Commandments Covering Commands Crowd

Hundreds protest shrouding of Commandments About 350 protesters went to the Chester County, Pennsylvania, courthouse Monday to protest a court-ordered covering of a Ten Commandments plaque. (The Associated Press puts the number at “more than 100.”) “You can’t cover the truth!” they shouted. Four of the protesters were taken away by the police but not arrested, says The Philadelphia Inquirer. One was 22-year-old Michael Marcavage, who declared, “This is God’s law, and no man can remove it.” Others swore to maintain a vigil at the courthouse until the cover was removed. The plaque has been on the courthouse wall for 82 years.

Sally Flynn, who is suing for complete removal of the plaque, says she stayed away in fear. “The protesters do not realize that they are denying my civil rights,” she told the paper. “We want to keep God out of government.” Hmm. Weblog thought that protesting was an exercise of civil rights. Thanks for the civics lesson!

Meanwhile, another Inquirer article notes, a massive painting of Moses chiseling the stone tablets continues to stand above the chief justice’s bench in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. “The painting is part of a larger mural with other references, some of them historical. Therefore you put it in a different context,” explains the executive director of the ACLU’s Philadelphia office. “In Chester County, a specific religious group supported and paid for the plaque’s installation. Clearly it was religious; it was not historic or artistic.”

Talk about a megachurch Check out this photo of the Easter service at L.A.’s Faithful Central Bible Church, which now owns the Great Western Forum. About 13,000 worshipers attended the three-hour service (and that doesn’t include the long walk from the car). The New York Times Magazine notes that the church continues to rent the coliseum out during the week. “The principle I try to teach is this: This place becomes a church when we come in here,” Gerard McCallum, a church member who helps rent the space, tells the paper. “It’s only a place of worship when we worship in it.” But some of the church members aren’t buying it. “Every week I get calls: ‘Incubus is coming? Green Day?'” he said. “Everyone objects to everything.”

“Faithful Central may have started a trend,” reports the Times‘ Nancy Updike. “A church in Houston recently signed a 30-year lease for the Compaq Center, starting when the Rockets move to their new arena in 2003.”

Church abuse:

Pope offers apology to victims of sex abuse by priests | But he sent conflicting signals on a proposed zero-tolerance policy for priests who abused minors. (The New York Times)
Pope condemns sex abuse, but cites redemption (The Washington Post)
‘No place’ for abusers in priesthood, Pope says | John Paul II calls molestation a civil crime and a sin, but it is not clear if he supports a “zero tolerance” policy. (Los Angeles Times)
‘An appalling sin,’ Pope says | Vatican session with cardinals on sex abuse also opens debate on homosexuality in priesthood (Chicago Tribune)
Sex scandals rock trust in all religions’ leaders | All clergy members, both the innocent and the guilty, are responsible for rebuilding confidence instead of simply retreating into defensive strategies. (Gerald L. Zelizer, USA Today)
Church scandal getting full media treatment | Is it ClergyGate yet? (Jennifer Harper, The Washington Times)
Bush adviser optimistic that scandal can be overcome | “The Lord is pruning the branches,” says Jim Towey, President Bush’s adviser on faith-based issues (The Boston Globe)
Catholic teachings are among obstacles to resolving crisis | Nature of the priesthood and the belief in the absolution of sin and the possibility of redemption contribute to problem (The New York Times)
U.S. Catholics and Vatican face a cultural chasm in coping with sex scandal | Meeting is opportunity to bridge gap between the Curia and Catholics in the United States (Los Angeles Times)
Monsignor explains remarks on gay priests | One of Cardinal Edward M. Egan’s closest lieutenants denied on Monday that he had attempted to blame the sex scandal roiling the Roman Catholic Church on gay priests. (The New York Times)
Also: Diocese responds to anti-gay sermon | Monsignor Eugene Clark “was speaking for himself,” says archdiocese spokesman (Associated Press)
Married priest brings unique perspective to celibacy debate | John Gremmels does not advocate marriage for priests, and neither does his wife. (WFAA, Dallas)
Who can be a priest? | Sexual orientation an issue (USA Today)
A red hat for a stop sign | In a time of sexual revolution, “getting real” can be really dangerous (Charles A. Donovan, The Washington Times)

Persecution:

Christian Council demands ban on Sangh Parivar | RSS, VHP, other groups are behind persecution of Christians and other minorities, says organization (South Nexus)
U.S. rights group slams Vietnam over minority persecution | Human Rights Watch says government using torture, arbitrary arrests and church burning against ethnic minority tribe members in its central Highlands province (Voice of America)
A slave’s journey in Sudan | Sudan’s plight cries out to us (Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times)

Anti-Catholicism in Russia:

In setback to Vatican, Russia blocks bishop’s reentry | Russian passport officers have refused reentry to Jerzy Mazur, in effect revoking his right to live and work in Russia and escalating the country’s conflict with the Vatican (Los Angeles Times)
Russia said to bar Catholic bishop from country (Reuters)
Vatican summons Russian ambassador (Associated Press)

Politics:

Don’t give up 1967 lands, DeLay tells Israel lobby | DeLay’s remarks were the latest example of unflinching support for Israel among many U.S. conservative Christians (USA Today)
John Ashcroft’s holy war | The Attorney General wants to impose his own religious views on the people of Oregon by trying to overturn the state’s “Right to Die” law (Howard Gleckman, BusinessWeek)
Ashcroft’s faith in death | Ashcroft does not pause at all. He thinks he is doing God’s perfect work, but he is doing it, as we all must, as an imperfect man. (Richard Cohen, The Washington Post)
Religious leaders reject secession | Group finds no evidence that a split would help the poor, protect rights or improve public safety. But it acknowledges legitimate grievances with the city. (Los Angeles Times)

Crime:

Ala. church bomb trial faces delay | A funding crisis in Alabama’s court system may delay thousands of cases statewide, including the upcoming murder trial of the final suspect in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. (Associated Press)
Federal judge strikes down Vermont child-porn law | Court finds statute too broadly restricts indecent speech that is protected under the Constitution. (Associated Press)
The sanctity of smut | The Supreme Court is not testing the limits of free “speech” so much as it is obliterating them (Robert Bork, The Wall Street Journal)

Pop culture:

God saves the nu-soul queen | Lauryn Hill fused R&B and hip hop. Now she’s added religion to the mix (The Observer, London)
Singing monks head for US | Greece’s most popular boy band—a group of singing Orthodox monks—are to tour the US with their unique brand of pop. (BBC)
Bible class learns ’bout a man named Jed | Study on morals looks at ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ show (The Tennessean)
Denver billionaire backs films with moral message | Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz is bankrolling new entertainment businesses he hopes will bring positive, family-friendly movies to the big screen. (The Colorado Springs Gazette)
Hollywood takes ax to religion | Faith is one of the few subjects that seems significant to everyone, allowing an insecure first-time director to pose as a daring social critic, and a convoluted gothic thriller to pass itself off as “a cautionary tale about religious fanaticism.” (Michael Medved, USA Today)
Club turfed out by the God squad | An amateur city football side faces abandoning the rest of this season’s matches – following a pitch invasion by a group of Christian travelers. (The Scotsman)

Missions & ministry:

Taliban ‘holiday’ inspires crusader | Shelter Now worker Diana Thomas says imprisonment wasn’t traumatic, and provided her time to get closer to God (The Sunday Times, Perth, Western Australia)
Jim Bowers carries on mission after wife, child slain | Message at memorial: Tragedy inspires others to find their faith (Pensacola [Fla.] News-Journal)
Slain missionary’s Panhandle parents disappointed in government | Parents of Roni Bowers say they are “very, very angry at our government” (The Daytona Beach [Fla] News-Journal)
Grieving couple lack closure in deaths | It took months for Gloria and John Luttig to overcome the shock of learning that their missionary daughter, Veronica, and her infant daughter, Charity, died when their plane was shot down April 20, 2001, over the Amazon River (Pensacola [Fla.] News-Journal)
From the ground up | Habitat for Humanity struggles to find land for new, affordable houses. (Chicago Tribune)
Burdens hone Anne Lotz’s faith | Graham daughter transformed her crisis into a book, and a nationwide touring revival for Christian women going through similar experiences. (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
Also: Graham’s daughter speaks on remark | “Inexcusable and indefensible” 1972 comments don’t reflect his views, she says (Associated Press)
Twists and turns | Church meets unforeseen challenge after Tuesday’s tornado (Fort Worth [Tex.] Star-Telegram)