• The Ugandan government offered complete amnesty to Joseph Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Kony leads the Lord’s Resistance Army, which has killed thousands and displaced millions of Ugandans during a two-decade civil war. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni extended the amnesty—and the deadline for peace talks—in exchange for Kony’s surrender, but rejected an lra request for a ceasefire.
• The Church of England voted to allow women to become Anglican bishops during its General Synod on July 8. The Church of England has allowed female priests for 12 years. Only 3 of the 38 Anglican provinces—New Zealand, Canada, and the United States—have elected female bishops, though 14 now permit women to serve in this role.
• Jews for Jesus settled out of court with a critical blogger identified as “Whistle Blower” on jewsforjesus.blogspot.com. The evangelistic ministry assumed control of the site. jfj filed a lawsuit against Google last December in an attempt to shut down the blog, claiming the Web address diluted its trademark.
• President Bush vetoed an embryonic stem-cell research bill on July 19 that would have eased restrictions on federal funding for additional embryonic stem-cell lines. He said the bill “crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect.” Several abortion opponents supported the bill, which passed the Senate 63 to 37. Majority leader Bill Frist argued that the bill would allow federal money to be used for research only on unwanted embryos originally created for in-vitro fertilization. Congress passed a bill unanimously—which Bush signed—that bans “fetal farming.” This practice develops fetuses to use their body parts.
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Related Elsewhere:
Nicholas Kristof’s columns are available from The New York Times.
Following Kristof’s column, in 2004, Christianity Today asked Are Evangelicals the ‘New Internationalists’?
Kristof’s blog is available on the Times website. His Pulitzer-winning columns are collected at the Pulitzer site.
PBS interviewed Kristof after he was awarded the Pulitzer.
