Also: Super Bowl coaches brothers in Christ, churches oppose U.K. gay adoption law, the Burmese military aims to wipe out Christians, and other stories from online sources around the world.
CNN debunks false report about Obama | Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a "madrassa" are not accurate, according to CNN reporting (CNN)
Obama school allegations said false | We don't focus on religion," said Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the Basuki school, where Obama was educated as a child. "In our daily lives, we try to respect religion but we don't give preferential treatment." (The Washington Times)
Rivals CNN and Fox News spar over Obama report | A disputed report on the Web site of a conservative magazine about Senator Barack Obama's childhood schooling kicked off an exchange between the news networks CNN and Fox News. (The New York Times)
Campaign allegation a source of vexation | Conservative magazine raised questions about whether the Illinois senator had been schooled in Islamic radicalism when he was all of 6 years old (The Washington Post)
The religious test | The Constitution forbids it, but political reality is another thing. John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, passed it. Mitt Romney, who is Mormon, will have to as well. Polls show that even today, a candidate's faith matters. How the prospective presidential contender handles it, however, is what counts (David E. Campbell and J. Quin Monson, USA Today)
Brownback joins GOP presidential field | Favorite of the religious right is now in an uphill battle against better known rivals for the GOP nomination (Associated Press)
Defend innocent life | Whether Republicans are returned to power by the voters will in large part depend upon whether Republicans embrace a Culture of Life both philosophically and in practice. The voters are watching. (Sam Brownback, The Washington Times)
GOP hopefuls vow to overturn Roe v. Wade | Two of the Republicans' most conservative presidential hopefuls promised anti-abortion activists on Monday that if elected, they would work to overturn the Supreme Court decision legalizing the procedure. (Associated Press)
European churches revive drive for EU "God clause" | Germany's efforts to revive the stalled European constitution have encouraged church leaders to resurrect their failed campaign to have the EU document include a reference to the continent's Christian heritage (Reuters)
Police say Poso victims involved in criminal acts | Dead victims of a gunbattle between police and suspected militants in Poso, Central Sulawesi on Monday had been involved in a criminal activities in Poso and Palu, police said Wednesday. (Jakarta Post)
Indonesia beefs up security in Poso | deployed an additional 200 paramilitary police reinforcements yesterday in the restive town of Poso after a shootout during a hunt for suspected militants left 11 people dead. (The Brunei Times)
Indonesia boosts security | Poso has been tense since the execution of three Christian militants in September over their role in Muslim-Christian violence in the region from 1998 to 2001. (The West Australian)
Indonesia boosts security in Poso, defends tactics | Poso has been tense since the execution of three Christian militants in September over their role in Muslim-Christian violence in the region from 1998 to 2001. (The Boston Globe)
Protests paralyze Lebanon, 3 killed | Protesters bent on toppling Lebanon's cabinet blocked roads with blazing tiers on Tuesday, sparking clashes with government loyalists in which police said three people were killed and 133 people hurt. (The Boston Globe)
Old Christian rivalry moves into Lebanon streets | Lebanon's power struggle has resurrected an old rivalry between Christian leaders whose followers clashed on Tuesday during some of the worst unrest since a 1975-1990 civil war. (Reuters)
Burma 'orders Christians to be wiped out' | The military regime in Burma is intent on wiping out Christianity in the country, according to claims in a secret document believed to have been leaked from a government ministry (The Telegraph, London)
Christians, Muslims flee Baghdad for Kurdistan | As refugee numbers grow, authorities in Arbil, the Kurdish capital with a population of about a million, are beginning to feel the strain (Reuters)
How America met the Mideast | Centuries before the Iraq War, missionaries and mercenaries shaped the U.S. encounter with the Mideast. Robert Kagan reviews Power, Faith, and Fantasy by Michael B. Oren (The Washington Post)
Genocide continues in Darfur | President Bush, who clearly cares about the genocide in Darfur, sent a message last month to its chief perpetrator, Sudan's leader, General Omar Bashir, that if he didn't accept -- by Jan. 1 -- the United Nations' plan to stop the killing, the Bush administration would set in motion "Plan B." But, because "Plan B" is classified, we don't know its details. That deadline has passed (Nat Hentoff, The Washington Times)
War on the rescuers | The newest targets in Darfur's widening violence are the aid workers keeping its people alive (Newsweek)
Kenya: heed Tutu's advice on church-state role | Kenyans would be wise to remember what Tutu saidmen and women of the cloth should not run for government office (Editorial, The Nation)
Kenya: no end to Wanjiru's saga | Organization will go to court to prevent televangelist's marriage to South African cleric Samuel Matjeke (The East African Standard)
Vietnamese visit to Vatican eases tension | The Vatican and Vietnam will aim to put decades of often troubled relations behind them on Thursday when Nguyen Tan Dung becomes the first Vietnamese prime minister to pay an official visit to the Holy See. (Financial Times)
China welcomes Vatican initiative | China has welcomed the Vatican's new move to resolve their differences, calling it "a step forward".(BBC)
Vatican working on relations with China | An olive branch extended by the Vatican to the Chinese government over the weekend opens the door for rapprochement between church leaders in Rome and their fractured following in the world's most populous country. (The Los Angeles Times)
Vatican extends diplomatic olive branch to Beijing | The Vatican urged China's communist government on Saturday to engage in constructive dialogue to ease tension and achieve full diplomatic relations and a normal life for the Roman Catholic Church there (Reuters)
Vatican urges 'dialogue' with China to rebuild ties | The Vatican said it wanted a "respectful and constructive dialogue" after two days of high-level talks at the Vatican on rebuilding relations with China (The New York Times)
Pope seeks to improve ties with China | Pope Benedict XVI has decided to write a letter to Catholics in China, and the Church will pursue diplomatic ties with Beijing as it tries to help its suffering faithful there, the Holy See said Saturday after two days of talks here about China (Associated Press)
Cardinal urges Vatican to think again on right to die | The Vatican's rigid opposition to euthanasia has come under fire from within its own ranks after it denied a religious funeral to a paralysed man who had asked to be removed from a life-saving respirator. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Italy: cardinal says patients should have right to die | In a letter in an Italian newspaper on Sunday, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini urged the Vatican to allow terminally ill patients the right to withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment. (The New York Times)
Pennsylvania: protesters' suit dismissed | A federal judge dismissed a freedom-of-speech lawsuit by members of a conservative Christian group who were arrested while picketing a street festival for gay men and lesbians. (Associated Press)
Marriage activist proposes legislation | One of the Legislature's most ardent marriage activists says his latest bill on the issue is meant to strengthen the separation between church and state, but critics say it would potentially threaten liberal denominations that perform ceremonies for same-sex couples. (Associated Press)
Critics mock Rep.'s marriage law proposal | Critics mocked a proposed change to New Hampshire's marriage law Tuesday, calling the bill ludicrous, homophobic and silly as they urged legislators to toss it out. (The Boston Globe)
Rights case over foetus pictures | An anti-abortion campaigner is claiming her human rights were breached when she was convicted for sending pictures of aborted fetuses to chemists. (BBC News)
Thousands of abortion opponents rally on mall | President Bush delivered a telephone message from Camp David to the thousands of abortion opponents at the March for Life saying "we're making progress." (The New York Times)
Roe's 34th year sees a new Washington | With Democrats in charge of the House and Senate, some pro-choice leaders see an opportunity to affirm and protect the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion a constitutional right (The Washington Times)
Is there a post-abortion syndrome? | A growing number of anti-abortion activists, despite social-science research, claim that women are traumatized by their abortions and are trying to use this to reframe the abortion debate (Emily Bazelon, The New York Times Magazine, new url)
Ill. wants federal OK on abortion law | The Illinois attorney general asked a federal court Friday to allow the state to enforce a dormant law requiring parents to be notified before a minor can obtain an abortion (Associated Press)
New landscape for abortion debate | In contrast to recent years, when participants at the March for Life in Washington urged the Republican-controlled Congress to expand fetal rights and restrict abortions, activists are now discussing defensive strategies in the face of the Democratic takeover (Associated Press)
Anglicans back right to deny gay adoption | The Church of England put pressure on the Prime Minister last night over the gay adoptions row with a letter giving warning that "rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation." (The Times)
Catholic threat on gay rights law | The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has said adoption agencies will close if they cannot opt out of new gay rights laws. (BBC News)
Church gay rights opt-out opposed | Catholic adoption agencies should not be able to opt out of new gay rights laws, say Constitutional Affairs Secretary Lord Falconer and environment minister Ben Bradshaw (BBC)
Churches unite over adoption row | The Church of England has backed the Catholic Church in its bid to be exempt from laws on adoption by gay couples. (BBC News)
Fury at Kelly threat to gay adoptions | English cabinet member advocates letting church-based adoption agencies turn down gays (Scotland on Sunday)
Ministers reject gay law opt-out | Falconer and Bradshaw insist that government will not bow to pressure from conservative Catholics (The Times)
No 10 mulls Catholic opt-out from gay rights law | Downing Street appeared to be wavering today on allowing Catholic adoption agencies exemption from gay rights legislation, after a warning from the leader of Catholics in England and Wales that agencies may close rather than comply with the regulations. (The Guardian)
2 men sue Mormons, Scouts over abuse | $6.5 million - The brothers claim a Scout and church leader molested them from 1983 to 1985 (The Oregonian)
Baptist churches more vulnerable to clergy sex abuse, experts say | A recent sex scandal involving two North Texas pastors and the women who accused them of molestation is unusual because the victims -- by now beyond the statute of limitations for sex-abuse cases -- urged authorities and media to publish their names in conjunction with the case. (Associated Baptist Press)
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Guilty plea in child porn case: Former church music director to enter treatment | The former music director at Christ Church Greenwich pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography yesterday in federal court, admitting to possessing more than 150 sexually explicit photos of minors, some depicting them in sex acts. (The Stamford Advocate)
Bridgeport: choir director admits possession of pornography | The former music director of Christ Church in Greenwich pleaded guilty yesterday in Federal District Court to possession of child pornography, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years. (The New York Times)
Settlement reported in sex-abuse case | Church pays $700,000 for failing to prevent boy from being molested by Sunday school teacher (The Seattle Times)
Breakaway Episcopal priests face defrocking | Virginia Bishop Peter James Lee mailed a letter Monday to 21 priests with the departing churches, notifying them that, according to church law. (The Washington Times)
Episcopal Church bars 21 clergy from duties | The clergy in the 15 Virginia churches that split from the Episcopal Church have six months to reverse their decision or they will be removed from the ordained ministry. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Episcopal parish in sad unrest | Their pastor is banned, the diocese seized their financial records and their bishop won't answer questions. How much more unsettling can it get for Colorado's largest Episcopal parish? (The Rocky Mountain News)
Episcopalians warn dissident clerics | Episcopal leaders are moving to strip clergy members at breakaway conservative churches of their licenses to practice in the Diocese of Virginia. (Associated Press)
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Breakaway churches urge bishop back to talks | The leadership of two Northern Virginia churches urged Virginia Bishop Peter James Lee to return to the negotiating table Friday, one day after the Episcopal leader renewed threats to sue (The Washington Times)
Congregations give warning on property | In a letter Tuesday, attorneys for the breakaway churches warned diocese officials that they would be exposed to "substantial legal riskincluding liability for trespass and unlawful entry" -- if they attempted to take possession of the property (The Washington Post)
Day II: Devotees Throng Attur Church | The St. Lawrence Church itself is more than two centuries old and is a devout place of pilgrimage not only for Christians but people of other faiths too. (Mangalorean, India)
African church leader warns of 'disease' of Pentecostalism | The president of the All Africa Council of Churches, a fellowship of mainline Protestant, Orthodox and indigenous Christians, said Pentecostalism is a "disease" spreading across Africa, according to an AACC news release. (Religion News Service)
Pope says road to Christian unity is uphill, but important | Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that efforts to promote Christian unity must be intensified, despite difficulties and moments of discouragement. (International Herald Tribune)
Poland makes witch hunting easier | What may look like an effort to reconcile with the Communist past is an assault on reconciliation and a generational bid for power (Wiktor Osiatynski, The New York Times)
Groundbreaking conference gathers transgender Christian advocates | In an event organizers billed as the first of its kind, about 40 transgender Christian leaders and their allies joined counterparts from other faiths for a "Transgender Religious Summit" Jan. 19-21 in California. (Associated Baptist Press)
Protest plans puzzle six county churches | The Kansas-based church accuses local parishes of preaching "lies" about God's love to their flocks, promoting moral decay and supporting homosexuality, said Shirley Phelps-Roper, a church member and daughter of the pastor. They picked the largest churches in York County for their protests, she said. (The York Daily Record)
The spirit keeps moving them | Interim pastors step in to fix churches that are in transition or having trouble with finances or governance. 'We're surgeons,' says one (Los Angeles Times)
We can't do megachurch anymore | Megachurch approach abandoned in order to give spiritually demoralized congregation the lift it needs (Editorial, Hodges and Taylor, Leadership Journal)
Diocese catches holy hell | Parishioners upset over closing of New York City church (New York Post)
Evangelicals and immigration | As evangelicalism encompasses more political diversity, views on immigration shift left (Editorial, The Anniston Star)
Church sees to the cowboys | Cowboy church lets cowboys ride their broncos and listen to a sermon too, all in one convenient location (Star-Telegram)
Scottsdale man links Christian singles | Divorced Christian's website for Christian singles has grown from 40 to 3000 members in six years (East Valley Tribune)
Centre for mission's 'birthplace' | A redundant church in an area famous for its religious connections to the founding of the Bible Society is to be converted into a heritage centre (BBC)
Who cares about the poor? | Are conservatives naïve, or are liberals unjustifiably dour? (Arthur C. Brooks, The Wall Street Journal)
In church restructuring, some suspect hand of developers | Though church leaders deny it, some New York City parishioners think churches are being moved so property can be sold to developers for millions (The New York Sun)
Calls to act on global warming precede Bush speech | Environmentalists, evangelical Christians and congressional and corporate leaders have called for action on global warming in the days leading up to President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech (Reuters)
Higher ground | Alliance of evangelicals and scientists shows that climate change isn't political (Editorial, Houston Chronicle)
An unlikely alliance | Elite scientists and evangelicals put aside their differences to save the Earth (Newsweek)
Finding my religion | Author and former doctor J. Matthew Sleeth explains why the unlikely alliance between evangelicals and scientists makes sense (Interview, Dallas Morning News)
Stem cell policy hampering research, NIH official says | The National Institutes of Health official overseeing the implementation of President Bush's embryonic stem cell policy yesterday suggested that the controversial program is delaying cures, an unusually blunt assessment for an executive branch official (The Washington Post)
Nation to honour French activist | France is to pay tribute on Friday to the priest and homeless campaigner, Abbe Pierre, who has died at the age of 94, President Jacques Chirac has said. (BBC News)
One woman's heroic journey | Kelly Rowan felt it was time to bring the often ugly truths of polygamy to prime time (The Globe and Mail)
Tens of thousands mourn Turkish-Armenian editor | As many as 100,000 people filed silently through Istanbul on Tuesday to pay their last respects to Turkish Armenian editor Hrant Dink, whose murder has stirred debate about the influence of hardline nationalism in Turkey. (Reuters)
Benedict seen as isolated at Vatican | The forced resignation of Pope Benedict XVI's handpicked choice for archbishop of Warsaw, Stanislaw Wielgus, has exposed divisions within the Vatican, which insiders say have left the pontiff increasingly isolated (The Washington Times)
He did it his way | "I think even more important than that to me, I know the type of person he is, and Lovie has the same Christian conviction that I have," Dungy said. (The Boston Globe)
Super coaches share deep bond | Christian men, both operate without regarding football as the most important aspect of their lives. They don't yell and curse at players; instead they are known for the calm demeanor that Dungy suspects cost him a chance to become a head coach earlier. (USA Today)
Book: Pope John Paul II mulled retiring | The late Pope John Paul II considered retiring at 80 almost five years before his death but decided to leave it to God's will to determine how long he should stay on, his closest aide said in a new book (Associated Press)
Late Pope 'thought of retiring' | Pope John Paul II seriously thought about resigning due to ill health in 2000, five years before he died, his private secretary has revealed. (BBC News)
John Paul sainthood process progressing | Church officials were nearly finished documenting the late Pope John Paul II's life as part of the beatification process toward making him a saint, the pontiff's personal secretary said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. (Associated Press)
Bay Area pastor sentenced for catching, selling leopard sharks | The pastor of a Bay Area church was sentenced to one year in prison for illegally catching and selling hundreds of juvenile leopard sharks in the United States and abroad, authorities said. (Associated Press)
U.S. pastor gets prison for shark smuggling | A San Francisco-area pastor who pleaded guilty to helping smuggle young leopard sharks from California to aquariums in Europe and the United States has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison, the Justice Department said on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Man gets life for robbing Fort Lauderdale church | A man has been sentenced to life in prison for taking part in an armed robbery at a church during an early-morning Mass. (Bradenton Herald)
Amid accounting inquiry, a Greenwich pastor resigns | The pastor at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Greenwich, Conn., resigned after an investigation found that he had maintained secret bank accounts with church funds and could not document how he spent more than $500,000 from those accounts (The New York Times)
Embezzler must forfeit home, repay church | Part-time church secretary sentenced to eight years' probation after admitting to embezzling more than $97,000 from Baptist church (The Tennessean)
Migration officials arrest 11 Iraqis | None of the Iraqi citizens appear on terrorist watch lists, and they told authorities they were Chaldean Christians trying to get to California where they would request asylum, the official said. (Associated Press)
Muslim man claims religious conspiracy | Dad sues Department of Human Services, says ex-wife was told to keep teen daughter from him. (The Detroit News)
Opus Dei accuses BBC of defamation | The controversial religious sect, Opus Dei has accused the BBC of portraying its members as "murderers, thieves and adulterers" in a furious row over a popular fictional drama.(Evening Standard, UK)
Supreme intervention sought | Former Gannon chaplain wants top court to hear her sex-discrimination case (Erie Times-News, Pa.)
Lawyers: Case may be moot now that courthouse that had Bible is closed | It may be unconstitutional for Harris County to display a Bible on courthouse property, but it may not be a federal case now that the courthouse is vacant and the Bible is gone, appellate judges suggested Tuesday. (Houston Chronicle)
New tax law could hurt churches | Federal income tax law requires taxpayers to produce proof of charitable donations, including tithes (The Naperville Sun)
Muslim dispute: religious intolerance? | Airport commission commended for penalizing cabbies who refuse to drive customers carrying alcohol (Editorial Leonard Pitts Jr., Houston Chronicle)
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The religious side of swearing | Muslim woman's desire to swear oaths with a hand on the Qur'an may be legitimate (Editorial John Hood, Lincoln Tribune)
Brazil wants church leaders extradited | Brazil has requested the United States extradite two leaders of an evangelical church who allegedly used their followers' donations to buy mansions, a horse farm and apartments in Brazil and the U.S., the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. (Associated Press)
Feds: Brazilian couple smuggled cash | Two evangelical church leaders accused in Brazil of using their followers' donations to buy mansions, a horse farm and apartments will face a grand jury on money-smuggling allegations in the U.S., federal prosecutors said. (Associated Press)
Indictment deadline for Brazilian evangelical couple is Monday | Federal prosecutors said they expect to know by Monday whether a U.S. indictment on money smuggling charges will be brought against a Brazilian couple who founded a prominent evangelical church. (The Miami Herald)
A diet to please a deity | Hallelujah Diet is a vegan eating plan that centers on the consumption of raw foods and Christianity (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
Church leads members on fitness quest | Carol City church starts the new year by hosting day of fun and fitness to encourage members to get in shape (The Miami Herald)
Religious athletes | Youths must choose between church and sports (The Courier Journal)
Film's child rape scene causes stir | At a festival that features several films with sexual content, including full male nudity and a documentary about bestiality, a southern Gothic tale that includes the rape of a young girl is causing the biggest stir. (The Baltimore Sun)
Dropping the curtain on 'Vagina Monologues' | St. John's University, one of the country's largest Roman Catholic universities, has decided not to allow Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues" to be performed on campus (The New York Times)
HOT, YES running Jews for Jesus ads | Major Christian TV network offered on Israeli cable and satellite television is broadcasting missionary advertisements directed at Jews (The Jerusalem Post)
A friend in Hollywood? | After years of cursing the darkness about profanity, nudity and violence coming out of what collectively is called "Hollywood" -- whether the films are produced there or elsewhere -- evangelicals and others who like quality films are beginning to develop and produce their own. Two of the better ones will be released next month (Cal Thomas, The Washington Times)
Born-again crowd a scary bunch of "Friends" | Alexandra Pelosi, speaking about her documentary on red state evangelicals, said it's possible for everyone to get along if we can get past the hot-button issues of abortion and gay marriage. She may be overly optimistic. (Reuters)
'Friends of God' goes into the belly of Evangelical America | Lots of people between New York and Los Angeles really like God, Alexandra Pelosi discovers in the one-hour documentary "Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi," premiering Thursday on HBO. (CalendarLive.com)
Of God and camera | Alexandra Pelosi shifts her unblinking approach to filmmaking from one hot-button topic (politics) to another (religion) (The Washington Post)
God's House | Speaker's daughter turns camera on evangelicals for third HBO documentary (New York Post)
Asbury seminary gets $10 million donation | A duck quacking "Aflac!" could be a sweet sound right now at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
Religion sunflashes | New chief rabbi, new Rocky Mountain prez, and other religion news (Toronto Sun)
Intelligent design to feature in school RE lessons | Teenagers will be asked to debate intelligent design (ID) in their religious education classes and read texts by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins under new government guidelines. (The Guardian)
Evangelical: Can the 'E-word' be saved? | Who's an evangelical? Until last year the answer seemed clear: Evangelical was the label of choice of Christians with conservative views on politics, economics and Biblical morality. (USA Today)
Ancient spell may be oldest Semitic text | A magic spell to keep snakes away from the tombs of Egyptian kings, adopted from the Canaanites almost 5,000 years ago, could be the oldest Semitic text yet discovered, experts said Tuesday. (Associated Press)
Fair housing, free speech and choosy roommates | Fair housing is important, but so is free speech and so is the right to choose who is puttering around in your living room (The New York Times)
Sex and the single-minded | How to get a job in Washington: Direct an organization that opposes contraception on the grounds that it is "demeaning to women." (Stacy Schiff, The New York Times)
Lessons for living found in views of the last judgment | For four decades Jürgen Moltmann has been influencing Christian theology with his conviction that eschatology is central to understanding God, humanity and all the basic teaching of his faith (Peter Steinfels, The New York Times)
Launched in 1999, Christianity Today’s Weblog was not just one of the first religion-oriented weblogs, but one of the first published by a media organization. (Hence its rather bland title.) Mostly compiled by then-online editor Ted Olsen, Weblog rounded up religion news and opinion pieces from publications around the world. As Christianity Today’s website grew, it launched other blogs. Olsen took on management responsibilities, and the Weblog feature as such was mothballed. But CT’s efforts to round up important news and opinion from around the web continues, especially on our Gleanings feature.
Ted Olsen is Christianity Today's executive editor. He wrote the magazine's Weblog—a collection of news and opinion articles from mainstream news sources around the world—from 1999 to 2006. In 2004, the magazine launched Weblog in Print, which looks for unexpected connections and trends in articles appearing in the mainstream press. The column was later renamed "Tidings" and ran until 2007.