No "top five" today. Just a question: In the Christian calendar, Christmas continues until Epiphany (January 6). So if you take your decorations down this weekend, are you part of the "war on Christmas"? On a similar note, why have almost all the organizations that made such a big deal about putting Christ back in Christmas already dropped references to Christmas from their website home pages? Was all that really just about the shopping season?

Rowan Williams on Iraq and Israel | Iraq | Executing Saddam | Christmas in Israel and Palestine | Elsewhere in the Mideast | Christians and Islam | Boston Globe forum on interfaith relations | Iran | India | China | Religious freedom | Christmas wars | Holiday displays | More on Christmas | Church and state | Ministry lawsuits | Keith Ellison and Virgil Goode | Politics | Mitt Romney | Kansas abortion battle | Life ethics | Science and medicine | Money and business | Giving | Church life | New Life Church | Bellevue Baptist Church | Abuse | Crime | Immigration | Anglicanism | Catholicism | Atheism | Higher education | Education | Books | History | Year in review | People | Grahams | Tourism and travel | Spirituality | Music and entertainment | Film | Games | Surveys | Sexual ethics | Other stories of interest

Rowan Williams on Iraq and Israel:

• Pray for the little town of Bethlehem | We mustn't forget the plight of Arab Christians (Rowan Williams, The Times, London)
  
  
• Christians suffer for Iraq, says archbishop | Rowan Williams warns of war's deadly backlash (The Times, London)
  
  
• Anglican leader blasts war in Iraq | The U.S.-led coalition's "shortsightedness and ignorance" in Iraq have endangered the lives of Christians across the Middle East, the Archbishop of Canterbury said in a scathing commentary Saturday (Associated Press)
  
  
• Anglican leader criticizes Israeli wall | The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said Friday during a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, that the Israeli-built wall around the traditional site of Jesus' birth symbolized what was "deeply wrong in the human heart," a British news agency reported (Associated Press)
  
  
• Unholy alliance | Dr Rowan Williams' concern for Christians in the Middle East is an attempt to elevate Christians above those of other faiths in the region (Seth Freedman, The Guardian, London)
  
  
• Perfidious pilgrim | Rowan Williams addresses Muslim attacks by blaming the Christian West and the Jews (Bradley Burston, Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
  
  

• Christians in crisis | Williams' tendency to confuse causes and symptoms could actually contribute to the growing persecution he describes (Editorial, The Jerusalem Post)
  
  

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Iraq:

• Iraqi Christians celebrate Christmas | The spirit of Christmas is still alive in Iraq, but it's tucked away behind the closed doors of Christian families, who represent about three percent of Iraq's 26 million people (Associated Press)
  
  
• Keeping Christmas alive on a Baghdad street corner | Perils fail to deter lone tree vendor (The Washington Post)
  
  
• In Iraq, Christians come out to worship | Christmas brings together the dwindling minority. More than 60 people, including 6 U.S. troops, are killed (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Iraqi Christians seek shelter in neighboring lands | Among the more than two and a half million Iraqis who have fled the country are a large number of Christians (All Things Considered, NPR)
  
  
• 'All my staff at the church have been killed - they disappeared' | Canon Andrew White told The Times that the Iraq war had had a dire effect on the lives of Christians in the region, particularly in Iraq, where he is the vicar of St George's Church in Baghdad (The Times, London)
  
  

• Archbishop: U.N. ignoring plight of Iraqi Christians | Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput says the United Nations is ignoring millions of Iraqi Christians who have been targeted by Islamic extemists for violence and persecution (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
  
  
• Iraq's embattled religious minorities | Beneath the violent Sunni-on-Shi'ite, Shi'ite-on-Sunni headlines, Iraq's sectarian violence has devastated the country's 2,000-year-old Christian community and its religious minorities generally. A tragedy of historic proportions is unfolding (Editorial, The Washington Times)
  
  
• Protecting Iraq's religious minorities | An exodus has not only caused tragic hardships and uncertainty, but could mean the end of the presence in Iraq of ancient Christian and other religious minority communities that have lived on that land for 2,000 years (Felice D. Gaer and Charles J. Chaput, The Washington Times)
  
  

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Executing Saddam:

• Vatican cleric hopes for clemency for Saddam | A senior Catholic cleric has said he hopes former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will be spared execution, citing the Church's opposition to the death penalty (Reuters)
  
  
• The rush to hang Saddam Hussein | Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won't either ((Editorial, The New York Times)
  
  

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Christmas in Israel and Palestine:

• Muted Christmas for Gaza Christians amidst violence | Gaza's annual Christmas parade and midnight mass have been cancelled. For the first time, no Christmas decorations adorn the giant pine tree in the main square (Reuters)
  
  
• Will Papa Noel make it to Gaza? | The children of the strip's small Christian community have reason to worry, as Palestinian infighting threatens the holiday celebrations (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Bethlehem tries to stem exodus of Christians | West Bank town's economy suffers without tourists (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Few foreign pilgrims travel to Bethlehem | Hundreds of people packed the Church of the Nativity on Monday to celebrate Christmas at Jesus' traditional birthplace, but few foreign tourists were among the worshippers, putting a damper on the holiday cheer (Associated Press)
  
  
• Christians find room in Bethlehem's holy 'twin towers' | Hundreds of Christians facing religious persecution and economic strangulation in Bethlehem have taken refuge in a newly unveiled Christian-only housing project built to dissuade them from fleeing abroad (The Telegraph, London)
  
  

• Bethlehem's second coming | For Jews, the little town of Christmas carols has acquired a more sinister significance. According to the government of Israel, about half of all the terrorist attacks on Israel come from or through Bethlehem (Daniel Johnson, The New York Sun)
  
  
• Is Christianity dying in Bethlehem? | When commentators apportion blame for the change, they inevitably tie it into the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Joerg Luyken, The Jerusalem Post)
  
  

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Elsewhere in the Mideast:

• Middle East exodus part deux | The war in Iraq has made Christians in the Mideast less safe. But that's just one side of the story (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Christianity faces crisis in Mideast | Christians living in this war-torn region -- some under foreign occupation, others under authoritarian rule and a rising tide of intolerant Islamists -- are a varied lot (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
  
  
• The silent exodus | Vanishing Christians of the Mideast (Houston Chronicle)
  
  
• Christmas all the rage in Muslim Dubai | Despite a growing rift between some Muslims and Christians, it's no surprise Christmas-as-spectacle is all the rage in Dubai, home of an indoor ski park and man-made islands in the shape of palm trees (Associated Press)
  
  

• Religion: The forgotten people | These are not easy times for Christians living in the Holy Land. And the outlook is even bleaker (The Jerusalem Post)
  
  

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Christians and Islam:

• Spanish Muslims ask pope about cathedral | Spanish Muslims said on Wednesday that they have appealed to Pope Benedict XVI to be allowed to pray in the Cathedral of Cordoba in southern Spain, which was once an ancient mosque (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: Spain cathedral shuns Muslim plea | The Roman Catholic bishop of Cordoba in southern Spain has rejected an appeal from Muslims for the right to pray in the city's cathedral, a former mosque (BBC)
  
  
• German pastor's fiery protest leaves those who knew him mystified | The Rev. Roland Weisselberg wasn't known as a fanatic, yet he killed himself after complaining of Islam's growing influence (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Ban veils in public, says Asian bishop | Muslim women should be banned from wearing the veil, to improve security and cohesion in Britain, Michael Nazir-Ali, the Church of England's only Asian bishop has said (The Telegraph, London)
  
  

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Boston Globe forum on interfaith relations:

• An Ideas forum on the challenge of interfaith dialogue (The Boston Globe)
  
  

• A Christian imperative | Especially at this time of year, Christian believers have every reason to view the challenge of dialogue as essential (Mark A. Noll, The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Faith and reason | Since religion is not going to go away, religious tolerance must itself be grounded in religion (Richard John Neuhaus, The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Truth and power | For many Muslims today, 'interreligious dialogue' often looks suspiciously like religious coercion (Reza Aslan, The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Face to face | Religion as leaders understand it is frequently very different than religion as followers appreciate it. Religions differ greatly. People themselves do not differ that much (Alan Wolfe, The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Good neighbors | Interfaith dialogue is not happy hand-holding premised on agreement. It is the kind of encounter we need to build a society that bridges our deepest differences (Diana L. Eck, The Boston Globe)
  
  

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Iran:

• Pope welcomes Iranian delegation | Pope Benedict XVI met with an Iranian delegation that presented him with a letter from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (The New York Times)
  
  
• Pope gets letter from Ahmadinejad | Pope Benedict XVI received a letter Wednesday from Iran's hardline president about the recent U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions against Tehran for refusing to compromise on its nuclear program, Iran's state-run news agency reported (Associated Press)
  
  

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India:

• Christian missionaries held in Chhattisgarh | As many as 11 Christian missionaries have been arrested in Chhattisgarh for allegedly bribing poor Hindus to embrace Christianity, police said yesterday (IANS, India)
  
  
• Also: Indian Christians suffer persecution on Christmas day | The worst episodes of anti-Christian violence occurred in Punjab and Chhatisgarh, where Hindu nationalist groups have threatened those who celebrate the birth of Christ (AsiaNews.it)
  
  
• Indian rebel leader sings Christmas carol in Delhi | One of India's most powerful insurgent leaders, a devout Christian, sang "Silent Night, Holy Night" on Monday to supporters in New Delhi and said he hoped for "better things" to end a revolt that has killed thousands (Reuters)
  
  
• Earlier: The Soul Hunters of Central Asia | The most Baptist state in the world&151;Nagaland&151;is vying to become a powerhouse for cross-cultural missions (Christianity Today, February 2006)
  
  

• Christians thank Modi | For taking a stand against Sangh Parivar Strong police bandobust was made in the Christian-dominated areas, particularly the tribal district of Dangs (The Hindu, India)
  
  
• Caste problem exists in Christianity in Tamil Nadu | For many Indians of lower caste, Christianity was a way out of the oppressive nature of the caste system. But as Christianity took on the trappings of Hinduism it also internalised caste hierarchies (NDTV, India)
  
  

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China:

• Chinese youths tiptoe into Christianity | Amid social programs, church shares rituals foreign to immigrant families (The Washington Post)
  
  
• In China, feeling snowed under by Christmas | A group of graduate students set off a spirited debate here Friday with a crotchety screed condemning Chinese people for their growing tendency to celebrate Christmas (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Chinese Christians face religious issues | A report from Independent Television News looks at how religious freedom and tolerance issues are affecting China's growing Christian population (NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS)
  
  
• Christians go on trial after violence at church demo | Eight Christians went on trial in Beijing, accused of inciting a crowd after thousands of people trying to prevent the demolition of a partially built church clashed with police (The Times, London)
  
  

• Sack China's bishops, cardinal tells Vatican | The leader of Hong Kong's Roman Catholics has called on the Pope to excommunicate China's state-appointed bishops, as relations between Beijing and the Holy See plunge to new lows (The Telegraph, London)
  
  

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Religious freedom:

• Saudi lawyer takes on religious court system | Rights cases used to press for change (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Indonesia credits police for no bomb deaths in '06 | Indonesia has cut to zero the number killed by terror bombings in 2006, after security forces disrupted Islamic militants who managed big attacks in each of the past four years, a senior security official said (Reuters)
  
  
• Russian disclosure law may exclude churches | The Kremlin might back away from a new law that would force churches and religious groups to report to the government on their services, sermons and sources of income (USA Today)
  
  
• Christians defy repression to celebrate the holy day | Christians in countries subject to repression, war and religious tension yesterday celebrated Christmas in a diverse pageant of custom and belief (The Australian)
  
  

• The real 'war on Christians' | Our manufactured cultural strife here is nothing compared to what's being done to Christians &151; and people of other faiths &151; around the globe (Charles C. Haynes, First Amendment Center)
  
  

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Christmas wars:

• 'War on Christmas' has a new jingle: money | Christian groups raise funds as they sell items to counter a perceived assault on the holiday (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Christians claimed it first, but businesses made Christmas their own | Fifty-five years ago yesterday, priests at the Dijon Cathedral in eastern France enacted a rather unusual Christmas pageant for the benefit of several hundred schoolchildren: They hanged and burned Santa Claus (The Washington Post)
  
  
• How about 'happy holidays' free of religious conflicts? | How about fighting these battles during a less-cherished time of year -- the dog days of summer, for example? -- and declaring a moratorium on them beginning, oh, around Thanksgiving? (Editorial, Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• Christmas culture wars | The tree, the cr&232;che and the marketplace (Kenneth L. Woodward, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• A holiday for us all | Secularists did not distort or steal Christmas from Christians: in America they made it together (Orlando Patterson, The New York Times)
  
  

• A lull in the war on Christmas | The relative absence of yuletide battles this year hardly means a truce has been declared (M.Z. Hemingway, Los Angeles Times)
  
  

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Holiday displays:

• Dispute over cr&232;che pulls down tree and menorah, too | People in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., are left to wonder whether a small feud over religious freedom of expression has spiraled toward the absurd (The New York Times)
  
  
• Nativity scene rejected at Wash. Capitol | The state's Christmas tree controversy has shifted from the airport to the Capitol, where the governor lit a menorah this week, but officials rejected a Nativity scene (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: Tumwater man sues state for refusing to put up Nativity scene | A real estate agent who tried to get a Nativity scene placed alongside a "holiday tree" and a menorah in the state Capitol rotunda has filed a lawsuit, contending that his free speech rights were violated (Associated Press)
  
  
• City finds room for 'Nativity' film | Says showings of trailer not issue of religious freedom (Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• Also: 'Nativity' finds room in Daley Plaza | Among other religious emblems on display in Daley Plaza, the City of Chicago today will make space for scenes from a movie about the birth of Jesus, sponsors of the display say (Chicago Tribune)
  
  

• In 2 Catholic bastions, a holiday fight | Outrage voiced as Spain, Italy displace images (The Boston Globe)
  
  

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More on Christmas:

• Pope offers Christmas prayers for peace | Urges people not to lose sight of their need for God in an age of technological marvels (Associated Press)
  
  
• In humanity's failings, pope sees need of God | Benedict XVI delivers his Christmas message from St. Peter's balcony (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Overwhelmed by the Masses | With Christmas falling on a Monday, weary priests at San Gabriel Mission endure two-day, 18-service marathon (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Tapped-out trees threaten frankincense | Trees in the Horn of Africa provide most of the world's supply of the prized incense that was carried to the infant Jesus by the wise men from the East, in the New Testament's Nativity story. But researchers say the trees are failing to reproduce because they are overexploited for the sap that yields the Christmas staple (Associated Press)
  
  
• Protestants find room in faith for Mary | This Christmas, growing numbers of Protestants are looking at the Virgin Mary in a new light (The Miami Herald)
  
  

• The primary Christmas story: Mary vs. the empire | It is hard to imagine now, when Christmas is the ultimate feast of domesticity, but the sweet tale of the coming of this child was, in its origin, an act of political treason (James Carroll, The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Christmas, now and then | God, war and good old shopping have been featured on this editorial page over the last 125 years (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Discomfort and joy | Behind the opposing impulses of conflict and harmony that underlie the Christmas story, and religion itself (Rich Barlow, The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Church leaders stress value of shared beliefs | Britain must talk less of multi-culturalism and more of what made it great, was one of the messages from Christmas sermons yesterday (The Telegraph, London)
  
  
• Computerised bellringing confuses church bells | The bells of a church in the Norwegian city of Bergen went on pealing non-stop all evening on Christmas Eve due to a fault in automatic programming that was supposed to regulate them, the clergyman said (AFP)
  
  

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Church and state:

• High court may take up question of Scouts' religious status | Ninth U.S. Circuit requests state review of federal case involving San Diego's $1-a-year lease of parkland to group (San Francisco Chronicle)
  
  

• One icon may doom another | A historic church is threatened by redwoods, the official tree of California. The church wants to ax the trees, and the city of Monterey seeks a compromise (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Wiccan lawsuit's goal: Acceptance | With an estimated 400,000 members nationwide, and a high-profile fight with the federal government over veterans' grave markers, Wiccans are moving into a more prominent place in the religious landscape (Associated Press)
  
  
• Elgin church's appeal rejected | Court says city okay needed to operate in strip mall location (The Courier News, Elgin, Ill.)
  
  
• Fury at general's army flight to prayer group | The general who has been in charge of supplying British troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan used a military helicopter to fly a round trip of 1,000 miles to address a religious meeting (The Observer, London)
  
  
• Should churches be used for voting? | Churches and similar sites are needed, but religious messages should be removed before voters arrive. (Editorial, South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
  
  

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Ministry lawsuits:

• Sinton case goes to state's top court | Issue is location of rehab home close to a church (Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Tex.)
  
  
• Also: Texas city tests religion law | When a pastor created a rehabilitation program for parolees near his church, the city of Sinton stepped in to stop it. Within months of the program's start in 1998, officials in the small city just north of Corpus Christi barred prison parolees from living within 1,000 feet of churches, schools and other certain areas (Associated Press)
  
  
• Affluent freeze out homeless | Beach residents threaten legal action to stop church's plans for a once-a-week 'Out of the Cold' drop-in centre (Toronto Star)
  
  

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Keith Ellison and Virgil Goode:

• Holocaust museum rebukes member for Koran comment | A member of the museum's board was criticized for condemning a member of Congress for planning to use a Koran in his swearing-in ceremony (The New York Times)
  
  
• Bush is urged to act on criticism of Muslim | White House officials said they were aware that some Democrats and Muslims were urging President Bush to admonish Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr and Dennis Prager (The New York Times)
  
  
• Fear and bigotry in Congress | The flap over whether one newly elected member of Congress can use the Koran rather than the Bible in a private ceremony demonstrates the founding fathers' wise decision to avoid institutionalizing any religious faith (Editorial, The New York Times)
  
  

• 1st Muslim Congressman: I'm not a religious leader | Detroit native Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, told a group of metro Detroiters on Wednesday that he will not impose Islam on others, but will use the religion to help inform his politics (Detroit Free Press)
  
  
• Warning on Muslim gets it all wrong | It's hard to decide where to start when criticizing Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. (R-Va.), who thinks Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, poses a serious threat to American values (Editorial, Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• Doing good by the book, but which book? | Should the Bible be the only book a public servant is allowed to touch while swearing to do right by America? (John-Henry Doucette, The Virginian-Pilot)
  
  
• A bigot in Congress | One Muslim congressman is one too many for Virgil Goode (Editorial, The Washington Post)
  
  
• An open House for all | What part of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" does congressman Virgil Goode not understand? (Editorial, The Boston Globe)
  
  

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Politics:

• The Right has a jailhouse conversion | How conservatives came to embrace prison reform (The New York Times Magazine)
  
  
• Faith groups align on opposing payday loans | Virginia's biggest faith-based lobbying groups have mostly separate agendas for the 2007 General Assembly, with priorities that vary from tightening the state's divorce laws to promoting renewable energy. However, the goals of the Virginia Catholic Conference, The Family Foundation of Virginia and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy line up when it comes to opposing payday lending (The Virginian-Pilot)
  
  
• Consultant helps Democrats embrace faith, and some in party are not pleased | Mara Vanderslice is drawing both applause and alarm for her courtship of theological conservatives in the midterm elections (The New York Times)
  
  
• Court overturns limits on political ads, part of the campaign finance law | If upheld, the ruling would unravel one of the tougher restrictions on the use of unregulated donations that interest groups pump by the millions into political commercials (The New York Times)
  
  
• Also: Court says issue ads okay during elections | Wisconsin Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, has been fighting the law since 2004 (Associated Press)
  
  

• We'll pretend to like you, too | So the Democratic Party is reaching out to evangelical Christians, which at first glance seems absurd (Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• The Bush Library's Methodist critics | What happens when the disingenuous arguments so popular in academia are parroted by the clergy? (Matt May, The American Spectator)
  
  
• The John Edwards evasion | Why won't he say "marriage"? (Rich Lowry, National Review Online)
  
  
• The true face of politics comes to light | Not only have those theocrats seen their political clout erode with Republican losses in the midterm elections, but their brand of Christianity is also losing its monopoly on the public square (Cynthia Tucker, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• Jason Christy's mission | Is the twenty-first century evangelical entrepreneur ready for prime time? (Bill Berkowitz, Media Transparency)
  
  
• A new evangelical agenda | Although embryonic, a remarkable trend is emerging among evangelicals today: the embrace of a social agenda that includes not only abortion and marriage but poverty, AIDS, the environment and human rights (Mark Totten, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
  
  

• Politics: The new religion | As we approach the day once known as Christmas, before it became "holiday," there is a sense that the Messiah, Whom the day is supposed to acknowledge, is rapidly being supplanted in the public consciousness by a new American religion called politics (Cal Thomas, The Washington Times)
  
  
• Resolution for the right | With Democrats about to assume control of the House and Senate for the first time in 12 years, Republicans in general, conservatives in particular and conservative Christians especially face an important choice (Cal Thomas, The Washington Times)
  
  
• God doesn't take sides in politics | Religious leaders can afford a more objective approach than politicians (George Pell, The Australian)
  
  
• Vatican warns retired Paraguayan bishop | The Vatican on Tuesday called on a retired Roman Catholic bishop to give up his plans to run for Paraguay's presidency or face canonical sanctions (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: Paraguayan bishop crosses point of no return on church and politics | In much of the developing world, the Catholic Church plays a robust political role, especially in societies where the political class is perceived as corrupt, or democracy is under-developed, leaving the church as the only meaningful expression of civil society (John L Allen Jr., National Catholic Reporter)
  
  

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Mitt Romney:

• Will Christians back a Mormon candidate? | For his all-but-announced presidential bid to succeed, Romney must win primary votes across the Bible Belt from people whose churches have a historical antagonism with his own Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Associated Press)
  
  
• Romney's religion | A Mormon president? No way (Jacob Weisberg, Slate)
  
  
• Religion's role on an evolving political stage | Kennedy's speech is not the best model for Romney(Kathryn Jean Lopez, Sacramento Bee)
  
  

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Kansas abortion battle:

• Morrison: I won't keep McKinney | Kansas Attorney General-elect Paul Morrison made it clear Thursday that he will not retain the special prosecutor who was appointed to look into a criminal case against Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
  
  
• Kline action seen as messy | Sebelius faults efforts aimed at abortion doctor (Topeka Capital-Journal, Kan.)
  
  
• Judge rejects appeal, Kline names prosecutor | Turf issues over Tiller case collide in district court (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
  
  

• Judge won't reinstate abortion charges | Attorney General Phill Kline suffered another setback Wednesday when a judge refused to reinstate 30 misdemeanor charges Kline had filed against Dr. George Tiller, alleging he performed illegal late-term abortions. The same judge dismissed the charges last week. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Kansas judge dismisses abortion charges | The outgoing attorney general's case against a doctor is tossed. 'This is war,' says the head of Kansans for Life (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Kline's charges likely about ideology | Outgoing Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline may or may not have a good case against Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller. But given Kline's history of showing more ideological zeal than legal expertise, don't be surprised if his case doesn't hold up (Editorial, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
  
  
• Earlier: Kline charges Tiller; Foulston intervenes (The Wichita Eagle, Dec. 23)
  
  

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Life ethics:

• Notification repeal on agenda | Hager proposes eliminating statute (Concord Monitor, N.H.)
  
  
• Togo legalizes abortion in rape cases | Togo has become one of few African countries to legalize abortion if the pregnancy is the result of rape or an incestuous relationship, according to a copy of the new law seen by Reuters on Thursday (Reuters)
  
  

• Church denies Italian religious funeral | The Roman Catholic Church on Friday denied a religious funeral for the paralyzed Italian author who died after a doctor disconnected his respirator, saying it would treat his public wish to "end his life" as a willful suicide (Associated Press)
  
  
• Clone on the range | The FDA is about to make another controversial decision. It's long overdue (Editorial, The Washington Post)
  
  
• What we know about embryonic stem cells | The promised miraculous cures have not materialized even for mice, much less for men. (Maureen L. Condic, First Things)
  
  
• Murdered to order | Opponents of stem cell research see their worst fears realized in the Ukraine (Ryan T. Anderson, The Weekly Standard)
  
  

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Science and medicine:

• When faith and medicine collide | Any nurse can walk into a bad situation. The one Luanne Linnard-Palmer can't forget came as she readied a little boy for a blood transfusion only to be told by his mother "You know you're damning his soul to hell!" (Reuters)
  
  
• Scientists study how religion affects behaviour | Emerging scientific field studies how belief in God can promote intolerance or altruism (The Vancouver Sun)
  
  

• The other war | Progress against AIDS, and now malaria (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• The carbon and the Christian | Most of us assume that our beliefs are products of an evolved brain; but this is no longer being treated as a knock-down argument either for or against religious faith (Thomas Dixon, Times Literary Supplement, London)
  
  

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Money and business:

• Stewardess 'banned from taking Bible on plane' | An air stewardess is claiming religious discrimination against an airline which she says banned her from taking the Bible to Saudi Arabia (The Telegraph, London)
  
  
• Woman gets $115,000 in religion bias lawsuit| Worker at medical office cited pressure to talk about God (The Huntsville Times, Ala.)
  
  
• Worshiping at work | Bringing religion into your company can be a test of faith--but not in the way you might expect (Alan Wolfe, Inc.)
  
  
• Covering church: Rights vs. rites | How can journalists report on religion without ruining it? Simple. Just sit and listen. (Terry Mattingly, Poynter Institute)
  
  
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Giving:

• Save the children (but pay the bills, too) | With donors balking at overhead, charities make the case for funding administrative costs (The Wall Street Journal)
  
  

• In God we trust; all others must file documentation | The IRS will begin requiring documentation to deduct cash donations of any amount next year. That means church-goers who put cash in collection baskets may have to switch to checks if they want to claim it on their taxes (Day to Day, NPR)
  
  

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Church life:

• N. England churches shy from 'Baptist' name | Many New Hampshire Baptists, traditionally more liberal than their fellow Baptists in other parts of the country, are worried that the Baptist name has become so associated with "conservative" that it keeps people away. Some are dropping the name entirely (Morning Edition, NPR)
  
  
• A rural church loses its old moniker to Atlanta's growing suburbs | As a sign of changing times and urban development, the Hog Mountain Baptist Church spent its first Christmas Eve as Hamilton Mill Baptist (The New York Times)
  
  
• Russian Orthodox churches to reconcile | The Russian Orthodox Patriarchate and a breakaway church-in-exile will formally reconcile in May, ending a split that dates back to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Russian news reports said Tuesday (Associated Press)
  
  
• Hand-built 'cathedral' headache for town | To some, the 10-story-high product of Justo Gallego's labor of love is an awesome monument to faith and perseverance. But to municipal officials in this gritty industrial town on the southeastern fringe of Madrid, it's something of an eyesore (Associated Press)
  
  

• Lauderdale church's plan to expand stirs protest | First Presbyterian Church has been part of Fort Lauderdale's historic Colee Hammock neighborhood for more than half a century, but its ambitious expansion plan is creating a deep rift with its longtime neighbors (The Miami Herald)
  
  
• Where God meets big business &151; and it's soon coming to a church near you | Why Britain and America, nations with history, language and culture in common, have grown so far apart on religion (Tom Baldwin, The Times, London)
  
  

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New Life Church:

• 2nd New Life pastor steps down | Church says man had an inappropriate sexual encounter (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
  
  
• Also: New Life director admits misconduct | Sexual misconduct has driven a senior staff member at New Life Church out the door, six weeks after scandal enveloped his former boss, evangelical leader Ted Haggard (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
  
  
• Holiday spirit alive at New Life | This has been a hard Christmas season for many congregants in Colorado Springs' New Life Church. But most believe that even in the midst of scandal, the show must go on (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
  
  

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Bellevue Baptist Church:

• Seminary head hears Gaines reaction | Call for Bellevue pastor's resignation spurs comment (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis)
  
  
• Seminary president clarifies circumstances of Bellevue interview | Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary president Michael Spradlin has posted a letter on the seminary's Web site explaining the circumstances of an interview with The Commercial Appeal that resulted in a story about the senior pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis)
  
  
• 'People losing trust' in Bellevue pastor, seminary leader says | Alarmed by what he described as a crisis of the faithful at Bellevue Baptist Church, the president of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary said Tuesday the senior pastor of the Cordova congregation should resign (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis)
  
  
• Gaines wants to remain at Bellevue | Congregation lines up in support of its pastor (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis)
  
  

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Abuse:

• Diocese settles sex-abuse suit | Civil case stems from claims of abuse at Mesa church in '85 (The Arizona Republic)
  
  

• Diocese faces another lawsuit | Wilmington man says he was abused 200-300 times (The News-Journal, Wilmington, Del.)
  
  
• Archbishop ordered to give answers in lawsuit over abuse by Broward priest | An attorney suing the Archdiocese of Miami on behalf of a Broward County man who said he was drugged and sexually abused as a child by a local priest can legally force Archbishop John C. Favalorato answer questions, an appellate judge ordered this week (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
  
  
• Preacher in court on 9th sex charge | Moore's bail now at $1.25 million (The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.)
  
  

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Crime:

• 85% of U.S. dioceses report embezzlements | Parishes and dioceses lack external and internal controls, report finds (National Catholic Reporter)
  
  
• Priest tackles intruder, foils theft | The intruder and another man escaped briefly. But police officers used a description by the Rev. Noah Casey to track and arrest them (Associated Press)
  
  
• Crime during Christmas Mass proves far from perfect | It's not even New Year's and the Christmas Day Caper &151; Monday's brazen theft from the sacristy of the Church of St. Mel in Flushing, Queens &151; appears to have unraveled (The New York Times)
  
  

• Earlier: Church is robbed during Christmas Mass | The morning heist, at the Church of St. Mel in Flushing, Queens, during the 9 a.m. Christmas Mass, seemed too bad to be true (The New York Times)
  
  
• Also: Nab 2nd man in church robbery | $20G heist eyed as an inside job (New York Daily News)
  
  
• Church, former pastor sued | A Lompoc man accused of cheating clients of his legal document assistance company claims infliction of emotional distress and makes related charges against the Lompoc Episcopal church he attended and its former pastor (The Lompoc Record, Ca.)
  
  
• State justices say jurors erred in using Bible but let killer's death sentence stand | Jurors who consulted a Bible before sentencing a murderer to death engaged in misconduct, but it didn't influence their verdict, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday (Los Angeles Times)
  
  

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Immigration:

• Immigrants forced from San Diego canyons | For 20 years, many of the illegal immigrants drawn by jobs in tomato fields have worshipped at an outdoor church, a concrete altar in a canyon where they slept under the shelter of plywood and plastic tarps and bathed in a stream (Associated Press)
  
  

• Effect of immigration raid evident at church | The shiny wooden pews at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church were overflowing with parishioners Monday night. But fellow churchgoers who might otherwise have been at the 6 p.m. Spanish Christmas Mass were missing from the rest of the flock (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
  
  

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Anglicanism:

• At axis of Episcopal split, an anti-gay Nigerian | Archbishop Peter J. Akinola of Nigeria has become the spiritual head of 21 conservative churches in the U.S. (The New York Times)
  
  
• Virginia parishes struggle to sever Episcopal ties | Earlier this month, eight Virginia parishes voted to split from the American Episcopal Church. They were angry over the elevation of the church's first openly gay bishop, and chose to align themselves instead with anti-gay, conservative African bishops. Now that the decision has been made, the next step may be large legal battles over church property (Day to Day, NPR)
  
  
• St. John's severs ties with national Episcopalians | Church cites differences over sexuality, moral issues (Petaluma Argus-Courier, Ca.)
  
  
• Diocese declares time out on lawsuits | However, it wasn't clear last night that the breakaway churches were in agreement (The Washington Post)
  
  

• The liberal church in meltdown | The rift within the Episcopal Church is a sign of the failure of liberal Christianity (Charlotte Allen, The Guardian, London)
  
  

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Catholicism:

• Priests campaign to win back flock | Paulists aim for alienated Catholics (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Nuevo Catholics | Are Latinos just the latest wave of immigrant Catholics? Or is the American church being permanently Hispanicized? (The New York Times Magazine)
  
  
• Catholicism absorbing Latino culture | The New York Times magazine last Sunday suggested that American Catholicism is being ''Hispanicized.'' As usual, when the subject is the Catholic Church, the "good, gray" Times is tone-deaf (Andrew Greeley, Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• Worried man on worrisome mission | The Pope wants God to remain as traditional Christianity sees him - the God of the Crusaders, a God whose followers are on a short leash and allowed little by way of interpretation, questioning or free-thinking (Bonnie Erbe, syndicated columnist)
  
  

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Atheism:

• A Christmas thunderbolt for the arch-enemy of religion | Professor Richard Dawkins has caused a sensation this year with the runaway success of his anti-religious book The God Delusion. Here, through the pen of John Cornwell, the Almighty delivers a counterblast (The Times, London)
  
  

• 10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism (Sam Harris, Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• 2006: a good year for religious conflict and atheists | Christmas comes again to a world in religious strife, Christians cannot deny a particular responsibility &151; to ensure that religion is not used as a political tool (Gerard Baker, The Times, London)
  
  
• Dogma without God | Fallen angels assault heaven at Christmas (Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  

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Higher education:

• School's move toward inclusion creates a rift | Upset about cross's removal, William and Mary alumni mount online protest (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Also: Signs of the cross (and its removal) | The semester just completed saw a significant debate over the role and visibility of religion at William & Mary (Inside Higher Ed)
  
  
• God and man at Harvard | Even the Ivy League schools seem to have noticed: Their students are not only arriving biblically illiterate but leaving pretty much the same way (Paul Greenberg, The Washington Times)
  
  
• Geneva College says anti-discrimination laws violate religious freedom | The lawsuit against both the Pennsylvania and U.S. departments of labor stems from the Beaver Falls college's attempt to post job openings limited to Christian candidates on the state's CareerLink Web site (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
  
  

• Also: Religious freedom or bias? | Geneva College, a Christian college in Pennsylvania, is suing the state for refusing to include its jobs &151; which have religious requirements &151; in a database of available positions (Inside Higher Ed)
  
  
• MU approves Christian fraternity | The University of Missouri at Columbia has dropped its opposition to a Christian fraternity that restricts membership to students who "share the common bond" of Jesus Christ (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
  
  
• University 'coat' change sparks uproar | Simon Fraser University is in the final stages of removing images of two crosses from its four-decade-old coat of arms and replacing them with representations of books (CanWest News Service)
  
  
• Belmont names first non-Baptist trustees | It defies TBC, adds seven from other churches (The Tennessean, Nashville)
  
  
• Zion bows out of plan to buy Bradford College site | Zion Bible College of Barrington, R.I., has withdrawn its agreement to buy much of the former Bradford College campus in Haverhill, vacant since 2000 (The Boston Globe)
  
  

• The devoted student | The task of thinking and teaching, especially in an age of emergent fundamentalisms, is to cultivate a faith in doubt that calls into question every certainty. (Mark C. Taylor, The New York Times)
  
  
• Also: Faith and doubt: Can they coexist? | Readers respond to Mark Taylor's op-ed (The New York Times)
  
  

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Education:

• Jesus returns -- to Bakersfield district's school calendar | At a contentious meeting Thursday, board members of one of the largest secondary-school districts in the state voted to change "winter recess" to "Christmas recess" and "spring recess" to "Easter recess" (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Also: Bakersfield gets religion | School officials decide to call winter and spring breaks Christmas and Easter recesses (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Sampson changes rules on student speech | The rescinded policies regulated documents distributed by students and materials and services distributed by outside sources (The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.)
  
  
• Church not allowed to join appeal after teacher refused promotion | A move by Scotland's Roman Catholic bishops to defend the Church's position over teachers rejected for jobs because they do not practise the religion has been rejected by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (The Scotsman)
  
  

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Books:

• Worth saving | Essential books for understanding Christianity (George Weigel, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Divine mysteries | Why are so many detective stories set in churches? (Lauren F. Winner, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Medieval times | Thomas Cahill presents a gallery of portraits from the Middle Ages (The New York Times Book Review)
  
  
• The resurrection of Paul | A noted historian aims to rehabilitate the epistle-writing saint's reputation. Harvey Cox reviews What Paul Meant by Garry Wills (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Carl Sagan and the search for God | Barbara Fisher reviews Sagan's The Varieties of Scientific Experience (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• A religious problem | Jimmy Carter's book: An Israeli view (Michael B. Oren, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Religion 'rock star' turns his eye inward | Huston Smith, honored for his 14 books analyzing the world's faiths and their leaders, is persuaded to work on his memoirs (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• A tale for slavery's children | Allen Dwight Callahan's The Talking Book describes the rich and intense relationship between the Bible and the African American imagination. But even more powerfully, it suggests -- without making the case directly -- that the reading of the Christian tradition offered by African Americans is as close as any to the authentic meaning of Christianity (E. J. Dionne, The Washington Post)
  
  

• Scripture by the plateful | Rayner Hesse and Anthony Chiffolo combed seminary libraries and pored over at least 60 translations of the Old and New Testaments to figure out who ate what &151; and make an educated guess as to how the dishes were spiced. They have packaged their findings in an encyclopedic new book, Cooking With the Bible: Biblical Food, Feasts and Lore (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• A blessed season: winter, despite the hardships and much because of them | Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season, edited by Susan M. Felch and Gary Schmidt, explores the impact of winter on our spiritual lives (Peter Steinfels, The New York Times)
  
  

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History:

• Fore shame | Did the Vatican steal Jesus' foreskin so people would shut up about the savior's penis? (Slate)
  
  
• 13th century text hides words of Archimedes | The pages of a medieval prayer text also contain words of ancient Greek engineer Archimedes. It takes high-tech imaging to read between the lines (Los Angeles Times)
  
  

• Tuscan church reveals answer to mystery of Medici deaths | Picking through centuries-old rubbish, masonry and discarded body parts beneath an abandoned Tuscan church, an Italian historian believes she has solved one of history's great crime mysteries (The Guardian, London)
  
  
• Appeal to restore Christian site church | Although the church is less than 200 years old, it stands on one of Scotland's earliest Christian sites (Scotland on Sunday)
  
  
• The peaceful crusader | Amid the useless bloodshed of the Crusades, the story of the early 13th-century friar Francis of Assisi suggests an extended clash of civilizations between Islam and the West was not preordained (Thomas Cahill, The New York Times)
  
  
• Addressing abomination | How Christians should respond to Holocaust denial (Marc Gellman, Newsweek)
  
  

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Year in review:

• The year in Jesus | From mega churches to the controversy of Hollywood stars and their religious beliefs (Nightline, ABC News)
  
  
• Faith brings people together and tears them apart | This year offered a window on religious faith at its most inspirational &151; as well as ample reminders of ideological conflict and garden-variety sexual scandals. USA Today's Cathy Lynn Grossman looks back (USA Today)
  
  

• The year that religion learned humility | The new millennium saw the rise of fundamentalist faith as a cultural force. In 2006, the religious monoliths began to break down (Andrew Sullivan, Time)
  
  

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People:

• Ford's fellow parishioners remember him | Staff at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church paused Wednesday to remember its most famous parishioner, former President Gerald R. Ford, as they prepared for a private family prayer service and public viewing at the church Friday (Associated Press)
  
  
• The Rev. Robert Bilheimer, 89, leader in ecumenical movement, dies | Presbyterian minister with an ecumenical vision organized religious leaders against the war in Vietnam and apartheid in South Africa (The New York Times)
  
  
• 'Drunk' bishop: I still have amnesia | The Bishop of Southwark has admitted that he is still unable to explain the bizarre events that occurred when he left a drinks reception at the Irish embassy earlier this month, but said he does not think he was drunk (The Telegraph, London)
  
  

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Grahams:

• Graham's torch being passed | Grandson emerges as evangelist's successor (Associated Press)
  
  

• Ministry defends Graham library | Tribute being built has been faulted amid talk of possible burial sites (The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
  
  
• Billy and Ruth Graham will pick burial site | 'Very personal decision' (The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
  
  
• Graham speaks out on burial | Ailing evangelist Billy Graham said in a statement Monday that he and his wife alone will decide where they should be buried (Asheville Citizen-Times, N.C.)
  
  
• Also: Graham to decide burial site with wife (Associated Press)
  
  

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Tourism and travel:

• Easing the inward journey, with modern amenities | Spiritual tourism is on the rise (The New York Times)
  
  
• Santa statue welcomes visitors in Turkey | What's a huge plastic Santa Claus doing among palm trees in a seaside town in Turkey? The mayor's answer is simple: He's back home (Associated Press)
  
  

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Spirituality:

• A time to relearn an ancient form of prayer? | Believers in contemplative prayer say Christmas offers a chance to try a more complex way of talking with God (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Evangelical revival is a leap of faith | The rapid growth of evangelical and Pentecostal congregations in Britain and the United States has astonished almost everyone, save the evangelicals and Pentecostals themselves (The Times, London)
  
  

• A spirituality to be shared | Joining with other Christians is not an optional part of Christianity (Peter Jensen, The Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  
• The past conditional | Faith and the family (Julian Barnes, The New Yorker)
  
  

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Music and entertainment:

• Atlanta rappers take crunk to the pulpit | The genre is most often associated with R-rated chants (Associated Press)
  
  
• Alan Jackson a Christian crossover star | Sometimes it's the simplest, purest creative expressions that resonate most powerfully with consumers. The success of Alan Jackson's "Precious Memories" is a prime example (Reuters)
  
  
• In Amish country, 'Christian Broadway' is big business | Few signs beckon pilgrims seeking the Millennium Theatre. They know the way, or at least their bus drivers do (Religion News Service)
  
  

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Film:

• Agenting for God | How pastor Kim Dorr found her calling and began saving souls in Hollywood (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Scary fairy tale from Guillermo del Toro | Guillermo del Toro was asked to direct The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but he turned it down because, as a lapsed Catholic, he couldn't see himself bringing Aslan the lion back to life (Associated Press)
  
  

• Why the Life of Brian beats The Passion of The Christ | At a time when secularism is being blamed for the erosion of Christian values, cinemagoers should perhaps ask themselves whether the true spirit of Christmas can indeed be found in such flawed fare as The Nativity Story (Mark Kermode, The Observer, London)
  
  
• A rotten year for Jesus Christ, American | They say the devil has all the best tunes. It's been a rotten year for Jesus at the movies, too (John Patterson, The Guardian, London)
  
  

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Games:

• Religion today: God games | The market for religious board games and toys like these is tiny, and a bit quirky. But sales numbers indicate demand is growing as families demand wholesome entertainment, selections expand and the Internet gives greater access to retailers (Associated Press)
  
  
• Faith-based killing? Critics rip Christian video game | 'Left Behind: Eternal Forces' bashed for intolerance and violence, but maker says game can be won with prayer (World News Tonight, ABC)
  
  
• 'Left Behind' video game draws fire | A video game based on the popular "Left Behind" series of Christian novels draw criticism. The game allows players to be tempted by the forces of evil, convert others to Christianity &133; or even kill them (Weekend Edition, NPR)
  
  

• Oh, unholy night | Give the gift of bigotry this Christmas with 'Left Behind: Eternal Forces,' a so-called "Christian" video game that celebrates religious interolance (Emilio Bombay, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram)
  
  

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Surveys:

• Majority of Americans believe in angels | Americans are big believers in angels, although not necessarily the ones with halos and wings. (Associated Press)
  
  
• AP Poll: Santa Claus endures in America | Santa is important to 60 percent of Catholics, 51 percent of those without a religious affiliation and 47 percent of Protestants, when households both with and without children are surveyed (Associated Press)
  
  
• Religion does more harm than good&151;poll | 82% say faith causes tension in country where two thirds are not religious (The Guardian, London)
  
  

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Sexual ethics:

• Vote on gay marriage is due but can't be forced, SJC says | Next step is up to Legislature (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Also: Court can't force gay marriage vote | The Massachusetts judges who legalized gay marriage say they cannot force state lawmakers to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit the same-sex unions (Associated Press)
  
  

• Contempt in Boston | The Massachusetts Supreme Court's foray into the marriage debate (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Senator Brownback and the judge | Whether someone has attended a same-sex commitment ceremony is not a worthy litmus test to impose on someone seeking an important office (Editorial, The New York Times)
  
  

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Other stories of interest:

• Rebel monks holed up at chapel in Greece | Police posted a guard Thursday outside a chapel at an Orthodox monastic sanctuary where rebel monks remained barricaded following clashes that left seven people injured (Associated Press)
  
  
• Anthropologist foresees a Christian renaissance | "Ideologies are virtually deceased," says Ren&233; Girard (Zenit)
  
  
• Holland's post-secular future | Christianity is dead. Long live Christianity! (Joshua Livestro, The Weekly Standard)
  
  

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