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Gospel of Judas | Da Vinci Code | Da Vinci debunking | Dan Brown | Catholicism | St. Peter’s 500th anniversary | Benedict XVI’s first year | Vatican-China ties | Catholic/Anglican mass controversy in Ireland | Boston archdiocese $46M in the red | L.A. Archdiocese | Abuse | Crime | Theft | Chicago church musician murdered | N.Y. nun murdered | Toledo trial for priest accused of killing nun | Maine church arsenic murder | More murders | Church life | Denominational life | Baptist missions head quits | Church building fights | Church life (non-U.S.) | Pentecostalism at 100 | Eastern Easter | Anglican Communion | Missions & ministry | Double parking at D.C. churches | D.C. church opposes gay bar | Church & state | State churches | Ten Commandments | Churches in politics | Immigration | Catholics & immigration | Immigration issues outside U.S. | Abortion | S.D. abortion ban | Judge blocks law to report sex under 16 | Stem cells | More life ethics | Politics | Towey to leave Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives | Politics in Canada | Environment | North Korea | Darfur | War & terrorism | Bin Laden | Egypt bombings | Copts protest persecution | Persecution | Religious freedom | Indonesia | Philippines | Solomon Islands | Jamaica | Kenya in mourning, prayer | Education | Georgia plans for Bible classes | Student Bible studies | Free speech sought on homosexuality | S.C. won’t hear kindergarten Jesus poster case | Sex ed. in Mass | Higher education | Christian groups on campus defunded | Ky. okays funds to college that expelled gay student | Equality Ride | Baylor students banned from Playboy | Sexual ethics | Religion & homosexuality | Religion & homosexuality (non-U.S.) | Same-sex marriage | AIDS | Vatican to study condoms and AIDS | Music | Books | History | People | Science & health | Spirituality | Television | Media and entertainment | Sports | Money & business | More articles of interest

Gospel of Judas:

Gnostics find affirmation in Gospel of Judas | The document portrays the disciple as a faithful servant of Jesus, not a villain — a firm belief of the small Christian branch. But it doesn’t shake up mainstream doctrine (Los Angeles Times)
What’s the real Judas Gospel? | Local scholars weigh in on questions raised from controversial manuscript (The Kansas City Star)
Expert damns Church response to Judas gospel | Rodolphe Kasser, who translated the 1,700-year-old Gospel of Judas, says the Church’s rejection of the manuscript smacks of “intellectual laziness” (Swissinfo)
Gospel dispute just latest woe of once-admired art dealer | As has been the case for the past couple of years, the spotlights pointed at Ferrini now show him in a far from flattering glow (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
Lawyer shows possible Judas text fragments | A lawyer charged with raising money to pay off the bankruptcy debts of an art and antiquities dealer offered a glimpse Wednesday of several small, brown bits of papyrus that may be part of the ancient Gospel of Judas. (Associated Press)
‘Gospel of Judas’ experts review scraps | An Ohio antiques dealer claims to be holding fragments of papyrus from ancient Egypt, leading experts to try to determine if they are part of the recently released “Gospel of Judas” (Associated Press)
Will ‘Gospel of Judas’ rock Christians’ world? No | With the National Geographic Society’s unveiling of “The Gospel of Judas,” a raggedy papyrus book puts a different spin on the traditional stories of Jesus (Doug Mendenhall, The Huntsville Times)
The hype over ‘Gospel of Judas’ | National Geographic has manufactured a public relations coup recently by simultaneously releasing two books and a two-hour television special announcing the discovery of a “Gospel of Judas” (Glen L. Thompson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Return of the Cainites | “The Gospel of Judas” is only one of many attempts to turn Christianity upside down (Gene Edward Veith, World)
The ‘good news’ of Judas | Are the contents of this treasure the gospel truth? (Alan Cochrum, Star-Telegram, Ft. Worth, Tex.)
We might not just take this as gospel | Viewing Judas as Jesus’ best friend won’t fly (A.C. Snow, News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)

Da Vinci Code:

As film arrives, ‘Da Vinci Code’ debate renews | Churches, scholars at issue with many of the novel’s central themes (Associated Press)
Most Catholics not fazed by ‘Code’ talk | Most (73%) say The Da Vinci Code has had “no effect on their faith” (USA Today)
Italy to remove ‘Da Vinci Code’ ad | The Interior Ministry said Tuesday it would remove a poster promoting “The Da Vinci Code” movie from the scaffolding of a Rome church undergoing renovation after its clergymen complained, officials said Tuesday (Associated Press)
US appeals court backs Brown’s “Da Vinci Code” | The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York has upheld a ruling that Dan Brown did not copy elements of another writer’s work in his bestseller, “The Da Vinci Code,” his publisher said on Thursday (Reuters)
A bad novel is the least of our concerns | Rowan Williams could have used his sermon to talk about the growing gap between rich and poor, the appalling treatment of the elderly, the ethical problems surrounding both unborn babies and the concept of euthanasia, genocide in the Sudan or the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries. He could have tackled the lack of interest in the Church, the dearth of churchgoers and the rise in the cult of celebrity (Alice Thompson, The Telegraph, London)
A code of one’s own | Perhaps the popularity of the conspiracy theory is based in the quest is to solve one’s own problems, to decipher not the Da Vinci code, but the in-law code, the job code, or the teenager code — to find a new answer to the question: What’s next? (Editorial, The Boston Globe)

Da Vinci debunking:

Churches target ‘Da Vinci’ | Catholics, Protestants join to rebut claims of upcoming movie (Rocky Mountain News)
Read the book? Now go to the church service | Australia’s religious leaders are seeking to turn Hollywood’s profit-making film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code into an unlikely recruitment mission for the Christian church (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Church launches DVD to debunk Da Vinci Code | The Scottish Catholic Church has declared war on The Da Vinci Code by releasing a DVD describing Dan Brown’s book as “monumental nonsense” (The Scotsman)
Holy war against Da Vinci Code | The Scottish Catholic Church is counter-attacking The Da Vinci Code by sending out hundreds of DVDs to schools and parishes lambasting what it calls the “nonsense” of the book and film (Scotland on Sunday)
Location fee funds Da Vinci Code rebuttal | Tonight at Winchester Cathedral The Da Vinci Code will be described as “usually stilted and often worse … a sensationalist thriller … with all its inaccuracies and absurdities”—and the makers of the film, released next month, have paid for the swinging attack (The Guardian, London)
The ‘Da Vinci’ divide | Religious groups take on new film (New York Daily News)

Dan Brown:

Dan Brown speaks | Best-selling Rye Beach author enthralls Music Hall audience (Portsmouth Herald, N.H.)
Also: Author talks courts, ‘Da Vinci Code,’ and movie in home state (The Boston Globe)

Catholicism:

Does the Pope wear Prada? | Pope Benedict XVI is appealing to a new group of admirers: marketers seeking not blessings but pontifical product placements (The Wall Street Journal)
Pope reminds Jesuits of vow of obedience | Pope Benedict XVI reminded members of the Jesuit religious order Saturday of their vow of obedience to the pontiff and said their main job was to interact with modern culture (Associated Press)
Seeds of religion planted in Downing Street | They call them “seedlings,” the newly bloomed converts whose faces Father Michael Seed has successfully turned to Rome. (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
Asian influx blamed as half Catholic churches face closure | The rise of “non-Christian immigration” in Britain’s inner cities could force the closure of half the country’s Roman Catholic churches (The Telegraph, London)
Thousands flock to see weeping Virgin in Colombia | Thousands of peasants are flocking to see a statue of St. Mary near a fire-spitting volcano in southwest Colombia that, they say, is weeping for lack of a village priest (Reuters)
Saluting a saint, Salvadoran style | Museum celebrates a mountain village’s tradition for answered prayers (The Boston Globe)
For deaf priests and parishioners, a new Mass works | The Diocese of Providence, R.I., is one of the few in the country to have a deaf priest celebrate a Mass in American Sign Language, with a verbal interpreter (The New York Times)
Religion in the News: Walk in the light | As worshippers and tourists walk into the newly restored Basilica of the Assumption, organizers of the project expect them to be overwhelmed by one aspect of the Roman Catholic cathedral — the light (Associated Press)
McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, says retirement appears near | McCarrick submitted his resignation when he turned 75 in July, as required by church law (The Washington Post)
The pope a Catholic? Adherents of all faiths should be glad he is | The world has an interest in ensuring minimal friction in the Catholic-Muslim interface (Waleed Aly, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
A one-way dialogue | It was refreshing, really, to hear a cardinal-archbishop with no pretension of ideological inclusion (Eileen McNamara, The Boston Globe)

St. Peter’s 500th anniversary:

At 500th anniversary, St. Peter’s battles graffiti, chewing gum | St. Peter’s Basilica has the modern age to thank for the chewing gum stuck to its floors and the graffiti marring its walls (The Boston Globe)
St. Peter’s Basilica: 500th anniversary | The Vatican is marking the 500th anniversary of St. Peter’s Basilica with an exhibit featuring Michelangelo’s model of the church dome and an ancient inscription reading “Peter is here” — a reference to the tomb of the apostle Peter on which the basilica is believed built (Associated Press)

Benedict XVI’s first year:

A pontiff’s first year | Benedict has foiled the expectations of liberals and conservatives alike (U.S. News & World Report)
Pope’s 1st year lacks an ideological edge | Centrist approach concerns conservatives (The Washington Post)
The pope’s first year: How he simplified his role | While Benedict XVI has drawn the line on doctrine, he has streamlined his job to create a gentler, humbler papacy (Time)
Quotes on Benedict XVI’s first year | Observers respond (Associated Press)
Benedict XVI marks first year of papacy | Pope Benedict XVI marked his first year as pontiff Wednesday by asking for prayers to carry on as God’s “gentle and firm” pastor — an appeal underscoring his efforts to unify the faithful while keeping to core church teaching. (Associated Press)
On anniversary, Pope wants to be mild yet firm | “I ask all of you to continue to support me, praying to God that he lets me be a mild and firm shepherd of his Church,” he said at his weekly general audience (Reuters)

Vatican-China ties:

China, Vatican edge toward accord | Church’s willingness to break ties to Taiwan may be key to establishing normal relations (The Washington Post)
Church and (Communist) state | Pope Benedict XVI reaches out to Beijing (John L. Allen Jr., The Wall Street Journal)

Catholic/Anglican mass controversy in Ireland:

Birth of the new reformation? | The Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Sean Brady, has ordered an inquiry into how a Church of Ireland clergyman was allowed to say Mass in an Augustine church. The CoI Primate, Archbishop Robin Eames says he shares his concern. But with Catholics and Anglicans in England regularly attending each others’ services, is it part of a growing movement? (The Belfast Telegraph)
Primates concerned by Mass controversy | Churches to hold inquiries (The Belfast Telegraph)
Religious reconciliation – Mass must not lead to division | As history shows, few issues have greater potential to cause division and strife among the people of the world than the vexed question of religion. (Editorial, The Belfast Telegraph)
Row over C of I man’s presence at 1916 mass | Churches in pledge to launch inquiry (The Belfast Telegraph)
Priests defy bishops to back Fr Iggy’s ecumenical mass | An overwhelming three quarters of the country’s Catholic priests back their Augustinian colleague who said mass with a Church of Ireland minister last week (Sunday Independent, Ireland)

Boston archdiocese $46M in the red:

Church tackles $46m gap | Financial disclosures win praise (The Boston Globe)
Cost of settling abuse claims, healing wounds at $150.8m | O’Malley, in his letter, cautioned that spending is only one way to view the abuse crisis, but that it is important to help answer questions from parishioners about how the archdiocese has handled its finances (The Boston Globe)
Parish schools and seminaries face overhaul | As O’Malley he seeks to stabilize the archdiocese’s overall financial position, he faces several looming long-term questions: whether to close more of the archdiocese’s struggling parish schools, how to deal with the underenrolled seminaries, and whether to cut benefits for the growing number of retired priests (The Boston Globe)
O’Malley opens the books | The release this week of detailed financial information on the assets of the Archdiocese of Boston should send a powerful message to loyal parishioners and disaffected Catholics alike that Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley has broken with the closed culture that degraded the church under his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law (Editorial, The Boston Globe)
O’Malley sees a test of values | Says region poses ‘great challenge’ (The Boston Globe)
Edited transcript of Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley’s Q&A (The Boston Globe)
Boston archdiocese opens financial records | The archdiocese has a $46 million deficit, the largest any diocese has ever had, according to two experts (The New York Times)
Boston archdiocese audit shows $46M in red | The scandal-battered Boston Archdiocese released a two-year audit Wednesday that showed it running a $46.3-million deficit. Cardinal Sean O’Malley warned the shortfall is threatening Roman Catholic work in the community (Associated Press)

L.A. Archdiocese:

Details on 11 priests missing in ’04 report | Mahony’s disclosure on sex abuse claims left out information on clerics who stayed in ministry (Los Angeles Times)
Report: Cardinal let 7 priests keep jobs | A 2004 report by Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony failed to disclose that he let seven priests continue in ministry for as long as 13 years after they had been accused of inappropriate behavior with children, a newspaper reported Thursday (Associated Press)
Not the cardinal’s rules | The L.A. archdiocese has no choice but to accept that personnel and counseling files of clergy members must be made available to a grand jury investigating the possible commission of crimes. Church authorities should go further, however, and also make such records available in civil lawsuits (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
Cardinals and the law | Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles has run out of excuses for blocking the prosecution of rogue priests accused in the church’s pedophilia scandal (Editorial, The New York Times)

Abuse:

S.C. priest pleads guilty in abuse case | A Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and battery, avoiding a trial that was about to start on charges alleging he sexually abused two boys more than 25 years ago. (Associated Press)
Activists deliver protest letter to archdiocese | Two members of an activist group today accused Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput of being “deceptive” about clergy sex abuse and demanding “an open public debate” on legislation scheduled to be considered this week in the state senate (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
Fixing church, post-scandal | A national spokesman for victims of priest sex abuse offered his stark perspective yesterday on what has worked – and what hasn’t – to reform the Roman Catholic Church. Nothing has worked, he said, save outside pressure (Newsday)
Diocese kept abusive priest | A Roman Catholic ministry that bills itself as the largest global religious media network kept a priest on its staff for almost seven years despite knowing his history as an admitted child abuser while serving in Maine and Massachusetts. (Associated Press)
‘May our Lord forgive me’ | How one problem priest in Vermont kept getting another chance (Times Argus, VT)
Retired bishop to speak for sex-abuse measure | A retired Catholic bishop from Detroit is coming to Denver to support Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald’s efforts to give victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to file lawsuits (The Denver Post)
Church says almost fully compliant with background checks | Three weeks after prosecutors faulted efforts by the state’s Roman Catholic diocese to protect children from sexual abuse, church officials say criminal background checks on anyone who works with children are nearly complete (The Boston Globe)

Crime:

Televangelist testifies in Setser fraud trial | Hinn says he returned profits after learning of Ponzi scam (The Dallas Morning News)
Churchmen accused of fraud | Ex-parishioner sues over lost investment (Concord Monitor, N.H.)
Ex-youth minister gets 5 years in child-porn case | Jeff Devore was formerly an assistant minister at Brea Congregational Church (Los Angeles Times)
Jailed extremist to plead to other crimes | An anti-abortion extremist already behind bars for sending hundreds of letters with fake anthrax to women’s clinics has agreed to plead guilty to carjacking, robbery and other offenses (Associated Press)
Racial slurs make for ugly commute | Vandals deface Bowie church, sound barrier (The Washington Post)
Church secretary charged | A First Baptist Church secretary was arrested and charged with 17 counts of credit-card fraud for using the church’s credit cards to buy personal items, according to police (The Orlando Sentinel)
Mariano: Just one more crook who got religion | When things really go bad in politics, there are always two things you can invoke to elicit sympathy and support: God and the family (Claude Lewis, The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Theft:

Godfrey church worker is charged | Bookkeeper was charged with felony theft after steeling more than $32,000 from North Side Assembly of God Church (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Pastor accused of taking dead son’s money | A pastor whose soldier son died in Iraq was charged with spending $250,000 in insurance money meant for the soldier’s young daughter (Associated Press)

Chicago church musician murdered:

Bond denied in slaying of church musician | As a judge denied bail Sunday for a man accused of fatally shooting a church musician earlier this month, prosecutors laid out key details of what led to Terrell Bosley’s death but one: Why? (Chicago Tribune)
Relatives: Church suspect has alibi | The man charged with fatally shooting an 18-year-old church musician could not have committed the crime because he was with family and friends grieving the recent death of his cousin, the man’s relatives said Sunday (Chicago Sun-Times)

N.Y. nun murdered:

Angel for ex-convicts is killed at halfway house she ran | The police said a paroled car thief admitted that he had killed Sister Karen Klimczak in her bedroom at Bissonette House in Buffalo (The New York Times)
Ex-convict arraigned in N.Y. nun’s death | Craig Lynch, 36, sobbed during the arraignment on second-degree murder charges for allegedly killing Sister Karen Klimczak when she walked in on him late Friday as he was stealing her cell phone from her room at the halfway house (Associated Press)
Community bids goodbye to slain nun | For more than 2 1/2 hours, 1,500 overflow church to sing, laugh, pray (The Buffalo News, N.Y.)
Mourners gather to remember slain nun | Whenever the blood of violence stained a city sidewalk or street, Sister Karen Klimczak would soon be there — not to condemn the place, but to claim it. She would lead a peace vigil, and plant a sign with a dove that read, “Nonviolence begins with me” (Associated Press)

Toledo trial for priest accused of killing nun:

Coroner: Priest’s letter opener fits wound | Investigators attempted to link bloodstains on an altar cloth and stab wounds on a nun’s body to a letter opener found in the apartment of a priest charged with killing her (Associated Press)
Detective says nun’s killer had known her | Whoever strangled and stabbed a Roman Catholic nun a day before Easter in 1980 had to know her, according to a police detective who oversaw the murder investigation 26 years ago (Associated Press)
Jurors go to chapel in priest’s murder trial | The cleric is accused of killing a nun in 1980. The visit to the sacristy crime scene and opening arguments are part of the day’s proceedings (Los Angeles Times)
5 prospective jurors dismissed in Father Robinson case | Opening statements in the trial are tentatively scheduled to begin tomorrow (The Toledo Blade)
Religious beliefs a factor in jury selection | Three of those were excused because of their strong feelings for or against the Roman Catholic Church and Catholic clergy (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
Breakaway church has Mass for accused priest, slain nun | Members of a fledgling Catholic church not affiliated with the Toledo diocese offered prayers yesterday for the Rev. Gerald Robinson and Sister Margaret Ann Pahl (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
First witness testifies in priest’s trial | A mannequin with gray hair and a blue nun’s outfit like the one Sister Margaret Ann Pahl wore the day she was slain was stretched out on the floor of the courtroom this morning in the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
Jury sees murder scene | Opening statements given in priest’s trial (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)

Maine church arsenic murder:

Poisonings at church are termed retaliation | The Maine man who put arsenic into coffee three years ago believed fellow parishioners had once put chemicals in his coffee, the man’s lawyer said (The New York Times)
Church arsenic probe closed | No accomplice found in killing (The Boston Globe)
Maine police close arsenic investigation | Police now say Bondeson acted alone (Associated Press)
State closes New Sweden arsenic case | Convinced that people in his New Sweden church had deliberately upset him, 53-year-old Daniel Bondeson decided to retaliate (Bangor Daily News, Me.)
Three years later, church still feeling effects of poisoning | Police have closed the New Sweden arsenic case, but it probably will be years before members of the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church put the poisoning behind them, says their minister (Portland Press Herald, Me.)
End of New Sweden case lifts lawyer’s burden of secrecy | Four days after members of Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church drank arsenic-laced coffee, Daniel Bondeson told Peter Kelley, his lawyer, what he had done. Kelley told no one until January (Portland Press Herald, Me.)
Suicide note: Church poisoner acted alone | The only person implicated in the arsenic poisonings that killed one person and sickened 15 others at a northern Maine church three years ago said in a handwritten suicide note that he acted alone (Associated Press)
Poisoner’s final note: I acted alone | Daniel Bondeson wrote in his May 2003 suicide note that he was the only person responsible for poisoning the coffee at a Lutheran church in New Sweden, and for emphasis he underlined the statement and then wrote it again (Portland Press Herald, Me.)

More murders:

Mexican priest confesses to killing lover | A Mexican priest has confessed to strangling his pregnant lover after Easter Mass and cutting her body into pieces, a state attorney general said Wednesday (Associated Press)
In-law charged in killing of deacon outside church | An in-law of a deacon killed on Easter Sunday was charged with the murder Tuesday, mystifying church members who prayed with the teenager weekly for the past seven years (The Orlando Sentinel)
Unemployed man arrested for priest’s murder | A 21-year-old unemployed man, who was regularly assisting a Christian priest at Neyveli in Cuddalore district, has been arrested in connection with the priest’s murder, police said here today. (PTI, India)

Church life:

Worship on a grand scale | Big churches are taking over commercial, retail spaces (The Wall Street Journal)
Mormons go to church more often than most | LDS Church is second only to Church of Christ in participation (Religion News Service)
For urban churches selling hot real estate, the sky’s the limit | From New York to Seattle, downtown congregations are striking deals with developers worth tens of millions of dollars (Newhouse News Service)
Church puts youths on road to college | Annual tour heads South to widen their aspirations (The Boston Globe)
City, church in dispute over validity of bill for back taxes | Second Congregational could go on auction block over $4,339 levy (The Day, New London, Ct.)
Update: Law firm saves church from auction block | A city law firm has offered to pay the back taxes owed by the Second Congregational Church (The Day, New London, Ct.)
On Greek Orthodox Easter, a displaced parish contemplates its future | It is sometimes easy to overlook St. Nicholas Church, structurally the smallest victim of 9/11, crushed by the collapse of the south tower (The New York Times)
Religious rebuilding | New Orleans churches are struggling to rebuild themselves and their communities after Hurricane Katrina (NewsHour with Jim Lehrer)
Church receives donation of pews | The Rev. Willie Hill said the donation of church pews from Crossroads United Methodist Church in Ashburn, Va., was a blessing because his congregation needed to replace those lost during Hurricane Katrina (Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.)
Ousted member sues church for libel, slander | Harvest Community Assembly of God, Tom LeQuire says, falsely accused him of being “involved in activities of a homosexual nature,” prohibited him from playing music and asked him to stop attending (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Pastor of Dover church removed for “inappropriate behavior” | Didn’t involve minors (Asbury Park Press, N.J.)
At some churches, nurses provide vital services | There are a growing number of churches making professional nurses available both for emergencies and for wellness checks to churchgoers (The Dallas Morning News)
For a dying church in Bethesda, a 2-year struggle to get saved | New ministers change traditions to attract more, younger parishioners (The Washington Post)

Denominational life:

South Carolina bishop to lead AME bishops group | The Right Rev. Preston Warren Williams II will take over in June as president of the denomination’s global Council of Bishops (Associated Press)
‘Major step’ as churches agree to sign pact | After 273 years of bitter schism, the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church are to sign a covenant establishing the first formal relations between the two bodies (The Scotsman)

Baptist missions head quits:

Baptist missions chief quits after inquiry | The head of a Southern Baptist Convention missions board has resigned in the wake of an internal investigation into financial dealings that cleared him of wrongdoing but criticized his management style (Associated Press)
Baptist official accused of mismanagement quits | Missions chief resigns after mixed reports on spending (The Tennessean, Nashville)

Church building fights:

Church foes cite sex offenders’ proximity | A proposed complex in Edgewood shouldn’t be able to displace residents, opponents say (The Orlando Sentinel)
East Point sued over zoning ordinance on religious grounds | Lawyers filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a church that wants to strike down a city zoning ordinance prohibiting churches from occupying buildings that were not originally constructed as churches (Associated Press)
Pastor sues East Point over restrictions on churches | Religious rights allegedly denied (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Can a church be too big? | Churches contend Palm Beach County proposal to limit sizes bullies pulpits (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
Council rejects regulating Scottsdale church sites | The Scottsdale City Council on Tuesday night opted against regulating where churches can build in neighborhoods after an outpouring of opposition from various faiths (East Valley Tribune, Scottsdale, Az.)
Also: Permit plan for churches is weighed (The Arizona Republic)
Earlier: Megachurch issue pits First Amendment against horses, rural lifestyle | Topic gets airing before Scottsdale City Council (The Arizona Republic, Apr. 24)

Church life (non-U.S.):

Canada’s Serbian bishop bans worship in the Falls | What began as an administrative dispute between Canada’s Serbian Orthodox bishop and a parish in Niagara Falls has spiralled into a $17-million lawsuit and a ban on worship on the eve of Orthodox Easter (The Hamilton Spectator, Ont.)
Scrambling for positions in the Church condemned by Rev Ahwireng | The chairman of the Akuapem Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev. Charles Ahwireng, has said scrambling for positions and litigation in some churches were indications of the church gradually losing its prophetic voice and moral authority (Accra Daily Mail, Ghana)
Police warn Pentecostal churches | Police have warned pentecostal churches in Bwaise over accusations of using demons to antagonise worshipers (The Monitor, Uganda)

Pentecostalism at 100:

The Pentecostal promise | A hundred years ago, a black evangelist in Los Angeles taught his congregants how to speak in tongues — and created America’s distinct form of everyday supernaturalism (The New York Times Magazine)
Pentecostals praise God in many tongues | Believers worldwide gather in L.A. — singing, dancing and shouting — to mark the 100th anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival (Los Angeles Times)
100 years of freedom in the Spirit | Pentecostals celebrate world’s fastest-growing religion (Lakeland Ledger, Fla.)
Pentecostalism at 100: a major religious force | As the 1906 earthquake shook San Francisco, another quake of sorts was occurring in southern California – tremors that reconfigured the Christian world (The Christian Science Monitor)
Birth of Pentecostalism: The Houston connection | Teachings heard here inspired the man who took those beliefs to the world (Houston Chronicle)
Pentecostals: 100 years and growing | North Texans among those celebrating church’s birth in L.A. (The Dallas Morning News)
Unlikely leader fueled rapid growth | In the early 1900s, William Joseph Seymour’s church on Azusa Street in Los Angeles drew nationwide attention for its racial diversity and inclusion of women in leadership roles (The Dallas Morning News)
Religion Today: Pentecostalism’s 100th birthday | Starting this weekend, up to 60,000 followers will descend on Los Angeles to mark the movement’s 100th birthday, a celebration that begins with a visit to the street corner where the revival church once stood. The Azusa Street location, now in the heart of Little Tokyo, bears a commemorative plaque (Associated Press)
More than 20,000 celebrate Pentecostalism’s 100th birthday | For five days, beginning Tuesday Pentecostal and charismatic Christians are commemorating a revival at a converted stable on Azusa Street that launched the movement that is now the fastest growing segment of Christianity (Religion News Service)

Eastern Easter:

Orthodox celebrate Easter | Traditional observance based on Julian calendar (Home News Tribune, East Brunswick, N.J.)
Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter | Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday, worshipping at candlelit services from Russia to Ethiopia before gathering families for outdoor feasts (Associated Press)
‘Holy Fire’ ceremony held in Jerusalem | Pilgrims celebrated the Orthodox Easter “holy fire” rite Saturday as a flame believed by some to be miraculously ignited illuminated thousands of torches and candles at Christianity’s holiest site (Associated Press)
Israeli police safeguard Orthodox Easter | Thousands of police were preparing Friday to guard pilgrims observing Orthodox Easter celebrations at Christianity’s holiest shrine (Associated Press)

Anglican Communion:

Anglicans furious at former archbishop | More than 100 leading Australian Anglicans have accused the previous Archbishop of Canterbury of disloyalty, as divisions over homosexuality in the worldwide Anglican church deepen (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
Also: Lord Carey hits back at critics’ open letter | Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has accused critics within the Anglican church of un-Christian behaviour and called on them to repent of their attacks on him following the circulation of an open letter claiming he has been undermining his successor, Dr Rowan Williams (The Guardian, London)
The logic of all purity movements is to exclude | Anglicans should listen to the Holy Spirit, and not to the schismatic fundamentalists (Andrew Linzey, The Times, London)

Missions & ministry:

U.S. aid eclipsed by private donors | U.S. foreign aid from private sources totaled $71.2 billion in 2004, a sum more than 3 times greater than the foreign aid the U.S. government provided that year, according to a study by the Hudson Institute (The Washington Times)
Annual brethren of bikers | Church’s third Biker Sunday draws 2,000 for food, music and fellowship (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
Genesis of a museum | Creationists, saying all the answers are in the Bible, put their beliefs on display in $25 million facility (Chicago Tribune)
In Africa, preacher draws audiences he can’t at home | Failing to find flock in U.S., Loren Davis leads ‘crusades’ (The Wall Street Journal)
Church’s new project to offer pediatric clinic | Kirbyjon Caldwell’s Windsor Village expands on plans to revitalize neighborhood (Houston Chronicle)
Faith defenders turn ‘converts’ to ‘reverts’ | Since 2000, Defensores Fides, a small band of predominantly lay believers, has been quietly bringing back erstwhile Catholics to their original faith, turning them from “converts” to “reverts” (The Philippine Inquirer)
Utah joins other states in aiding faith-based charities | Slow to solidify: The chief of the office says he plans for evolution, not revolution (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Analysis of federal budget paints grim picture for nonprofit groups | Federal grants to charities could decline by more than 11 percent over the next five years, and many other government-spending reductions are likely to harm nonprofit groups at the same time, says a new report by the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund of the Aspen Institute (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
Who will stay – and who will help? | Some say they’ll keep tending to the poor – no matter what (The Dallas Morning News)

Double parking at D.C. churches:

Mayor says parking is his to decide | D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams yesterday said it is his executive right and an acceptable policy decision to arbitrarily enforce laws against double parking in some areas of the city (The Washington Times)
Mayor postpones church parking crackdown | Mayor Anthony A. Williams has backed off a planned crackdown on double-parking around city churches, instead imposing a moratorium on enforcement until a task force recommends ways to end squabbles between churches and their neighbors (The Washington Post)
Churches win reprieve on parking | D.C. officials said yesterday that they will delay the enforcement of double-parking laws near churches on Sundays until at least late August (The Washington Times)
Peaceful solutions to the parking wars | Solutions are not easy, but ticketing is not the only way to address the issue (Terry Lynch, The Washington Post)

D.C. church opposes gay bar:

In Shaw, pews vs. bar stools | It was like a scene out of “The People’s Court” — on one side the mostly white supporters of a gay-friendly bar, on the other the parishioners of a black church in Washington’s historic Shaw neighborhood (The Washington Post)
As neighborhoods change, so must politicians’ views | You can debate morality until the end days, but in politics, numbers talk (Marc Fisher, The Washington Post)

Church & state:

The state of church vs. state | What’s happening with the restoration of California’s historic missions (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Bible study draws a crowd | City Hall meetings concern the ACLU (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
Judge says monument shall stay at courthouse | Marker on lawn is ruled as secular (The Toledo Blade)
Chatham Coalition demands Bunkey apologize for religious smear | The Chatham Coalition, a citizens political group, today called on Chatham County Board of Commissioners Chair Bunkey Morgan to issue a formal public apology for making false statements regarding the Coalition and for making a reckless religious smear (Chatham Journal Weekly, Pittsboro, NC)
Pittsboro prayer debate simmers | The ongoing controversy about whether secular prayer should be allowed in public meetings took two further turns Monday, first with a debate between opposing political factions and then with the town tackling the issue itself (The Herald Sun, Durham, N.C.)
Saturday: Official responds to ACLU on prayer | He doesn’t say if he’ll heed request (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
A captive audience for salvation | A for-profit prison company stirs hope – and church-state issues – pursuing partnerships with Evangelical Christian ministries (The Christian Science Monitor)

State churches:

Expats angered by cathedral ban on anthem | British expatriates in Hong Kong have been banned by Anglican leaders from singing the national anthem at a cathedral service tomorrow to mark the Queen’s birthday, to avoid upsetting Chinese officials (The Telegraph, London)
The constitutional crisis we face when the Queen is gone | Read the coronation service and it’s clear this framework of monarchy and established church cannot outlive Elizabeth (Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian, London)
Queen draws strength from her family and her faith | After the secular celebrations, the Queen yesterday joined family and friends for a reflective and deeply Christian service of thanksgiving to mark her 80th birthday (The Telegraph, London)
Norway opens hearings on church-state separation after 469 years | Norway opened a series of hearings Monday on a separation of church and state after 469 years of Lutheranism as the Nordic nation’s official religion (Associated Press)
Earlier: State-church split looms | Moves to separate church and state in Norway continue to gather steam. An overwhelming majority of a commission set up to study the issue recommends that the current state church structure be abolished (Aftenposten, Oslo, Jan. 31)

Ten Commandments:

Commandments display upheld | Mercer exhibit mirrors two high court rejected (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
Judge says Ten Commandments can stay | A Ten Commandments monument that has stood on the Toledo courthouse lawn for almost 50 years does not promote religion and can remain in place, a federal judge ruled (Associated Press)

Churches in politics:

Ohio churches’ political activities challenged | Clergy members are pressing the IRS to investigate whether partisan support violated tax-exempt status (The Washington Post)
Wrapping God in Stars and Stripes | It’s hard not to walk into a church sanctuary these days and find an American flag standing up in one corner (Kevin Eigelbach, The Kentucky Post)
Howard Dean | “The religious community has to decide whether they want to be tax exempt or involved in politics” (The Christian Science Monitor)

Immigration:

Protestants join immigration debate | Pastors are speaking about immigration issues in their churches. Believers are joining public protests and contacting legislators. And leaders are calling on non-Latino Protestants to bolster their position (Pasadena Star-News, Ca.)
10,000 resume the battle cry | S.F. archbishop denounces enforcement-heavy House bill (San Francisco Chronicle)
Christian leaders call immigration a moral issue | DiNardo, others push for reform to unite families, secure borders (Houston Chronicle)
Religious event is a warmup for May 1 | Before the next big protest, Chicago area residents pushing for immigration reform gathered in Des Plaines on Sunday to pray (Chicago Sun-Times)
Clergy stakes out key role in debate | Pro-immigrant stance taken (San Bernardino Sun, Ca.)
Immigration debate divides Baptists | Members want laws obeyed; immigrants join congregations (The Tennessean, Nashville)
Faith shapes views at a church of immigrants | A congregation with an influential pastor finds middle ground on the issue of illegal residents (Los Angeles Times)
Immigration, religion tangle | Religious conservatives, who have been united against abortion and gay marriage, now find themselves divided (El Paso Times, Tex.)
Immigration debaters find support in scripture | As Christians across California reflected during Holy Week on the days leading up to their savior’s crucifixion and resurrection, many found lessons in his teachings and the last days of his earthly life that resonate with the plight of illegal immigrants. Others read in Jesus’ teachings an indictment of a massive, continuing unlawful immigration that has grown to an estimated 2.4 million people in the state alone, the majority from Mexico (Contra Costa Times, Ca.)

Catholics & immigration:

Word of God now includes immigration politics | The Catholic Church has become a force for change, with the weight of millions of Catholics behind it, in the politically charged battle that is immigration reform (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Ontario, Ca.)
Churches take initiative in immigration issue | Sister Teresa Ann Wolf, director of Catholic Charities’ Centro San Jose el Trabajador in Canton, says the church is morally obligated to assist immigrants, regardless of their legal status (Canton Repository, Oh.)
Immigration reform splits Catholics, GOP | The national immigration debate is muddying Republican relations with Roman Catholics — coveted swing voters who comprise about one-quarter of the electorate (Associated Press)
Archbishop joins immigrant rights rally | A coalition of religious leaders including San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer led some 10,000 protesters Sunday in demanding Congress enact more immigrant-friendly policies (Associated Press)

Immigration issues outside U.S.:

Family resists deportation order in Toronto church | A Toronto family is living in a church, trusting the consecrated building will provide sanctuary in their last-ditch bid to stay in Canada (CTV, Canada)
Migrants occupy Belgian churches | Asylum seekers across Belgium have occupied 11 churches and a mosque in protest at government plans to reform asylum procedures (BBC)

Abortion:

Senate campaign tests Democrats’ abortion tack | Democrats in Pennsylvania are trying to find a common ground between supporters and opponents of abortion (The New York Times)
Debate set on push to limit abortion | Proposal faces uncertain future in Legislature (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
Tenn. ‘Choose Life’ plates halted by 6th Circuit | State ACLU chapter had asked appeals court to delay production while it appealed ruling to Supreme Court (Associated Press)
Napolitano vetoes 4th abortion bill this month | Napolitano vetoed a bill that she said would have made it more difficult for a minor to get a judge’s permission to have an abortion without parental consent. It was her 22nd veto of the legislative session (The Arizona Republic)
Canon-Mac teacher suspended for abortion talk | A fourth-grade teacher at Hills-Hendersonville Elementary School in the Canon-McMillan School District is suspended pending an investigation of a lesson about the election process during which she allegedly described abortion and adoption and asked students to vote on the issue (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Risk management | How Republicans use Roe (Cass R. Sunstein, The New Republic)
Half-life | What if Roe is overturned? (Ramesh Ponnuru, The New Republic)
Life goes on | What happens if Roe falls? A discussion continued. (Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review Online)
The book on life | Ramesh Ponnuru talks about what we’re doing to life. (National Review Online)

S.D. abortion ban:

Appeals court weighs abortion law question | Abortion-rights advocates argued before an appeals court Thursday that a South Dakota law requiring abortion doctors to warn patients about the procedure forces physicians to give inaccurate information and infringes on their free-speech rights (Associated Press)
Calling for a boycott is one thing; getting results is another | It’s hard to quantify how many would-be visitors change plans to express solidarity or even know about an action (Los Angeles Times)
Appeals court weighs abortion law question | Abortion-rights advocates argued before an appeals court Thursday that a South Dakota law requiring abortion doctors to warn patients about the procedure forces physicians to give inaccurate information and infringes on their free-speech rights (Associated Press)
Women cite experience to support abortion ban | Women who have had abortions but are now fighting to outlaw the practice say their numbers are growing and so will their influence, especially after many of them stepped forward to support South Dakota’s new abortion ban law (The Washington Times)
Abortion or adoption? S.D. is battleground | State’s abortion figures are infinitesimal (Al Neuharth, USA Today)

Judge blocks law to report sex under 16:

Judge rules for Kan. abortion rights group | In a victory for an abortion rights group, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that abortion clinic doctors and other professionals are not required under Kansas law to report underage sex between consenting youths (Associated Press)
Judge blocks law to report sex under 16 | Kansas law does not require health care workers to report to the authorities sexual activity by people under 16, a federal judge ruled (The New York Times)
Kiss-and-tell no more | A federal judge in Kansas has dealt another blow to the crusade by the state’s attorney general, Phill Kline, to restrict abortions under the phony banner of combating child abuse (Editorial, The New York Times)

Stem cells:

Governor slips funds to research | $10 million going to stem-cell studies (Chicago Tribune)
Judge upholds stem cell initiative | Religious and taxpayer groups that sued vow to appeal, but institute’s plans may proceed (Los Angeles Times)
California stem cell research goes forward as judge rejects lawsuits | But a final answer isn’t likely for another year and a half (USA Today)
Calif. stem cell agency still in limbo | California’s $3 billion stem cell research institute won an important victory with a court ruling rejecting challenges to its constitutionality, but the agency’s finances remain in limbo while the expected appeals block much of its funding (Associated Press)
Kirk backs use of human embryos in quest for stem cell treatments | The Kirk’s Society, Religion and Technology Project decided it was ethical to use embryos created during IVF treatment if they were under 14 days old (The Scotsman)
Democrats hope to divide GOP over stem cells | Democratic candidates are seeking to move back to center stage an issue they believe resonates with voters. (The New York Times)

More life ethics:

Legal nod for RU486 | The first two Australian doctors to seek approval to prescribe the controversial abortion drug RU486 have received legal clearance to pursue their applications (The Australian)
End-of-life lawmaking | The Legislature should approve a measure that would allow family members to act as surrogate decision makers for incapacitated patients (Editorial, The New York Times)

Politics:

The Tao of Snow | According to administration officials, former admin. officials and Republicans who know Snow and Pres. Bush, their mutual respect stems from several sources. One is — both are evangelicals (The Hotline, National Journal)
Civic League fights campaign law over ad | A federal campaign law should be struck down because it could prevent the Christian Civic League of Maine from running radio ads urging Sen. Olympia Snowe to oppose same-sex marriage, a lawyer for the group told a federal court on Monday (Portland Press Herald, Me.)
City: Takeover of casino funds would not alienate churches | Pabey’s plan could still benefit private groups (The Times, Munster, Ind.)
Smears cited in Reed races | As Reed runs for lieutenant governor of Georgia, his critics suggest that he has been splattered by political mud (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Also: The Abramoff effect | Ties to lobbyist may hobble Ralph Reed’s bid for Georgia office (The Wall Street Journal)
Rudy loses 1, finds a 2nd Christian pal | Possible presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani – who was just snubbed by fundamentalist Rev. Jerry Falwell—is headlining a fund-raiser for former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed (New York Daily News)
At Liberty U, liberal Jewish leader urges bridge building | The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism urged evangelical Christians on Wednesday not to compromise church-state separation as a quick fix to the “disturbing collapse of public morality” (Associated Press)
Concordance of the doom-mongers | Do you worry? You look like you do. Worrying is the way the responsible citizen of an advanced society demonstrates his virtue: He feels good by feeling bad (Mark Steyn, The Washington Times)
Dept. of moral outrage | Who are the overlooked autocrats we should be paying attention to but aren’t? (John Kerry, Gareth Evans, John McCain, Kenneth Roth, Aryeh Neier, Chris Smith, Barack Obama, and Nina Shea, The Washington Post)
When will James Dobson see the light? | Maybe the escalating battle among evangelicals over the environment and global warming will produce some moral heat and light. In the meantime, let’s expose Dobson and acolytes for what they are: The deniers and procrastinators of our age. (Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation)
Christian Coalition should be forthcoming | The Christian Coalition of Alabama has a new target in its sights – trial lawyers (Nick Foster, The Birmingham News, Ala.)
Maybe CCA really is nonpartisan | Behind the attack on trial lawyers (Harvey H. Jackson, The Anniston Star, Ala.)
The Bible bench | The message from fundamentalists to state jurists is clear: Judge conservatively, lest ye not be a judge (Margaret Ebrahim, Mother Jones)

Towey to leave Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives:

Faith-initiative chief to leave post in June | Jim Towey, who headed the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the White House for more than fours years, will leave his post June 2, but he said the compassionate-conservative agenda put in place by President Bush is strong in the heartland and will live on after his departure (The Washington Times)
Head of White House ‘faith-based’ effort resigns | Despite his departure, President Bush will continue to steer federal dollars for social services to religious organizations, Towey says (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
Bush’s faith-based initiative director to head university | Jim Towey, the former Florida child welfare chief who became director of President Bush’s faith-based initiative program, will become president of a university (The Miami Herald)
Bush aide to head St. Vincent College | H. James Towey leaving Cabinet-level post for Latrobe (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Politics in Canada:

Religion trumps politics in Caledonia | In “a show of good faith,” this morning native protesters allowed worshippers at the Caledonia Baptist Church to bypass the barricades and attend Sunday services (The Ottawa Citizen)
Religious right defend Tory child-care plan | Layton says few families will see bonus (Canadian Press)

Environment:

‘Green’ movement born again? | While there’s no official barometer of just how cozy environmentalists and religious groups have become, the broad relationship is developing in often novel ways as both sides realize they share certain goals (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Pious “vandals” get stick over Cyprus tree felling | The Cypriot tradition of cutting down trees at Easter to make bonfires for effigies of Judas Iscariot is being attacked by the island’s Green party, who say it damages the environment (Reuters)
For Christians, Earth Day holds a new significance | Growing number of environmentally conscious religious people will celebrate; some will focus on Katrina’s effects (Contra Costa Times, Ca.)
Greener than thou | Earth Day 2006 arrives with some evangelicals making a controversial push for radical environmental legislation (World)
Shortage of water drains life from biblical river | Israel and Jordan have come together to try to save a waterway now diminished and polluted (The Times, London)
Interfaith alliance downplays fears of climate change | A coalition of evangelical religious leaders has launched an education campaign to try to persuade pastors and churchgoers that dire predictions about global warming are overblown (The Washington Post)
Earth-friendly movement blossoms in churches | Congregations see a connection between God’s creations and social issues, experts say (The Baltimore Sun)
Is God an environmentalist? | “Creation Care” activists are taking their good old-time religion in the direction of renewable resources, conservation and environmental responsibility (Mary Zeiss Stange, USA Today)
A green Christian conservative | We Christian conservatives are finally recognizing that conservation is a matter of moral and spiritual integrity (Rod Dreher, USA Today)
Does God love forests more than cities? | The God who designed the first garden is also an urban planner. Shouldn’t Earth Day celebrate cities, too? (Richard Mouw, Beliefnet)

North Korea:

Running out of the darkness | With the aid of American Christians, North Koreans are risking their lives to reach freedom. The inside tale of one escape (Time)
White House puts face on North Korean human rights | Urged on by evangelical supporters from his home town and other activists elsewhere, Bush has taken a personal interest in human rights in North Korea and decided to make an example of Kim Chun Hee’s asylum case (The Washington Post)
S. Korea Catholic delegation visits communist North | A group of South Korean Roman Catholics left for North Korea on Wednesday, a Church official said, the first such official delegation to visit a country Washington has criticized for suppressing religion (Reuters)

Darfur:

Bin Laden call for Darfur jihad clouds UN mission | For now, there may be more symbol than substance in Osama bin Laden’s call for jihad in Darfur, but that could change if U.N. peacekeepers go to Sudan’s troubled western region, al Qaeda experts said on Monday (Reuters)
Darfur crisis is ‘as bad as ever’ | The humanitarian situation in Sudan’s Darfur region is as bad now as when the conflict came to the world’s attention in 2004, the top UN aid official says (BBC)
In US, a push for action on Darfur | Postcard drive, rallies aim to get Bush to do more (The Boston Globe)
If Iraq was wrong, is Darfur right? | As in Bosnia before it, the victims of Darfur can be saved by one thing and one thing alone: American power (Lawrence F. Kaplan, The Washington Post)
5 truths about Darfur | Nearly everyone is Muslim. Everyone is black. It’s all about politics. This conflict is international. The “genocide” label made it worse. (Emily Wax, The Washington Post)
Marches may get U.S. moving on Darfur | The United States is trying but it is not doing enough to stop the genocidal killings and mass displacements in Darfur. You can help pressure the Bush White House and Congress to do even more by marching in a rally to “Save Darfur” on April 30 (Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times)
Osama’s crusade in Darfur | With a major rally planned for Sunday to call for action to stop the slaughter in Darfur, let’s look at what specific actions the U.S. should take (Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times, sub. req’d.)
Osama’s new jihad | Where is the Muslim outcry for Darfur? (Editorial, The Dallas Morning News)

War & terrorism:

Philippines says arrests al Qaeda-linked militant | Reported planner of Burnham kidnapping captured (Reuters)
Ugandan to testify to civil war horrors | A 26-year-old Ugandan woman kidnapped as a teenager and forced into sexual slavery by a terrorist religious sect will be the star witness today at a congressional hearing on Uganda’s 18-year civil war (The Washington Times)
Plea at tot’s farewell | God is sick and tired of our guns and our foolishness—cleric (New York Daily News)
Former ambassador joins religious freedom board | Former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson, whose accusation in a 2003 New York Times column that the Bush administration exaggerated the perceived threat from Iraq to make the case for going to war, has joined the advisory board of Mikey Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation (Air Force Times)
Torture should never be U.S. policy | Revelations of torture in Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-sponsored prisons have shocked the world (Louis Vitale, San Francisco Chronicle)
Creating justice for Afghans | Put effort and money behind court system, as the U.S. has done in building the military (Vance Serchuk, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Military chaplains should service all faiths | The First Amendment is not “either/or,” as if the choice is between church or state. The issue is “both/and” — both the non-establishment of religion and the free exercise of religion (Bill Nisbet, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Bin Laden:

Prophet cartoon offenders must be killed -bin Laden | “Heretics and atheists, who denigrate religion and transgress against God and His Prophet, will not stop their enmity toward Islam except by being killed,” he said (Reuters)
Bin Laden says U.S. waging war on Islam | Osama bin Laden issued new threats in an audiotape broadcast on Arab television Sunday and accused the United States and Europe of supporting a “Zionist” war on Islam by cutting off funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian government. He also urged followers to go to Sudan, his former base, to fight a proposed U.N. peacekeeping force. (Associated Press)

Egypt bombings:

Egypt says it arrests group planning bombings | The Egyptian government said on Wednesday it had arrested a group of 22 militant Islamists planning bomb attacks on tourist targets, a gas pipeline near Cairo and Muslim and Christian religious leaders (Reuters)
Egypt sectarian clash blamed on poor state services | Recent clashes between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Alexandria were due to a sectarian divide in Egypt that is widening because the state does little to promote a sense of nationhood, Copts and analysts said on Thursday (Reuters)
Coming together | What lessons can we draw from the controversy over the Alexandrian sectarian crisis? (Gamal Nkrumah, Al-Ahram, Egypt)
Domestic threats to peace | Sectarian clashes in Alexandria sound an alarm it is perilous to ignore (Ibrahim Nafie, Al-Ahram, Egypt)

Copts protest persecution:

Coptic Christians ask America to withhold funding from Egypt | Several hundred of the area’s Coptic Christians yesterday called on the American government to withhold funding from Egypt until President Mubarak agrees to make a serious effort to protect the rights of Christians (The New York Sun)
Angered Copts march to break their long silence | More than 2000 of Melbourne’s Copts marched from St Paul’s Cathedral to Parliament to protest against persecution in Egypt (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
Uproar in Egypt | Hundreds of Coptic teenagers and young men formed a procession outside the church to protest police inaction (World)
Economic woes add to tension in Egypt | Egypt’s latest bloodletting between Christians and Muslims has many fearing an explosion of sectarian violence in the Arab world’s most populous country, fueled by frustration with plummeting living standards (Associated Press)
Egyptian riots reveal wide religious divide | Muslims and Christians in Alexandria called for calm after two days of clashes (The Christian Science Monitor)
Open sores | Much of the Coptic Christian community is seething with rage and frustration (Editorial, Al-Ahram, Egypt)
Egypt’s Copts speak up | This morning, in front of the United Nations, demonstrators will gather in support of the Coptic Christians of Egypt, and the action is coming none too soon, if you ask me (Youssef Ibrahim, The New York Sun)

Persecution:

Mob forces church to shut down in Bogor | Police were at the scene during the incident, but did not stop the angry mob (The Jakarta Post, Indonesia)
Eritrea targeting ‘permitted’ churches | The numbers of Christians being imprisoned in Eritrea because of their faith is increasing as the government cracks down harder on churches, human rights groups have said (BBC)

Religious freedom:

Church concerned about Iran’s Christians | A Swiss Catholic Church delegation, which has just returned from a week-long visit to Iran, says Christians do not enjoy religious freedom in the Islamic country (Swissinfo)
U.S. panel scans religious freedom abroad | A U.S. government panel on religious freedom will raise alarms about Islamic extremism in Pakistan and rights for non-Muslims in Afghanistan in a report critical of key American trading partners and allies in the war on terror (Associated Press)
A look at U.S. religious freedom panel | Status of current efforts of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (Associated Press)
‘Future of Religious Freedom’ report released | McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, First Amendment Center convene faith, civic leaders on school, workplace religious issues (First Amendment Center)
Group: Chinese police interrogate 5 Americans with N.C. church | Chinese police detained five Americans attached to a North Carolina church in a raid last month on a Christian retreat in the country’s southwest, an overseas church monitoring group reported Thursday (Associated Press)

Indonesia:

Envoy blames church for Papua unrest | Indonesia’s recalled ambassador, Hamzah Thayeb, has accused Australia’s Uniting Church of fomenting unrest in Papua (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Indonesia accuses Uniting Church of supporting Papuan refugees | The Uniting Church in Australia has today rejected the claims (The World Today, Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

Philippines:

Bishop slammed for apology | A cabinet official yesterday criticized Bishop Antonio Tobias for regretting in behalf of the Catholic Church having joined the Edsa 2 movement in 2001 that ousted President Joseph Estrada from power, saying it was a political statement not worthy of a religious leader (Manila Standard, Philippines)
Apologize, please | In future, may we suggest that his excellency, the good Bishop Antonio Tobias, consult the members of his Church before offering an apology in their name (Jojo Robles, Manila Standard, Philippines)

Solomon Islands:

Churches condemn Solomons unrest | Church leaders across the Solomon Islands have condemned the violence that has shaken the religiously devout country, calling on locals to refrain from further rioting and looting.(AAP, Australia)
Faithful given message of peace | Archbishop Adrian Smith says the firestorm of racial hatred that consumed Chinatown and sent hundreds of Chinese fleeing the Solomons could have been far worse (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)

Jamaica:

Religion new Jamaican tourism lure | But it’s not Rastafarianism, the homegrown messianic sect that sprang up in the 1970s from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Instead, the Jamaican Tourism Board is trying to interest evangelical and charismatic Christian groups to visit the island (The Washington Times)
A thrust towards theocracy? | The Jamaican Prime Minister ought to be careful, in celebrating her spiritual rebirth, not to create grist for her own demise. This caveat does not seek to diminish the role religion could play as a cohesive force, in helping to achieve social advancement (Christopher Burns, Trinidad and Tobago Express)
Religious debate heats up | Don’t judge me, says Prime Minister; Mayor warns against mixing God with politics (The Jamaica Observer)

Kenya in mourning, prayer:

We need action, not prayers alone, say religious leaders | Kenya needs action not only prayers, religious leaders said yesterday – even as they led services nationwide in response to the President’s plea for a day of unity through reflection and prayer (The Nation, Kenya)
Time to repent after prayers, Kibaki is told | Mwingi North MP Kalonzo Musyoka yesterday urged President Kibaki to live up to what he termed the spirit of true repentance after Friday’s national prayers (The Nation, Kenya)
Prayers alone won’t help | We need to address the real cause of the upheavals instead of taking refuge in sanctimony (Editorial, The Nation, Kenya)
What the state did not pray for | After Friday’s prayers, the Opposition has been getting worked up and excited about the Government repenting and making atonement for all sorts of sins. You might think the Kibaki administration was all sin and little more (Kwamchetsi Makokha, The Nation, Kenya)
Sermon on forgiveness from Moi was in bad taste | Listening to a sermon by Bishop Simeon Oketch of ACK Maseno South asking President Kibaki to seek former President Daniel arap Moi’s forgiveness for the end of the woes currently facing the country left me in shock (Elvis Babu, The Nation, Kenya)
Return to God, Moi now tells Kenyans | Kenyans should return to God in genuine prayer in order to prosper, retired President Daniel arap Moi has said. The country, Moi said on Sunday, had “completely forgotten God” as calamities continued to befall citizens (The East African Standard, Kenya)
Kenyans turn to prayer after string of disasters | President Kibaki has turned to divine intervention, setting aside Friday as a public holiday for nationwide inter-denominational prayers and reflection because of the string of “sad events” in the country (East African Standard, Kenya)
Kibaki’s call was expected, leaders say | President Kibaki’s declaration of a national prayer day did not seem to surprise many Kenyans with some evangelical churches saying they had planned for such a day (East African Standard, Kenya)

Education:

Pa. school reinstates IB academic program | The International Baccalaureate academic program has been reinstated by a school board two months after it was abolished for a curriculum that critics called anti-American and anti-Christian (Associated Press)
Separation of church and state violated? | Bob Swecker says his 4th grader brought home a Bible from Miller Elementary in Warner Robins a few weeks ago (WMAZ, Macon, Ga.)
School lessons plus religion don’t have to equal preaching | Public schools can talk about religion, scriptures, and other issues without running afoul of the Constitution (Rockford Register Star, Ill.)
Baptists call for public school support | Fifty-six pastors and organizational leaders — some from the conservative Southern Baptist Convention and others from the more moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship — called on members Friday to “speak positively about public education” in response to a conservative movement to pull Baptist children out of public schools (Associated Press)
Conservative religious group airs anti-preschool ads | A California affiliate of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family has begun airing radio ads opposing a June ballot initiative that would raise taxes on the wealthiest Californians to pay for universal preschool (Associated Press)
Axing of faith schools rejected | Teachers have rejected calls to end state funding for faith schools (BBC)
‘Creationist’ school is praised | A college that is sponsored by a fundamentalist Christian foundation has been rated as an outstanding school by Ofsted – for the third time in a row (BBC)

Georgia plans for Bible classes:

See you in Bible class | Georgia plans to teach the Good Book in schools (Newsweek)
Georgia okays Bible classes, commandments | Georgia became what is believed to be the first state to offer government-sanctioned elective classes on the Bible, with Gov. Sonny Perdue signing a bill into law Thursday (Associated Press)

Student Bible studies:

Student Bible study group wins ruling | A federal judge has ruled in favor of a Plano middle school Bible study group that accused the Plano school district of religious discrimination in a suit filed last month (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
Bible study groups win battle for rights | Trustee vote changes policy, should end clash with law firm (The Dallas Morning News)

Free speech sought on homosexuality:

Jewish student fights tolerance policy | Orit Sklar and Ruth Malhotra, a Christian, are suing the Georgia Institute of Technology for unspecified damages, saying that the school’s ban on hate speech due to sexual orientation infringes on their religious freedom (Jewish Telegraph Agency)
Pennsylvania students sue over religion policy | Three Pennsylvania high school students backed by a conservative legal group have sued their school district, claiming they were prevented from quoting Biblical verses in school and expressing opposition to homosexuality, their lawyers said on Friday (Reuters)
School sued for religion policy | Downingtown students say a ban on antigay expression violates their free-speech rights (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Court lets schools ban inflammatory T-shirts | A federal appeals panel rules that an anti-gay slogan sported by a San Diego-area high school student interfered with others’ right to learn (Los Angeles Times)
Schools may ban hurtful T-shirt slogans | Public schools can bar clothing with slogans that are hurtful, a U.S. appeals court ruled Thursday in the case of a student who wore a T-shirt saying “Homosexuality is shameful” (Reuters)
Free-speech fashion | If students at a public school have a 1st Amendment right to wear black armbands as an antiwar protest — and they do, according to the U.S. Supreme Court —a Christian student has a similar right to wear a T-shirt proclaiming “Homosexuality Is Shameful”? (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)

S.C. won’t hear kindergarten Jesus poster case:

Justices decline church-state case involving a kindergarten poster of Jesus | The case now goes back to a district court for further examination of whether a school’s decision not to display a student’s artwork amounted to discrimination (The New York Times)
Court won’t hear fight over Jesus poster | The Supreme Court refused Monday to get involved in a fight over a Jesus poster that a New York kindergarten student submitted for a class assignment on ways to save the environment (Associated Press)

Sex ed. in Mass.:

Parents rip school over gay storybook | Lesson reignites clash in Lexington (The Boston Globe)
State widens teaching of abstinence | Romney gives faith group sex ed grant (The Boston Globe)
Mass. Gov. Romney expands sex-abstinence programs | Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney unveiled an expansion of teenage sexual-abstinence programs in the heavily Democratic state on Thursday, polishing his conservative credentials ahead of a possible White House run (Reuters)

Higher education:

Campus renamed for Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper | Grand Rapids has another college sporting a theologian’ name (The Grand Rapids Press¸ Mi.)
Public schools have ally in church group | Public education has been under assault for some time from segments of the Christian community (James Evans, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Vandals strike college again | For the second time in a month, racial and ethnic slurs were scrawled across street signs on the Geneva College campus (Beaver County Times, Pa.)
Dissent vs. vandalism | Northern Kentucky University has suspended a tenured literature professor, immediately removing her from teaching four courses, because of her role in the destruction of an anti-abortion display on campus (Inside Higher Ed)
Preachers who harass gays protested | UNR student equates message of hate with that espoused by some rap music artists (Las Vegas Sun)

Christian groups on campus defunded:

A win for anti-bias policies | Federal judge says public university doesn’t have to recognize student groups that discriminate (Inside Higher Ed)
University of Wisconsin-Madison cuts funds for Catholic group | Other off-campus groups also face loss of rent, utility money (The Capital Times, Madison, Wi.)
Student-fee funding for Catholic group stirs controversy | Chancellor says the practice violates First Amendment (Associated Press)

Ky. okays funds to college that expelled gay student:

Kentucky Gov. okays private college funds | Gov. Ernie Fletcher said Monday he would not veto $11 million in funding for a private Baptist college that expelled an openly gay student (Associated Press)
Gay-rights activist sues Fletcher | Rulings sought on private-college funds (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
Also: Suit filed after Ky. college boots gay man | A gay-rights group sued Gov. Ernie Fletcher on Tuesday for not vetoing $11 million in state funds earmarked for a Baptist college that expelled an openly gay student this month (Associated Press)
Legal experts debate constitutionality of appropriation | Courts have been firm on private school funding (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Fletcher to ask court about school’s funding | Gov. Ernie Fletcher said yesterday he won’t veto $11 million for the University of the Cumberlands’ pharmacy program, but he wants a court to say whether taxpayer funding is legal for a private, religiously affiliated school (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
Money for Baptist college stays in | But nothing will be spent until case is heard in courts (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Saturday: Callers urge Fletcher to veto Cumberlands pharmacy plan | Comments 4-to-1 against school funding (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
Students rally to protest Cumberlands’ anti-gay policy | The crowd of about 50 included more than a dozen students from the school (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
Anti-gay actions could hurt state’s business prospects | Tolerant, diverse community draws best and brightest, critics say (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Legal experts debate constitutionality of appropriation | Courts have been firm on private school funding (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Group: Program approval expected | National accreditation officials yesterday offered assurances that the school’s controversial policy on homosexual conduct would not prevent it from winning approval for the program (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Fiscally sound veto | Heed public on striking Cumberlands funding (Editorial, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Musings on flap over gay student | Here are my scattered — and perhaps self-contradictory—thoughts (Paul Prather, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Expelling gay student wasn’t Christian | Is intolerant the correct word? It would be much more appropriate to attach some other adjectives, including mean, hurtful, unjust, unfair, lopsided, hasty or unloving (Jeremy Tackett, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Gays, allies must not be silent | Find your outrage, turn it into action (Christina Gilgor, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)

Equality Ride:

Bethel students, gay activists find common ground | Disagreement didn’t prevent civil conversation as the Soulforce riders visited Bethel University (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Healing message for gays | Bus tour stirs debate at Wheaton College (Chicago Tribune)
Wheaton College welcomes gay group (Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)
May the Soulforce be with you — and also with folks at NCU | “This is the meaning of redemptive suffering,” said Jacob Reitan, Soulforce Equality Ride co-director. No, this is a manufactured event along the lines of We’re going climb up on the cross and you’re going to give us a fight about it—whether you want to or not (Dwight Hobbes, Pulse of the Twin Cities)

Baylor students banned from Playboy:

Baylor bars students from posing for Playboy | Baylor Vice President for Student Life Samuel W. Oliver sent an e-mail to women students this week warning that any who “associate” with Playboy would be subject to the university’s disciplinary processes (Reuters)
Playboy back at Baylor | Possible sanctions for students could range from a warning to expulsion (Waco Tribune-Herald, Tex.)

Sexual ethics:

Croatian bishop wants tourist bikini ban | A bishop on a northwestern Croatian island has asked authorities to declare a “decency zone” in the city’s center, to ban regular summertime promenades of tourists wearing nothing but swimsuits (Associated Press)
Calif. Supreme Court Backs ‘Friends’ Writers in Harassment Case | In a case that put the entertainment and publishing industries on edge — and had some Hollywood honchos speaking out — the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that sexually coarse and vulgar language is often a necessary part of the creative process when producing a hit TV show (The Recorder/Law.com)
Calif. court: no harassment in TV show sex jokes | The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that writers have the right to talk dirty and make lewd comments while creating a television situation comedy without having to worry about being sued (Reuters)
A porn star is reborn | Gay adult-video legend Tom Katt reclaims Christian faith and retires from erotica. Re-emerging as David Papaleo, he identifies as straight but is sickened by right-wing Bible-thumpers who preach anti-gay hatred. Papaleo’s next stop — the pulpit (Dallas Voice, gay newspaper)

Religion & homosexuality:

Church ponders sexuality | Methodist council to rule on inclusion of gays, lesbians (The Kansas City Star)
Gay ministers come out, risk defrocking | Seventy-five LGBT United Methodist ministers from across the United States have signed a letter to their church leaders wading into the denomination’s contentious debate about sexual orientation (Planet Out)
A church asunder | For Episcopalians, faith in the power of compromise was almost doctrinal—until a diocese elected a gay bishop (Peter J. Boyer, The New Yorker)
Gay Methodist ministers plead for acceptance | Dozens of gay and lesbian Methodist ministers have anonymously signed a letter acknowledging their sexuality and calling for further inclusion in the church (Associated Press)
A boy, his 2 mothers and some unlikely support | At the two Catholic high schools Jesse Powers-Patey has attended, his adopted parents have not been treated like “gravely immoral” people, as the church’s official position would suggest (The New York Times)
Fla. school official sorry for gay remark | Palm Beach County’s school board chairman has apologized for referring to gays and lesbians as a “protected species” (Associated Press)

Religion & homosexuality (non-U.S.):

Bishop’s remarks inflame more than gays | Top politicians and Norway’s arguably most famous actress continued to lash out at Oslo Bishop Ole Christian Kvarme, after he inflamed gays by suggesting they could change their sexual orientation by consulting a psychiatrist (Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway)
US church leader edges away from gay bishops confrontation | The leader of the US Episcopal church, which is in danger of being expelled from the worldwide Anglican communion for its election of an openly homosexual bishop, has warned parishioners of the diocese of California that they would widen the confrontation it they chose another gay bishop (The Guardian, London)
PCEA re-elects leader with a reform agenda | The Rev Dr David Githii was yesterday re-elected to head the four million-member Presbyterian Church of East Africa, and called on Christians to battle homosexuality (Daily Nation, Kenya)

Same-sex marriage:

LDS Church backs marriage amendment | Religious leaders sign the petition that would guard ‘traditional’ unions (The Salt Lake Tribune)
A religious push against gay unions | Religious leaders hope to revive the groundswell of opposition to same-sex marriage that helped bring many conservative voters to the polls in 2004 (The New York Times)
The looming battle on marriage | A proposed amendment brings to a head for South Carolina the whole simmering debate over what has been popularly termed “gay marriage.” (The State, Columbia, S.C.)
Senate to review ‘marriage’ wording | A Virginia Senate committee said yesterday that it will review the explanation of a homosexual “marriage” amendment set to appear on the November ballot after opponents argued it includes persuasive language (The Washington Times)

AIDS:

Don’t portray sex as bad, pastor tips | Advocates of abstinence as a module in the fight against HIV/AIDS have been urged not to portray sex as a bad act (East African Business Week, via AllAfrica.com)
Bearing witness to AIDS | On a continent that considers the disease a curse, HIV-positive clerics in Africa are speaking out and breaking stereotypes (Los Angeles Times)

Vatican to study condoms and AIDS:

Vatican draft document would approve condoms for married couples with AIDS | Traditional ban on birth control still stands (National Catholic Reporter)
Vatican preparing statement on condoms and AIDS | The Vatican will soon publish a statement on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, an issue highlighted by a call from a leading cardinal to ease its ban on them, a Catholic Church official said (Reuters)
Cardinal backs limited condom use | One of the Roman Catholic Church’s most distinguished cardinals has publicly backed the use of condoms for married couples to prevent Aids transmission (BBC)
Cardinal: Condoms ‘lesser evil’ than AIDS | Despite the Vatican’s opposition to condoms, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini said in comments published Friday that condoms were the “lesser evil” when considering the scourge of AIDS (Associated Press)
Vatican studying condoms and AIDS | The Vatican is studying whether condoms can be condoned to help stem the tide of AIDS, but it has given no indication that a pronouncement is expected, officials said Tuesday (Associated Press)
Pope orders condoms study in Aids fight | It is unclear whether the proposed document will pave the way for a fundamental shift in church policy (The Guardian, London)
Cardinal backs limited condom use | Cardinal Martini is one of the Church’s most prominent leaders (BBC)
A Pope who never was | Why the world needs another Vatican Council (William Rees-Mogg, The Times, London)
AIDS crisis shapes bishop’s stance | South African Bishop Kevin Dowling supports access to condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS because of his work in the slums of Rustenburg, home to the richest platinum mines in the world (Nora Boustany, The Washington Post)
On religion and science | Condoms as a ‘lesser evil’ (Gerald D. Coleman, San Francisco Chronicle)

Music:

Christ for the Nations: The Dylan connection | Christ for the Nations Institute is first and foremost a Bible school, but music is a big deal there, too (The Dallas Morning News)
‘There’s no place I’d rather be’ | How does MercyMe avoid temptation on the road? And who are the three people Bart Millard wants to meet in life? (Beliefnet)
Mercy Me doesn’t leave room to ‘Breathe’ | The stadium rock-effect, with its heavy guitars, loud sound and more aggressive tone, draws attention away from the vocals, and there’s no real intimacy at all (Associated Press)
MercyMe rocking harder while keeping the faith | On “Coming Up to Breathe,” the band rocks harder than ever before, but not enough to alienate the fans who made it a core act on Christian adult contemporary radio (Reuters)
Moved by the spirit | Tucked away in Oak Cliff, Christ for the Nations Institute extends its Pentecostal reach worldwide (The Dallas Morning News)

Books:

At the comics shop, religion goes graphic | Judeo-Christian themes woven into comic books you might not expect (MSNBC)
‘American Theocracy’ author sees country on edge of precipice | Author Kevin Phillips, a former mouthpiece for the Republican party, turned more than a few heads in our nation’s capital two years ago with the publication of American Dynasty, a scathing indictment of the Bush and Walker families and their century-long investment in America’s energy, security and intelligence communities (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
What Harold Bloom can teach God | What happens when the religion of literature meets the literature of religion? To judge from Bloom’s latest book, only an indifference to ideas, a hostility to the New Testament, and a pretension to divine knowledge. James Wood reviews Jesus and Yahweh (The New Republic)
Christian fiction sometimes wanders a winding path | Mary-Liz Shaw reviews Madman by Tracy Groot (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Amid satire, a call to belief | Bernadette Murphy reviews The Messiah of Morris Avenue by Tony Hendra (Los Angeles Times)
‘Potter’ fight reflects religion’s growing role in public debate | Mallory wants to ban Harry Potter from Gwinnett County school libraries. She says the wordy novels by J.K. Rowling are anti-Christian (Gwinnett Daily Post)
Hearing draws Potter foes, fans | Battle lines are drawn as mom fights to ban books (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
The world’s spiritual awakening, from gods to God | Karen Armstrong examines humanity’s spiritual evolution from nature worship to an inward-looking, compassionate approach to life. William Grimes reviews The Great Transformation (The New York Times)
Doomsday machine | How moral and political panics in the 1970’s pushed the country rightward. Jacob Heilbrunn reviews Decade of Nightmares, by Philip Jenkins (The New York Times)

History:

Remains of Russian painter found in monastery | More than 500 years after he is thought to have died, Russian experts believe they have found the remains of the inspirational medieval icon painter Andrei Rublev, and intend to use them to build up a better idea of what he looked like (The Independent, London)
Saving the last “Nazi” church | A protestant parish is trying to raise money to restore the Martin Luther Memorial Church in Berlin — and its National Socialist ornamentation — as a memorial to the victims of the Nazis (Deutsche Welle¸ Germany)
Jerusalem’s volatile archaeology | One of the most visited archaeological sites in Jerusalem is also charged with emotion that has erupted in riot and bloodshed. (BBC)
Hitler’s foe | A man publicly labeled as “Hitler’s pope” instead deserves to have his historical reputation cleared, according to a spate of recent scholarship on World War II and Pope Pius XII (The Washington Times)
The Knights Templar | Who were they? And why do we care? (Slate)
The truth behind the knights Templar | Some say the Knights found the Holy Grail (Good Morning America, ABC)

People:

A man of God | Religious pilgrims travel to Ellet Cemetery to see A.W. Tozer’s grave (Akron Beacon Journal, Oh.)
New evangelist reaches out to those who find religion on a ridge | Meet David James Duncan – novelist, fly fisherman, environmentalist, evangelist (The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.)
Baltimore evangelist Humphrey Foutz dies at 73 | Foutz was known as a powerful evangelist who mixed charm, humor and a big smile on the nationally broadcast “Herald of Truth” television series (The Washington Post)
Nashville will be home of Billy Graham statue | Latest earthly honor for famous preacher is bronze, 9 feet tall (The Tennessean, Nashville)
William Sloane Coffin remembered at funeral | The Rev. William Sloane Coffin, a former Yale University chaplain, was remembered Thursday for his dedication to social justice and his keen sense of humor (Associated Press)
The day the social gospel died | William Sloane Coffin Jr. was its most articulate spokesman (Marvin Olasky, World)

Science & health:

Misplaced sympathies | Darwin isn’t the enemy. Conservatives do no service to their cause by treating him as one (Kevin Shapiro, The Wall Street Journal)
Harnessing power of prayer | A growing faith-healing movement seeks to comfort, not convert, the sick (The Washington Post)
Evolution’s case evolves | You can see evolution’s work in the fins of the ancient Tiktaalik or the stress hormones of the venerable lamprey fish. You can also look in the mirror. (Ann Gibbons, Los Angeles Times)
Seattle’s Discovery Institute scrambling to rebound after intelligent-design ruling | Even some critics of evolution have taken the ruling as a sign that the fight to bring intelligent design into public schools may be over (The Seattle Times)

Spirituality:

Yoga with a Christian bent | Exercise enthusiasts reinvent the practice to suit their beliefs (World News Tonight, ABC)
Being ‘salt and light’ are biblical imperatives | Conference aims to mobilize ‘people of faith’ to live their beliefs, serve others (Houston Chronicle)
Even atheists believe in a lot more than the selfish gene | The spiritual world is simply that which stands for what we do not know or understand (Margaret Cook, The Scotsman)
Finding the value in diversity and loving the ‘least of these’ | We spend a great deal of energy placing conditions on love, care, compassion and empathy. It is so tempting to let the word “if” qualify our concern for others (Juneau Empire)
Bible studies may reveal Godfather’s secrets | “It appears certain words in the Bible were associated with numbers in the scheme he used in some of his most important messages,” a source close to the investigation told the Italian news agency Ansa (The Guardian, London)
My genes made me do it | The difference between “anything goes” and Christian inclusiveness (Thomas Williams, National Review Online)
Egalitarianism is a doctrine ideal whose time is truly coming | One aspect of their movement that Pentecostals staunchly defend is that it is egalitarian. Women were pastors and preachers in Pentecostal churches when other churches would not let them near a pulpit, they say (Lakeland Ledger, Fla.)

Television:

MTV ‘Popetown’ ad draws complaint | A German conservative leader said Tuesday he has filed a complaint with prosecutors accusing music channel MTV of disparaging Christianity in an ad for its Vatican parody cartoon “Popetown,” which depicts the pope as a pogo-stick riding brat (Associated Press)
God or the Girl? | The Catholic Church does reality TV (Louis Wittig, The Weekly Standard)
Entertainment groups target TV indecency | A coalition of entertainment groups will launch a $300 million educational campaign next month to urge parents to control what their children watch on television, the groups said Monday (Associated Press)
The issue of religion and TV | In an a la carte world, niche channels would be the most vulnerable, begging the question: Would religion channels die? (Houston Chronicle)

Media and entertainment:

Christian message, secular messengers | As religion-based organizations grow more financially robust, some are taking their work to so-called secular advertising agencies (The New York Times)
Kilgore College trustees okay KTPB radio sale | Potential buyer focused on Christian music format (Longview News-Journal, Tex.)
Moving to the Right | Brit Hume’s path took him from liberal outsider to the low-key voice of conservatism on Fox News (The Washington Post)
Christian video game separates good from evil | The rapture has come, and the believers have been gathered up and taken to heaven. As for everybody else: They’ve been left behind to duke it out in a smoldering, apocalyptic New York City (Associated Press)
Two new documentaries revisit Jonestown | WGBH doing straight documentary for PBS’s “American Experience,” A&E will air docudrama (Associated Press)
Jumping on Beelzebub’s bandwagon | `Omen’ film promoters, Ann Coulter, and Radio Free Satan all look forward to 6/6/06 (The Washington Post)
Disappearing Easter | Some Globe readers were upset when they couldn’t find any mention of the Christian holy day in a prominent place in Sunday’s newspaper. (Richard Chacón, The Boston Globe)

Sports:

Steaua boss asks God for help against Middlesbrough | Steaua Bucharest’s owner paid a two-day visit to monasteries in Greece’s Athos Mountains to pray for victory against the team (Reuters)
The Redds share passions for faith and basketball | After signing a six-year, $91 million contract to stay in Milwaukee, Michael Redd fulfilled a childhood promise by helping to purchase a church for his father, the Rev. James W. Redd (The New York Times)
James has his followers | The fine line between religion and sports has not only be crossed, but obliterated, when it comes to LeBron James (Mike Wise, The Washington Post)
A strange arena for religious expression | Arena football’s “faith night” trivializes religion and goes far beyond the cutesy (or sometimes dire) billboards and bumper stickers as sound-byte spirituality (David Prather, The Huntsville Times, Ala.)
Religious jerseys fit poorly in pro games | We have suspected it all along, and now it has been confirmed: The Birmingham Steeldogs are God’s Team (Rob Daniels, News-Record, Greensboro, N.C.)

Money & business:

Worker’s lawsuit alleges religious discrimination | Seventh-day Adventist says she was fired for refusing to work on her Sabbath (The New Mexican)
Last rites, tailored to immigrant customs | Funeral homes learn the traditions of a diversifying clientele (The Washington Post)
Church launches insurance firm | The Catholic Church has launched an insurance company that would cater for its investments and cover policies taken by its followers (The East African Standard, Kenya)
Also: Church launches insurance firm | In an unprecedented move that is likely to stun the insurance sector, the Catholic church yesterday launched its own insurance firm (The Nation, Kenya)
Wal-Mart begins preaching a new creed | The world’s largest retailer is thinking small about something other than prices (The Guardian, London)
Seattle’s Spanish Salem | Salem group’s new general manager’s résumé couldn’t be more apropos (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Door-to-door faith | The co-founder of Amway shares a faith in more than his products (Arthur C. Brooks, The Wall Street Journal)
Pizza billionaire’s Catholic haven | When American businessman Tom Monaghan had built his fortune selling pizzas around the world, he set about building something else – a monument to his devout Catholic faith (BBC)

More articles of interest:

The ‘e’ word: evangelical | Isn’t it time to choose a new word that sums up our e-identity and commitment to following Jesus but puts distance between us and the damaging negatives? (John Buckeridge, editorial, Christianity, U.K.)
Birdwatching by a remote monastery | C.J. Chivers of The Times Moscow bureau describes his visit to some of the earliest sites of Georgian Christianity, and his vigil over the timeless wonder of birds in flight (The New York Times)
Majdanek death camp museum cancels “Jesus Christ Superstar” | Museum director Edward Balawejder said he changed his mind about hosting a production of the musical after Polish newspapers reported Jewish leaders’ objections (Associated Press)
Haunted by past, Rwandans look ahead | Cambridge service promotes healing (The Boston Globe)
Seeking security | The risks of rigid methods of parenting have echoes in the dangers of the more dogmatic forms of religion (David Haslam, The Guardian, London)
Holy Toledo, religion is everywhere | Let me be more specific: I’m talking about instances of religion being “forced” upon the public (Russ Lemmon, Toledo Blade, Oh.)
Christian video spoof gets 2 DOT managers in trouble | Some were offended, but no penalty is given (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Bible burning charges dropped | Police in the Sunnmøre district of Møre og Romsdal County will not pursue complaints lodged after comedian and satirist Otto Jespersen burnt a bible in connection with his television show (Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway)
No bar code | An evangelical Virginia farmer says a revolution against industrial agriculture is just down the road (Mother Jones)
My story: Artists congregate in church | Tired of seeing local artists disappear to London, sculptor Fred Higginson helped to establish an affordable community art studio in an old church in Norwich (BBC)
Reporting religion | Religious repression in Eritrea, the new Jamaican Prime Minister’s religious speeches, and Jordan’s evangelicals (BBC)

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