The world's poorest peopled continent, Africa, is the thread tying U2's front man to the Orange County pastor. Rick Warren, who recently hosted Rwanda's president for Saddleback Church's 25th anniversary, will soon launch his PEACE plan connecting U.S. churches to churches in Africa and around the world. Bono, who some complain has turned U2 concerts into "a televangelist's miracle-working dog-and-pony show" by urging concertgoers to donate to the band's hunger-relief charity, has been preaching debt-relief and AIDS programs for African nations for years now.

Oddly, it's Bono, Warren, and their fans on Capitol Hill who can get politicians to work past culture war name-calling, says David Brooks, in The New York Times. Issue like poverty, hunger, and AIDS can bring together liberals and evangelicals—the only two groups in the country with the passion to work for social justice.

"We can have a culture war in this country, or we can have a war on poverty, but we can't have both," Brooks says. "That is to say, liberals and conservatives can go on bashing each other for being godless hedonists and primitive theocrats, or they can set those differences off to one side and work together to help the needy."

Brooks says, "When I look at the evangelical community, I see a community in the midst of a transformation—branching out beyond the traditional issues of abortion and gay marriage, and getting more involved in programs to help the needy. … I see Chuck Colson deeply involved in Sudan. I see Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals drawing up a service agenda that goes way beyond the normal turf of Christian conservatives." For example, check out what Samaritan's Purse is doing among disabled, former enemy veterans in Cambodia.

Unfortunately, says David Gergen, nobody knows who Rick Warren is—well, except for the more than 22 million who have read his books or participated in a purpose-driven something or other. The U.S. News & World Report editor at large says he's been asking audiences if they've heard of Warren, and, invariably, only a few have. And the gulf separating those who've read Warren and those who haven't is growing, Gergen says. "As the gulf grows, it is distressing some while frightening others and starting to tear us apart politically."

America is religious, and it's growing even more so, Gergen says. "In late 2003, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 51 percent of Americans 'completely agree' that prayer is important in their daily lives, up from 41 percent in 1987."And the ever-more religious public is voting more and more often for the Republicans. "In 1987, according to Pew, white evangelicals composed 19 percent of the electorate and leaned Republican versus Democratic, 34 to 29 percent, in political identification. Today, they make up 23 percent of the electorate and are Republican by a better than 2-to-1 margin, 48 to 23 percent." Stats like show that the evangelical Left that the media loved to report about earlier this week is still flocking to the Republican Party.

It's perfectly legitimate for these conservative Christians to participate politically, Gergen says. "Just because many of today's most ardent churchgoers come from the Right is no excuse for people on the Left to now say that religion must be kept out of politics. A people's values are inevitably rooted in its spiritual beliefs."

Though Christians can abuse the legitimate infusion of religion and politics (such as when Christians say political opponents are "against people of faith"), and though "people of faith have legitimate grievances against secularists," Gergen says, "we must also recognize that there are multitudes of people on both sides of the divide who share many of the same beliefs and aspirations." Alleviating poverty and taking care of creation are some of those shared beliefs and aspirations.

Many commentators seem only too willing to shout about the Qur'an, Calvin college, filibusters, and anything else. As Brooks says, "Millions of evangelicals want leaders who live the faith by serving the poor." The 300-year-old words of Jonathan Edwards can be instructive:

Passing affections easily produce words; and words are cheap; and godliness is more easily feigned in words than in actions. Christian practice is a costly, laborious thing. The self-denial that is required of Christians, and the narrowness of the way that leads to life, does not consist in words, but in practice. Hypocrites may much more easily be brought to talk like saints, than to act like saints.

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Religion & politics:

• Abortion foe weighs run for state Senate | Randall Terry thinks he could capitalize on Jim King's vote in the Terri Schiavo case. (Orlando Sentinel)
  
  
• Christian activists capturing Tory races | Some in party worry new riding nominees will reinforce notion of 'hidden agenda'. (Globe and Mail, Canada)
  
  
• Keep the faith | Islamists and democracy. (New Republic)
  
  
• Voting surged in 2004, census says | Nationally, voter turnout in the United States increased to 64 percent of all adult citizens in 2004, up from 60 percent in 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. They will scrutinize the data to see whether, as many social conservatives and evangelical church leaders asserted, ballot initiatives on gay marriage pulled more people to the polls. (Kansas City infoZine)
  
  
• Moral values come to the Bay Area | Following November's election, right-wing Christians are increasingly bringing the fight here to the East Bay. (East Bay Express, Calif.)
  
  
• A wan win | In retrospect, it may turn out that the right-wingers' shameful intervention in the Terri Schiavo case was their undoing. Public-opinion surveys showed that not only did a majority of respondents oppose federal intervention in that most private and emotional of circumstances, but that even evangelical Christians did not support forcing the husband of the all-but-brain-dead woman to keep her body functioning. (Boston Phoenix)
  
  
• Radical stances stray from true Christianity | Chan Chandler has had his 15 minutes of the public spotlight, though I imagine he would like to give them back. (Daniel P. Matthews Jr., Atlanta Journal Constitution)
  
  
• Bootleggers & Baptists at the Supreme Court | Banning direct wine shipment is an act of faith. (National Review Online)
  
  
• Purgatory without end | Why is America still so prone to wars of religion? (The Economist, UK)
  
  
• Woman in the news: Priscilla R. Owen | When the Senate asked Justice Priscilla R. Owen for the most significant opinions she had written on the Texas Supreme Court, she provided a list with a distinctive theme: tough. (The New York Times)
  
  
• Senate panel considers apology to American Indians | Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican who is spearheading the apology resolution, told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs it would be a first step toward healing deep wounds. (Reuters)
  
  
• Senators weigh Indian apology resolution | Introduced last month by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., the resolution would apologize for the ''many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by citizens of the United States.'' (Associated Press)
  
  
• For GOP, deeper fissures and a looming power struggle | The fallout from the Senate compromise that averted a showdown over judicial filibusters fell most heavily on the Republican Party yesterday, signaling intraparty warfare that is likely to shape the battle for the party's 2008 presidential nomination and further strain the unity the GOP has enjoyed under President Bush. (Washington Post)
  
  
• Filibuster deal riles evangelical Christians | Some see defection of GOP senators led by John McCain as a power play and a slap at those who put them in office. (Tucson Citizen, Ariz.)
  
  

Opinion:

• Which kills more: ideology or religion? | What the balance of effects is between the Church's promotion of faithful family life and its ban on condoms is impossible to calculate, but my guess is that it has prevented more infections than it has caused. To say that the Pope is a mass murderer is ridiculous (Spectator, UK)
  
  
• One man & one woman in a Christian nation | There is not one Senator, one person in Congress, or one person in the administration of President George W. Bush who is trying to make America a Christian extremist State. (att McDonald, Magic City Morning Star, Maine)
  
  
• Liberally Salted: The eye that sees all | Its vision of America is of a place where the vocal minority of extreme Christians calls the shots, and the silent majority of white, middle class Americans marches along quietly. (Steve Olson, Waldo Village Soup, Maine)
  
  
• Crusade? No thanks | The president's spin doctors hastened to apologize for any offense inadvertently given, saying the president had used the word crusade in its generic sense, as a synonym for a struggle against something bad. But just as Osama bin Laden called for jihad -- holy war -- against the "crusaders and Jews," so many Christians in the United States have taken the president at his word as he has continued to portray America's conflict with Islamic extremists as a metaphysical struggle of good against evil. (Berkshire Eagle, Mass.)
  
  
• My desire to follow God's will makes me a conservative | Why am I a conservative? The definitive answer is that I feel accountability to God. (Huntington Herald Dispatch, W.V.)
  
  
• Political correctness run amuck | For those who think plays and books contribute to potential profligacy it would be wise to read the Bible, which includes examples of every kind of behavior in the human experience from incest to murder. The self-appointed guardians against prurient material would consider a lot of what is printed in the Old and New Testaments unfit for dramatization in the public schools. (Capitol Hill Blue, Va.)
  
  
• It's about what families value | "It's about making sure the hard-core evangelicals are politically satisfied, because they're good at cutting checks at election time." (Lampert Smith, Wisconsin State Journal)
  
  
• When did hate become popular? | On the flip side, we have religious fundamentalists using their interpretations of the Bible to sway public opinion in their favor and telling those who don't agree that "they are not Christians." Give me a break! Fanaticism can be blinding no matter what religion you practice. (Jay Gravholt, Yankton Daily Press, S.D.)
  
  
• Intolerance is at root of world's problems | When people, Republicans, Democrats, governors, conservationists, developmentalists, churches, synagogues or mosques, say "My way is the only way," we are in trouble as a community. (Wally Olson, Juneau Empire)
  
  
• The battle for Santorum's seat | If you believe the political Left, Rick Santorum is public enemy No. 1. But watch them try to get Pennsylvania voters to agree with them. (Kathryn Jean Lopez, Decatur Daily Democrat, Ind.)
  
  
• Seeking a culture peace | Surely the most corroding part of contemporary American life is the culture war, which is mostly religious and is being fought by sides so polarized and emotional they can't hear each other. (John Brummett, Arkansas News)
  
  
• Bush's war comes home | Evangelical religious right leaders denounce Republican senators as sell-outs. One of the most influential, James Dobson, has cursed one of the silent compromise supporters, Senator Trent Lott, the former Republican majority leader from Mississippi, as a Judas, and Lott has called Dobson "quite unChristian". (Sidney Blumenthal, Mail & Guardian)
  
  

War & terrorism:

• Arroyo cites bishop for helping end hostage crisis | President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday commended a Roman Catholic bishop for his "heroic intervention" for the safe release of over a dozen people taken hostage by gunmen in the southern Philippines, her spokesman said. (Arab News)
  
  
• God & man on the frontlines | Stephen Mansfield on The Faith of the American Soldiers. (National Review Online)
  
  
• Pledges mount up for Darfur force | International donors have pledged an extra $200m (£110m) for peacekeeping in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region. (BBC)
  
  
• House backs off women-in-combat limits | The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a $490.6 billion bill for next year's defense programs after Republicans backed off an effort to limit the role of women in combat situations. (Reuters)
  
  
• Pastor sues U.S. over Iraq trip penalties | A pacifist pastor who lost his New Jersey ministry after a 2003 trip to Iraq sued the U.S. government Wednesday, saying regulations banning travel there were unconstitutional. The Methodist minister said he was penalized $6,700 for what the Treasury Department called unauthorized travel to Iraq in February and March 2003 to protest the imminent bombing of Baghdad. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Bush backs continuing military ties with Indonesia | In the days before the meeting, religious and peace groups called on Bush to "refrain from promotion of military assistance to Indonesia's still brutal armed forces." (Washington Post)
  
  
• Two suspected in van Gogh slaying arrested | Authorities have arrested two Chechen citizens in France and the Netherlands in connection with the November slaying of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, prosecutors said Thursday. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Report: Dire warning for Nigeria | Africa's most populous nation of 140 million people is divided roughly equally between Christians and Muslims and is home to more than 250 different ethnic groups. (Reuters)
  
  
• Amnesty's human rights report blasts U.S. | I can remove religion from the equation of life and fewer people will die from the messages they claim are given to them by their gods. I know all of you Christians will be really upset with me over that last statement, but in my defense, it must be God who is motivating me to make these statements. (Richard Farr, Magic City Morning Star, Maine)
  
  
• Theater of forgiveness | Toward the end of his career, the late French philosopher Jacques Derrida became increasingly focused on the problem of religion—not merely as a cultural phenomenon, but as a unique structuring of language and ideas. In this essay, Derrida examines the trend of religious tropes expanding to a global scale as nations beg forgiveness for war crimes. (Jacques Derrida, Village Voice)
  
  

'Qur'an abuse':

• Pentagon confirms Koran incidents | 'Mishandling' cases preceded guidelines established in 2003 (Washington Post)
  
  
• Inquiry by U.S. finds 5 cases of Koran harm | An American military inquiry has uncovered five instances in which guards or interrogators at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility in Cuba mishandled the Koran, but found "no credible evidence" to substantiate claims that it was ever flushed down a toilet, the chief of the investigation said on Thursday. (New York Times)
  
  
• Muslims who kill others desecrate Islam itself | Just as we know that this episode of the desecration of the Koran is not reflective of the ethos of religious tolerance among Americans, we must also learn never to attach to Islam - either the religion or the civilisation - the acts of vigilante Muslims who unwittingly desecrate the name of Islam and, perhaps, inspire others to desecrate their book. (Daily Times, Pakistan)
  
  
• FBI records cite Quran abuse allegations | Detainees have claimed guards used the holy books as a weapon to break their will to resist interrogation. The Pentagon asserts that some detainees fabricated their claims in a calculated effort to agitate the wider prison population and undermine the control of the U.S. military. (Associated Press)
  
  
• General admits Qur'an errors | The Pentagon admitted last night that it had uncovered five instances of mishandling of the Qur'an at Guantánamo Bay, but it claimed that there was "no credible evidence" that a copy had ever been flushed down the toilet. (The Guardian, UK)
  
  
• Inquiry finds Koran 'mishandling' | The US military says it has identified five incidents in which the Koran was mishandled by American personnel at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. (BBC)
  
  
• Pentagon admits five cases of Koran abuse | Pentagon investigators have confirmed five incidents in which the Koran was mishandled by US guards and interrogators at Guantanamo Bay.But they found "no credible evidence" that the Muslim holy book was flushed down a lavatory, as alleged in a disputed news account that sparked riots in the Islamic world. (Times, London)
  
  
• Report finds Koran was mishandled | Commander sees no evidence of toilet incident (Boston Globe)
  
  
• Inmates alleged Koran abuse | FBI papers cite complaints as early as 2002 (Washington Post)
  
  
• Farrakhan asks congressmen to join his probe | Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan called on members of Congress on Wednesday to accompany a multiethnic delegation of Muslims, Christians and Jews to Guantanamo Bay to investigate the recently recanted reports of alleged desecration of the Quran. (Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• Southern Baptist pastor apologizes for anti-Muslim sign | A Southern Baptist pastor apologized for posting an anti-Muslim sign at his church in North Carolina, following criticism by leaders in the Muslim-American community. (Religion News Service)
  
  

Opinion:

• With a little help from our friends | For me, after three years in southern Afghanistan, something felt not quite right about the more virulent demonstrations across the country. The instant tip-off was that they were initially led by university students. Afghans and Westerners living in Kandahar have often wondered at the number of Pakistani students in what passes for a university here. Our unshakable conclusion has been that the adroit Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, is planting operatives in the student body. (Sarah Chayes, The New York Times)
  
  
• Ideological bias had role in Newsweek's mistakes | But when "artists" dip the crucifix in urine or spackle the Virgin Mary with manure, this same crowd waxes Olympian in its haughty contempt for anybody who even complains about it. Imagine their reaction if Christians in this country broke into deadly riots over such things. (Jonah Goldberg, Atlanta Journal Constitution)
  
  
• Do unto others | Respect Islam? Sure. Same for other faiths - and for life itself. (Jeffry Gardner, Albuquerque Tribune)
  
  
• Words instructive but not sacred - nor are books | No one will flush a Bible down the toilet in Saudi Arabia. There aren't any. The holy book is banned in that Muslim country. Holy books are critical to the preservation and growth of a religious tradition, but they are not divine. They are not gods and not to be worshiped. They are simply books made holy by association with the divine, not by inherent divinity. (Steve Gushee, Palm Beach Post)
  
  
• Thank you, Rev. Creight Lovelace! | I am thankful for Rev. Lovelace's incendiary words because they help bring to light the steadily growing Islamophobia in the United States. (Junaid M. Afeef, alt.muslim)
  
  

Israel:

• Grass-roots plan aims to boost progressive Jews | A grass-roots initiative aimed at forging personal connections between Diaspora Jews and Israelis active in Reform and Conservative synagogues here has been launched in recent weeks. (Ha'aretz, Israel)
  
  
• Solidarity visits to Israel | Half of the group is made up of Baptist ministers, including Reverend James Vineyard, one of the most active Christian leaders fighting the Israeli government plan to eradicate 25 Jewish communities. (Arutz Sheva, Israel)
  
  
• Offer tolerance in the name of God | It has often been assumed that the problem of Jerusalem is exceptionally difficult because of religious claims made upon the holy city and its holy sites by members of the three monotheistic religions. (Jonathan Kuttab, Daily Star, Lebanon)
  
  
• Gaza plan leads to warning of rise in 'Jewish terror' | Shin Bet chief: Israel 'could not bear' another political assassination. (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  
• Assembly is warned against 'treachery' on Tiberias | Any sell-off by the Church of Scotland of its controversial hotel project in Israel would be seen as "an act of betrayal", its general assembly has been told. (The Herald, UK)
  
  
• Fears over Holy land hotel project | Selling the Kirk's troubled hotel scheme in the Holy Land would be "treacherous" and an "act of betrayal" towards Christians in Israel, the General Assembly was told yesterday. (The Scotsman)
  
  
• Evangelicals joining Gaza pullout protest | Hikind signs up Bible Belt ministers in fight against disengagement. (New York Jewish Week)
  
  
• Christians push nonviolence in Holy Land, critics cry they're taking sides | Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is one of a handful of Christian activist organizations that maintain a full-time presence in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. Some are also active in hot spots like Iraq. (Religion News Service)
  
  
• US rabbi talks peace in Syria—publicly | As an Orthodox rabbinical student pouring over religious texts in New York, Marc Gopin never imagined that one day as a rabbi he would give a public talk in Syria about Judaism and peace. (Jerusalem Post)
  
  
• Peace icon goes on show | An icon of peace, made in a monastery near Jerusalem to symbolise the struggle for peace in the strife-torn region, will be coming to St Albans Abbey on Saturday. (St. Albans Observer, UK)
  
  

Lebanon:

• Analysis: Religious voting in Lebanon | Christians from Lebanon's Phalange party last week end celebrated the return of the statue of their founder, Pierre Gemayel, still one of the most potent symbols of sectarianism in Lebanon. (BBC)
  
  
• Are sectarian tensions stunting Cedar Revolution? | Others want to replace the country's confessional (or religiously based) electoral system with a secular one, thereby forcing parties to devise political platforms and run on them. The existing system calls for a Christian president, a Sunni Muslim prime minister and a Shia speaker of parliament, as well as allotting each sect a certain number of MPs. (Globe and Mail, Canada)
  
  

Stem cells:

• Ethics, not science, should decide stem cell debate | The trouble with these proposals is not simply that the scientific assessment may already be out of date. The major defect is ignoring that the current debate is not about science, but about the cultural, legal and ethical questions related to destroying or manufacturing human beings for our own purposes. (Timothy Vaverek, Waco Tribune Herald)
  
  
• In stem cell debate, many struggle with moral issues | Rosenberg quoted a Talmud saying, "To save one life is as if you have saved the world." The problem, he acknowledged, is that people differ on what constitutes a human life as well as when that life begins. For Roman Catholic leaders who have led the fight against embryonic stem cell research in Connecticut, human life begins the moment an egg is fertilized. (The Day, Conn.)
  
  
• Conn. senate OK stem cell research bill | The state Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved spending $100 million over 10 years to fund stem cell research, including the embryonic research that right-to-life groups oppose but that some scientists believe offers the most hope for curing diseases. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Emotive power of US stem cell debate | In the impassioned debate in the US over embryonic stem cell research, both sides are convinced that lives are at stake. (BBC)
  
  
• Beyond the stem-cell showdown | Congress is moving to expand funding for research, but President Bush promised a veto. (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  
• Bush rejects stem cell compromise | President vows to veto bill as some in GOP seek to avoid showdown (Washington Post)
  
  
• Rebels push Bush towards veto on embryo research | President George W Bush has suffered a second rebuff in 24 hours from members of his party after a significant number of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted with Democrats to repeal his restrictions on funding for embryonic stem cell research. (The Telegraph, UK)
  
  
• Sponsor of stem cell bill says senate could override a veto | Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican and chief sponsor of a bill to expand federal financing for human embryonic stem cell research, issued a stark challenge to President Bush on Wednesday, saying he had enough votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto of the measure. (The New York Times)
  
  
• The president's stem cell theology | President Bush seems determined to thwart any loosening of the restrictions he has imposed on federal financing of embryonic stem cell research, despite rising sentiment in Congress and the nation at large for greater federal support of this fast-emerging field. His actions are based on strong religious beliefs on the part of some conservative Christians, and presumably the president himself. (Editorial, The New York Times)
  
  

Life ethics:

• Belgium probes baby internet sale | Belgian and Dutch authorities are investigating claims that a surrogate mother sold her baby over the internet. (BBC)
  
  
• Great-grandmother gives birth to twins | A 57-year-old great-grandmother who gave birth to a set of twins last month said Thursday she danced with her husband only hours after the delivery. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Refusal to ease access to 'Plan B' pill defies science | It couldn't be that religious conservatives had hijacked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It couldn't be that the Bush administration was surreptitiously trying to limit the use of emergency contraception because some—not all—pro-lifers contend it's analogous to abortion. (Jane Eisner, Dallas Morning News)
  
  

Sexual ethics:

• Thou shalt not tempt thy neighbor | Worried that enticement runs rampant today, faith groups rally to buttress the tempted. (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  
• The senator's guide to safe sex | It's not every day that a U.S. senator gives a lecture and slide show about risky sexual activities -- complete with gross pictures of the naughty bits. This was Sen. Tom Coburn's lecture on sexually transmitted diseases. (Washington Post)
  
  
• Sex-ed opponents part of movement to reclaim schools | Parents who stopped a new sex-education curriculum in Montgomery County, Maryland are at the nexus of a national trend in parental activism in school matters. (Washington Times)
  
  
• Sex workers' body protests against US bill | Asia's largest conglomerate of sex workers on Thursday protested against USA's anti-prostitution bill, saying it not only violated the human rights of its peers, but also threatened to influence the policies of Britain, the largest donor to programmes on HIV/AIDS and for benefit of sex workers in the sub-continent. (Press Trust of India)
  
  

Teen pregnancy:

• When I got pregnant it made me feel big. Now I can tell you that I am so jealous when girls my age tell you they are virgins | Terri Leer is the mother of 15-month-old Dylan and is five months pregnant with a little girl. Terri was 15 when she first had sex and did it under her mother's roof. (The Guardian, UK)
  
  
• Parents 'must tackle teen births' | Government can do no more to reduce the UK's high teen pregnancy rate without the help of parents, the families and children's minister has warned. (BBC)
  
  
• Appeal to parents on teenage births | We need help to contain problem says minister (The Guardian, UK)
  
  
• Parents 'only hope' to stem teenage pregnancies | An increasing number of girls aged between 13 and 15 are getting pregnant, the Government has disclosed as it admitted that it was virtually powerless in trying to solve the problem. (Daily Telegraph, UK)
  
  
• Sex education demand after rise in teenage pregnancies | More than 8,000 girls under 16 became pregnant in England and Wales in 2003, according to government figures yesterday, showing that its drive to reduce underage conceptions has stalled. (The Guardian, UK)
  
  
• It isn't babies that blight young lives | The impact of pregnancy on these teenagers' life chances is negligible (Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian, UK)
  
  

Missions & ministry:

• Lutheran world federation joins fight against HIV/Aids | The HIV/AIDS education campaign project undertaken by the Lutheran World Federation/World Service to train peer educators from Lumpa, Jui, Kossoh Town and Rokel communities was completed Tuesday at the Kossoh Town Community Hall. (Concord Times, Freetown, South Africa)
  
  
• NGO builds houses for aids orphans | The Lutheran World Federation, an international religious organisation is constructing houses for widows and orphans in the district. (The Monitor, Kampala)
  
  
• Grace Ministry brings Christianity into the Curry County jail | Ranging from their early 20s to mid 30s, the inmates greet the Rev. Lance Clemmons and his colleague with a handshake. A daily devotional pamphlet is passed out to the inmates. A flier with steps on how to become a Christian is also handed out. (Clovis News Journal, N.M.)
  
  
• Working people get the squeeze | When I was growing up I learned from the catechism that there were four sins that cried to heaven for vengeance --none of them sexual sins, by the way. Two still stand out vividly in my mind: defrauding the worker of his wages and cheating widows and orphans of their sustenance. To cheat workers and their families of the pensions they have been promised is a horrendous sin, no matter legal it may be. (Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• Congress examines nonprofit hospitals | Congress should review tax exemptions for nonprofit hospitals to determine whether the community benefit justifies the expense, the chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee said Thursday. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Former enemies live together in Cambodia | Of the 13 men completing work on a new well in this hillside village, all but one are missing legs, arms or fingers. ''It's really amazing to see their determination to complete things, their perseverance and ingenuity in solving problems,'' said Barak Bruerd of Samaritan's Purse, a North Carolina-based Christian group that has been helping the village. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Inmates seeking career help take lessons from ex-governor | Mr. Rowland, who is serving time on corruption charges at Loretto Federal Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania, is teaching a weekly class on how to polish a résumé and interview for a job, according to the Rev. Will Marotti, the pastor of New Life Church in Meriden, Conn., and a friend of Mr. Rowland's (New York Times)
  
  
• Working on faith: Local church alliance discussed | A clergy round table in Lakeport Tuesday evidenced the presence of faith-based initiatives inside Lake County. (Record-Bee, Calif.)
  
  
• Traveling religious group helps local church expand | When the Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church needed more space for its growing preschool, it sent for help. That help arrived this month, as two recreational vehicles, two motor homes and a trailer, hailing from Colorado, Texas, Ohio, Oregon and Georgia, pulled onto the church property on Science Park Road and parked for the summer. (Centre Daily Times, Pa.)
  
  
• Marshfield therapist aids in second medical mission efforts | After his first medical mission to the Dominican Republic last year, Rick Schurman now is helping coordinate another. (Marshfield News-Herald, Wisc.)
  
  
• Early heat wave kills 12 illegal immigrants in the Arizona desert | The shades were drawn against the blistering sun in a room at the Southside Presbyterian Church, where six immigrants, survivors of punishing treks across the desert that took at least 12 lives in the last few days across Arizona, lay on cots and pondered their luck. (The New York Times)
  
  
• Germany rediscovers religion | Some 400,000 people flocked to the city of Hanover Wednesday for the opening of the 30th annual German Protestant Convention -- a record number that reflects a renewed national interest in religious values. (Deutsche Welle, Germany)
  
  
• Also: The French Reconnection | Europe's most secular country rediscovers its Christian roots. (Feb. 25, 2005)
  
  

Church life:

• Soldiers of Christ | Inside America's most powerful megachurch—Ted Haggard's New Life Church. (Harper's)
  
  
• Kirk web ads agreed from on high | The Church of Scotland is on the lookout for a commercial sponsor for its website, after agreement from the General Assembly. (BBC)
  
  
• Church hosts 'drive-thru' Sunday services | This Sunday church service will take five minutes and you don't even have to get out of the car. The Metropolitan Church of the Quad Cities, 3019 N. Harrison St., Davenport, is sponsoring "Drive-Thru Church" from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday. (Quad City Times, Iowa)
  
  
• Leaving the back door open | For the fact is that most evangelical Christians continue to leave the primary task of teaching their children not to their churches but to the secularist state. (Joel Belz, World)
  
  
• Church doors closing | St. Mary's Memorial Episcopal Church, the oldest church in Haledon and once the parish of choice for prosperous 19th century families, will close its doors for good Sunday after 139 years.
  
  
• Attorney tries to wrest trust from church | Saying he suspects mismanagment, Utah's attorney general asked a court Thursday to freeze the assets of a trust fund of a polygamous sect and replace its top leaders with an independent third party. (Associated Press)
  
  
• 1.5 million Protestants rally in Brazil | At least 1.5 million evangelical Protestants rallied in the heart of this city's financial district Thursday, demonstrating their growing clout in the world's largest Roman Catholic country. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Feds: Many van tires improperly inflated | About three-quarters of all 15-passenger vans had at least one tire that was improperly inflated, increasing the likelihood of rollovers among the vehicles popular with church groups, sports teams and commuters, federal regulators said Thursday. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Kirk minister applications rise | The number of people wanting to become Kirk ministers has risen, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has been told. (BBC)
  
  
• Hauge Church to celebrate 100 years; Grenora offers activities | Memorial Day will truly be a memorable day for past members and descendants of the Hauge Lutheran Church. (Williston Daily Herald, N.D.)
  
  
• East Tennesseans treasure old time religion | As the cool water of a Tennessee creek dances across the rocks, the congregation of Allan's Chapel in Cosby gathers along its banks. (WBIR, Tenn.)
  
  
• Trinity takes first step in leaving ELCA | Members of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church took the first step Wednesday toward terminating their relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. (Columbus Telegram, Neb.)
  
  
• Sandy Springs on diverse course | Deacon Joseph Ruberté looks out from his pulpit and sees what he calls the future face of Sandy Springs. The congregants at the Holy Spirit Catholic Center are not the affluent white homeowners whose 35-year rebellion against Atlanta and Fulton County has forced a showdown next month with the most powerful county in Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• Church signs are site of trivia game | Stillwater's "church sign guy," the Rev. Steve Molin of Our Savior's Lutheran Church, joked in a recent newspaper article that he was thinking about asking the pastor of Bethany Evangelical Covenant Church to play a little sign trivia. The contest got under way Tuesday night. (Pioneer Press, Minn.)
  
  
• Man of faith is changing religion - and politics? | I have met the future of American religion, and it looks like this: A megachurch on 120 acres in Southern California, attended by more than 20,000 people on any given Sunday (twice that on Easter), with a staff of 300 and a pastor who penned a book that's sold more copies worldwide than any other work of nonfiction in the last three years. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  
  

Orthodoxy:

• Patriarch leads Eastern Orthodox Christianity | The small church that the Rev. John Schmidt is leading in Mishawaka, The Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, belongs to the Orthodox Church in America, with headquarters in New York. (South Bend Tribune, Ind.)
  
  
• North America's oldest Orthodox monastery celebrates 100 years | The monks living at North America's oldest Orthodox Christian monastery rise early, meet in their icon-filled church at 5 a.m. for three hours of prayer, and again at 5 p.m. for another service. In between, they do chores, take meals together, study, pray, reflect. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Better the Patriarch than the Patriarchy | Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irineos I was ostensibly dismissed by the the synod of Jerusalem because of his involvement in the sale of the denomination's property to Jews. And on Tuesday, the Istanbul synod, a pan-Orthodox summit, declared it would no longer recognize Irineos I as patriarch of Jerusalem. (Jerusalem Post)
  
  

Other religions:

• A loaded word | During my 20 years of interfaith involvement, the Jihad question comes up more than any other. All over America, a country with six to seven million Muslims, there is an unending stream of misinformation about Islam. (Iftekhar Hai, San Mateo County Times, Calif.)
  
  
• Canadian Jews, Arabs eat together, talk peace | It was a shouting match that motivated an Arab man in Canada to establish a quieter venue to discuss Arab-Jewish issues. (Jerusalem Post)
  
  
• How a Muslim group helped a Beltsville man, and his son, rethink Islam | According to Nawash, he is the only leader of a Muslim organization who is challenging the extremists, and fanatics, and the media savvy Nawash intends to use technology to communicate his message around the Muslim world. He invites Christians and Jews to be apart of the dialogue. (Montgomery County Sentinel, Md.)
  
  
• Church welcomes Muslim scholars | About 100 Muslims and Christians at Claremont United Methodist Church prayed together and broke bread Wednesday. (San Bernardino Sun, Calif.)
  
  
• From Baptist to Jew | I was a Baptist from birth, dedicated to my Christian faith, until I fell in love with Judaism. (Mary Blye Howe, Beliefnet.com)
  
  
• Religion in the news | A rare set of documents that are the basis for a new biography of David O. McKay, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the civil rights era, show that the LDS president studied the issue of elevating black men to leadership roles but ultimately balked at doing it. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Elijah, a man for many faiths | Elijah was a tough old bird, even for a biblical prophet. In his lifetime he refused to let go of his faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he keeps a grip on Jews, Christians and Muslims who sometimes forget they are all, as the Quran puts it, "people of the Book." (Nancy Haught, The Oregonian)
  
  

Religious freedom:

• Cleveland cabbies ticketed at prayer time | Somali immigrants who work as cab drivers at the Cleveland airport say police are ticketing them when they step out of their cabs for traditional Islamic prayer. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Turning to Christ may keep Afshin in the UK | Asylum seeker Afshin Azizian's claims to stay in the UK could be saved by divine intervention. Ever since making his original claim 10 years ago, the 36-year-old has argued that his conversion from Islam to Christianity would lead to his execution if he returned to Iran. (Hampstead and Highgate Express, UK)
  
  
• For real understanding of religious freedom, listen to an immigrant | Proponents of intelligent design (a new way to say creationism) want the scientific theories of evolution downplayed in public classrooms. Intelligent design argues that nature is too complicated to be the result of natural causes and is best explained by a creator. In Irigonegaray's eyes, it might as well have been democracy itself on trial. (Knight Ridder Newspapers)
  
  
• Legislating religious freedom | Former ambassador and evangelical organizer square off on pending Sri Lanka bills. (OC Register)
  
  
• 5 children among 14 Shias accused of 'blasphemy' | Five children, three elderly women and six men of the Shia sect have been accused of blasphemy under Section 298(A) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in Haveli Koranga, Khanewal district, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about one of the companions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). (Daily Times, Pakistan)
  
  
• Divorced Wiccans fight judge's order | A Wiccan activist and his ex-wife are challenging a court's order that they must protect their 9-year-old son from what it calls their ''non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals.' (Associated Press)
  
  
• Judge's ruling on Wicca questioned | A judge's order that keep a man and his ex-wife from exposing their 9-year-old son to their religion of Wicca has been appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals. (United Press International)
  
  

Wis. prisons to change Muslim headwear policy:

• Religious headgear for prison visitors okd | The state Department of Corrections will change its policy to allow visitors to state prisons to wear religious headgear, an official said in Madison. (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Wis. prisons to change headwear policy | The state Department of Corrections will change its policy to allow visitors to Wisconsin prisons to wear religious headwear, an official said Thursday. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Muslim sues over prison visit, headscarf | A Muslim woman who was ordered by male prison guards to take off her headscarf before she could visit an inmate filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging her constitutional right to practice religion had been violated. (Associated Press)
  
  

Church & state:

• Kanu failed Kenyans, says bishop | Eldoret Anglican Church of Kenya bishop Thomas Kogo yesterday said the Kanu government was a disgrace to Kenyans. (The Nation, Nairobi, Kenya)
  
  
• Marine tank's biblical name draws hefty criticism | "New Testament": It's a mighty name for a 70-ton battle tank. The biblical words are neatly printed on the main gun of an M1A1 Abrams tank rolling along somewhere near Haditha, Iraq. To the Marines of the 4th Tank Battalion, "New Testament" is a fierce beacon and impervious to insurgent mortar fire. (Washington Times)
  
  
• Mayor, others question permit for revival event | Several New Milford officials are concerned about a five-day "Takin' It To The Street" Christian revival planned for the end of June on the Village Green. (Greater New Milford Spectrum, Conn.)
  
  
• Cross purposes | The symbol at the center of the Mount Soledad debate wasn't always embraced by Christians (Union-Tribune, San Diego)
  
  
• Keystone board agrees to no graduation prayer | Fearing a "five figure" financial penalty for failing to agree to a demand from the American Civil Liberties Union to stop prayers at graduation ceremonies and school board meetings, the Keystone School Board May 23 signed a consent decree pledging to halt the practices. (Clarion News, Pa.)
  
  
• Religion In Public Life: Salute when you pray | The strange case of widespread religious pressure at the Air Force Academy keeps getting more disturbing. (Editorial, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
  
  
• General urges tolerance for all religions | The Air Force's top general sent a message to commands worldwide this month, reminding commanders to be sensitive to religious diversity. (Colorado Springs Gazette)
  
  
• Air Force enforces 'religious respect' | The Air Force has told its top commands worldwide to make sure officers don't use their positions to advance religious beliefs, following criticism of religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Quebec rejects introduction of Sharia law | Quebec on Thursday rejected the use of Islamic tribunals to settle family disputes, with one legislator saying that Sharia law could isolate the Muslim community in the French-speaking province. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Adidome hospital will not be given to EP Church - Norley Ashitey | Deputy Minister of Health, Mrs. Gladys Norley Ashitey, has stated that her outfit has no plans to hand over the Adidome hospital to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church as suggested. (Ghanaian Chronicle, Ghana)
  
  

Education:

• School Closings: Bidding farewell to family | Just a couple of years ago, school officials at St. Mary's were talking about adding a middle school. This year it had 10 students in kindergarten, the largest kindergarten class of any of the three Catholic elementary schools in Grand Forks (St. Mary's, Holy Family and St. Michael's). When school opened last fall, there was no word that this might be St. Mary's last year, parents said. (Grand Forks Herald, N.D.)
  
  
• Ex head of 'sect' school in tribunal wrangle | The woman head of a school run by a secretive Christian sect had her pay slashed and was then replaced by a male member of the religious group, an industrial tribunal heard. (Life Style Extra, UK)
  
  
• UK Islamic school offers antidote to `modern` extremism | Two hundred students, giggling and gathering on the playground, are the best antidote to Islamic extremism, although they may not realize it yet. Students at Britain`s first state-funded Islamic school are pint-sized but carry the huge responsibility of forging a new identity for Muslims. (Garavi Gujarat, UK)
  
  
• Academic freedom or intolerance of faith? | "Moral retards." That's how a Brooklyn College sociologist described religious people a few years ago. And to some in New York City, that's reason enough why Timothy Shortell should not be allowed to assume the post to which his colleagues just elected him: chairman of the sociology department. (Inside Higher Ed)
  
  
• Better to teach kids all religions | It is a step forward in these days of cultural and political unrest to let our kids know about religions other than Christianity. (Lyn Cockburn, Edmonton Sun)
  
  
• Borough kids first to get Muslim lessons | Stockport schoolchildren will be the first in the country to take part in a project to breed multi-racial harmony. (Muslim News, UK)
  
  

Baccalaureates:

• Future blessings: Keeping the baccalaureate alive for high school seniors | Once a staple of graduation events, the baccalaureate is disappearing from public high schools in the Inland area and elsewhere because of court rulings that school-sponsored religious activities are unconstitutional. (The Press-Enterprise, Calif.)
  
  
• Trio of students organizes baccalaureate for seniors | Three Fairmont High School seniors are taking on leadership roles in organizing a baccalaureate service for a strong "spiritual send-off" for graduating classmates. (Fairmont Sentinel, Minn.)
  
  

Same-sex marriage:

• Calif. groups take aim at gay-marriage ban | About 200 religious, labor and civil rights groups announced Wednesday that they are joining forces to try to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment that would take domestic-partner rights away from gay couples in California. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Here come the brides | Debbie Gaston and Elaine Cook will soon become the first lesbians in the UK to be legally wed. (The Guardian, UK)
  
  

Religion & homosexuality:

• Homosexuality on the rise, say Muslim clerics | Youth homosexuality is on the rise along east Africa's Indian Ocean coast and must be stopped, a Muslims clerics' meeting in Tanzanian's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar said on Thursday. (Independent Online, South Africa)
  
  
• Lutherans to uphold stance on gay issues | S.C. synod votes to oppose blessing of same-sex unions (The State, S.C.)
  
  
• Church votes to break ties with Lutheran sect | A large majority of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church members have voted to end their relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Concerns have been raised in the church about the direction of the ELCA, most notably a proposal that would allow homosexuals in committed relationships to be ordained and a proposal to bless same-sex unions. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Lutheran church in Kingston prepares to welcome gays | Immanuel Lutheran Church is a "Reconciling in Christ" congregation, which explicitly welcomes gays, as well as all other people. (Providence Journal, R.I.)
  
  
• Pro-gay rights column costs W.Va. minister his pulpit | The congregation of Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church in Elkins, W.Va., has voted to fire its minister after he wrote a column for the local daily, the Inter-Mountain, supporting gay rights. (Editor & Publisher)
  
  
• Our Savior's Lutheran votes on withdrawal from the ELCA | After a careful count, 74 percent of those members present decided to withdraw the congregation from membership in the ELCA. (Murray County News, Minn.)
  
  

Abuse:

• Vatican takes action against nine priests | The Vatican took action against nine local priests accused of sexual abuse, defrocking one and barring eight others from the ministry. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Religion news in brief | The former child protection officer for the U.S. bishops says the Vatican owes an apology to victims of clergy sex abuse. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Church protesters demand apology | Demanding an apology from Msgr. John Alesandro for failing to help sexual abuse victims who complained to him about predatory priests, about 40 people protested outside St. Dominic's Church in Oyster Bay Wednesday night where the former Diocese of Rockville Centre top official is now pastor. (Newsday, New York)
  
  

Catholicism:

• Suffer the children? | Sacred Heart may still be fighting the archdiocese to stay open, but many of its youngest parishioners and their families already have had to leave in order to attend religious education at other churches. And they're not happy about it. (Watertown TAB & Press, Mass.)
  
  
• Diocese test run for school altar-ation | A proposal to place parish schools in the Brooklyn Diocese under the authority of nonprofit corporations will be given a test run in three schools in the upcoming academic year — but not implemented throughout the diocese any time soon, officials said yesterday. (New York Post)
  
  
• The Catholic church: Impacting history | The worldwide response to the passing of Pope John Paul II highlighted the continuing prominence of the Catholic Church in modern society, despite its less powerful role in contemporary history than in earlier periods. (Washington Post)
  
  
• All of Europe will fall into anguish if we forget God, says Catholic leader | The Church and its people are in crisis, according to the Archbishop of Westminster (Times, London)
  
  
• Catholic bishop preaches at Scots | For only the second time in 167 years, a Catholic bishop has preached from the Presbyterian pulpit of Melbourne's oldest church, saying Christians had to work together or disappear. (The Age, Australia)
  
  
• Catholic leader says British Church is 'in crisis' | People in Europe are filled with angst and the Roman Catholic Church is in crisis, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, said tonight. (Times, London)
  
  
• Catholic laity to preside at services and run parishes | Lay people are to be encouraged to take on huge new responsibilities in the Roman Catholic Church, from running parishes to officiating at church services. (The Telegraph, UK)
  
  
• Pope leads traditional Rome procession | Pope Benedict led a traditional religious procession through the streets of Rome on Thursday and called on Catholics to rediscover the real presence of Christ in communion. (Reuters)
  
  

Books:

• Heeding God's call | Mother Antonia's Journey From Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail, by Lauren Winner. (Washington Post)
  
  
• Traditionalist says first-century Jews' leaders wanted Jesus executed | In 2004, many Jewish leaders and their gentile friends voiced outrage over Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ and its depiction of Jews handing Jesus over to the Romans for crucifixion. A year later, a book by Jewish writer David Klinghoffer says of course that's what the Jewish authorities did (Associated Press)
  
  

History:

• Ruins may have links to St Baldred | An innocent accident between a farmer's plough and fragments beneath the soil has led to a remarkable discovery that is shedding new information on the beginnings of Christianity in eastern Scotland. (Scotsman)
  
  
• Troubles mount for effort to rescue temple artifacts | Israeli archaeologists are threatening to pull the plug on a historic effort to rescue invaluable artifacts from Judaism's ancient First and Second Temples because the project has run out of money. (Forward)
  
  
• Cemetery marks 150th anniversary | Their math isn't especially precise, but officials at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul are proud to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the city's oldest Catholic cemetery this Memorial Day weekend. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
  
  
• A religious revival in a city of secular art | The Museum of Biblical Art treats works by artists of faith with respect and credibility, reflecting a change in the art world. (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  

Sports:

• Separation of church and football | DeBerry out of line for proselytizing to his players (Michael Bradley, Sports Illustrated)
  
  
• Telemaco finds relief in faith | Phillies reliever Amaury Telemaco, who was recalled from Triple-A on Tuesday, needed guidance from above to cope with not making the team out of spring training. (The Intelligencer, Philadelphia)
  
  

Film:

• Making it in America | We received an unusual artifact of religious media in the mail today -- a stealth Christian campaign for the new Russell Crowe movie, Cinderella Man. "Liberal" Hollywood has learned the true lesson of The Passion: Christian conservatives are a market. And that's one hell of a racket. (The Revealer)
  
  
• Lincoln cites St Paul to defend its Da Vinci Code film deal | The dean of Lincoln Cathedral, Dr Alec Knight, has defended the Lincoln Chapter's decision to allow parts of The Da Vinci Code to be filmed at the cathedral in August. He said this week that the Chapter "had considered the issue very carefully" before agreeing. (Church Times, UK)
  
  
• Lincoln to get GBP100,000 for Da Vinci film | Lincoln cathedral is to play an integral role in a forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster -- the film of Dan Brown's bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. (Church of England Newspaper)
  
  
• Still's 'Waters' run deep | In James Still's "A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters," a Catholic Cambodian asks an elderly Jew, "Why don't you believe in Jesus?" The senior citizen replies that she regards Jesus as "a revolutionary Jew," not the savior — and that she would rather argue with God than feel awe for Him. (The Jewish Journal, Calif.)
  
  
• `Star Wars' parallels found with world's major religions | From Christians to Buddhists, fans of the movies believe the Force is with them (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Moving story told clumsily, but well | What the kids and their teachers did was collect paper clips, and as a uniform group of white Christians, teach tolerance to themselves and their community. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
  
  
• Smells like clean spirit | Short Cut to Nirvana espouses enlightenment, but it's sketchy on how to get there (Riverfront Times, Mo.)
  
  
• Can't bring Disney down | Thank you, AFA, for failing to save America (AnneMarie Knepper, Oregon Daily Emerald)
  
  

Kingdom of Heaven:

• Onward PC soldiers | Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. (National Review Online)
  
  
• An interview with Khaled Nabawy | Egyptian actor Khaled Nabawy plays the role of a mullah serving Salah Eddin in Kingdom of Heaven. "I think it will improve the understanding between both sides. I believe that we have Christians that believe that the movie is pro-Muslim. Simultaneously, I believe that some Muslims think it's pro-Christian." (Cairo Magazine, Egypt)
  
  
• Kingdom not quite come | Crusades epic disappoints all by shunning history, religion and plot(Cairo Magazine, Egypt)
  
  
• The Crusades were a bit more complicated than the Hollywood version | "Kingdom of Heaven," the current movie about the medieval Crusades, concludes with the Muslim commander Saladin nobly promising Christian defenders safe passage home to Europe in 1187 when they agreed to surrender Jerusalem. (Associated Press)
  
  

Theater:

• A view from the 'Bridge' | Final work in Cornerstone's faith-based play cycle examines the invisibility of religion (Ventura County Star, Calif.)
  
  
• Newcomer Lily Rabe impresses in 'Magnolias' | In the opening minutes, Annelle is seen nervously fixing Truvy's hair, auditioning for a job and seemingly living and dying with each spritz of the hairspray. In subsequent scenes, she evolves from a woman who provides comic relief with her attempts at arts and crafts and her plunge into religion, to a mature and caring woman whose Christianity gives her strength in the play's climactic scene. (Associated Press)
  
  

Television:

• I won't pay to be abused by the BBC | They are anti-Israel, but also find Christianity - or any strong expression of Christian faith - deeply embarrassing. (Boris Johnson, The Telegraph, UK)
  
  
• Pupils take critical look at sex | A teaching pack to help children to make sense of the highly sexualised media images that bombard them every day has been created. (Times, London)
  
  
• Monks in modern Britain | The Monastery, a reality TV show in which ordinary men live as monks, has proved to be an unexpected ratings winner for the BBC. How active is monastic life in Britain today? (BBC)
  
  
• Changed lives emerge from TV cloister | A worker in the soft-porn industry had a conversion experience, and a student of Buddhism decided to offer himself for ordination in the Church of England, when they took part in the reality-TV series The Monastery, which ended on BBC2 on Tuesday. (Church Times, UK)
  
  

Music:

• Guerra's stardom a matter of faith | Finding God hasn't only affected Juan Luis Guerra's music. The Dominican singer, who became a born-again Christian eight years ago, has apparently also assumed a holier-than-thou attitude when it comes to reaching his audience. (New York Daily News)
  
  
• Drummer stays grounded with his faith | Whether he is on the road with the classic rock band Orleans, recording drum tracks for numerous bands or recording artists, or spending his Sunday mornings laying down the backbeat for Windermere Union Church's praise team, Higher Calling, professional drummer and recording artist Charlie Morgan doesn't miss a beat. (Orlando Sentinel)
  
  
• Enduring hymns | Amy Grant says she has had a hymn in her heart since she was a child. Earlier this month, the singer released her second collection of hymns, titled "Rock of Ages, Hymns and Faith," which includes "Anywhere With Jesus" and "Sweet Will of God." (Washington Times)
  
  
• Gospel singer Mackall dies but leaves a legacy of joy | Elmer Elijah Mackall, 81, a Chesapeake Bay musician since age 5 who became renowned in Southern Maryland and beyond as a church pianist and gospel singer, died Sunday of emphysema at his home in Prince Frederick. (Washington Post)
  
  

Religion & spirituality:

• Some add spiritual aspects to home | Some homeowners are discovering that creation of meditation rooms, home altars and prayer gardens can be a rewarding and enriching use of living space. (The NashvilleTennessean)
  
  
• Faithful see Jesus in apartment window | Faith can move mountains and make the crippled walk, according to Elvira Garcia, who said she was healed when she saw the image of Jesus Christ in an apartment window. (Dallas Morning News)
  
  

People:

• Fasting girl in biog dictionary | A 12-year-old girl who starved to death after rumours she had not eaten for two years has been added to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (BBC)
  
  
• Court hears Falwell web domain arguments | A Web site critical of the Rev. Jerry Falwell's views on gays contains constitutionally protected, noncommercial speech and should be allowed to keep its name -- a common misspelling for the conservative evangelist, a lawyer for the site owner argued Thursday. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Cooking up a reputation | For nearly 30 years Harold Willis has been a staple of the Palo Alto community, and his renown only keeps growing He works privately, and 90 cents of every dollar he makes goes to a savings account he started in order to build a church. "I never preach Christianity," Willis says, "but I'd love to build a church around here." (Paly Voice, Calif.)
  
  
• Jay Sekulow: Is he trying to serve two masters in a house divided? | One of the problems plaguing the so-called "Religious Right" is that instead of pressing the Bush Administration to enact a truly Christian/conservative agenda, certain "leaders" have been too close to the Republican Party and thus have been blocking real change. (John Lofton, Magic City Morning Star, Maine)
  
  

More articles of interest:

• If the family falls apart, society falls apart | The biggest problem that has befallen present-day society is the decay and destruction of the family. (Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Australia's 'sorry day' marked | Ceremonies across Australia have marked National Sorry Day, which remembers the government's removal of Aboriginal children from their families. (BBC)
  
  
• Science gradually confirming Biblical principles | The Bible is filled with advice on how to live your life. The biblical principles were passed down orally for generations and then written down. Christians believe the standards are sound because they believe the precepts were given by God, a divine being who created all that exists. (Andi Cook, Bogalusa Daily News, La.)
  
  
• N.C. officials investigate cross burnings | Three large crosses were burned in separate spots around the city during a span of just over an hour, and yellow fliers with Ku Klux Klan sayings were found at one location, police said. (Associated Press)
  
  

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