No Consensus on Whether NAE Conflict Is Getting Hotter

Today's Top Five

1. National Association of Evangelicals gets attention, but doesn't address critical letter
At its board meeting late last week, the National Association of Evangelicals did not directly address a letter from non-member Christian leaders criticizing NAE vice president Richard Cizik's work against global warming. The board did, however, reaffirm its 2004 document on political engagement, "For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility." Among that document's seven emphases is "stewardship of creation," but it does not specifically call for action on global warming.

There are a few updates since Focus on the Family released the critical letter on its CitizenLink website March 1. Newsweek reported that Richard Land had been asked to sign the letter but refused. "I didn't feel that it was the most productive, most redemptive way to address the problem," he said.

A Saturday New York Times editorial criticizes those who did sign the letter for limiting "the definition of morality to the way humans behave among humans. … The greatest moral issue of our time is our responsibility to the planet and to all its inhabitants." That resonates with one of the thrusts of the NAE statement on creation care (e.g. "The Bible teaches us that God is not only redeeming his people, but is also restoring the whole creation. Just as we show our love for the Savior by reaching out to the lost, we believe that we show our love for the Creator by caring for his creation.") At the same time, one of the interesting aspects of Cizik's work, as well as the work of those behind the Evangelical Climate Initiative (from which Cizik withdrew his signature due to earlier pressure) is that they frame the global warming issue very much in terms of the way humans behave to other humans. The emphasis is on how climate change will, in the ECI statement's words, "hit the poor the hardest."

Los Angeles Times reporter Stephanie Simon, meanwhile, parses out the letter's critique that Cizik's views "seem to be contributing to growing confusion about the very term, evangelical." Simon writes:

In religious terms, an evangelical is a Christian who has been born again, seeks a personal relationship with Christ, and considers the Bible the word of God, to be faithfully obeyed.

But Dobson and his fellow letter-writers suggested that evangelical should also signify "conservative views on politics, economics and biblical morality."

Simon notes that most of the letter's signatories are "activists, not theologians," but the evangelical activists Weblog knows of have been eager to define evangelical theologically or sociologically and chafe at political characterizations. You can talk about evangelical political behavior, but that doesn't make it a political movement. Evangelicalism is no more a political movement than Mormonism is— and Mormons tend to vote between 80 percent and 90 percent for Republicans, compared to 60 percent to 70 percent of evangelicals.

While we're speaking about numbers, it's also worth fact-checking the letter's statement that Cizik does not "articulate the views of American evangelicals on environmental issues." According to an August 2006 poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, evangelicals are indeed less likely than the general public to believe that there is solid evidence that the world is getting warmer. But 70 percent of evangelicals do believe it (compared to 79 percent of all Americans). Of those evangelicals who agree that the earth is getting warmer, a significant majority believe that it is the result of human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels. Still, while they're majorities separately, only 37 percent of all evangelicals agree that there's solid evidence that earth is getting warmer because of human activity, while one-half of all Americans believe it. 68 percent of evangelicals believe that global warming is a serious problem, and a plurality of evangelicals (47%) believe that stricter environmental laws are worth the cost (compared to 38% who say such laws would cost too many jobs and hurt the economy).

Back to the NAE for a moment. While it didn't say anything directly about global warming, it did release a statement on torture. Media coverage is starting to pick up on it, and we have a story in the works as well. More on that soon, as we'd like to focus on it more closely rather than treating it as a sidenote to the global warming fuss.

2. News alert: Pope still against gay marriage and abortion!
Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday released a 130-plus-page document called Sacramentum Caritatis ("The Sacrament of Charity"). If you saw any news on it, you probably didn't bother to read beyond the headlines, let alone the papal statement. The New York Times headline: "Pope Reaffirms View Opposing Gay Marriage and Abortion." Reuters went with "Catholic politicians can't back gay marriage: Pope." Then there's the Associated Press' scintillating "Pope reaffirms traditional views."

"The document released Tuesday contained no surprises," Ian Fisher of the Times reports, "repeating in a more comprehensive form positions that the church has long held and that Benedict frequently addresses." Well, yes and no. There are no surprises on marriage and abortion. But that doesn't mean there's no news here. As a document largely on liturgy, Benedict's statement has much to say on how Catholics worship. And the "worship wars" can be as fierce in Catholic churches as they are in evangelical Protestant ones.

So when the pope talks about "the importance of gestures and posture, such as kneeling during the central moments of the Eucharistic Prayer" and the need for "greater restraint in [the sign of peace] gesture, which can be exaggerated and cause a certain distraction in the assembly just before the reception of Communion," religion reporters should understand Benedict is talking about issues that are very deeply felt and often very contentious in parishes throughout the world. When he gives specific instructions on encouraging the use of Latin, passions are inflamed. Likewise, when he criticizes "generic and abstract homilies" and says, "Given the importance of the word of God, the quality of homilies needs to be improved," he's talking about something on which parishioners and preachers have strongly held opinions.

Honestly, I'm not sure that "Pope criticizes gay marriage and/or abortion" still qualifies as a news story. But "Pope criticizes abstract preaching" does. One of the points that Benedict emphasizes in Sacramentum Caritatis is that the liturgy—particularly the Eucharist—correctly orients our thinking. That orientation is not mainly a political one.

3. Klouda sues Southwestern
In January, we noted that Sherri Klouda had been denied tenure at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary because the Hebrew professor is a woman. She's now suing the school. But since neither she nor the school is saying anything about the suit right now, there's little new to say about it. There are many comments at Wade Burleson's blog (he broke the news of her tenure denial), but not much news.

In other Christian higher ed lawsuit news, transgender professor Julie Nemecek (formerly John Nemecek) and Spring Arbor University reached an undisclosed financial settlement Monday. "I'm smiling ear to ear," Nemecek told the Jackson Citizen-Patriot. The Free Methodist school had dismissed Nemecek when he started appearing in public as a woman.

4. 'Like requiring treated sewage for baptisms'
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says the U.S. Forest Service broke the law—specifically the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)—by allowing Arizona's Snowbowl ski resort to use artificial snow in an expansion on the San Francisco Peaks. The Navajo, Hopi, and other Native American tribes' case was less about the expansion or the artificial snow itself than about how the artificial snow is made—it's from treated sewage. The Forest Service allowed Snowbowl to drop up to 1.5 million gallons of effluent on the Peaks per day—more than 100 million gallons each season.

"From time immemorial, [the appellant tribes] have relied on the Peaks, and the purity of the Peaks' water, as an integral part of their religious beliefs," Judge William A. Fletcher said in the court's decision. "To get some sense of equivalence, it may be useful to imagine the effect on Christian beliefs and practices — and the imposition that Christians would experience — if the government were to require that baptisms be carried out with 'reclaimed water.' … If appellants do not have a valid RFRA claim in this case, we are unable to see how any Native American plaintiff can ever have a successful RFRA claim based on beliefs and practices tied to land that they hold sacred."

5. Franklin Graham's youngest son injured in Iraq
Evangelist Franklin Graham's youngest son, Army Ranger Capt. Edward Graham, has been injured in the Iraq war. The 27-year-old grandson of Billy Graham "got shrapnel in his arms, legs, and back," Graham spokesman Jeremy Blume told The Charlotte Observer. "And he was recovering … in a hospital that can't be named for security reasons." As Blume explained to the Asheville Citizen-Times, "Rangers aren't allowed to disclose much information — even where he is." But, said Blume, "We know that he is fine and has asked for prayers for his men."

Quote of the day
"When the Secular Coalition asked me to complete a survey on my religious beliefs, I indicated I am a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being."

—U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Ca.), the first member of Congress to publicly declare that he does not believe in God.

More articles

NAE and environment | NAE and torture | Life ethics | Politics | Immigration | Scottish politics | Newt Gingrich | Romney | Other Republican candidates | A "nontheist" member of Congress | Church and state | Snowmaking RFRA case | Land disputes | Cell phone towers in churches | Church conflicts | Homosexuality | Anglicanism | Mark Lawrence | Catholicism | Church life | Jerry Johnston's First Family Church | Crime | Abuse | Killing at church | Sudan | China | Israel and Palestine | Iraq | Missions and ministry | BattleCry returns to San Francisco | Stephen Prothero's Religious Literacy | Education | History | Books | Media | Sports | Art and entertainment | Money and business | Spirituality | People | Other stories of interest

NAE and environment:

• Evangelicals battle over agenda, environment | Global warming and other causes stray too far from battles on abortion, gay rights and similar 'great moral issues,' some leaders say (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Evangelical body stays course on warming | Conservatives oppose stance (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Evangelical group rebuffs critics on right | Board members say that the notion of censoring Mr. Cizik never arose last week at their meeting in Minnesota, and that he had delivered the keynote address at their banquet (The New York Times)
  
  
• BeliefWatch: Tree hugger | What has Rich Cizik done to make Jim Dobson so mad? (Newsweek)
  
  
• Christians called to save Earth from global warming | Are Americans of faith ready to put aside their squabbles and begin working together to solve the greatest moral issue of our day? Nothing less than the fate of God's creation depends on our answer (J. Matthew Sleeth, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
  
  
• Evangelical board split on global warming | Board member worries that the NAE is losing sight of its mission (CitizenLink, Focus on the Family)
  
  
• Keep the faith, help the Earth | There once was a time when Dobson and his supporters could get away with this sort of naked power politics. How much better for both heaven and earth that such a time seems to have passed for most open-minded people (Editorial, Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.)
  
  
• Evangelical environmentalism | The greatest moral issue of our time is our responsibility to the planet and to all its inhabitants (Editorial, The New York Times)
  
  

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NAE and torture:

• Evangelicals condemn torture | The National Association of Evangelicals has endorsed an anti-torture statement saying the United States has crossed "boundaries of what is legally and morally permissible" in its treatment of detainees and war prisoners in the fight against terror (Associated Press)
  
  
• U.S. evangelicals slam torture in war on terrorism | A major U.S. association of evangelical Christians has condemned torture by the U.S. military and reaffirmed its commitment to environmental activism, positions that highlight broader splits in a movement associated with conservative causes (Reuters)
  
  

• Evangelical Christians attack use of torture by US | Statement on torture suggested a new determination on the part of the evangelical churches to detach themselves from the Republican party and stake their independence (The Guardian, London)
  
  

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Life ethics:

• MP fights for change in law on teenage abortion | A Conservative MP is trying to get the law changed to give parents the right to know before their under-age daughters are given contraception or are having an abortion (Reuters)
  
  
• Beyond the pleasure principle | Given that 18- to 25-year-olds are the least Republican generation (35 percent) and less religious than their elders (with 20 percent of them professing no religion or atheism or agnosticism), it is curious that on abortion they are slightly to the right of the general public (The New York Times Magazine)
  
  
• Who cares about abortion? | Political realities (Rich Lowry, National Review Online)
  
  
• Kroger to its pharmacists: No refusing morning-after pill | Georgia woman claimed she was denied the so-called "morning after" pill at one of the company's stores (Associated Press)
  
  
• Helping make Life Choices | Agency offers support in pregnancy decisions (Commercial Appeal, Memphis)
  
  
• Law change to allow cell cloning | Victorian scientists will be able to clone human embryos for medical research under controversial new legislation that is expected to divide the state's politicians, religious leaders and ethicists (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
  
  
• Stem cell research gains ground in Catholic church | 10 Catholic hospitals in New Jersey have signed contracts with blood repositories for public banking of umbilical cord and placenta blood. The stem cells from those donations will be stored at the not-for-profit Elie Katz Umbilical Cord Blood Program facility in Allendale, set to receive $10 million in state aid, and the Coriell Institute in Camden, also to receive state funding (The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.)
  
  
• Oregon takes stock of 'right to die' law | 292 patients have died with aid of physicians since the law went into effect in 1998, new figures show (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  
• Euthanasia trial for French pair | A doctor and a nurse have gone on trial in southern France accused of poisoning a terminally ill cancer patient (BBC)
  
  
• Another kind of appeal from death row: kill me | Of the more than 1,000 executions in the United States in the last three decades, 124 inmates have chosen not to fight their death sentences (The New York Times, sub. req'd.)
  
  

• At the end of life, a racial divide | Religion also appears to be a key factor. A part of the Harvard study that focused on 230 patients and was published last month found that religious people are much more likely to want to keep fighting at the end of life and that religion tends to play a particularly important role for minorities (The Washington Post)
  
  
• A place to turn when a newborn is fated to die | Families whose babies suffer from fatal conditions are turning to specialized hospice programs for help (The New York Times)
  
  

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Politics:

• Poll: Character trumps policy for voters | For all the policy blueprints churned out by presidential campaigns, there is this indisputable fact: People care less about issues than they do about a candidate's character (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: Results of AP-Ipsos poll on voting (Associated Press)
  
  
• Money for faith-based work went astray, records show | State government records show that at least some of welfare money assigned to faith-based initiatives was used to pay for downtown parking spaces, two giant screen TVs that aren't fully functional, and office rent for We Care America, the out-of-state contractor hired to help oversee the grants (Dayton Daily News, Oh.)
  
  
• Christian group moves toward bipartisanship | Randy Brinson hopes people saw a different Christian Coalition of Alabama on Tuesday (Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.)
  
  
• Biblical prophecy finds way to legislators in battle over ID plan | As Arkansas legislators line up against the U.S. government's attempt to standardize driver's licenses nationwide, some believe it is a beastly plot that will draw the world closer to the apocalypse (Associated Press)
  
  
• Family foundation to file suit in effort to stop table games | West Virginia Council of Churches, other groups fighting blackjack, poker, craps and similar casino games at racetracks (Charleston Daily Mail, W.V.)
  
  
• In Atlantic City politics, they hit below the belt | A high-tech scam gone bad that has captured the lowbrow nature of a city still struggling to reinvent itself 30 years after the dawn of casino gambling. At the center is City Councilman Eugene Robinson, who is described in his City Hall bio as a "minister of the Gospel" at the Second Baptist Church and a singer in two choirs (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  
  
• Booze laws highlight GOP struggle over less government | Libertarians vs. moralists (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  

• Seeking security, Dutch turn to Bible Belt | A small political party long associated with the Dutch Bible Belt, the Christen Unie, is benefiting from a surge of support outside its rural heartland triggered by nostalgia for a more moral, compassionate society (Reuters)
  
  
• Rhetoric or true believer? | When Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich invoked God while pitching his tax-increase-for-health-insurance plan last week, it raised a few eyebrows. It also led several lawmakers to criticize Blagojevich, not previously known very much for religion, as a phony (Eric Krol, Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)
  
  

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Immigration:

• Call to take Christian refugees | The Reverend Fred Nile says Australia should give priority to Christians fleeing persecution in Muslim countries and stop Muslim immigration for a decade (The Courier Mail, Australia)
  
  
• Also: Muslims dominating communities: Nile (AAP, Australia)
  
  
• Also: Nile's Muslim moratorium | Clearly not a man to turn the other cheek, Fred Nile from the Christian Democratic Party has called for a moratorium on Islamic immigration (Damien Murphy, The Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  
• Immigration raids split families | When illegal-immigrant parents are swept up in raids on homes and workplaces, the children are sometimes left behind — a complication that underscores the difficulty in enforcing immigration laws against people who have put down roots and begun raising families in the U.S. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: DSS urges release of 21 more detainees | Some immigrants ill or have children (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• At revival, Catholic Hispanics pray for those caught in raids | There was music, preaching and jokes about bumbling Protestant proselytizers, but the festive atmosphere at yesterday's Roman Catholic revival quieted briefly as thousands of worshipers joined hands and raised them high (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Expert explains immigrants' rights at forum | People who are arrested don't have to answer police questions, lawyer tells packed church (Daily Pilot, Newport Beach, Ca.)
  
  

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Scottish politics:

• Labour lacks Christian values, says bishop | A Catholic bishop is urging his flock not to vote for Labour in next month's elections for the Scottish Parliament, claiming that the party is "devoid" of Christian values (The Telegraph, London)
  
  
• Labour and the turbulent priests | The bishop's intervention is not a lone cry. Several other senior Catholics are understood to be preparing to speak out, and a pastoral letter, to be read out in Catholic churches before the election, is being prepared (The Scotsman)
  
  

• Christian soldier takes up arms as hustings near | Onward Christian politics, marching to the Holyrood elections. Bishop Joseph Devine, one of Scotland's leading Catholics, has put the religious cat among the Labour Party pigeons when he said that he would not vote in protest at the new law on gay adoption (The Herald, Glasgow)
  
  

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Newt Gingrich:

• Falwell invites Gingrich to give address | "He has admitted his moral shortcomings to me, as well, in private conversations," Falwell wrote after Dobson's broadcast (Associated Press)
  
  
• Learning the meaning of the word repentance | Des a mea culpa on Christian radio help Gingrich among evangelicals? A little, but not a lot (Newsweek)
  
  
• Candidate confessional hour | Now is the season, apparently, for Republican presidential candidates to air their past indiscretions (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Newt on his knees | Will confessing to James Dobson help his campaign? (John Dickerson, Slate)
  
  
• Confessing to weakness | Gingrich's admission may make a difference (Paul Chesser, The American Spectator)
  
  

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Romney:

• In Romney's bid, his wallet opens to the Right | Mitt Romney contributed tens of thousands of dollars to groups in a position to influence his image on the right (The New York Times)
  
  
• Romney places focus on family | Candidate showcases wife, children in race (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Can a Mormon be elected president? | Mitt Romney's faith spurs debate, much as JFK's Catholicism did (Daniel Patrick Sheehan, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.)
  
  
• Romney isn't the first to flip on abortion | Reagan, Gore and Gephardt all reversed positions. It can work, depending on how voters gauge the sincerity (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Romney says government shouldn't have gotten involved in Schiavo case | "I think it's probably best to leave these kinds of matters in the hands of the courts," Romney said (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
  
  

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Other Republican candidates:

• Voters accept divorced candidates, but they have limits | The American public may not mind if presidential hopefuls have personally checkered lives, but will they be able to stomach adultery? (The New York Times)
  
  
• In crowded GOP field, a lesser-known hopes to capitalize on the issues | Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, is struggling to convince voters that his conservative views are more important than name recognition (The New York Times)
  
  
• Giuliani's private life may hurt his run | Republican strategists say estrangement could raise a question in voters' minds: If Giuliani can't keep his family together, how will he keep the country together? (Associated Press)
  
  

• Are pro-lifers ready for Rudy? | Abortion opponents may not think the best choice is a Planned Parenthood Republican (W. James Antle III, The American Spectator)
  
  
• McCain: Keep 2008 spotlight off gossip | Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who remarried one month after his 1980 divorce, said Friday that the personal lives of White House hopefuls shouldn't become an issue in the 2008 campaign (Associated Press)
  
  
• Practical issues weigh on GOP | That conservative evangelical voters are even considering these candidates as presidential prospects is a sign of their political maturation and their more pragmatic view of what can be expected from politics and politicians (Cal Thomas, The Sacramento Bee)
  
  

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A "nontheist" member of Congress:

• Congressman says he doesn't believe in God | Democrat Pete Stark of California is the highest-ranking elected official in the U.S. to make such a public acknowledgement (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• California lawmaker becomes highest-ranking official to say he's a nonbeliever | Fortney "Pete" Stark Jr., an 18-term Democratic veteran of the House, made the unusual declaration after being queried by secular groups running a contest to find the highest-ranking atheist in American politics (The New York Sun)
  
  
• Stark gives confession | Congressman is highest-ranking elected official to admit that he does not believe in God (The Argus, Fremont, Ca.)
  
  
• Will Rep. Stark's confession make area lose faith? | Congressman is highest-ranking elected official to admit he doesn't believe in God (San Mateo County Times, Ca.)
  
  
• Stark's atheist views break political taboo | A spokesman for Stark said Tuesday that he would have nothing further to say on the matter (San Francisco Chronicle)
  
  
• First 'nontheistic' member of Congress announced | Rep. Fortney "Pete" Stark, D-Calif., is the first openly "nontheistic" member of Congress, the Secular Coalition for America announced Monday, March 12 (Religion News Service)
  
  
• Nobody here but believers | There are no atheists in foxholes, as any dogface soldier could tell you, and neither are there any atheists in presidential politics (Suzanne Fields, The Washington Times)
  
  

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Church and state:

• Zimbabwe police accused of torture | Top opposition leaders were assaulted and tortured by police who broke up a prayer meeting planned to protest government policies, colleagues of the activists said Monday (Associated Press)
  
  

• Religious groups get a waiver | Government officials will amend new regulations on nongovernmental organizations to exempt religious groups when it comes to accounting for services and donations, Kommersant reported Friday (The Moscow Times)
  
  
• The custody battle for the heart of the Czech Church | After six months of being owned by the cash-strapped Church, the cathedral had been ordered back by the country's Supreme Court in to the custody of the more affluent State—and the management of the president's private office (The Times, London)
  
  
• Church battle targets loos | An ablution block has become the focus of a marathon legal battle between the eThekwini Municipality and one of the oldest churches in Chatsworth (Sunday Tribune, South Africa)
  
  
• The law is for Christians too | New Zealand has freedom of religion. The law endeavors to treat all religions equally, and to regard citizens' religious beliefs - or lack of them - as something that is no concern of the state. That is a sound principle (Editorial, The Dominion Post, New Zealand)
  
  
• Muslim inmates demand equality on their plates | The inmates claim that they are not able to adhere fully to their faith because county jail officials have declined to meet their demands in one area: Their diet (The New York Times)
  
  
• Monument could have companion | The Ten Commandments monument standing outside Fargo City Hall may be getting a nonreligious neighbor (The Forum, Fargo, N.D.)
  
  
• Council will pray beforehand | Coatesville resolution, unanimously adopted last night, states that the prayer shall not be an agenda item and that no council member, city employee or person attending the meeting will be required to participate (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  
  
• Also: Council approves prayer policy (Daily Local News, Pa.)
  
  
• Church, state, and taxpayers | It would be most unfortunate if the Supreme Court imposed severe limits on taxpayers' ability to question whether their money is being used in violation of the Constitution (Cass R. Sunstein, The Boston Globe)
  
  

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Snowmaking RFRA case:

• Fake snow out for Snowbowl | Appeals court overturns ruling that OK'd treated effluent to extend skiing (The Arizona Republic)
  
  
• Court blocks snowmaking at Indian sites | Thirteen tribes, along with environmentalists, had appealed the decision to allow spraying of treated wastewater on mountains considered sacred (The New York Times)
  
  
• Plan for snow from sewage struck down | The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Arizona resort's project for peaks held sacred by tribes was a violation (The Denver Post)
  
  

• Decision: Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service (Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals)
  
  

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Land disputes:

• Korean Church's relocation to Centreville causes unease | Residents fear traffic; worshipers feel less than welcome (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Land trust faces deadline in $11 million deal | Two years ago the Diocese of Trenton approached a conservation group based in Princeton Township with a land-use proposal that was both benevolent and self-serving (The New York Times)
  
  

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Cell phone towers in churches:

• Threat to church phone masts 'that relay porn' | The Church of England is facing an embarrassing test case over whether mobile phone masts on steeples are illegal because they can relay pornography (The Telegraph, London)
  
  
• Bells may fall silent in mobile dispute | A Church's bells may fall silent for the first time in 500 years due to a dispute over a mobile telephone mast. The bellringers are worried about potential health risks. (The Telegraph, London)
  
  

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Church conflicts:

• Cleveland church members, ex-pastor square off in trial | Some Harvest Missionary Baptist Church leaders accused Artis Caver of crowning himself with popelike powers, of spending $85,000 a year on self-promoting radio broadcasts and of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the collection basket to his private business ventures (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
  
  
• Concerns raised over minister, donations | One calls situation 'pathetic' (The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, Ca.)
  
  
• Church council backs pastor in lawsuit | A minister and three other defendants being sued by a former church employee have the complete faith and support of their parish, a parish official said in a letter to parishioners (Associated Press)
  
  
• Cheers, jeers greet pastor | Mostly poor flock welcome minister living the good life as critics rally outside his church (Toronto Star)
  
  
• Also: Mega church launches an audit | Prayer Palace also hires PR firm in wake of questions over its spending practices (The Toronto Star)
  
  
• Church offers space for 60 homeless to camp | But some dislike the idea of another tent city (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
  
  

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Homosexuality:

• Catholic church tells gay couple communion won't be available | Recently Lynne Huskinson and her spouse Leah Vader were told they will no longer be allowed to take communion in the Catholic Church because of their open public opposition to Senate File 13 and their marriage that is not recognized by the church (News-Record, Gillette, Wy.)
  
  

• Defrocked pastor, bishop appeal Lutheran church decision | The appeals committee, which consists of 12 lay and clergy members, will take at least two months to reach a decision (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: Gay pastor continues job fight | St. John's Lutheran Church Pastor Bradley Schmeling has appealed a church jury's decision to defrock him over his same-sex relationship (Southern Voice, gay newspaper)
  
  
• Gay-rights groups upset with Dungy | Colts coach to attend event by organization fighting gay marriages (The Indianapolis Star)
  
  
• Activists report vandalism, harassment at Iowa college | A group promoting inclusion and gay rights gets hate messages during a visit to Dordt College (Des Moines Register, Ia.)
  
  
• Gay? You're fired | Gay Christians have to fight prejudice on two fronts, forced to defend both their sexuality and their religious views. Toby Green discovers a group trying to challenge widespread assumptions (The Times, London)
  
  
• Top general calls homosexuality 'immoral' | Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he supports the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving in the military because homosexual acts "are immoral," akin to a member of the armed forces conducting an adulterous affair with the spouse of another service member (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Update: Gen. Pace regrets comments about gay acts being 'immoral' but doesn't apologize (Chicago Tribune)
  
  

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Anglicanism:

• New criticism for Episcopal bishop | Her liberal allies wonder why she signed ultimatum on gays (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Canadian Anglican leaders promote same-sex blessings | No core Anglican doctrines should prevent the blessing of same-sex unions, Canadian Anglican leaders said in a decision that could set their church on a collision course with the global Anglican Communion (Reuters)
  
  
• Same-sex solidarity brings end to all weddings | Grace Episcopal Church stands up for homosexuals (Amherst Bulletin, Mass.)
  
  
• Priest loses licence over gay marriage | A Saskatoon Anglican priest is losing his licence to minister because he refuses to abide by a church policy prohibiting priests from performing gay marriages (The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon)
  
  
• What will the church decide? | Episcopal bishops gather to discuss future in Anglican Communion (Houston Chronicle)
  
  
• Episcopal church may go own way | Members uneasy over liberal trends (Chicago Tribune)
  
  

• Episcopal bishop has faith that controversy won't split church | Episcopalians need not worry about a break with their Anglican brethren, said the Rev. Don Taylor, bishop vicar of the Episcopal Diocese of New York (Times Record-Herald, Middletown, N.Y.)
  
  
• First female bishop in state | Election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as presiding bishop said to be encouraging votes for more women bishops (The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
  
  
• A more positive approach to sexuality | Fidelity, faithfulness and commitment are virtues of which homosexual and transgendered people are capable, just as much as heterosexuals. The church needs to open itself to new knowledge, and to the experience of all its people (Michael Ingham, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
  
  

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Mark Lawrence:

• Episcopal nominee at center of storm | The combination of the Rev. Mark Lawrence's conservative theology and a determined effort by church liberals to block his confirmation have caused Episcopalians to characterize the vote as a bellwether of where the 2.2 million-member church is headed (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
  
  
• Bishop-elect debate mirrors larger struggle | Conservative Episcopal leader waiting for votes to be consecrated (The State, Columbia, S.C.)
  
  
• Episcopal leader closer to securing bishop post | Mark Lawrence is now one vote shy of receiving the 56 votes needed from dioceses from around the country (The State, Columbia, S.C.)
  
  
• Local pastor hoping to take role of bishop | A schism in the U.S. Episcopal Church had a Bakersfield pastor on pins and needles Monday as he waited to find out if he will become bishop of the church's South Carolina diocese (The Bakersfield Californian)
  
  

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Catholicism:

• Catholic politicians can't back gay marriage: Pope | The Church's opposition to gay marriage is "non-negotiable" and Catholic politicians have a moral duty to oppose it, as well as laws on abortion and euthanasia, Pope Benedict said in a document issued on Tuesday (Reuters)
  
  
• Document: Sacramentum Caritatis (Vatican.va)
  
  
• Pope's envoy hails Putin meeting | A meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Russian President Vladimir Putin next week will benefit Russia's small Catholic community, the pope's envoy to Moscow said on Vatican radio Saturday (Associated Press)
  
  
• Vatican delegation wraps up visit to Vietnam | A high-level Vatican delegation wrapped up its weeklong visit to Vietnam with the two sides proposing the formation of a working group on bilateral ties, officials said Monday (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: Vatican says Vietnamese Catholics are hoping for a visit by the pope | It is unusual for the Vatican to speculate about a papal visit, particularly to a communist country which has had strained relations with its influential Catholic community over the years (Associated Press)
  
  

• Vatican watchdog eyes Spanish Jesuit | The Vatican office that safeguards doctrinal correctness is examining Jon Sobrino, a Spanish Jesuit who is a prominent champion of liberation theology, a Vatican official said Monday (Associated Press)
  
  
• Sainthood exam for John Paul II ends | The Rome diocese has wrapped up its examination of Pope John Paul II's virtues and life, an important step in the Catholic Church's process that could lead to sainthood for the late pontiff (Associated Press)
  
  
• They go where the spirit takes them | A Catholic priest travels from Poland to find and minister to his Romani flock, wanderers once shunned by the church (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Navy officer relieved of duty amid anti-Semitic accusations | Lt. Cmdr. John Sharpe leads the Legion of St. Louis as well as IHS Press. He says he's Catholic, not anti-Semitic (The Virginian-Pilot)
  
  
• A marriage made in heaven? | When Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo rejoined the wife chosen for him by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the Catholic Church excommunicated him. But Milingo says it's all part of a divine plan (Peter Manseau, The Washington Post)
  
  

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Church life:

• Chesapeake church gives offering back to parishioner each Sunday | Congregants never know who may receive the "seed" on Sunday morning, but in nearly three years, Mt. Lebanon's s owing ministry has steered more than $500,000 of the offerings back to members (The Virginian-Pilot)
  
  
• Church tailors quick service for busy city commuters | A Sydney church in the heart of the CBD offers quickie 10-minute church services to attract busy, time-poor city workers (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  
• Spring forward, skip God? | Churchgoers lose the faith when they lose an hour (World News Tonight, ABC)
  
  
• An O.C. church recalls its roots | Calvary Chapel holds a revival meeting on the site where gatherings began in 1971 (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Faith on the job | Orlando's Discovery Church joins national movement that promises to lead by example (The Orlando Sentinel)
  
  
• 'God wants you to have great sex' | But not until marriage, says pastor Matt Keller, trying to speak to a different generation, with different values, at the Next Level Church (Naples Daily News, Fla.)
  
  
• Pastor leaves door ajar for other black women | As mentor, role model and advocate, the Rev. Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook tries to help African-American women who aspire to enter the male-dominated field of ministry (The New York Times)
  
  

• Inside Pastor Patience Rwabogo's church | This is not your everyday church with the conservative architecture, rather snow-white tents at the residence of the senior pastor and second daughter to President Yoweri Museveni, Ms Patience Rwabogo. The church is well organised and there is no rush of humanity as in other Pentecostal churches (The Monitor, Uganda)
  
  
• Churches to be used as rural post offices | The proposed scheme may be extended to include local services, such as dry cleaners and grocers, that face closure, particularly in rural areas (The Telegraph, London)
  
  
• Couple drowns after baptism | As she emerged from the water after baptism, Nomatter Kambewu reportedly got into a trance, turned and grabbed her husband, Thomas Moyana, by the waist. Asst Insp Kasoso said Moyana also became possessed, resulting in the couple drowning (The Herald, Zimbabwe)
  
  

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Jerry Johnston's First Family Church:

• Lax financial oversight riles some church followers | At First Family Church, money mysteries leave some of the faithful wondering: Is the church serving God's glory or the pastor's? (The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• Business offshoots add to bottom line | Dad sells books and videos, while son buys TV air time for church. (The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• Lavish lifestyles at odds with pastor's calls for the faithful to sacrifice | Johnston and his family travel abroad, live in big houses and drive church-owned SUVs. (The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• Honorary degree elevates 'Dr. Jerry' | He didn't graduate from high school, took the GED, and will get a bachelor's degree in biblical studies from Midwestern Baptist College in May (The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• Church camp turned around a troubled childhood | Johnson's youth (The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• A family affair | First Family payroll includes several Johnston family members (The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• Pastor, church have been delinquent in paying tax bills | In addition, thousands in building contractors' fees haven't been paid, according to liens against church (The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• Update: Rev. Jerry Johnston's radio show dropped | Bott Radio Network cites accountability concerns (The Kansas City Star)
  
  
• Fiscal openness would enhance trust | At First Family Church of Overland Park, financial questions cloud the picture (Editorial, The Kansas City Star)
  
  

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Crime:

• Retired Louisa priest hit with 12 more counts | Period for 'stolen church funds' extended (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
  
  

• Also: Priest facing 12 more counts | Rodney Rodis faces new indictments for embezzling money from two Louisa County churches (The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.)
  
  
• Also: Embezzlement charges mount against former Va. priest (Associated Press)
  
  
• Related: Louisa church's funds climb after priest's departure | Recorded collections rise 18 percent in period since embezzlement suspect left (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
  
  
• Priest, now accused of theft, fought audit | The priest, the Rev. Frank Guinan, 64, of St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Delray Beach, Fla, wrote that the audit was "demeaning, embarrassing and humiliating" (The New York Times)
  
  
• Fairview Baptist Church vandalized | The sanctuary's once white walls were covered in graffiti, its pews splattered with red, blue and purple paint. Some spots had been sprayed with fire extinguishers. The wooden pulpit was toppled over, with paint smeared across the piano and organ (The Gainesville Times, Ga.)
  
  
• Also: Investigators ID suspect in Hall church vandalism | Hall County officials do not think the vandal who defaced a Gainesville church with gang graffiti and did more than $4,000 in damage belongs to a gang, despite gang graffiti (Athens Banner-Herald, Ga.)
  
  
• Shot priest 'survived by praying' | Priest Father Kieran Creagh had accepted that he was dying as he sat in the dining room of his hospice in Saulsville, Tshwane, bleeding profusely from three bullet wounds, one to a lung (Cape Argus, South Africa)
  
  
• He befriended a serial killer, and opened the door to God | Roy Ratcliff, minister of the Mandrake Road Church of Christ, continues to be identified as the man who baptized Jeffrey Dahmer (The New York Times)
  
  

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Abuse:

• Judge orders inquiry into diocese abuse case | A circuit judge on Friday refused to approve an agreement to settle claims of sexual abuse against the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, instead ordering an investigation to determine whether there was a cover-up of additional abuse cases (The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.)
  
  
• Also: S.C. judge orders church sex abuse probe | A judge ordered an investigation Friday into whether there are unreported cases of sexual abuse involving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston (Associated Press)
  
  
• Seeking closure | When S.D. diocese filed for bankruptcy, woman lost day in court over sex-abuse case that tore her family apart (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  
  
• Diocese loses bid to seal abuse documents | Accusers' names to be kept private in bankruptcy case (The Boston Globe)
  
  

• Robinson's accuser appeals dismissal of her civil lawsuit | "Our case, Survivor Doe's case, is fundamentally different than any other because our client didn't know who the abusers were," says lawyer (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
  
  
• TV anchor: I was sexually abused by Catholic priest | Thomas Roberts, a Headline News anchor since 2001, says he was abused by Jeff Toohey (CNN)
  
  
• Forest Grove pastor charged in sex crime | Richard E. Sacks was the pastor for the Calvary Christian Fellowship (Hillsboro Argus, Ore.)
  
  
• Third suit filed against Trinity Baptist | A third civil suit has been filed against Trinity Baptist, a large church on Jacksonville's Westside. The action concerns Bob Gray, the former pastor now charged with sexually molesting children years ago (WTLV, Jacksonville)
  
  
• Florida church aide accused of molesting girls in Vermont | An assistant youth minister for a Catholic church near Miami molested "multiple" teenage girls while they were on a field trip in Stowe in April, according to a lawsuit filed this week in Florida by one of the victims and her parents (Burlington Free Press, Vt.)
  
  
• Pastor held in sex assault | His arrest follows a boy's report of being molested in a library restroom (The Sacramento Bee, Ca.)
  
  
• Also: Congregation supports embattled pastor | "He's a man of God. The devil has tricks. We believe God's report, not that of the news media," said one church member, who did not want to be identified (KXTV, Sacramento, Ca.)
  
  
• Also: Church community stunned over pastor's arrest on child molestation charges | Reaction from local pastors and parishioners (KXTV)
  
  
• Update: Pastor says he's innocent | Suspected of sexual assault, he remains in jail and faces arraignment today (The Sacramento Bee, Ca.)
  
  
• Pilgrim Church weighs whether to allow sex offender to attend services | Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad has long been known for being open and accepting, but that philosophy has been put to the test recently as members struggle to decide whether a convicted child molester should be allowed to attend services (North County Times, San Diego, Ca.)
  
  
• Also: The 'Least of My People' award | A raspberry, albeit a conflicted one, to the folks gathering petitions outside of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad last week to pressure the church into not welcoming a convicted child molester into its congregation (Editorial, North County Times, San Diego, Ca.)
  
  
• A dangerous closet | A psychologist argues that the Catholic Church's message to gay priests—that homosexuality should be a shameful secret—contributed to the sexual abuse scandal (Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea, The Boston Globe)
  
  

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Killing at church:

• Woman shot dead at Oakland church | Authorities seek estranged husband as 'person of interest' (The Oakland Tribune, Ca.)
  
  
• Relatives discuss slaying | They say bitter divorce was behind killing at church (San Francisco Chronicle)
  
  
• 'I forgive him,' slain woman's father says | Victim's parent says he's not supposed to judge accused son-in-law (The Oakland Tribune, Ca.)
  
  
• Husband planned killing, cops say | Estranged spouse turned himself in on day wife shot in church parking lot (The Oakland Tribune, Ca.)
  
  
• Husband arrested after wife gunned down | The estranged husband of a woman who was shot dead in a church parking lot just before Sunday morning services has been booked on suspicion of murder after surrendering to police (Associated Press)
  
  

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Sudan:

• Sudan orchestrated Darfur crimes, U.N. mission says | A U.N. human rights mission on Monday accused Sudan's government of orchestrating and taking part in war crimes in Darfur and called for urgent international action to protect civilians there (Reuters)
  
  
• Report condemns Sudan over Darfur | UN investigators have accused Sudan's government of "orchestrating and participating" in crimes in Darfur that include murder, mass rape, and kidnap (BBC)
  
  
• Darfur's aid groups on the front lines | Their tireless commitment in the face of severe security threats deserves thanks and support (Editorial, The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  

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China:

• China's global go-getters | Wenzhou's spirit of capitalism might have been further nurtured by the spread of Christianity in the city in the same way the Protestant work ethic pushed America's economic development (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Unholy shame | China should respect religious liberty if it wants to be a world power (Doug Bandow, National Review Online)
  
  

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Israel and Palestine:

• Palestinian Christians look back on a year of troubles | Christians in the West Bank say insecurity rather than religious persecution is to blame for their community's vulnerability (The New York Times)
  
  
• Misery tempts Palestinian Christians to flee | "There is a real fear that 50 years down the road, the Holy Land will be without Christians," said Mitri Raheb, 45-year-old pastor of the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem (Reuters)
  
  
• Illegal migrants in Israel pray for better times | Where Israel previously welcomed many Christian migrant laborers from Africa and Asia -- to replace Palestinians who used to do the work -- it now aims to reduce their number, to cut unemployment among Jews (Reuters)
  
  

• German bishops' remarks on West Bank are denounced | Jewish groups are condemning comments that drew a link between the plight of Palestinians in the West Bank and Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II (The New York Times)
  
  
• Also: German bishops rile Holocaust memorial | The director of Israel's Holocaust memorial has said he was "appalled and surprised" by comments three Roman Catholic bishops from Germany made that compared conditions in the West Bank to the Holocaust (Associated Press)
  
  

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Iraq:

• Franklin Graham's son hurt in Iraq | "He got shrapnel in his arms, legs and back," says Graham spokesman Jeremy Blume. "And he was recovering … in a hospital that can't be named for security reasons." (Tim Funk, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
  
  
• Against odds, Iraqi refugees reach U.S. | As the violence rages in Iraq, a small stream of Iraqis is trickling into the United States despite improbable odds (The New York Times)
  
  
• Disagree about Iraq? You're not just wrong -- you're evil | A wide body of psychological research shows that on any number of hot-button issues, people seem hard-wired to believe the worst about those who disagree with them (The Washington Post)
  
  
• The playwright and the seeds of 'Doubt' | The war in Iraq played a key role in John Patrick Shanley's Tony-winning tale (The Washington Post)
  
  

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Missions and ministry:

• Crank calling for Jesus | A "family values" media watchdog group called the Dove Foundation hopes to clean up Hollywood by making vaguely sinister computerized phone calls to millions of people all around the country (Wired)
  
  
• On a mission to reduce world poverty | Is any Christian against ending world poverty? If not, why is the Rev. Ian T. Douglas, a professor at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, evangelizing about the Christian obligation to help poor countries? (Rich Barlow, The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Church organist required for jungle meteorite hunt | Church organists are rarely an essential part of expeditions into the Amazonian rainforest, but a team of scientists about to embark on a journey to a far-flung meteorite impact site in Bolivia believe that one will be key to achieving their mission (The Times, London)
  
  
• Ex-Muslim tells how he became Christian | Daniel Shayesteh is one of a handful of former Muslims working to mobilize the Western church to make converts of Muslims living next door and overseas (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
  
  

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BattleCry returns to San Francisco:

• Christian teens flock to BattleCry | More than 22,000 evangelical teenagers prayed, sang and screamed at AT&T Park on Saturday during BattleCry -- a mix of pep rally, rock concert and church service (San Francisco Chronicle)
  
  
• Christian teens give voice to BattleCry | Event in San Francisco brings more than 20,000 youths to worship (Contra Costa Times, Ca.)
  
  
• Dueling world views in San Francisco | By the tens of thousands, Christian teens poured into proudly liberal San Francisco on Friday for a two-day evangelical extravaganza where they would rock, pray and provoke progressives, who accused the movement of working toward a theocracy endangering "San Francisco values." (San Jose Mercury News, Ca.)
  
  
• Teens 'embracing the coolness of Christ' at BattleCry (San Jose Mercury News, Ca.)
  
  
• Christian right invades 'gay capital' | It is the type of event that cities usually salivate over. But when the group in question is a Christian ministry from Texas that condemns homosexuality and the place is San Francisco, the civic welcome wagon collapses pretty quickly (Scotland on Sunday)
  
  

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Stephen Prothero's Religious Literacy:

• Worshiping in ignorance | Colleges must address America's crisis of religious ignorance (Stephen Prothero, The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req'd.)
  
  
• 'New idea, that religion matters in international politics' | An interview with Stephen Prothero (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• Religious literacy | If ignorance is bliss, many Americans are in a euphoric state when it comes to their knowledge of religion (Editorial, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
  
  

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Education:

• Gender suit hits seminary | Baptists ended tenure-track professor's instruction of men (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Also: Professor sues Baptist seminary, saying she was dismissed because of her gender | A former professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has sued the institution and its president, L. Paige Patterson, contending she was fired because of her gender. She is seeking damages for breach of contract, fraud, and defamation (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req'd.)
  
  
• Spring Arbor University, fired prof settle dispute | As part of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mediation agreement, the amount of the settlement was not disclosed (Jackson Citizen-Patriot, Mi.)
  
  

• Justices to hear landmark free-speech case | Defiant message spurs most significant student 1st Amendment test in decades (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Controversy over suspensions grabs national attention | Administrators at Heritage High School repeatedly asked the students not to pray in the busy commons area and offered them room where they could meet before school. The students refused, triggering a showdown that ended with 11 suspensions (Religion News Service)
  
  
• Religion policy questioned | Meeting sought with Wake board (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
  
  
• Bowing to Sikhs' call, California wants textbook change | The textbook contained a depiction of the founder of the Sikh religion wearing a crown and was deemed offensive (The New York Times)
  
  
• O.C. Catholic teacher is fired | Officials won't say why, angering many students and parents at Santa Margarita Catholic High School (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Threat to close schools | The Government is threatening to shut down two Christian schools unless they say whether staff are illegally hitting children (The Dominion Post, New Zealand)
  
  
• Back to Ghana, to bear gift of education | Couple, who met in Africa, are raising money to build a school that will include girls (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Church opposes education on sex | The Catholic Church voiced concern over the ongoing talks to introduce sex education in the current system of education as a way of curbing immorality, which is rife among the youth (The East African Standard, Kenya)
  
  
• Not just the Bible | A bill that would allow public schools to teach a Bible course has been introduced in the Legislature, and already it has run into opposition from those who say the text book could lead young readers astray. Republicans are concerned it's a ploy by Democrats to "out religion" the GOP (Editorial, Times Daily, Florence, Ala.)
  
  

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History:

• Crystal amulet poses question on early Christianity | An overlooked crystal amulet in the National Museum suggests new understandings about Christianity's origins in Denmark (The Copenhagen Post)
  
  
• The theologian and the historian | When Barth met Schlesinger (Ernest W. Lefever, The Weekly Standard)
  
  
• Scene 1: Discredit religion; Scene 2: See Scene 1 | The much-ballyhooed 'Lost Tomb of Jesus' didn't prove much of anything … well, except that attempts to disprove Scripture are deemed more newsworthy than discoveries that support biblical accounts (Michael Medved, USA Today)
  
  

• Bones of contention | Those who argue that finding Jesus' bones would change nothing about the faith have a faith that is cordoned off from history (Editorial, The Christian Century)
  
  

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Books:

• Defender of the faith | Michael Burleigh seeks to write Christianity back into European political history. Tony Judt reviews Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religion and Politics, From the Great War to the War on Terror (The New York Times, new link)
  
  
• Where politics and dogma meet | Christopher Bray reviews Sacred Causes (San Francisco Chronicle)
  
  
• Author says 'Judas Gospel' questions emphasis on Jesus' death | Harvard scholar will explore implications of text in Dallas talk (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Tales of a sinner | Anne Lamott may be pro-Jesus, but she continues her ongoing struggle with faith (Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• The Jesus Machine | Another excerpt (Dan Gilgoff, Huffington Post)
  
  

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Media:

• Talking about life | Radio host Krista Tippett finds conversation easily intersects with religion (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• Onward Christian content | Local Web site's TV shows are wholesome (Boston Herald)
  
  
• Cyber church | Pastor Mike Furches' The Virtual Pew aims to draw people into discussions about spirituality (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
  
  
• A miracle worker? | Shore man, 25, an answer to churches' tech prayers (Asbury Park Press, N.J.)
  
  

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Sports:

• Basketball, beliefs get day in court | Attorneys debate the scheduling of tournaments on a player's Sabbath before, and with, Oregon's top justices (The Oregonian)
  
  
• Div. II standout plays by rules of his religion | Faith keeps Kelvin Green from taking court on the Sabbath. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  
  
• He makes his faith a priority | Cash Myers rides to rope calves, but says his Christian walk comes first (Houston Chronicle)
  
  

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Art and entertainment:

• Church theaters offering far more than pageantry | Troupes challenge and provoke with dramas and musicals (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Hail Cherry, full of grace: No 'Doubt' of Jones' talent | "People are constantly com-ing up and telling me that my character, Sister Aloysius, is bringing back nightmares of nuns and Catholic school. I'm astounded that a Methodist from Paris, Tenn., is capable of having that effect," says Cherry Jones (The Washington Times)
  
  

• His monastery documentary brings order to life | "Into Great Silence" director Philip Gröning waited 16 years for permission to film the Carthusians, a strict order of monks founded in 1084 (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Collectors still groove on vinyl | Tim Harris' crates of quirkier finds included subgenres of "outsider music," "loner folk," "spiritual jazz," "Christian ventriloquist" and "Christian pirate" music. That last category, he explained, typically involves former biker guys who got into bad accidents, lost limbs, and got into singing Christian music (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
  
  
• What are we singing? | The Church of England's sidelining of old hymns is cultural vandalism (Christopher Ohlson, The Guardian, London)
  
  
• These mocking artists have no principles | They talk about a free society and love attacking our leaders, but religion makes them run (Nick Cohen, The Guardian, London)
  
  

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Money and business:

• Charities boost pay to lure talent | Salaries for top executives at nonprofits have climbed 25% to 50% since 2000 (The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Putting faith in religious mutual funds | More and more mutual funds are investing according to religious principles (Morningstar)
  
  
• Grocery chains face wrath of God | Diocese of Exeter has waded into the debate over whether Tesco and other British supermarkets have grown too large (The Telegraph, London)
  
  
• OPM's ruling on charity drive draws protest | The controversy involves a decision by the Office of Personnel Management, which administers the Combined Federal Campaign, to drop a requirement that charities spend no more than 25 percent of their revenue on fundraising and other overhead expenses (The Washington Post)
  
  

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Spirituality:

• Faith everlasting? | More than ever, Americans are questioning their religious identities to find what fits them best, a study says (Religion News Service)
  
  
• Religion vs. spirituality | If you don't want to practice organized religion and you do want to practice a good life, that's fine. I know lots of people who live virtuous lives without going to church. I just question folks who justify their claim to be spiritually connected to a God when they cannot make the sacrifice of spending a few hours a week doing something they should do, not everything they want to do (Tim Gallagher, Ventura County Star, Ca.)
  
  
• Clapping hands in church can be a way to praise God | I can't deny Scripture. As long as people are led by the Holy Spirit, clapping in honor and in praise of God appears to be appropriate. But I probably won't do it (Lonnie Wilkey, The Tennessean)
  
  

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People:

• Pastor gives up his daily bread | Cedric Portis has lost 80 pounds in the last 18 months as part of a commitment to the congregation of Third Presbyterian Church (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
  
  
• The popular pastor | The Rev. Alyn Waller leads the fast-growing Enon Baptist church (Philadelphia Daily News)
  
  
• Robert MacNeil and the cudgel of culture | At speech, he went so far as to compare Islamic fundamentalism with Jewish and Christian fundamentalism."I am not for a moment suggesting that our fundamentalists harbor any violent intentions," he said, "but the initial psychology is similar to that which inspires Islamic reformers." (Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post)
  
  

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Other stories of interest:

• WTC search could find church relics | The search for the remains of Sept. 11 victims has moved across the street from the site of the World Trade Center to the lot of the destroyed St. Nicholas' Greek Orthodox Church, where important relics, including the bones of three saints, may also be buried (Associated Press)
  
  
• Beyond stones & bones | The new science of human evolution (Newsweek)
  
  
• Slaves among us | Nearly 400 years since the British ban, slavery still extends to all corners of the world -- developing and advanced (John Miller, Los Angeles Times)
  
  

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