editorial, The Tennessean)
15. Anti-evolution movement is plainly religious in purpose | It’s not only religion, that’s a particular fundamentalist Christian form of religion, one that excludes not only true science but limitless other faiths and belief systems (Editorial, The Salt Lake Tribune, Ut.)
16. Intelligent design put in its place | The concept of “intelligent design” got exposed this week for what it is: creationism with a Tammy Faye Bakker makeover (Editorial, The Forum, Fargo, N.D.)
17. Not science at all | Intelligent design promotes religion in school (Editorial, The Sacramento Bee, Ca.)
18. The Dover decision | Teach about religion because of its historical, cultural and political importance. Teach about evolution because it is a crucial scientific theory with no serious rivals (Editorial, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
19. The wrong classroom | Please note that in saying intelligent design is bad science the judge did not say it is bad thinking. Instead, he implied that its discussion belongs in classes on religion and philosophy (Editorial, The Huntsville Times, Ala.)
20. Theory unmasked | A new federal court ruling should put the brakes on attempts by religious activists to impose their religious beliefs on public school children under the guise of intelligent design (Editorial, Waco Tribune-Herald, Tex.)
21. Follow the lead | On Tuesday a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that the Dover school district’s decision to teach intelligent design in its science classes was a violation of the constitution. (Editorial, Morning Sun, Pittsburgh)
22. Creationism booted from only one classroom | Federal District Judge John E. Jones didn’t kick the teaching of creationism out of public schools. He didn’t restrict teachers or students from talking about creationism. He didn’t limit anyone of any faith from teaching their children and anyone else about beliefs regarding intelligent design (Editorial, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Ia.)
23. A stinging rebuke | If only more of the nation’s politicians were as clear headed, plain spoken and courageous (Editorial, Bennington Banner, Vt.)
24. Fueling the controversy | A Pennsylvania ruling adds new fuel to the case against new science standards for Kansas schools (Editorial, Lawrence Journal-World, Kan.)
25. A victory for science | It is a decision Kansans should heed as they consider their own state school board and its embarrassing attacks on evolution, a cornerstone of modern science (Editorial, Kansas City Star, Mo.)
26. Judge right: ID theory isn’t science | ID flunked. So did the conservatives on the Kansas State Board of Education (Editorial, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
27. Intelligent design bad choice for state | Judge overturns school board policy (Editorial, Rocky Mountain News, Denver)

ID ruling (editorials): Predictable headlines:

1. Intelligent decision | Judge Jones has taken an important additional step, holding that the separation of church and state also forbids the teaching of creationism masked in scientific lingo, even without overt references to God. If a school district adopts a policy of promoting a religious cosmology, however couched, in an effort to undermine science and thereby instill religious values, that policy must fall (Editorial, The Washington Post)
2. An intelligent decision | Even a stinging rebuke from a federal judge will not keep “intelligent design’s” believers from trying to crash the public school curriculum (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
3. Intelligent decision | Federal judge in Dover, Pa., case is right to reserve science classes for science (Editorial, Houston Chronicle)
4. Intelligent decision | Pennsylvania judge aptly separates faith from science; now Ohio’s school board may be called upon to do the same (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
5. Intelligent decision on intelligent design | They can pound the table forever, but they can only pound on the science so far. Their explanation for what they cannot test or explain ultimately defers to a creator (Editorial, The Seattle Times)
6. An intelligent ruling | Darwin lives! (Editorial, Philadelphia Daily News)
7. Intelligent ruling | Judge draws clear lines for science, religion, schools (Editorials, Detroit Free Press)
8. Oregon must retain its intelligence on this one | The state should stick to its neutral approach about religion when it reviews educational standards for K-12 science (Editorial, The Oregonian)

ID ruling (opinion):

1. Down but hardly out | Intelligent Design and the courts (Charles Colson, Breakpoint)
2. Idea not based on religion | Evolutionists used to style themselves the champions of free speech and academic freedom against unthinking dogmatism. But increasingly, they have become the new dogmatists, demanding judicially-imposed censorship of dissent (John G. West, USA Today)
3. What’s the big deal about Intelligent Design? | In the current showdown between materialists and theists, it’s easy to forget that science itself is a creation of Western Christian thought (Dan Peterson, The American Spectator)
4. What’s wrong with intelligent design, and with its critics | The problem with this argument is that it requires making the case that intelligent design is not science. And the intelligibility of that task depends on the possibility of drawing a line between science and non-science. The prospects for this are dim (Alexander George, The Christian Science Monitor)
5. Smackdown in evolution ruling | Just wait until Pat Robertson gets a load of this (Mike Argento, York Daily Record, Pa.)
6. Are there serious doubts about Darwinism? | No. Religious fundamentalists have a problem with Darwin’s science because, simply, it does not square with stories told in sacred scriptures. (Tim Radford, The Guardian, London)
7. Intelligent design ruling doesn’t deter a fierce crusader | It was Richard Thompson , president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, who shopped the idea of teaching “intelligent design” to school boards, promising free legal representation in the inevitable event of a court challenge (Laura Berman, The Detroit News)
8. Why Intelligent Design is ‘creationism relabeled’ | The most pernicious aspect of the ID movement is its commingling of science and faith, its attempt to use science and mathematics to prove the existence of an intelligent designer. Not only does this undermine science, it undermines faith (Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation)

Beyond Dover:

1. Logic has its limits | Some aspects of religion can’t be explained (Norman Roberts, The Dallas Morning News)
2. Board business? | Public officials certainly are entitled to pursue private interests — but not on the taxpayers’ dime (Editorial, Lawrence Journal-World, Kan.)
3. Kids hear little of evolution | Teachers in Virginia’s public schools aren’t encouraged to teach the theory that humans evolved from primates (Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Va.)
4. Intelligent design in Colorado? | The debate over the teaching of intelligent design in public schools has not reached the agendas of Colorado Springs-area school boards, but a Colorado lawmaker is considering legislation to encourage boards to join the battle (Colorado Springs Gazette)

Teaching the Bible:

1. Texas district adopts disputed text on Bible study | Trustees in one school district decided that high school students would use a course published by a religious advocacy group for studying the Bible in history and literature (The New York Times)
2. Board chooses Bible course | Trustees vote 4-2 for National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (Odessa American, Tex.)
3. Board decision draws mixed reaction | Both sides of debate express strong opinions (Odessa American, Tex.)
4. Odessa school board approves Bible course | Ector County schools to offer elective on King James version. (Associated Press)

Education:

1. Book is in limbo | ‘Of Pandas’ remains in Dover’s library, but it’s unclear where it will be shelved (York Daily Record, Pa.)
2. Christian school faces discrimination suit | In what one state official is calling the first case of its kind, two students and their parents are suing a private, Christian high school for expelling the two students for allegedly being lesbians (North County Times, San Diego, Ca.)

School ‘Christmas’ break:

1. No ‘Christmas’ in D-11’s break | The Colorado Springs School District 11 board rejected a proposal to change winter break to Christmas vacation, voting instead Wednesday night to include Christmas Day on school calendars (Colorado Springs Gazette)
2. District forges Christmas pact | Springs schools keep “Winter Break” but change Dec. 25 on calendar. A board member who objected to a tree marking the holiday instead of the word “Christmas” wins a partial victory in a compromise vote (The Denver Post)

Christmas wars:

1. Christmas greeting debate lands at Lexington library | Everett Horn Public Library, for Lexington and Henderson County displays “Merry Christmas: It’s Okay to Say It” on their outdoor sign and has a Happy Holidays wreath on their front door (The Jackson Sun, Tenn.)
2. Decorated tree by any name a sign of peace | Those who have turned Christmas into a battlefield are attacking my Christmas, a season in which differences ought to be put aside (Douglas Schwarz, The Concord Monitor, N.H.)
3. Man demanding Christian symbols in Racine played St. Nicholas for years | A man who says he’s trying to save the Christmas spirit in Racine played St. Nicholas for 11 years and claims he visited with more than 250,000 children throughout southeastern Wisconsin (The Journal Times, Racine, Wi.)
4. Christmas column riles | Carleton Place councillors rip mayor after ‘knee-jerk’ remarks (Ottawa Sun)
5. Merry Christmas | Offensive are the weak leaders who allow the minority voice to carry more loudly than the majority of people who celebrate the holiday, who look forward to the spirit of Christmas that makes them smile more and makes them reach out and help their fellow man. How can a symbol of this spirit be called offensive? (Editorial, Union Leader, N.J.)
6. Christmas party | Democrats counteract their anti-Christmas image (T. A. Frank, The New Republic)
7. The right is right: Now censor carols | Now that Christian fundamentalism has initiated some momentum toward renewal of true “Christmas” celebration and demonized the more non-Christian “happy holidays” and “seasons greetings,” I think we should go one step further. We should censor and boycott anyone who plays non-Christian holiday music – on radio, TV or in malls (Edward B. Golla, York Daily Record, Pa.)
8. Secular stones | Despite efforts to suppress Christmas, Christ’s blessings abound (Joel Belz, World)
9. Merry Christmas and happy holidays | Is it silly for a department store to call the Christmas trees it sells “holiday trees”? Of course it is. But Christians know better than to look for the true spirit of Christmas in malls (Dan Rather, The Salt Lake Tribune)
10. Happy holy days | Here’s my Christmas wish: Let those 800 attorneys go to work seeking justice for the poor, not defending “Merry Christmas.” There’s plenty of real work out there to do (Kevin Eigelbach, The Cincinnati Post)
11. Keep Christmas “Christmas” | The idea that Christmas is offensive offends me (Deroy Murdock, National Review Online)
12. Bah, humbug | The horrors of December in a one-party state (Christopher Hitchens, Slate)

Christmas:

1. Holiday rituals, blended and shared | Celebrations reflect a church’s broad diversity (The Washington Post)
2. The story behind Christmas | Or … why Rudolph flies (ABC News)
3. The earthly father | What if Mary wasn’t a virgin? (Chloe Breyer, Slate)
4. What would baby Jesus say? | Nothing, of course (Jack Miles, Slate)
5. Slappy holiday | Why not take the Santa Claus tradition a little further and strike those we disagree with? (Gene Edward Veith, World)
6. The power of Christmas | Stop and smell the nutmeg (Jennifer Graham, National Review Online)
7. Inventing Christmas | Here’s one Donald Trump didn’t come up with (Father James V. Schall, National Review Online)
8. A sword will pierce your heart | The dark side of Christmas (Amy Welborn, National Review Online)
9. This is what a lady looks like | The Christmas story and feminism (Charmaine Yoest, National Review Online)

Bethlehem at Christmas:

1. Bethlehem’s Christians cling to hope | They endure economic hardships while facing political uncertainty (BBC)
2. Christmas behind Israel’s wall | Bethlehem residents say the wall and a new checkpoint may harm tourism and jobs (The Christian Science Monitor)
3. Web boosts Bethlehem’s woodcarving trade | This Christmas in Bethlehem, the centuries-old craft is coming alive again through a combination of tradition, technology and foreign sales (Associated Press)

Christmas & Hanukkah:

1. Paseo Colorado ending display of religious symbol | To the disappointment of local Jews, the management of Paseo Colorado is ending an annual Hanukkah menorah display in an effort to eliminate all religious symbols from the shopping center (Pasadena Star News, Ca.)
2. Also: Menorahs light path for nativity displays | Christian activists cite Chabad campaign as precedent (Forward, Jewish newspaper)
3. 2 holidays too close for comfort? | For the first time since 1959, in a coincidental convergence of calendars, the first night of the Jewish festival of lights will fall this year on Christmas Day (Chicago Tribune)
4. Christmas, Hanukkah or Chrismukkah? | With Jewish and Christian holidays colliding this year, couples seek to find ways to accommodate both traditions (San Mateo County Times, Ca.)
5. A tale of two traditions | Shore families welcome both Hanukkah and Christmas into their homes (Asbury Park Press, N.J.)
6. Religion today: Candle time | After Christmas candlelight service, the menorah (Associated Press)
7. ‘Tis never the season for Chrismukkah | Chrismukkah created enough of a stir last year that the independent Catholic League and the New York Board of Rabbis issued a joint statement condemning it as shameful plagiarism and an insult to both Christians and Jews (Jane Ulman, The Jewish Journal, Los Angeles)
8. If you’re really offended, you gotta go caroling | The only offense to be had here, I would argue, is to our intelligence (Joel Friedman, Forward, Jewish newspaper)

Jews & Christmas:

1. Christian Right leader warns Foxman on Israel | According to one prominent Christian evangelical, support for Israel may go on the chopping block if Jewish leaders persist in publicly criticizing the religious right (Forward, Jewish newspaper)
2. December’s longstanding dilemma | Each cultural strategy of Jews toward Christmas has the weight of history behind it (Jenna Weissman Joselit, Forward, Jewish newspaper)
3. Did the Jews kill Christmas? | Christian activists are waging the culture war with a worrisome combination of triumphalism and insecurity (Andrew Silow-Carroll, The Jewish Journal, Los Angeles)
4. A Christmas mitzvah | How the celebration of Christ’s birth can unite us all—Christian, Jew, Muslim and otherwise (Kenneth L. Woodward, Newsweek)

Closed churches:

1. Christmas comes on Sunday, but some churches are closed | The debate goes on. But this story has some good quotes (The Baltimore Sun)
2. Ironic Christmas custom: Closing church | Churches planning to close should rethink their decision. Christmas is the day Santa Claus gets a rest. It’s an odd time for a Christian church to go dark and quiet (Editorial, The Tampa Tribune)

Christmas & business:

1. Away in the mangers, the business is booming | Nativities’ rising realism is keeping animals busier (The Washington Post)
2. Christmas conflict Christians seek religious, secular balance | Because while Santa looms large this time of year, those celebrating the birth of Jesus strive to balance the secular and the sacred, a task becoming more difficult when malls erect holiday displays in October and gift catalogs fill mailboxes daily (The Arizona Republic)
3. A subversive story of self-sacrifice and deprivation | To celebrate the nativity story with a consumerist orgy is to misunderstand a myth that venerates the outcast and dispossessed (Karen Armstrong, The Guardian, London)

Pope ‘dresses like Santa’:

1. ‘Santa Pope’ woos Vatican crowds | Pope Benedict XVI appears to be getting into a different kind of Christmas spirit, donning a Santa-style hat for his weekly appearance at the Vatican (BBC)
2. Now look who’s playing Santa … | The Pope took onlookers by surprise with his fur-lined cap, but it had nothing to do with Father Christmas (The Times, London)
3. Pope delights crowds with Santa look | The traditional hat, known as a camauro, used to be worn by popes in the Middle Ages to keep their heads warm (The Telegraph, London)
4. Here comes Santa Claus — no, wait, it’s the Pope | He was not riding on a one-horse open sleigh, but when Pope Benedict arrived on the popemobile for his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square, on-lookers could have been forgiven for thinking Santa Claus was in town (Reuters)

Catholicism:

1. Condom-covered Madonna embarrasses Catholic weekly | An advertisement for a statue of the Virgin Mary veiled in a condom has embarrassed the publishers of the U.S. Catholic magazine America, and prompted some heated comment on Catholic Web sites (Reuters)
2. Sign of hope at closed parishes | Priests will say Christmas Mass at 3 churches (The Boston Globe)
3. Pope recalls ‘fright’ at being elected | Pope Benedict XVI recalled the “fright” he felt at being elected pope, telling cardinals during his year-end speech Thursday that he never imagined he would be chosen and only agreed to it because he had great faith in God (Associated Press)

St. Louis parish control:

1. New pastor arrives at St. Stanislaus | A day after he pulled into town, the Rev. Marek Bozek, the new pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka church, introduced himself to the St. Louis media. Literally (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
2. Excommunicated priest wants to lead parish | “It’s not my intention to be a hero or to dispute canonical issues,” the Rev. Marek Bozek said Wednesday. “I am coming to St. Stanislaus to be its pastor, a parish priest, and nothing else. A good shepherd will feed and care for his sheep. This is my purpose in life.” (Associated Press)

Canada defines decency down:

1. Canada court okays group sex in ‘swinger’ clubs | Wednesday’s ruling, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, said group sex among like-minded adults in private does not meet the test of indecency (Associated Press)
2. Swing shift | Supreme Court ruling clarifies indecency laws (Edmonton Sun)
3. Sex club ruling redefines ‘indecency’ | In a ruling that sex clubs are legal, the Supreme Court of Canada has changed the definition of acceptable behaviour (The Toronto Star)

Church of England congregation blesses vicar’s same-sex marriage:

1. Church blessing for homosexual vicar | A homosexual vicar flouted Church of England guidelines yesterday by having his “marriage” blessed in church (The Telegraph, London)
2. Vicar’s blessing ignores guidelines from bishops | A vicar who had his civil partnership blessed at a church service yesterday could face disciplinary action from the Church of England (The Times, London)
3. Gay pride or unholy alliance? | Church leaders made few public comments but their discomfort over the reform is well known (The Telegraph, London)

Marriage & family:

1. Divorced father appeals ban of girlfriend | The ACLU said it would appeal to the state Supreme Court on behalf of Christian Muller, whose ex-wife sought the court order based on an 1838 state law that makes “lewd and lascivious cohabitation” a crime. Michigan is one of only seven states with such a law on the books (Associated Press)
2. Walls ruin community spirit, says archbishop | The new Archbishop of York has compared houses and estates surrounded by walls and large gates to “prisons” that undermine the spirit of neighbourliness (The Telegraph, London)

Same-sex marriage:

1. Same-sex couples say ‘I do’ in Britain | Stephen Green, director of the British evangelical group Christian Voice, was quoted as saying the partnerships were “an absolute abomination” that would disgust “ordinary people” (Los Angeles Times)
2. Earlier: Evangelical Alliance responds to Christian Voice | “Stephen Green, like anyone else, is entitled to his opinions and should be free to express them. Whether he represents the voice of the majority of Christians in the UK, however, is a different matter. Feedback suggests that relatively few people would agree that he does” (Evangelical Alliance U.K., Oct. 3)
3. Petition vs. gay marriage advances | Number of signers breaks state record (The Boston Globe)
4. Gay rights supporters outspend opponents by 3 to 1 | Gay rights supporters outspent opponents by a 3-to-1 margin during this year’s campaign over a Maine gay rights law (Associated Press)

Religion & politics:

1. Thou shalt what?? Ralph Reed’s flack writes a little blue in a red state | Ralph Reed ‘s longtime spokeswoman, Lisa Baron is popping up in print these days with the shockingly saucy — often downright ribald — weekly column she writes for the Sunday Paper, an alty sort of weekly aimed at Atlanta’s young upscale types (The Washington Post)
2. A political puck says religion, government do mix | Christian conservatives won big Nov. 8 when voters resoundingly banned gay marriage in the state constitution. The same night, lo came Bill Ratliff, speaking on Christianity and government. (W. Gardner Selby, Austin American-Statesman)
3. Is God green? | Strange bedfellows take up the fight to save all things bright and beautiful (Boise Weekly)
4. Oversized hammer | Hurricanes derail Congress from dealing blows to nonprofits (World)

Church and state:

1. Community’s ban on common-area worship upheld | A Port St. Lucie retirement community is allowed to prohibit religious services in common areas such as its clubhouse, a federal judge has ruled (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
2. Britishness test for preachers to be scrapped | The government has abandoned its plans to introduce controversial ‘Britishness’ tests for foreign-born religious ministers, it has emerged (The Guardian, London)
3. Fade to gray | Proposed military guidelines could muzzle evangelical officers and chaplains (World)

Persecution:

1. U.S. Embassy warns of threat in Indonesia | Maps and explosives obtained in a police raid on a terrorist’s hideout last month indicated the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah was in the advanced stages of planning attacks, the embassy said in an e-mail to citizens (Associated Press)
2. China priests, nuns defiant in police standoff | Almost 50 Chinese Catholic priests and nuns holed up for a week in a building they claim as their own and surrounded by police vowed to stay put on Thursday until they get their way (Reuters)
3. Missionaries shot by terrorists | Two British aid workers were shot in Africa by Islamic terrorists, an inquest heard (BBC)
4. Also: Shot missionaries’ inquest opens | An inquest into the deaths of a missionary couple who were shot in the school in Africa they helped to build is due to open in London (BBC)
5. Supporters rally for medical release of Jean-Juste | Efforts to free Haitian political prisoner the Rev. Jean Juste have gone unrewarded, and now supporters fear he may be in need of medical treatment (The Miami Herald)

Church life:

1. Happy clappy Christmas | Swelling congregations have given two churches more to sing about on Sundays, mostly due to good old-fashioned recruiting drives (The Australian)
2. Amid ruins, volunteers are emerging as heroes | The Gulf Coast in general and New Orleans in particular have at times felt abandoned by the American government. But they haven’t been abandoned by Americans, who have volunteered by the thousands to clear out houses, collect trash, fight mold, cover roofs, feed the hungry, tend to the sick and help in any way they can (USA Today)
3. Framingham a major center of Brazilian Pentecostal faith | Since he came here in June 2004 to lead the Brazilian World Revival Church Assembly of God, Pastor Elias Barbosa has been dreaming of the day when the church would open the doors of its new home. (Marlborough Enterprise, Mass.)
4. Coping with society | Today’s church must embrace capitalism to succeed (Matthew L. Brown, The Buffalo News, N.Y.)

Spirituality:

1. The Dude is back in the building | Christ is hip and the marketers are working hard to sell his message (The Sydney Morning Herald)
2. All in good faith | Christians aren’t alone in their love for Jesus. Muslims also revere Him (The Sydney Morning Herald)
3. God, the interview | Mr. Know-It-All. (National Review Online)
4. Moments of truth | A new study finds that half of all Americans have had a spiritual experience that altered their lives (The Christian Science Monitor)

History:

1. Priest’s hunch finally uncovers Porto’s hidden holy scrolls | A medieval holy ark—a nook in the wall of a synagogue where Torah scrolls are kept, was discovered in a building recently purchased by a church. Only two other arks from the period have been found in Portugal (The Independent, London)
2. Ancient prayer book to be shown at Victoria and Albert Museum | Thanks to scholarly detective work, a 15th century Book of Hours, written for King Louis XII of France, has been pieced back together and will go on display for the first time (The Telegraph, London)
3. Stones indicate earlier Christian link? | A Chinese theology professor says the first Christmas is depicted in the stone relief from the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) (China Daily)

People:

1. Local congregation stunned by pastor’s death | Nzubamunu Mitete was shot to death while working as a jitney driver to make extra money for the holidays (KDKA, Pittsburgh)
2. Also: Shooting victim was minister, worked as jitney driver | Six years ago, Nzubamunu Mitete, a charismatic evangelical minister, followed a dream to Pittsburgh. Tuesday night, the dream ended when the 51-year-old Pentecostal pastor was shot to death in Lincoln-Lemington (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
3. No. 9 Texan of the Year: Joel Osteen | Americans are embracing his feel-good gospel (Editorial, The Dallas Morning News)

Television:

1. Leaping into faith | It’s hard not to be skeptical of national reporting on religion (Brian Montopol, CBS News)
2. Heaven has no signposts | It’s a rule in my business: Don’t pose a question unless you eventually answer it for the reader (Susan Ager, Detroit Free Press)

Narnia:

1. Xmas in Narnia | Have yourself a merry little Aslanmas? (John J. Miller, National Review Online)
2. Values come roaring from the closet | Secularists have nothing to fear from a film financed by Christian money. Quite the opposite (Peter Craven, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)

More articles of interest:

1. N.C. falls far behind in AIDS treatment | Rick Warren gets it. Jesse Helms gets it. So why doesn’t the state of North Carolina get it? (Jack McKinney, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
2. Sports and religion | Should the two be linked together? (Dick Carey, Needham Times, Pa.)
3. Religion news in brief | More Americans are concerned about the commercialization of Christmas than about restrictions on public displays of religious symbols; anti-gay banner ban okayed; Chicago Presbyterians divided over divestment; other stories (Associated Press)
4. Articles of faith | The 24 icons in Nikos Kypraios’ show evoke familiar Byzantine works, yet convey a sad but human connection lacking in traditional pieces (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)

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