China Detains 28 in House Church Raid

No commentary today, just links.

Religious freedom | Abortion clinic targeted with pipe bomb | Crime | Abuse | Politics | US approves cervical cancer drug | Homosexuality | Education | Church life | Missions & ministry | Family | Spirituality | Edinburgh Fringe festival | Media | Books | Other religions | Scientology | More articles of interest

Religious freedom:

1. China detains 28 Christians during raid on unauthorized church | Chinese authorities detained 28 Christians in a raid on a non-government-authorized church service at a private home, an overseas monitoring group said Friday. (Associated Press)
2. Sudanese leaders prepare for peace talks | Southern Sudanese leaders said Thursday they are organizing peace talks with the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army and the Ugandan government to try to end the brutal war in northern Uganda that has spilled across the border into their own country. (Associated Press)
3. Hope renewed for Valley Iraqi exiles | But fear remains that others will rise, take Zarqawi’s place (The Arizona Republic)

Abortion clinictargeted with pipe bomb:

1. Man arrested for plotting clinic attack | A man who told police he made a pipe bomb to attack an abortion clinic was arrested Thursday, shortly before the device went off in a friend’s home while authorities tried to disable it, according to court documents. (Associated Press)
2. Maryland abortion clinic targeted | Maryland authorities allege a man arrested with a homemade pipe bomb planned to attack a College Park, Md., abortion clinic. (UPI)

Crime:

1. One arrested in Wis. monastery vandalism | Authorities arrested a man and were searching for a teenager after vandals spraypainted a historic monastery with the number 666 and the phrase “Happy Birthday Satan.” (Associated Press)
2. Man arrested at Holy Hill in vandalism | Deputies seek teen who fled after questioning (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
3. Trumpeter Driscoll convicted in tax case | Grammy-winning trumpeter Phil Driscoll, who shifted from pop music to gospel, was convicted Thursday on federal charges that he used his Tennessee-based Christian music ministry in an income-tax cheating scheme. (Associated Press)

Abuse:

1. Vatican appeals ruling in molestation case | The Vatican filed an appeal Thursday to a federal judge’s ruling refusing to dismiss a lawsuit that claims the Holy See bears responsibility for a priest who was transferred from city to city even though he was known to be a molester. (Associated Press)
2. Vatican defrocks Springfield Diocese priest accused of sex abuse | A Roman Catholic priest suspected of sexual abuse while serving in the Springfield Diocese has been defrocked, church officials said Thursday. (Associated Press)
3. Mahony’s move angers abuse plaintiffs | The cardinal intervenes in an LAPD case and wins a ruling that could shield the archdiocese’s files from alleged victims of priests. (Los Angeles Times)

Politics:

1. Kaine delays execution of inmate for 6 months | Inquiry into killer’s mental state ordered (The Washington Post)
2. A beastly analysis of Moore’s defeat | Bob Riley, who quietly lives by his Christian creed, is more like Alabama evangelicals than Roy Moore. (Editorial, Anniston Star, Ala.)
3. Religion exerts influence on election | A prevailing political theory took a bit of a beating this week when Alabama voters went to the polls in Tuesday’s statewide primary. The theory in question, that religious people vote as a unified block, has given birth to a growing conservative Christian movement that wields considerable power at the polls. However, the theory’s validity was tarnished when Roy Moore, a Christian conservative icon, fared poorly in the Republican gubernatorial primary. (John Davis and Darryn Simmons, Montgomery Advertiser)
4. Mexico Catholics fear church influencing election | A group of Mexican Catholic community groups said on Thursday the church may be using hot-button issues like abortion to sway voters in favor of the conservative ruling party candidate in the presidential election. (Reuters)

US approves cervical cancer drug:

1. U.S. approves use of vaccine for cervical cancer | Federal drug officials on Thursday announced the approval of a vaccine against cervical cancer that could eventually save thousands of lives each year in the United States and hundreds of thousands in the rest of the world. (The New York Times)
2. US approves cervical cancer drug | The US has licensed the first vaccine against cervical cancer, which kills at least 290,000 women worldwide a year. (BBC)

Homosexuality:

1. Lesbian foster parents win Missouri case | The state plans to drop its legal challenge to a lesbian’s efforts to become a foster parent because a new state law makes the appeal impossible, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said. (Associated Press)
2. County to recognize legal same-sex unions | Westchester move seen as symbolic (The Journal News, N.Y.)
3. Delay in lesbian wedding decision | A High Court judge has delayed his decision in a ground-breaking legal challenge brought by a lesbian couple who want their marriage recognised. (BBC)

Education:

1. Prayer at school | Students take faith public (Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa)
2. Vagt to step down after decade leading Davidson College | The president of Davidson College says he will step down in a year because the school needs fresh leadership. (Associated Press)
3. Vagt to leave Davidson in ’07 | College saw record fundraising, changes in tenure as president (The Charlotte Observer)

Church life:

1. In Pittsburgh, conservative bishop hews to tradition | In Pittsburgh, there are two very different views of the state of the Episcopal Church. (The Columbus Dispatch)
2. Will fight over gay clergy split Anglicans? | In an Easter season letter to leaders of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury set out their priorities for a once-a-decade summit planned for 2008. The note was all about survival: How do we heal the feuds over gay clergy and other rifts and manage to hold together 77 million followers around the world? (Chicago Sun-Times)
3. A sower goes forth | As in Jesus’ parable, consultant on new churches reaps success (News & Observer, N.C.)
4. Synod assembly to elect bishop | Bishop Mark Hanson is in town this weekend not only to lead the East Central Synod of Wisconsin’s annual Synod Assembly, but also thank its members. (Post-Crescent, Wisc.)
5. Group to protest at Southern Baptist Convention | Anti-gay protesters, who became the focus of recently passed federal legislation for their controversial demonstrations at the funerals of soldiers, will be at the Greensboro Coliseum next week to picket the unveiling of a statue of the Rev. Billy Graham at the Southern Baptist Convention. (Greensboro News Record, N.C.)
6. Cowboy church issue remains in spotlight | A lawyer says Bedford County is incorrectly applying state law in banning the services. (Roanoke Times, Va.)

Missions & ministry:

1. On a Gold Wing and a prayer? | Even before Andrew Raffensperger says he knew Jesus, he’d feel a holy presence while riding his bike. (Glens Falls Post-Star, N.Y.)
2. Keeping a different promise | Promise Keepers is re-emerging as a leaner movement. The organization is pursuing a less-ambitious schedule of traditional, two-day conferences such as the one that begins here tonight, while developing plans for shorter, smaller and, in some cases, ethnically specific events. Meanwhile, it continues to spread the theologically and socially conservative message that its leaders say men still need to hear. (Baltimore Sun)
3. Teams start churches, help sick, aid abandoned kids | Mission teams from Birmingham returned last month to Peru, where Christians from Alabama have conducted medical missions, helped start churches and reached out to abandoned children over the past eight years. (The Birmingham News)
4. Bethel Christian singer-songwriter inspired by her personal experiences | “It’s like Woodstock for Christians,” said Bethel’s Bizzy Bender about SoulFest, a five-day family music festival set for Aug. 2-6 at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, N.H. (Danbury News Times, Conn.)

Family:

1. Giving kids a day of their own | Mother and son seek to spread a church tradition nationwide with a Children’s Day (Chicago Tribune)
2. Employee stigma over infertility | A third of people who are undergoing fertility treatment do not tell their employers because they fear it will harm their career. (BBC)

Spirituality:

1. Making good on a promise to God | At 10, Bich Vu prayed he and his family would survive. He becomes a Catholic priest Saturday. (Los Angeles Times)
2. Ghanaians say stylish goodbye with fantasy coffins | The day before his mother’s funeral, Donald Rockson had a last-minute change of heart about her bible-shaped coffin. (Reuters)
3. Americans still hold faith in divine creation | Much of the nation still takes stock in the book of Genesis. (The Washington Times)
4. Cradle to grave, Christianity spirals ever higher | The worship of Jesus is a cradle-to-grave experience. Think about it: Two of the most important images we associate with the Christ are a shabby manger and an empty tomb. (The Huntsville Times)
5. Holy hand relic returns to Russia | Thousands of people have gathered in Moscow for the return of what is said to be John the Baptist’s right hand. (BBC)
6. Visit to Iona is way to honor St. Columba | The church remembers Columba today in its calendar of saints. He is probably most renowned for settling Iona, a tiny island in the Irish Sea just off the western coast of the land he would evangelize with a Celtic version of the Gospel. Iona flourishes today as a pilgrimage destination for Christians of all stripes. (Steve Gushee, Palm Beach Post)

Edinburgh Fringe festival:

1. Religion to feature in Edinburgh Fringe festival | Religion in guises ranging from violence in faith to Jesus as a stand-up comedian is a central theme in this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. (Reuters)
2. Religion at the heart of Fringe | Religion has emerged as the main theme at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including two shows featuring Jesus as a stand-up comedian. (BBC)

Media:

1. House seeks to open cable TV market | Lawmakers say their goal is to open cable TV markets to more competition, possibly saving consumers hundreds of dollars a year, in House legislation that also tackles the government role’s in Internet access. (Associated Press)
2. Editorial cartoonists in heated debate over religion | What do you get when you put Muslim, Christian, and Jewish leaders in the same room with editorial cartoonists? An impassioned and occasionally testy discussion that seemed to be just getting started after two hours. There was even some cartoonist vs.cartoonist debate. (Editor & Publisher)
3. Sherwood movie too evangelical for G-rating | The Albany makers of “Facing the Giants” say they expected a PG rating, but they did not expect the reason stated by the Motion Picture Association of America, which assigns ratings to new releases. (WALB, Ga.)

Books:

1. Superman as Christ figure | Author of ‘The Gospel According to the World’s Greatest Superhero’ to speak at All Saints Sunday (Daily News Journal, Tenn)
2. Dan Brown’s effigy, copies of book, VCD burnt | An effigy of author Dan Brown, copies of his controversial book The Da Vinci Code and a VCD of the film based on the book were burnt today by members of the Mizoram Producers’ Guild, an organisation of film-makers. (Press Trust of India)

Other religions:

1. Should Jews read Gospels? One rabbi says yes | Of all the texts considered required reading in a thorough Jewish education, one major work with Jewish roots is usually missing from everyone’s list: the New Testament. (Associated Press)
2. Play highlights Muslim family’s beliefs | Play ‘The Perfect Prayer’ highlights Muslim family’s beliefs, conflicts (Associated Press)

Scientology:

1. Neb. couple fights newborn blood test law | A Saunders County couple has asked a federal judge to throw out Nebraska’s one-of-a-kind newborn blood screening law before the case goes to trial. Ray and Louise Spiering filed a lawsuit challenging the law in 2004, arguing that the mandatory blood test would violate a tenet of their religion beliefs as members of the Church of Scientology. (Associated Press)
2. Church takes message on road | Scientology backs driver at Irwindale, joining retailers and others seeking an audience. (Los Angeles Times)

More articles of interest:

1. Beyond tattoos, they look to faith | Bradley Jesse Larson, one of the four Taylor University students killed in April when a semitrailer truck crossed the median of an Indiana freeway and plowed into their van, lived in Elm Grove, about a half-mile from Jordan and Aaron Hawkins, two brothers who live in Brookfield and had known Brad since they were kids. A while ago, Aaron and Jordan agreed that if a close friend of theirs ever died, they would get tattoos to memorialize their loss. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
2. Vicar offers counselling for fans | England football fans are being offered counselling if the unthinkable happens and their team loses to Paraguay. (BBC)
3. Teens’ use of condoms increases | Survey finds use grew since ruling (The Boston Globe)

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