Ideas

Episcopal Bishops Balk at Anglican Leaders’ Demands

Columnist

Plus: The truth about that Anglican-Catholic union rumor; baby bone scandal at Indian Christian hospital; New Life’s overseers speak on Haggard’s “dark side”; and other stories.

Christianity Today February 26, 2007

Today’s Top Five

1. “I would accept schism” For a century, the fight between liberals and conservatives in the mainline denominations has usually meant that conservatives have broken away to create new denominations while asserting that it’s the liberals who have truly departed from the church and its teachings. It has been difficult to convince the liberals that they’re the ones who are schismatic. But while that story looked to be happening again in the fight between orthodox Anglicans and liberal Episcopalians, it now appears that something different may indeed occur. Faced with a unanimous ultimatum from the world’s Anglican leaders to bar gay bishops and same-sex union blessings by September 30, Episcopalian liberals seem to be realizing that church unity is incompatible with their promotion of a new sexual ethic and rejection of biblical authority.

“I would accept schism,” Bishop Steven Charleston, president of the Episcopal Divinity School, told The Washington Post. “I would be willing to accept being told I’m not in communion with places like Nigeria if it meant I could continue to be in a position of justice and morality. If the price I pay is that I’m not considered to be part of a flawed communion, then so be it.”

Mark Sisk, the bishop of New York, is one of the most-quoted voices of rebellion this week. “Being part of the Anglican Communion is very important to me,” he told The New York Times. “But if the price of that is I have to turn my back on the gay and lesbian people who are part of this church and part of me, I won’t do that.”

Notably, the gay and lesbian people who are part of Sisk’s church say the choice is stark. Both the current and former heads of Integrity, the denomination’s main gay organization, say there’s no middle ground between approving homosexual behavior and staying in the Anglican Communion.

“The American church has been very skillfully and strategically painted into a corner where we really need to face a ‘Sophie’s Choice’ of staying true to our understanding of the inclusive gospel or staying true to our commitment to being a constituent member of the Anglican Communion,” Integrity president Susan Russell told the Post.

Even the debate is a problem, former Integrity president Michael Hopkins told The New York Times. Gays and lesbians are already leaving the Episcopal Church, he said. “People like me can only convince other people to hang in there for so long.”

Boy, does that sound familiar.

2. Bones discovered at Christian hospital in India In India, where gender-based abortion and infanticide are problems even in the Christian community, hundreds of bones and other human remains have been discovered on the grounds of Ratlam Christian Hospital, a mission hospital in Madhya Pradesh. The Church of North India’s Bhopal diocese runs the hospital, and Catholic officials say there’s a conspiracy at work. Diocesan spokesman Suresh Carleton says the hospital “was framed” and that the remains belong to stillborn babies.

“It seems to be conspiracy by some quarters like the Bajrang Dal to damage the reputation of the hospital and the Christians in the state,” Bhopal bishop Laxman Maida told the Indian Catholic newspaper. “It is a ploy to defame us. I was inside the hospital when the Bajrang Dal activists were on a rampage, shouting slogans against Christians, that we convert and alleging feticide. We don’t do abortions, and we don’t even have the machine.”

3. New Life Church issues report on Haggard Last week, overseers at New Life Church disclosed some of their findings from their investigation of Ted Haggard and the congregation’s current leadership. “Numerous individuals … reported to us firsthand knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships,” Larry Stockstill, who pastors a church in Baton Rouge, told New Life during Sunday morning services. “These findings established a pattern of behavior that culminated in the final relationship in which Ted was, as a matter of grace, caught.”

The overseers also corrected widespread reports that Haggard had been “cured.”

“There should be no confusion that deliverance from habitual, life-controlling problems is a journey and not an event,” Stockstill said. “Ted will need years of accountability to demonstrate his victory over both actions and tendencies.”

Another overseer, Tim Ralph, earlier said Haggard was “completely heterosexual.” What he had meant to say, Ralph explained, was that Haggard “received a lot of good tools and wisdom to embrace completely the heterosexual man he is. We all know he has some problems. He’s on the road to recovery.”

As for the current church leadership, the overseers said, “We have found a few staff members struggling with unrelated sin issues. Each such person has been confronted and has submitted to discipline. To our relief, we are finding no culture of immorality among the staff here as we might have initially expected.”

If you haven’t read it, be sure to read Patton Dodd’s Beliefnet essay, “We Are Completely Sexual,” which rightly corrects a lot of the “reactionary and unfair” punditry regarding Haggard’s orientation.

4. What’s “surprising” about it? One of the worst headlines of the week appeared in The Washington Post: “Surprising Unity on Va. Hospital Visit Bill: Conservatives Support Right That Includes Gays.”

The bill lets hospital patients choose their visitors—even those of the same sex. And it’s surprising that conservatives would back this? Only for those who think that conservatives are heartless bigots. The Post writer assumes that support for Virginia’s marriage amendment would mean opposition to this bill. But religious conservatives have long supported hospital visitation rights (and bereavement leave) and have said that bills precisely like this are a much better solution than redefining marriage. Has anyone been paying attention?

5. “Darwinists” against DarwinWas Darwin Wrong?” asked the cover of the November 2004 National Geographic. Inside, David Quammen’s article began with a word in massive type: “No.”

That word is omitted in the online version of the story, and with good reason. Darwin was wrong. And it’s evolutionists who say so. Among them: Ulrich Kutschera, one of Germany’s preeminent evolutionary biologists and a widely quoted critic of Intelligent Design. “It must be made clear that the modern theory of evolution is in part anti-Darwin,” he said in an American Association for the Advancement of Science speech earlier this month. “Darwin did not, for instance, take into account the principle of evolution by cooperation.”

Scientists, he said, should “no longer talk about Darwinism. You could say that Darwinism is one man’s outdated ideology of the 19th century. And Darwinism sounds like Marxism, Leninism, Stalinism. That’s a problem.”

Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, agrees, telling MSNBC, “Geologists don’t refer to themselves as Lyellists. Physicists don’t refer to themselves as Kelvinists. We don’t refer to ourselves by our 19th-century representative. The science has grown up.”

Meanwhile, University of Pittsburgh’s Jeffrey H. Schwartz, another critic of Intelligent Design, says Darwin got it really wrong. Evolutionary change happens rapidly, not gradually, he says. But the scientific community too dogmatically defends Darwin, he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which followed up on a paper he published in Biological Theory. “Really I’m just saying, ‘Look, nobody’s saying that evolution is not happening, is not real. I’m just trying to figure out how change happens,'” he says.

Quote of the day “What’s this we hear about the end of the world?” —Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, in an uncharacteristically sarcastic response when asked, “What’s this we hear about you guys joining up with the Roman Catholic Church?” Williams went on to dismiss the widely circulated report of Catholic-Anglican union as overblown and garbled.

More articles

Anglican primates’ meeting (late news) | Anglican primates’ meeting (early news) | Anglican primates’ meeting (responses) | Anglican primates’ meeting (opinion) | Other Anglican news | Anglicans and Catholics really together? | Catholicism | Ash Wednesday and Lent | Church life | Ted Haggard | Homosexuality | Pornography | Parenting | Family planning | NYC condoms | Vaccines | Health | Life ethics | Abortion | John McCain | Mitt Romney and Mormonism | Republican candidates | Democratic candidates | Edwards bloggers | Politics | Voting rights | Immigration | Iranian refugee in B.C. | Environmentalism | Religion bills die in Co. and Ut. | DOJ religious discrimination project | Church and state | Czechs, Romanians fight over cathedrals | Religious freedom | Military | Indonesia | Lebanon | Iraq | Israel | New Zealand | Bones at Christian hospital in India | More on India | Amazing Grace and William Wilberforce | Film | Music | Art and entertainment | Sports | Media | Books | “Blood libel” book | History | Evolution | Education | N.J. taped teacher case | Higher education | Missions and ministry | Money and business | San Diego diocese may declare bankruptcy | Criminal justice | Abuse | Crime | Theft | The pastor who sold his church | People | Margaret Wanjiru | Spirituality | Other stories of interest

Anglican primates’ meeting (late news):

  • Anglican leaders demand U.S. church end gay unions | Leaders of the Anglican Church have demanded that the U.S. Episcopal Church stop blessing same-sex unions and consecrating gay bishops. Two American Anglican leaders review the decision and discuss how it impacts the Episcopal Church (The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS)
  • Anglicans rebuke U.S. branch on same-sex unions | The Episcopal Church was told to ban blessings of same-sex unions or risk a reduced role in the denomination (The New York Times)
  • Anglican leaders rule on gay bishops | Anglican leaders demanded Monday that the U.S. Episcopal Church unequivocally bar official prayers for gay couples and the consecration of more gay bishops to undo the damage that North Americans have caused the Anglican family (Associated Press)
  • Anglican Communion wants U.S. action in gay row | The Anglican Communion gave the U.S. Episcopal Church a September deadline on Monday to stop blessing same sex unions, but did gave no clear indication of what action it would then take (Reuters)
  • Anglicans tense but not split after talks | Leaders meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, call on the U.S. church to bar the blessing of same-sex unions (Los Angeles Times)
  • Anglicans seek a middle way | Leaders of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion — deeply divided over the biblical view of homosexuality and other issues — ended a contentious six-day meeting in Tanzania Monday with the first steps toward a set of core principles spelling out who is truly Anglican and who is not (USA Today)
  • Gay ultimatum for Anglicans in US | Anglican leaders have issued an ultimatum to the US Church by demanding an end to the appointment of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex couples (BBC)
  • No schism for now: Williams gets tough on liberals to save the church | Episcopalians ordered to give up on gay blessings; Anglicans must wait on decision of US bishops (The Guardian, London)
  • Church deadline to curb gay rights | In an unexpectedly hard-hitting set of recommendations, primates of the Anglican Communion demanded an “unequivocal common covenant” under which dioceses in the Episcopal Church agree not to authorise same-sex blessings (The Times, London)
  • Episcopal leaders expect Anglican schism | American church’s support for gays draws international ultimatum (The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
  • Episcopalians under fire over gays | If the Episcopal Church in the U.S. was expecting a moderate message on homosexual equality from its Anglican counteparts at their annual meeting in Tanzania this week — or even some kind of benign stalling action — it was sorely mistaken (Time)
  • Anglican rift may hit Canada, archbishop says | Support of homosexuals not acceptable in world communion, meeting indicates (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
  • A move to heal Anglican rift, but short of conservatives’ goal | The Episcopal Church has not compromised as much as conservative Anglican leaders have demanded, a report issued at a crucial meeting of the Anglican leadership said on Thursday (The New York Times)
  • Anglican Church leaders give ultimatum to liberals | In a strongly-worded unanimous communiqué, only agreed at the eleventh hour, the Anglican primates called on the Episcopal Church to state unequivocally that it will not consecrate more gay bishops or authorise same-sex blessings (The Telegraph, London)

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Anglican primates’ meeting (early news):

  • Anglican summit scrutinizes U.S. stance on gay clergy | A group of senior Anglicans have drawn up a report saying the U.S. church has on the whole responded positively to criticism after it consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003, infuriating traditionalists (Reuters)
  • ‘No talk of schism’ at Anglican conference | Leaders gather in Tanzania amid fears of a church split over divergent views on gay bishops and same-sex unions (Los Angeles Times)
  • Anglican leaders avoid church split over homosexuals | US Episcopalians take steps to avoid rift; Archbishop’s report seen as rebuff to conservatives (The Guardian, London)
  • Setback for Church conservatives | Conservative Anglican archbishops have suffered a rebuff in their efforts to expel the US Episcopal Church over its liberal stance on homosexuality (BBC)
  • Primates consider ‘parallel’ Church | The creation of a “parallel” Church for conservatives will be considered by Anglican primates today after a report surprisingly gave American liberals an almost entirely clean bill of health (The Telegraph, London)
  • Sitting at the Lord’s Table | Primates explain absence at Holy Eucharist (Press release, The Church of Nigeria)
  • U.S. Anglican leader met with boycott | Seven conservative Anglican leaders refused Friday to take Holy Communion with the head of the U.S. branch of the church, who supports ordaining gays and blessing same-sex unions, in the latest sign the fellowship could be headed for a split (Associated Press)
  • Conservative Anglicans seek rebuke to U.S. stance on gays | Anglican leaders met on Friday to consider a report about the U.S. church’s response to criticism of its backing of gay clergy and same sex unions, in a row threatening to tear the church apart (Reuters)
  • Conservative Anglican clergy snub top US bishop | Seven conservative Anglican archbishops said they refused to take part in a key church ceremony with the head of the U.S. branch of the church on Friday in protest at her support for gay clergy (Reuters)
  • 7 Anglican clerics snub U.S. bishop | The conservatives object to the Episcopal Church leader’s stands (Los Angeles Times)
  • Anglican prelates snub head of U.S. church over gay issues | The clergy disagree with the new head of the American Episcopal Church over her support of gay clergy and blessings for same-sex unions (The New York Times)
  • Archbishop of Canterbury appears to chide faction of Anglicans | Facing a possible church fracture over the issue of homosexuality, the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion reminded bishops of the need for humility (The New York Times)
  • Anglican head calls for humility in gay clergy row | “Very early in the history of the church there was a great saint who said God was evident when bishops were silent,” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said to some laughter in a packed cathedral in the predominantly Muslim Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar (Reuters)
  • Anglican leader urges humility over rift | “There is one thing that a bishop should say to another bishop,” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglicans’ spiritual leader, told the Anglican leaders and several hundred worshippers in a packed cathedral Sunday. “That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great savior.” (Associated Press)
  • Episcopalians wrestling | African meeting focuses on fixing painful divisions (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
  • Would an Anglican split have mattered? | A schism has been avoided after the American wing of the church gave in to African demands that it installs no more gay bishops (The Observer, London)
  • Archbishop snubbed in gay bishop row | Seven developing world archbishops last night refused to share communion with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and fellow Anglican leaders at their biannual conference in Dar es Salaam in protest at the presence of the leader of the American Episcopal Church (The Guardian, London)
  • Anglican Church on verge of schism | The worldwide Anglican Church was battling to survive last night after talks broke down amid acrimony during the final stages of the primates’ meeting in Tanzania (The Telegraph, London)
  • Church rift exposed as primates snub liberal | Divisions in the worldwide Anglican Church surfaced yesterday when a group of senior conservative primates refused to share Holy Communion with a leading liberal (The Telegraph, London)
  • Dr Williams will find little comfort | Whatever the package that Dr Williams achieves by Monday, he will then have to sell it to his own increasingly restless clergy, whose loyalties are becoming strained (Jonathan Petre, The Telegraph, London)
  • Bitter fudge | Anglicans have come close to an open split but baulk at schism (Editorial, The Times, London)

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Anglican primates’ meeting (responses):

  • Many Episcopalians wary, some defiant after ultimatum by Anglicans | Many Episcopalians took umbrage at what they saw as foreign primates imposing their culture and theological interpretations on the American church (The New York Times)
  • Some U.S. bishops reject Anglican gay rights edict | Several leading liberal Episcopalians said yesterday that they would rather accept a schism than accede to a demand from leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion for what they view as an unconscionable rollback of the U.S. church’s position on gay rights (The Washington Post)
  • U.S. Episcopalians react to church ruling | Relief and anger follow the Anglican directive that the church in the U.S. stop blessings of same-sex unions (Los Angeles Times)
  • Anglicans ‘in interpretive free-for-all’ over their future (USA Today)
  • Episcopal leader asks for time | The San Francisco-based Diocese of California, which blesses same-gender couples, said Tuesday that the church should not “compromise the essentials of our theology or our polity.” (Associated Press)
  • Episcopal leader’s gay views won’t waver | “The spirit of Anglicanism will prevail here and there will be a middle way forward,” said Jefferts Schori’s aide, Robert Williams. But he said she “will not waver in her stand for justice and inclusion of all people in the body of Christ”(Associated Press)
  • Difficult choices | The Episcopal bishop of New York fears that the Anglican Church’s demands over gay issues could force the American church into a corner (Newsweek)
  • Episcopal bishop refusing gay ban | The orders came from on high, but New York’s Episcopal bishop won’t reconsider his position on gay rights (New York Daily News)
  • Episcopal rift seen as ironic | ‘Shoe is on the other foot’ in Valley after Anglican ruling on gay blessings (The Fresno Bee, Ca.)
  • Same-sex edict worries Bay Area Episcopalians | “If we have unity where we have hollowed out our moral core to achieve it, then it’s a hollow victory,” says Bishop Marc Andrus. “I don’t think we can build our unity on a foundation of injustice.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
  • Episcopal diocese mum on lawsuits | An official with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia said yesterday the diocese is committed to meeting the needs of its churches, but did not address whether the diocese will drop lawsuits against the 11 congregations that recently left the denomination (The Washington Times)
  • Tensions still exist between diocese and local church | Communique from Anglican leaders hasn’t fixed things yet (Lodi News-Sentinel, Ca.)

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Anglican primates’ meeting (opinion):

  • Anglican angst | The church is split over issues like homosexuality. Where some see progress, others see decadence (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
  • Unity over integrity | The Communique issued at the end of the five-day session will dishearten all those who retained some hope that the Archbishop of Canterbury might be able to steer the church into less turbulent and more tolerant waters (Editorial, The Guardian, London)
  • Divided communion | If evangelicals or rainbow-coalition liberals reject the authority of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and place themselves under the jurisdiction of an overseas primate, they will have left the Church of England (Editorial, The Telegraph, London)
  • Crossing the divide | The US Episcopal church goes head to head with Anglican primates in opposition to its liberal attitude towards gay members (Stephen Bates, The Guardian, London)
  • Pray lift your eyes above the belt | The Churches’ sexual obsession makes me despair (Libby Purves, The Times, London)
  • An unholy togetherness | Fissiparous evangelical Christians are now being reunited by hatred (Giles Fraser, The Guardian, London)
  • An Anglican unity of sorts, but bring on Lambeth | The unity that has been preserved is, in many respects, a unity in name only (Chris McGillion, The Sydney Morning Herald)

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Other Anglican news:

  • The voices of the Va. Episcopal schism: Martyn Minns | Shortly after becoming an Episcopal priest in the late 1970s, Martyn Minns visited Tanzania and was changed forever (The Washington Post)
  • The voices of the Va. Episcopal schism: Peter James Lee | If the Episcopal Church has been a rocky boat in recent decades, Virginia Bishop Peter James Lee has been one of its anchors (The Washington Post)
  • A church torn in two | At St. Stephen’s there are now two distinct congregations — a small one that remains in the U.S. Episcopal Church and a larger one that has severed ties and aligned itself with a conservative Brazilian bishop in the Anglican Communion (The Seattle Times)
  • “It is wrenching to realize how fragile” church family is | Seattle Times political reporter Alicia Mundy attends an Episcopal church just outside Washington, D.C., in Alexandria, Va. The high-profile rift in that state over biblical interpretation and acceptance of gay clergy has become especially rancorous (Alicia Mundy, The Seattle Times)

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Anglicans and Catholics really together?:

  • Churches back plan to unite under Pope | Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year (The Times, London)
  • Pope rules ok. Or, ‘Growing Together in Unity and Mission’ | Excerpts from the declaration (Ruth Gledhill, The Times, London)
  • Pope an Anglican? Church unity plan | Australian leaders from both churches dismissed the move as highly improbable last night, although the Australian who heads the Catholic side of the project, Brisbane’s Archbishop John Bathersby, said it was a significant step forward in an attempt at unity that began 35 years ago (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Universal primate plan ‘overstated’ | It’s nowhere near time for Henry VIII to start rolling in his grave, but Anglicans bowing to the authority of the pope has been acknowledged as a theoretical possibility (The Australian)
  • Catholics and Anglicans discuss reuniting | Issues surrounding a possible reuniting of the Catholic and Anglican churches under the pope are discussed in a 42-page statement currently being prepared, church leaders said on Tuesday (Reuters)
  • Sydney Anglican Bishop says unity is ‘fanciful’ | While some leading Catholics say it’s God’s will to unify Christians, the Sydney Anglican diocese has flatly rejected the proposal (The World Today, Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
  • Praying for religious harmony | In what some call a post-Christian era, talk of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches reuniting should hardly raise eyebrows (Editorial, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
  • Forget church unity | But both Australia’s Catholic head and Sydney’s Anglican archbishop believe it is impossible (Andrew Carswell, The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
  • Religious numbers game | The best way to come to understand the push towards “full visible unity” between Catholics and Anglicans is to read the 42-page document drawn up by the group of bishops including Brisbane’s Archbishop John Bathersby who co-chairs the group (Tess Livingstone, The Courier Mail, Brisbane, Australia)
  • I’m sort of an atheist for Jesus | The big question really is: “Is Anglican-Catholic union really important to the people in the pews?” And here’s the answer. No. It’s not (Catherine Deveny, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
  • Look before you leap into bed with Rome | For generations, Roman Catholic schoolchildren in this country were taught to pray for the conversion of England. Their prayers may soon be answered: as talk of an Anglican schism grows, a leaked report hints that the Church of England may recognise a modified form of the papacy (Cristina Odone, The Telegraph, London)

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Catholicism:

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Ash Wednesday and Lent:

  • Church decides that Lent really should be more of a giggle | The Church of England launches a “Love Life, Live Lent” campaign, accompanied by a website inviting communicants to share Lenten jokes (The Times, London)
  • Palming off the Ash Wednesday dirty work | Few churches still burn fronds to make the soot, so commercial suppliers now do the messy job (Los Angeles Times)
  • Ash Wednesday means services, and business | F.C. Ziegler Company of Tulsa, Okla., offers palm ashes for religious services in vials and quart-sized bags. Ziegler president Dennis Ziegler says his company has sold hundreds of both varieties in preparation for Ash Wednesday (All Things Considered, NPR)
  • Filet-O-Fish hooked patrons | First local McDonald’s owner had lost Catholics on Fridays (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
  • The imposition of the ashes | Out, out, damn spots, says the Church of Self-Esteem (Jennifer Graham, National Review Online)
  • The irony of Romping Monday and Fat Tuesday | The irony of carnival is that, while religion is one of its targets, religion is also its source (James Carroll, The Boston Globe)
  • On Ash Wednesday, religion and joy | On this Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and a period of fasting, Father James Martin reminds us that joy is one of the upsides of being religious, although it’s not mentioned nearly enough among the faithful (All Things Considered, NPR)
  • Why giving up is hard to do | Abstaining at Lent for self-improvement has been practised since medieval times. But does it still carry resonance today? (Christopher Howse, The Telegraph, London)
  • Believers give up to grow up during Lent | In a time of indulgence, priests and ministers say they hope only that people sacrifice something, be it as small as a self-imposed chocolate ban or as inconvenient as donating time to charity as a volunteer (Michael Amon, Newsday)

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Church life:

  • Presbyterians ask churches not to leave | Some conservatives working on exit (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
  • Also: Presbyterians face defections to evangelical denomination | The New Wineskins Association of Churches says it’s tired of battling the PCUSA over theology and policy and has found a better fit in the EPC, a small denomination founded in 1981 (Religion News Service)
  • Cash and carry | Sources say a giant Eastside evangelical church borrowed tsunami/Katrina relief funds to cover its own expenses (Seattle Weekly)
  • Also: Church borrowed from disaster donations | Two top leaders at Redmond’s Overlake Christian Church confirmed reports that the church initially used for other purposes money that congregants had donated to disaster-relief efforts. But the leaders maintained there was no wrongdoing, saying the money ultimately went to disaster victims (The Seattle Times)
  • Pastor, principal at Millvale parish resign | A Catholic priest who had been under fire from some parishioners on their Web site resigned Friday as pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Millvale (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
  • Also: Pittsburgh diocese investigates Millvale allegations (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
  • Church seeks use while case pending | Court still to rule if community center can bar religious events. (Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.)
  • Explicit recordings disrupt N.M. Mass | Three CD players hidden under a cathedral’s pews blared sexually explicit language in the middle of an Ash Wednesday Mass, leading a bomb squad to detonate two of the devices (Associated Press)
  • Megachurches desegregate worship | Researchers who study race and religion say a vanguard of megachurches that are breaking down racial barriers in American Christianity, altering the long-segregated landscape of Sunday worship (Associated Press)
  • Black megachurch reaches out | Sprinkled among the black faces at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Hispanic worshippers listen intently to the congregation’s leader, Bishop Eddie Long (Associated Press)
  • Preaching fashion | Minister advises clergy on style (The Boston Globe)
  • A booming church | Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church has more than 30 speakers beneath the floor so congregants can feel the vibration of the music (Associated Press)
  • Rolling in the aisles at church | A stand-up comedian has been drafted in to help members of Leicester’s clergy brighten up their sermons (BBC)
  • Boozing probe for minister | A Church of Scotland minister has been suspended amid allegations of heavy drinking (Daily Record, Scotland)
  • New pastor aims to heal wounded congregation | On his first Sunday at St. Agatha Catholic Church, Rev. Larry Dowling was feeling anxious. He worried about this new chapter of his life, taking over a congregation whose last pastor had been charged with sexual abuse of children. (Chicago Tribune)
  • Throwback Christians | ‘House church’ faithful on the rise (Los Angeles Daily News)
  • Church attracts the trendy, the tech-savvy and controversy | A kind of surprisingly out-of-date Associated Press story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Where have they been? (Associated Press)
  • Profit or prophet! | The dust has seemingly settled in the recent impasse between gospel singer Stitchie and the promoters of the Montego Bay leg of Genesis 2007, whom he prevented from videotaping his performance, intimating it was an attempt to exploit his talent without paying for it (The Jamaica Gleaner)
  • Also: Rip-offs in church | The widely publicized contractual issue between Jamaica Youth for Christ and gospel artiste Rev. Cleve ‘Stitchie’ Laing in addition to raising intellectual property concerns as noted by Mr. James Moss-Solomon in one newspaper, also brings into focus the wider issue of ethics in the church (Jamaica Gleaner)
  • The trouble with Born-again churches | They’re hotbeds of the “wealth and prosperity” gospel (Editorial, New Vision, Uganda)
  • Churches have forgotten whom they are serving | The dividing line between successful and unsuccessful churches has little to do with doctrine, attitudes toward Scripture, facilities, quality of clergy or music, or even location. It has to do with “customer service.” (Tom Ehrich, The Indianapolis Star)
  • Like, see what I’m praying? | Because they have reference to mysteries that can never be wholly encapsulated in speech, traditional prayers, like other symbols in the liturgy, such as the use of water, fire, signs of the cross, kneeling and silence, point to more than they say in words (Christopher Howse, The Telegraph, London)

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Ted Haggard:

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Homosexuality:

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Pornography:

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Parenting:

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Family planning:

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NYC condoms:

  • A new condom in town, this one named ‘NYC’ | This is New York City’s first municipally sanctioned and labeled condom (The New York Times)
  • Catholics attack NYC’s free condoms | Egan and DiMarzio said the $720,000 cost of the program “would be far better spent in fostering what is true and what is decent” (Associated Press)
  • ‘Condom’nation by outraged church | In a rare joint statement attacking Mayor Bloomberg’s administration, Edward Cardinal Egan and Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said they were particularly disturbed that the “NYC” branded condoms were handed out by city workers to young teens on the streets Wednesday (New York Post)

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Vaccines:

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Health:

  • White House vows to help small charities fight malaria | Small charities and religious groups in Africa can play a key role in fighting malaria and federal money is being allocated to increase their efforts, Bush administration officials said during a White House meeting on Thursday (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
  • Ruling on medical-bill ministry upheld | A Kentucky trial judge refused to reconsider a decision exempting an unusual medical-bill ministry from compliance with state insurance laws (The New York Times)
  • Health system struggles with spiritual care | In a survey of 230 people with less than a year to live, nearly half say they received little to no support for their spiritual needs from religious communities (USA Today)
  • Religious faith may help stroke victims: study | The study does not point to a “higher cause” but suggests that a strong dose of spirituality can reduce the emotional stress linked to obstacles in stroke recovery, according to a report Thursday in the journal Stroke (Reuters)
  • Plagiarism accusation | A controversial study that claimed to demonstrate the efficacy of prayer in medicine has suffered yet another blow to its credibility, as one of its authors now stands accused of plagiarism in another published paper (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)

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Life ethics:

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Abortion:

  • The grassroots abortion war | Crisis pregnancy centers are fielding an anti-abortion guerrilla army to win over one woman at a time. Are they playing fair? (Time)
  • Panel kills abortion ban | But Senate still could resurrect issue (Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D.)
  • Also: Abortion ban fails in S.D. Senate panel (Associated Press)
  • Jersey top court hears abortion case | Somerset woman’s suit would require doc to tell patient procedure would kill a person (The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.)
  • Also: Human like me? | The New Jersey Supreme Court case that could define the fetus (Emily Bazelon, Slate)
  • Death certificates on abortions proposed | Legislation introduced in Tennessee would require death certificates for aborted fetuses, which likely would create public records identifying women who have abortions (Associated Press)
  • Panel hears testimony on Indiana bill saying life begins at conception | Bill also require doctors to tell women seeking an abortion that their fetus might feel pain during the procedure and would mandate that women receive information at least 18 hours before an abortion about the availability of adoptions and be told that having an abortion poses physical risks (Associated Press)
  • Portugal church says mutation sparked abortion loss | Portugal’s Catholic church blamed “cultural mutation” on Friday for the large number of people who voted to legalize abortion in a referendum and urged doctors to refuse to carry out the operation if asked (Reuters)
  • Also: Portugal abortion bill may soon be okayed | Portugal’s prime minister said legislation relaxing the conservative Roman Catholic country’s strict law on abortion could be approved by the end of March, a newspaper reported Saturday (Associated Press)
  • Case vs. abortion provider dead for now | An investigation into an abortion provider that was initiated by Kansas’s previous attorney general has been dropped, though the official’s successor has the option of refiling charges (Associated Press)
  • GOP rift swells in Va. General assembly | Bills on abortion, immigration clash (The Washington Post)
  • 6th Circuit: Abortion foes may sue police over traffic stop | In June 2002, activists were detained by Ohio, FBI officers for three hours after driving trucks displaying photos of aborted fetuses (Associated Press)
  • Conservative litmus test | War on terror usurps abortion for right’s base (Jonah Goldberg, Chicago Tribune)

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John McCain:

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Mitt Romney and Mormonism:

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Republican candidates:

  • Battle for 2008 evangelical vote remains open | Republican candidates seek support at NRB (Morning Edition, NPR)
  • The great courtship | A “values voter” tally, looking at what this bloc sees as the pros and cons of top GOP hopefuls (Newsweek)
  • Tough task on the right: Finding the best social conservative for ’08 | The three leading contenders in early polls — Arizona Sen. John McCain, ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — all have extensive baggage with cultural conservatives (USA Today)
  • Evangelical leader sizes up GOP field, says Giuliani’s campaign is doomed | Richard Land says the top tier of Republican presidential hopefuls lacks a candidate social conservatives can be fully comfortable voting for (The Hill, D.C.)
  • Giuliani, Romney to visit Regent | Both plan spring stops at college; Giuliani is in Richmond today (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
  • Giuliani praises conservative judges | Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who favors abortion rights, said Friday if elected in 2008 he wouldn’t hesitate to appoint anti-abortion conservatives such as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito to the federal bench (Associated Press)
  • ‘Amen’ to Brownback | On the stump, Brownback preaches the gospel of the Christian right, stating his strong opposition to abortion and gay marriage (Politico.com)
  • Social conservatives losing faith in values of Crist, ’08 hopefuls | Catholic, conservative and concerned, former Florida Christian Coalition leader Pat Neal says many social conservatives are “a little disappointed” in the state’s new governor and worried about the coming presidential election (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
  • Also: Moderates move to Right | But Charlie Crist’s experience might suggest the presidential candidates are making a mistake in courting Florida’s religious and social conservatives (The Tampa Tribune, Fla.)
  • Preacher primary | Republican presidential hopefuls court evangelical kingpins that could determine the 2008 nomination (Howard Fineman, Newsweek)
  • Abortion contortions | Why John McCain and Mitt Romney are having trouble gaining the trust of pro-life voters (W. James Antle III, The American Spectator)
  • Christian voters and the 2008 race | What role will Christian voters play in the 2008 elections? They’re being courted from all angles, by many different varieties of candidates (Michael Cromartie, Morning Edition)

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Democratic candidates:

  • Narrowing the religion gap? | In this presidential race, it could be Democrats, not Republicans, who are most at ease in church (The New York Times Magazine)
  • As Clinton runs, some old foes stay on sideline | Many conservatives say that the intensity of anger toward Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has subsided (The New York Times)
  • Unchristian bumper stickers | For sale at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention: Bumper stickers depicting an elephant, a donkey and Sen. Clinton. Captions under the three figures read “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” (New York Post, final item)
  • Obama’s better off not playing pulpit politics with S.C. pastor | If you want to see what power looks like, go to a megachurch. On Sunday, I visited the Bible Way Church of Atlas Road — the church where state Sen. Darrell Jackson is also the pastor. The senator is an awesome preacher. Still, I don’t see how he got away with a questionable deal in which he appeared to have peddled his influence to the highest bidder (Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times)

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Edwards bloggers:

  • Why I had to quit the John Edwards campaign | During my brief tenure as blogmaster for a Democratic presidential contender, I experienced the right-wing smear machine firsthand (Amanda Marcotte, Salon.com)
  • Curse of the Christian-bashers | The spirit of the Edwards bloggers haunts Democrats (Mary Eberstadt, The Wall Street Journal)
  • Blogging with bile | Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan may be off John Edwards’s campaign payroll, but there are plenty of other liberal activists who share their anti-Christian views (Megan Basham, The American Spectator)
  • Extremists drown out serious debate | The Edwards bloggers were right. Too bad they were vulgar, too (Bonnie Erbe, syndicated columnist)

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Politics:

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Voting rights:

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Immigration:

  • Theme for Lent is immigration | Southland Roman Catholics are urged to fast and take other steps to help ease the burden of underdogs (Los Angeles Times)
  • Also: Withholding their ‘amens’ | As Lent begins, some Catholics object to sermons calling for a revised immigration policy (The Orange County Register, Ca.)
  • Church joins union fight to help migrants | The Catholic Church, whose ranks are being swollen by a flood of Polish immigrants, is working with trade unionists to stem the abuse of migrant workers by rogue employers (Financial Times)
  • Immigrants ‘overwhelm’ Catholic churches | In at least three London parishes, more than three-quarters of those attending Mass were found to be illegal immigrants, while others are using churches as job centers and social welfare offices. (The Telegraph, London)
  • Again British Catholicism gains an accent | Such has been the influx of Catholic immigrants in recent years that a new study suggests that the old faith is on course to replace Anglicanism as the dominant religion in Britain. We have been here before. (Graham Stewart, The Times, London)

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Iranian refugee in B.C.:

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Environmentalism:

  • Evangelical groups join call for global warming action | Evangelicals have long allied themselves with America’s conservative right. But when it comes to global warming, a growing number of worshippers find they agree more with scientists who believe humans are responsible for climate change and that leaders must take drastic measures to avoid catastrophe (Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.)
  • Religious leaders gather to save God’s green earth | Dozens of clergy members and religious leaders came together at the Garrison Institute for a meeting of the institute’s Hudson River Project, an ambitious effort to fuse the values and manpower of the religious and environmental communities (The Journal News, White Plains, N.Y.)
  • Area churches going back to the garden | Faithful take small steps to address global warming (The Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Stewards of the earth | Evangelicals, environment a match made in heaven (Editorial, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
  • Ideological match made in heaven? | Evangelicals traditionally relish dark warnings about a judgment that results from bad behavior. They are also susceptible to simplistic solutions. So thinking a global climate catastrophe can be battled if Americans just abandon their SUVs is appealing to Americans as a whole and evangelicals in particular (Mark Tooley, Albany Times Union, N.Y.)

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Religion bills die in Co. and Ut.:

  • Religious rights bill dies in committee | Sen. Dave Schultheis’ Religious Bill of Rights, which he described as an idea that could draw national attention, died with barely a whimper in a Senate committee Wednesday (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
  • Also: Religious rights bill dies in committee | Bill, which would have required all public schools to post a religious bill of rights for students and employees, defeated in party-line vote (Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Co.)
  • Confronting the veil | There must be some way of protecting religious liberty that doesn’t turn the exercise into a bureaucratic burden (Vincent Carroll, Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
  • Bill that would protect religious speech is pulled | Would prohibit government from interfering with religion. Next step: Will be reworked and studied for a year. (The Salt Lake Tribune)

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DOJ religious discrimination project:

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Church and state:

  • Fighting faith-based spending in court | A Supreme Court case could set the standard for challenging grants that break down the wall between church and state (Los Angeles Times)
  • Also: Atheist group takes on Bush initiative | Annie Laurie Gaylor as helped transform the Freedom From Religion Foundation from obscurity into the nation’s largest group of atheists and agnostics, with a fast-rising membership and increasing legal clout (Associated Press)
  • State weighs issue of faith | Bill would give wives an equal stand in Orthodox Jewish divorce (The Baltimore Sun)
  • Corinth church property battle back in circuit court | U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Mills has decided the federal court doesn’t have authority to determine who owns the property that makes up First Presbyterian Church of Corinth (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
  • Boulder County effort draws leaders’ ire | Religious leaders plan to protest an attempt by Boulder County to overturn a provision of a federal law governing church expansion (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
  • Ministry sues South Orange for denying use of village square | “Government officials do not have the right to discriminate against Christian groups,” said a lawyer for Care and Share Ministry. “When village officials open up a public arena for members of the community, they must be fair and allow for equal access.” (Associated Press)
  • Elder sues over city’s demolition of East St. Louis church | Mayor: Program being overhauled (Belleville News Democrat, Ill.)
  • Jensen church has no love for beer-selling neighbor | Gary Landsberg, pastor of the Jensen Beach Christian Church, said he already has canceled upcoming youth events such as lock-ins and Boy Scout meetings for fear of people wandering from the restaurant to his church after having one too many (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
  • Ex-court worker sues, alleges religious bias | A former deputy court administrator is suing 19th District Court and its chief judge, Mark Somers, claiming he has a religious beef with her live-in relationship with a fellow judge. (The Detroit News)
  • Church appeals jury verdict on shelter | Tabernacle owes $30,000 in fines for housing homeless without permit (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
  • Our stake in this tent flap | St. Jude’s is not relying on prayers alone. The church is taking a serious financial risk to make an in-our-face point (Kate Riley, The Seattle Times)
  • Government says church can’t practice religion? | I really look forward to seeing which legislators intend to step up and declare that government should indeed be able to dictate how a church can practice its religion (Ken Schram, KOMO, Seattle)
  • South African authorities seize farm | The South African government has seized a 600,000-acre game and cattle farm from its owners, the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Southern Africa, and will divide the land among poor rural communities, ministers said Thursday (Associated Press)

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Czechs, Romanians fight over cathedrals:

  • Court returns landmark cathedral to state | St. Vitus Cathedral, one of Prague’s most popular tourist attractions, doesn’t belong to the Catholic Church, the Czech Supreme Court ruled Friday. The Church must now return the building to the state. The decision annulled previous verdicts by the Prague 1 District Court, which had ruled in favour of the Church (Prague Monitor, Czech Republic)
  • Update: Government not to enter dispute over St Vitus | The Czech government will not enter court disputes over the ownership of St Vitus’ Cathedral at Prague Castle in any way, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told journalists yesterday (Prague Daily Monitor)
  • Czech churches demand settlement of state-church relations | A memorandum urging the quick settlement of relations between churches and the Czech state was given by its authors yesterday to Czech Culture Minister Václav Jehlička, who is in charge of church issues (Prague Daily Monitor, Czech Republic)
  • Cardinal angry about judge’s past in St Vitus’ case | Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk considers unacceptable that Supreme Court judge František Formánek, who decided the Church vs state dispute over the ownership of Prague St Vitus’ Cathedral, was a member of the Communist Party before 1989 (Prague Daily Monitor)
  • New initiative demands final settlement of disputes between Church and State | Last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which handed control of Prague’s St. Vitus’ Cathedral to the Czech state has once again focused attention on the tense relationship between the Catholic Church and the Czech government. (Radio Prague)
  • Romania: Catholic clerics protest in Romania | About 200 Roman Catholic priests and nuns protested Thursday in the capital to demand the government halts the construction of a new high-rise office building near their main cathedral in the capital. (Associated Press)

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Religious freedom:

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Military:

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Indonesia:

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Lebanon:

  • Dispatch from Beirut | Forget about Shiites and Sunnis. Lebanon’s deepest fault line is between rival Christian groups (Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Slate)
  • A history of violence | Syria reminds Lebanon of their “special relationship.” (Lee Smith, The Weekly Standard)

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Iraq:

  • White House opens doors to Iraq refugees | The Bush administration agreed Wednesday to greatly expand the number of Iraqi refugees allowed into the country and to pay more to help Iraq’s Arab neighbors cope with the human tide fleeing increasing violence and economic hardship in their country (Associated Press)
  • Iraqi refugees dismiss U.S. resettlement | Some Iraqi refugees living in Syria dismissed on Wednesday a Bush administration plan to allow some 7,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the U.S., saying they preferred to stay closer to home and planned to return to Iraq (Associated Press)
  • Iraq war tests unity among U.S. Muslims | Leaders of the U.S. Islamic community are fearful that sectarian slaughter tearing Shi’ite and Sunni communities apart in Iraq is testing unity among Muslim immigrants in the United States (Reuters)

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Israel:

  • Violent protests in Kashmir over al-Aqsa excavation | Police fired teargas in Indian Kashmir’s main city on Friday to disperse hundreds of people protesting against Israeli excavations near Islam’s third holiest shrine in Jerusalem, police and witnesses said (Reuters)
  • Webcams broadcast Israeli dig | Israel has installed Internet cameras near an archaeological excavation close to a Jerusalem shrine that had sparked Muslim protests, in a bid to show the work does not harm the holy site, officials said on Thursday (Reuters)
  • Calm prevails at holy site in Jerusalem | Despite calls by Muslim religious figures for mass protests, Jerusalem’s Old City was largely calm on Friday (The New York Times)
  • Old Israeli find fuels Muslim ire at Jerusalem dig | Islamic officials intensified calls for Israel to abandon a controversial dig in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying they were upset they had not been told sooner about a discovery of relics at the site three years ago (Reuters)
  • Arabs say Israel is not just for Jews | A manifesto argues that the nation’s minority is entitled to share power in a binational state (Los Angeles Times)
  • Pope meets relatives of Israeli soldiers | Relatives seeking information on two Israeli soldiers who were seized by Hezbollah militants in northern Israel at the start of last year’s Lebanon war met Wednesday with Pope Benedict XVI (Associated Press)

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New Zealand:

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Bones at Christian hospital in India:

  • Christians allege conspiracy in Ratlam Hospital case | Church leaders say that the twist given to the recovery of bones from the Ratlam Mission hospital is a deliberate effort by fundamentalists to malign the whole Christian community in Madhya Pradesh (Indian Catholic News Service)
  • Tiny bones found at India hospital | The police in central India discovered 396 small bones and bone fragments that they say could be the remains of newborn babies or fetuses (The New York Times)
  • Hospital super held, probe ordered | The superintendent of the Ratlam Mission Hospital and a sweeper were arrested on Sunday after the sensational recovery of more than 350 bones, suspected to be of infants and aborted foetuses, from the hospital premises on Saturday (Hindustan Times, India)
  • Crime hinges on foetus sex test | Mystery about the fetuses remained unravelled even three days after the sensational recovery of 390 bones from the Christian Mission hospital even as the superintendent and sweeper were freed by a local court on bail on Monday (Hindustan Times, India)

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More on India:

  • Indian American author pleads for Staines’ murderer | ‘We are hopeful of a real change and transformation in the life of Dara Singh, who is a victim of Hindutva, an ideology of hate,’ says Vishal Mangalwadi, author of ‘Burnt Alive’ (IANS, India)
  • 10-month-old baby boy abducted from church | A 10-month-old boy was allegedly abducted from a church at Madhapur by a woman even as his mother was offering prayers on Sunday afternoon (The Hindu, India)
  • ‘No’ to reservation for Dalit Muslims, Christians | Says untouchability is peculiar to Hinduism only (The Hindu, India)
  • Priests sell baptism certificates | A CNN-IBN and Cobrapost investigation has found that some unscrupulous members of the church are selling baptism certificates, which are needed to prove that a person is Christian (IBN)
  • Also: Faith vendors under scanner | The Baptist Union of North India has reacted strongly to a CNN-IBN and Cobra Post’s expose that found some unscrupulous members of the church selling baptism certificates. (IBN)
  • Also: India 360: Are priests corrupt? | Rev Walter David President, Baptist Union of North India, Sister Nirmalini Principal Carmel Convent School, Chanakyapuri (Delhi) and Aniruddha Bahal Editor-in-chief, Cobrapost.com (IBN)

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Amazing Grace and William Wilberforce:

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Film:

  • Hollywood set to honor faith-based movies | Religious conservatives have a newfound cachet in Hollywood thanks largely to their significant spending power (Reuters)
  • Abortion documentary set for October release | Indie distributor ThinkFilm has picked up worldwide rights to the provocative, graphic abortion documentary “Lake of Fire,” the first feature from director Tony Kaye since 1998’s “American History X.” (Reuters)
  • Film keeps focus on pedophile priest | Deliver Us From Evil, which chronicles Oliver O’Grady’s legacy of abuse, has made him a pariah in his Irish homeland and brought new attention to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony (Los Angeles Times)
  • The spiritual side of Jim Carrey | Star of The Number 23 talks about what inspired him to take the role (Los Angeles Daily News)
  • De Niro may have role in Opus Dei’s film fightback | A spokesman in Rome said yesterday that Opus Dei was collaborating in the production of a full-length feature film on the life of its founder, Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. The producers said they were hoping to enlist Antonio Banderas and Robert De Niro for the leading roles (The Guardian, London)
  • Author finds Christianity in ‘Star Wars’ series | Robert Banta, author of Star Wars, Jesus: A Spiritual Commentary on the Reality of the Force, says, “‘Star Wars’ taught me how to be, how to see faith, how to relate to God” (The News Leader, Staunton, Va.)
  • Philippine group opposes U.S. film on Abu Sayyaf | Disney and Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer bought the screen rights to “Jihadists in Paradise”, an article written by Mark Bowden for the Atlantic Monthly (Reuters)

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Music:

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Art and entertainment:

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Sports:

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Media:

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Books:

  • Nelson out of CBA winter show | Nelson’s decision will almost certainly spur an exodus of publishers, who have felt burdened for the past several years by having to do two annual trade shows for the Christian retail channel, especially when one of the shows has seen a steep drop in retailer attendance (PW Daily)
  • Police have dirt on mystery odor | The “hazardous material” that sickened two Zondervan Publishing House workers and triggered a large-scale response by police, firefighters and hazardous-material workers turned out to be dirt, the Kent County Sheriff’s Department said (The Grand Rapids Press, Mi.)
  • Dear Dan Brown, all eyes are on you | Thanks, Dan Brown. Look what you started. In the sound-like-Brown genre the stakes are high, the scruples are absent and the copycatting is out of control (The New York Times)
  • Gathering once a month for a voyage to Narnia | One a month, the members of the New York C. S. Lewis Society immerse themselves in the writer’s fantastical realm (The New York Times)
  • The fatal history of misplaced faith | In Sacred Causes, Michael Burleigh tracks the fate of religious and secular forces in the 20th century, registering their collisions and their effects on the culture we live in today (The Wall Street Journal)
  • If Christian soldiers really are on the march, where’s the evidence? | Chris Hedges’s American Fascists charts the rise of the Christian Right (The Observer, London)

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“Blood libel” book:

  • Blood libel revisited | After an international furor, an Italo-Israeli historian has withdrawn his book claiming that some medieval Jews did ritually kill Christian children (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)
  • Professor pulls book with controversial ‘blood libel’ claim | The book, “Easter of Blood,” by Italian Jewish professor Ariel Toaff, has resurrected charges of “blood libel.” Toaff said Thursday (Feb. 15) he wants to “re-edit those passages which comprised the basis of the distortions and falsehoods that have been published in the media” (Religion News Service)
  • Blood-libel prof pledges book revenues to ADL (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
  • Author of blood libel book holds distribution to make changes (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
  • The real blood of Passover | There is plenty of evidence to suggest hatred between Jews and Christians, as many scholars have demonstrated regarding the Middle Ages. It is, however, quite a leap of imagination to take testimonies obtained under torture and to construct a hypothetical reality based on unrelated circumstantial facts (Ronnie Po-chia Hsia, Haaretz, Tel Aviv)

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History:

  • Fears for Ethiopia’s crumbling churches | The roofs of some of the ancient churches, dating to the 11th and 12th centuries, have even started to collapse (BBC)
  • Michelangelo had private room at Vatican | A 450-year-old receipt has provided proof that Michelangelo kept a private room in St. Peter’s Basilica while working as the pope’s chief architect, Vatican experts said (Associated Press)
  • Also: Michelangelo gem finished five centuries late | The magnificent façade that he designed for the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, is to be erected thanks to the detective work of Renaissance scholars (The Times, London)
  • Window into Puritan life | Renovation of 1648 house offers a look at settlers’ everyday lives (The Boston Globe)
  • Visiting a landmark Baptist church | Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Beech Island, S.C., is said to be the nation’s first black Baptist church. The church dates back decades before the Revolutionary War. (Day to Day, NPR)
  • Lancaster group wants to save its hall | Lancaster Camp Ground is deteriorating but was deemed worth saving (The Columbus Dispatch, Oh.)
  • What Washington saw in God | And how that vision shaped his life and presidency (Michael Novak and Jana Novak, USA Today)
  • Also: What George Washington really believed | Neither conservatives nor secularists will like the answer (Steven Waldman, Beliefnet)
  • Debate began before Jefferson | The idea of the separation of church and state was the product of a much older debate. It was first suggested as a public policy by religious dissenters in the 16th century (David C. Steinmetz, The Orlando Sentinel)

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Evolution:

  • Lawmaker apologizes for memo linking evolution and Jewish texts | A leader of the Texas House of Representatives apologized for circulating an appeal to ban the teaching of evolution as derived from “Rabbinic writings” (The New York Times)
  • Earlier: Evolution memo prompts call for apology | State Rep. Ben Bridges denies writing the memo, which attributes the Big Bang theory to Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism (Associated Press)
  • Churches discuss evolution | Congregations seek to square science and faith (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
  • The case for ditching Darwin | An evolutionary biologist proposed at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco last week that scientists might win the argument on evolution by ditching Darwin and emphasizing that evolution is a fully formed field of biological study (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)
  • Pittsburgh professor thinks evolutionary change was rapid | Outspoken critic of teaching Intelligent Design thinks Darwin was wrong on gradual, constant evolution (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
  • Article: Do Molecular Clocks Run at All? A Critique of Molecular Systematics | Review of the history of molecular systematics and its claims in the context of molecular biology reveals that there is no basis for the “molecular assumption” (Jeffrey H. Schwartz, Biological Theory)
  • So help us Darwin | The intelligent liberal community should not impose on anyone a requirement of believing that there is only the single, materialist word on origins (William F. Buckley Jr., National Review Online)
  • Religion and politics | Unavoidable. (John Derbyshire, National Review Online)
  • Don’t monkey with science | Science teachers have no trouble staying out of pulpits. Why is the opposite not true? (Robert M. Thorson, The Hartford Courant, Ct.)

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Education:

  • Nativity scene is too religious for New York City schools | The Supreme Court this week let stand rules that keep menorahs and Christmas trees in holiday displays—but not crèches (The Christian Science Monitor)
  • Also: High court won’t hear NYC schools Nativity case | Justices let stand 2nd Circuit decision upholding policy that bans displays of Nativity scenes but allows Santa Claus, Christmas trees and Jewish, Islamic symbols (Associated Press)
  • Schools’ barring of student religious literature found unconstituitonal | The court held that the allegations, if proven, demonstrate that a number of the defendants engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in banning religious viewpoint material while permitting students to distribute secular material to their classmates (Religion Clause)
  • Court rules for religious tolerance | A Pietermaritzburg High Court judge has dismissed an application by a parent who has challenged attempts by the recently appointed governing body of Newcastle High School to move away from the Christian-based ethos of the former whites-only Afrikaner school and strive to promote religious tolerance among the now culturally, racially and religiously diverse school community The Mercury, South Africa)
  • Lawsuit: School banned Jesus costume | Officials at Willow Hill Elementary School in suburban Glenside reportedly told the boy Oct. 31 that he could not wear his faux crown of thorns or tell others he was dressed as Jesus (Associated Press)
  • Bible essay stirs trouble for teacher | Lake Stevens student objects to questioning of creation story (The Daily Herald, Everett, Wa.)
  • Students told to shun Muslims | A national Muslim advocacy group has rebuked the Wake County Public School system for allowing a Christian evangelist to speak at Enloe High School and distribute pamphlets denouncing Islam (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
  • Also: Group: Pupils given anti-Islam material | A high school teacher allowed a group whose declared mission is to “raise an awareness of the danger of Islam” to distribute literature in his class, including a handout titled “Do Not Marry a Muslim Man,” according to an advocacy group (Associated Press)
  • Schooltime religious education called off in Atascadero | Board members voted unanimously to rescind a resolution that would have allowed high school students to leave campus and attend a class at church next fall. They had originally approved the concept Jan. 16 (The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Ca.)
  • School calendar has no religion | The Hillsborough School Board appears ready to embrace a calendar with no days off for religious holidays, including Good Friday (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
  • Also: Secular school calendar wins favor with board (The Tampa Tribune, Fla.)
  • Don’t gum up sex-ed | Leave instruction to professional teachers (Marc Fisher, The Washington Post)
  • Schools shouldn’t cater to Gideons’ mission | Handing out Bibles to students gives Christianity preferential treatment (Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal)

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N.J. taped teacher case:

  • Student, 16, finds allies in his fight over religion | A high school student drew some legal heavyweights into his battle with school officials over a teacher’s proselytizing in class (The New York Times)
  • Kearny student moves to sue district | He cites harassment after challenging teacher’s preaching (The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.)
  • Classroom pulpit sparks legal action | Matthew LaClair, a Kearny 16-year-old, is fighting his public high school after they took little action against his teacher’s use of the classroom as a pulpit (Herald News, West Paterson, N.J.)
  • Teacher defends religious comments in class | The teacher who is the subject of a potential lawsuit regarding proselytizing in a public high school history class denied on Tuesday night that he had preached in class and said that the student who taped him had never expressed discomfort to him about his comments (The New York Times)

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Higher education:

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Missions and ministry:

  • 10 Americans ordered to leave Belarus | Ten Americans left Belarus on Friday after authorities ordered them deported for allegedly singing religious songs and reading spiritual literature, in violation of laws restricting religious activity in the former Soviet republic (Associated Press)
  • Volunteerism figures fall to four-year low, federal study finds | More than 61 million Americans donated their time to charity last year, the lowest number of volunteers in four years, according to new data from the federal government (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
  • Church members let their fingers do the praying | Members of First Christian Church pray through the phone book (Clayton News Daily, Jonesboro, Ga.)
  • Where the poor live, so shall he | A Christian missionary paid his dues on Santa Ana’s Minnie Street in the 1980s. But he keeps paying them (Los Angeles Times)
  • Help not wanted | By pushing their alternative development model, wealthy nondemocratic regimes effectively price responsible aid programs out of the market exactly where they are needed most (Moisés Naím, The New York Times)

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Money and business:

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San Diego diocese may declare bankruptcy:

  • S.D. diocese eyeing bankruptcy | Faced with claims that could exceed $200 million, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego may be on the verge of declaring bankruptcy rather than proceed to trial on sexual abuse lawsuits (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • San Diego Diocese considers bankruptcy | The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said in a letter to parishioners this weekend that it is considering declaring bankruptcy to avoid going to trial on more than 140 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests (Associated Press)
  • Diocese’s bankruptcy threat upsets abuse victims in San Diego | San Diego’s Catholic churches may file in face of lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse by priests. Critics call it an attempt to avoid disclosures (Los Angeles Times)
  • Clergy meet as activists blast idea of bankruptcy | San Diego Bishop Robert Brom met behind closed doors yesterday with hundreds of priests, a session clouded by a possible bankruptcy filing as the first civil trials in the sex-abuse scandal loom (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • Priest abuse case lawyers ordered to appear in L.A. | Judge likely aims to prevent bankruptcy (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • Brom’s gambit | Diocese history hovers over bankruptcy talk (Editorial, San Diego Union-Tribune)

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Criminal justice:

  • For one man, God’s mercy is more than a theory | Several days before the lawyers gathered on the 28th floor of the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse to argue the legal merits of a religious program in an Iowa prison, I met Alan Varrin. He was paroled a week before Christmas (Bill McClellan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
  • Churchgoer and gospel performer sue SF police | A teenage churchgoer handcuffed for allegedly breaking a window and a hip-hop gospel performer who was pepper-sprayed after coming to the teen’s aid filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit today against San Francisco police (San Francisco Chronicle)

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Abuse:

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Crime:

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Theft:

  • Suspect accused of stealing church donations | Maintenance worker caught on videotape during communion (Times Herald, Port Huron, Mi.)
  • Norfolk church wants to ensure no one helps himself to the money | Eight hundred tamper-proof money bags arrived at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Norfolk the other day, just in time for the Richmond diocese’s drive against collection plate embezzlement (The Virginian-Pilot)
  • Also: Richmond diocese seeks to guard cash | Procedures, tamper-proof bags suggested to assure collection donations are safe (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
  • Former church bookkeeper sentenced | A New Geneva woman who pleaded no contest to accusations she stole nearly $90,000 from a Uniontown church will spend 6 months under house arrest, followed by a period of intermediate punishment (Herald Standard, Uniontown, Pa.)
  • Pilfering priests | Still recovering from the sexual abuse scandal of five years ago, the Catholic Church is facing another crisis: clergy who steal money from their parishes (Time)
  • Bishops look at fleecings of flocks | The past year saw several cases where clerics were accused of stealing from their faithful. Some churchgoers say the thefts result from putting too much trust in one person and say more oversight is needed to stop it (USA Today)
  • Former church officer accused of scam | Ex-treasurer indicted in theft of $25,000 from Athens man, 77 (The Decatur Daily, Ala.)
  • Checks & balances | Churches have responded to recent thefts by starting or improving structures of accountability around their finances (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
  • Priest is not fleeing, attorney says | But other members of Spotsylvania household are moving to N.M. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
  • Man admits church theft | A former business manager has pleaded guilty to stealing $118,000 from a Catholic church in Lebanon, Ohio (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

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The pastor who sold his church:

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People:

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Margaret Wanjiru:

  • Bishop Wanjiru’s bid to grill Kamangu thrown out | Embattled televangelist Margaret Wanjiru suffered yet another setback when she lost a bid to have the man who claims to be her common law husband cross-examined. At the same time, the High Court for the second time stopped her intended marriage to South African preacher Samuel Matjeke until a case filed by Mr James Kamangu Ndimu challenging the union was heard and determined (The Nation, Kenya)
  • Also: Kamangu will not be quizzed, rules court (East African Standard, Kenya)
  • Wanjiru joins ODM | Making the move at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Nairobi, Bishop Wanjiru said she will contest the Starehe parliamentary seat on an ODM-K ticket (The Nation, Kenya)

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Spirituality:

  • What to believe in if not in God? | Just what do non-believers believe in? Despite all the tempting spiritual goodies our world offers, enlightened skeptics still seek to practice a secular, humanist morality. But the lure is growing hard to resist: Even pious Catholics are starting to dream of reincarnation (Der Spiegel, Germany)
  • Spiritual aptitude tests help guide church works | Assessments of talents tell people about selves (The Tennessean, Nashville)
  • Rally for God | Dozens of Christians gather on steps of the courthouse (The Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
  • Even in religion, boomers call the shots | As with housing, they want lots of room; for ministry, they want service even more than sacrament to manage the everyday pressures and sorrows of life (Eugene Cullen Kennedy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  • Is America too damn religious? | Barry Lynn, Susan Jacoby, Alan Wolfe, Jean Bethke Elshtain Albert Robateau, and William Galston debate (NPR)

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Other stories of interest:

  • Religion news in brief | SBC leader calls for examination of denomination’s spiritual health; Grand sheik at top Muslim school agrees to meet pope in Rome; and other stories (Associated Press)
  • Misplaced faith | Why no one questioned the implications of bringing large Muslim populations into a secularizing West (William Anthony Hay, The Wall Street Journal)

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