Egypt Prosecutors Vow to Appeal El-Kosheh Verdict

Prosecutors say they will appeal El-Kosheh verdict On Saturday, an official at Egypt’s State Security Prosecution office said it would appeal the Feb. 5 acquittals of 96 Muslim murder suspects in last year’s El-Kosheh massacre. Though observers say the acquittals were probably meant to avoid further violence between Muslims and Christians, Coptic Christian Bishop Wissa, whose diocese includes the village, says the ruling is an “open invitation for any one Muslim to kill Christians.”

Was Lincoln an abolitionist? Allen C. Guelzo, author of Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President (which won a ChristianityToday Book Award) wrote an article about the president as “a reluctant recruit to the abolitionist cause” for Friday’s Washington Post. “Not even the most vigorous apologists for Lincoln can escape the very real differences between the emancipator and the abolitionists,” Guelzo writes. “Only when those differences are allowed full play can we begin to recognize Lincoln’s real place in the story of slavery’s end in America. Though Lincoln and the abolitionists finally reached common ground, they did so along very different paths.” He also quickly summarizes Lincoln’s religion: “Lincoln rebelled against his parents’ religion early in adolescence. He understood that the universe was run not by a god who could be influenced by prayer to change the course of human events, but by ‘Law & Order.'” (See Books & Culture‘s review of Redeemer Presidenthere.)

Left Behind: The Movie:

Churches sponsored ‘Left Behind’ | Cloud Ten Pictures initially said there were no local sponsors (The Hartford Courant)

The Simpsons:

TV’s Most Religious Family? | The Simpsons have soul (The Christian Century)
Earlier: Saint Flanders | He’s the evangelical next door on The Simpsons, and that’s okily dokily among many believers (Christianity Today, Feb. 5, 2001)

Vietnam:

Vietnam war-era group accused | Vietnamese authorities have arrested 15 people for allegedly spreading Protestantism and advocating autonomy (Associated Press)
Vietnam authorities allow southern Protestant church meeting | Federation of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam gathering in Ho Chi Minh City is the first such conference for the group since the Vietnam War. (Radio Australia)
Group accuses Hanoi in unrest | Widespread protests in the central highlands of Vietnam this month were triggered by the arrest and torture of two Christian activists working for the rights of ethnic minorities, a U.S.-based group alleged Friday. (Associated Press)

Christianity online:

Vatican to give Internet its patron saint | A look at St. Isidore (The Times, London)
Michelangelo’s Moses gets multimedia makeover | Visitors to www.progettomose.it will be able to follow the restorers’ every stroke and dab, learn about the statue’s blighted history, read modern interpretations of it and then visit chat rooms to discuss their findings (Reuters)
Web site thinks there’s money to be made on Christianity | Christianity.com is strictly business (The Boston Globe)
Earlier: Is God.com Dead? | Investors lost faith in iBelieve.com, Lightsource.com was extinguished, and Crosswalk is being run over. What happened to the for-profit Christian Web site boom? (Christianity Today, Feb. 9, 2001)

Faith healings:

Unholy neglect | Families who rely on prayer instead of medicine should, by law, be criminals (Editorial, The Denver Post)
Faith healing vs. kids’ rights | Colorado legislature gears up for this week’s clash over religious freedom and children’s rights. (The Denver Post)
Thousands flock to see Christian healer | Benny Hinn goes to Vegas (Las Vegas Sun)

San Francisco Chronicle‘s special coverage of Moon’s Unification Church:

Children of a Lesser God | The Moonies: Looking to its youth for survival (San Francisco Chronicle)
Children of a Lesser God | The Path: Coming of new age for alternative religions (San Francisco Chronicle)
Life as Moonchild far from blessed (San Francisco Chronicle)
Continuation of the church will fall to Moon’s son (San Francisco Chronicle)
Earlier: Son’s death shakes up sect (Christianity Today, Jan. 10, 2000)
Earlier: Moon struck | Church founder’s ex-daughter-in-law pens grim tome about life on the inside. (Christianity Today, Nov. 16, 1998)

Other religions:

Scientology-linked project to get scrutiny | Critics claim that the “study technology” used by literacy program is a disguised form of Scientology scripture. (Boston Herald)

Homosexuality:

Cost impact minimal for same-sex benefits | Most major cities already offer plan (Houston Chronicle)
Civil-union law for gays is goal of proposed bills | But Democrats say Washington bill has little chance (The Seattle Times)

Church life:

Christian denominations offering clergy retirement plans | Other churches have a wider safety net than the Catholic Church. (The Miami Herald)
Churches’ land fight up for vote | County head seeks to limit rural-area sprawl, but churches are lobbying harder than ever before against plan (The Seattle Times)
Churches praise teachers | England and Wales celebrate Education Sunday (BBC)
Put sex back in the pulpit | Next week is National Sexually Transmitted Disease and Condom Week (Editorial, The Mail and Guardian, Johannesburg, South Africa)
McDonald’s to feed souls at church | Houston’s Brentwood Baptist Church will open first in-church franchise in July (Associated Press)

Jay Bakker:

Sins of the father revisited by a forgiving son | Another review of Jay Bakker’s Son of a Preacher Man (Los Angeles Times)
Earlier: Semi-amazing grace | Jay Bakker (yes, Jim and Tammy Faye’s son) describes his continuing recovery from church-inflicted wounds (Christianity Today, Jan. 23, 2001)

Abortion:

Abortion foes cheer Florida court ruling | Florida appeals court Friday unanimously upheld a state law requiring that parents or a judge be notified before a minor gets an abortion. (The Orlando Sentinel)
In the trenches of a new holy war | The Catholic bashers are loose in Albany, and nothing less than the religious freedom of all New Yorkers is at stake. (Rod Dreher, New York Post)

Other stories:

Priest in fight for sex change | The Church of England faces a test case over a demand from a priest in one of its most conservative dioceses to be allowed to change sex and work as a woman (The Sunday Times, London)
Christian comedy movie unveiled | First major film by Billy Graham’s World Wide Pictures in a decade (Religion News Service, Los Angeles Times)
Alabama wants right to post Ten Commandments | Resolution urging U.S. Congress to submit an amendment to the 50 states unanimously passes the Alabama House of Representatives (Reuters)
A porn loophole to close | The Massachusetts Legislature has let too much time go by without updating the child pornography statutes for the computer age (Boston Herald)
Tanzania’s religious leaders plead for tolerance | Catholic Church and the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), the Muslim Council of Tanzania (BAKWATA) and the Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) Friday called on the government to prevent further bloodshed as democracy is installed (Panafrican News Agency)
Pope admits concern over upcoming visit to Ukraine | Ukrainian Orthodox Church has asked John Paul II to postpone trip (Agence France Presse)
Nepal: Jailed Norwegian missionary to be released soon | The Norwegian missionary Trond Berg who was jailed in Nepal for illegal proselyting, will probably be released and allowed to leave the country on Thursday (The Norway Post)
Women play a more active role in religious traditions | In Manila, controversy over gender in Lenten ceremonies (World Report, CNN)

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