IRS says “Dr. Dino” isn’t paying his taxesKent Hovind is a creationist who is pretty well known among other creationists—he was the representative for the six-day literalist position in a widely circulated 2000 debate with Hugh Ross on the John Ankerberg Show—but he’s not every creationist’s favorite spokesman.
For example, Answers in Genesis, one of the leading creationist organizations, called him a “talented creationist speaker … with reasonably orthodox understandings of Genesis,” but criticized his use of “material that is not sound scientifically.” (This led to a bit of a dispute between Hovind and the group.)
He’s also had trouble with the law, having been charged with assault, battery, and burglary (the charges were dropped), and faces other charges over his refusal to get building permits for his properties.
Now Hovind, who goes by the name “Dr. Dino” and runs Dino Adventure Land, Faith Baptist Church, and Creation Science Evangelism in Pensacola, Florida, is being investigated by the IRS for tax evasion.
IRS agent Scott Schneider said Hovind’s businesses and church don’t have either a business license or tax-exempt status as nonprofit enterprises.
“Since 1997, Hovind has engaged in financial transactions indicating sources of income and has made deposits to bank accounts well in excess of $1 million per year during some of these years, which would require the filing of federal income taxes,” Schneider said, according to the Pensacola News-Journal.
Hovind says he’s being persecuted, and his lawyer seems to be making the same case as Hovind did about those building permits: he doesn’t need to follow the law since his religious enterprises are “entirely separate from secular authorities.”
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Abduction and murder at church:
- Abducted woman dies, child saved | A Sheraden woman was shot to death Sunday on a turnpike exit ramp after her ex-lover opened fire at a church service, abducted her and their infant daughter and led police on a 50-mile chase (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
- Sheraden woman slain after gunman abducts her and infant daughter from church services | Suspect led police on long chase; baby unharmed (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
The return of Jeffrey John:
- Gay cleric takes up senior post | The openly gay canon who felt compelled to withdraw his candidature as Bishop of Reading has been named the new Dean of St Albans (BBC)
- Hostility disappears as gay canon is appointed Dean of St Albans | Dr Jeffrey John, formerly in line to become Bishop of Reading, is given a senior posting (The Independent, London)
- Gay displaced from bishopric given deanery as consolation prize (The Guardian, London)
- No 10 drive to give gay priest top job | Tony Blair personally sanctioned the controversial appointment of a gay priest to one of the most important Church of England jobs as part of a Downing Street campaign to warn Anglican leaders that a person’s sexuality should not bar them from senior positions (The Guardian, London)
- Fury as Church appoints gay canon new dean of St Albans | The Church of England was accused of creating a “spiritual vacuum” in Britain last night after the disclosure that Jeffrey John, the gay canon forced to stand down as Bishop of Reading, is to be the next dean of St Albans (The Telegraph, London)
People:
- Pope John Paul II: Pointing the way to reconciliation | Part of the Time 100 series (Elie Wiesel, Time)
- Mel Gibson: Passionate art from the gut | Part of the Time 100 series (Jerry B. Jenkins, Time)
- Life after the report | The Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr talks about horseback riding, the Pledge of Allegiance and never making it onto the Supreme Court (The New York Times Magazine)
- Howard shows faith in abilities | For Dwight Howard, making the jump from high school to the NBA is truly going to be a leap of faith. While attempting to outplay his opponents on the court next season, Howard also wants to give them a lift spiritually (The Washington Times)
Iraq:
- Church prays for kidnapped Ohio soldier | About 900 people attended two morning services at First Baptist Church of Glen Este, near where Pfc. Keith M. Maupin grew up (Associated Press)
- Pope brands Rantissi killing, Iraq hostage-takings ‘inhuman’ | “I am following with great sadness the tragic news coming from the Holy Land and Iraq. The shedding of blood by brothers must end. Such inhuman acts are contrary to the will of God,” he said (AFP)
- Pope appeals for Iraq hostage release | Pope John Paul II appealed Sunday for the release of hostages in Iraq, calling on the kidnappers to show “humanity” (Associated Press)
Sudan civil war:
- Sudan clashes force thousands from home | At least 50,000 people have fled their homes in recent weeks because of militia attacks and fighting between Sudanese government and rebel forces in southern Sudan, the United Nations said Sunday (Associated Press)
- Thousands flee new Sudan unrest | The UN says at least 50,000 people have fled their homes in southern Sudan over the past month because of violence (BBC)
Religion & politics:
- Below the campaign radar, a values war | Advocacy groups on the left and the right are convinced that the country is at a turning point on them, and that the consensus of the next election — no matter how narrow — could be locked in for a generation, because of the number of judges the next president will appoint (The New York Times)
- No politics are local | The wired world has made every fight everybody’s fight, and each of us an intolerant global villager (Christopher Caldwell, The New York Times Magazine)
- John Kerry, in the Catholic tradition | He’s no Mario Cuomo (Joseph Bottum, The Weekly Standard)
- Bush letter cites ‘crusade’ against terrorism | Years after President Bush set off alarm bells in the Muslim world by referring to his war against terrorism as a “crusade,” the word that Arabs equate with Christian brutality has resurfaced in a Bush campaign fund-raising letter, officials acknowledged on Sunday (Reuters)
- Cyprus bishop says yes voters will go to hell | Be good and you will inherit the kingdom of heavens, said Jesus. Vote yes in Cyprus’s crucial referendum on April 24 and you will go to hell – or so says a Greek Cypriot bishop (Reuters)
- French Muslims allowed bandannas | The French government is not ruling out bandannas as discreet forms of headwear for Muslim students, the country’s education minister has said (BBC)
Church & state:
- Unappealing to a higher authority | The case of the Supreme Court v. the Supreme Being (Gene Weingarten, The Washington Post)
- God and the devil in Texas | The frightening implication here is the jury may have reasoned that a “message” from Satan should have been resisted, while one from God was more problematic (Frederick Grab, The Weekly Standard)
Abortion:
- Final arguments begin in abortion ban case | A new federal law that bans certain kinds of abortions constitutes a burden on a woman’s right to choose, an attorney for Planned Parenthood said during closing arguments (Associated Press)
- Scout’s honor | We suspect it is a healthy relationship wherever it occurs, but whether the Girl Scouts should have any links with Planned Parenthood is a decision best left to the Girl Scouts and their parents and troop leaders (The Lufkin Daily News, Tex.)
- Rallying for one massive rally | Abortion rights activists hope to descend on Mall in ‘historic’ numbers (The Washington Post)
- Bush mobilizes women | George W. Bush didn’t seek office hoping to launch a new wave of the women’s movement. But the president has angered so many girls and women that he has helped mobilize a national march to protect women’s rights (Ruth Rosen, San Francisco Chronicle)
- Prolife teachers angered by march | Thousands of pro-life teachers and school staff required to belong to the National Education Association across the country are offended by the union’s co-sponsorship of a pro-choice march in Washington this Sunday (The Washington Times)
- ‘There are only two categories of human being: wanted and unwanted’ | On Tuesday an abortion will be shown on British television for the first time. Elizabeth Day brings together women from both sides of the abortion debate to watch a preview of the programme and asks: will it change minds? (The Telegraph, London)
- Broadcast and be damned: the death and the abortion we should not be spared | Pushing back the boundaries or overstepping the mark? Andreas Whittam Smith on why some taboos are to be broken (The Independent, London)
Gay marriage:
- Black, Christian, and gay | Detroiters Michael Belcher and Walter Houston fight religious bias as well as legal hurdles (Detroit Free Press)
- Is same-sex marriage a civil-rights issue? | Black pastors disagree (The Seattle Times)
- Gay debate challenges marriage laws | Those for and against same-sex marriages argue the intent of Oregon’s founding fathers and constitutional vs. legislative remedies (The Oregonian)
- Oregon judge to decide gay marriage suit | After listening to legal arguments Friday over whether Multnomah County can conduct same-sex weddings, a county circuit judge said he will issue a ruling this week (Associated Press)
- Straight couples say Fla. hotel unfriendly | Three heterosexual couples said they were turned away from a hotel in this gay-friendly tourist spot because of their sexual orientation (Associated Press)
- Same-sex marriage decried at forum | Opponents cite religious issues (The Washington Post)
- Romney on path to bar same-sex ‘marriage’ | Many Massachusetts traditional-values groups are hoping their governor and a highly respected jurist will get the chance to ask the state’s high court to stay its decision legalizing same-sex “marriage.” (The Washington Times)
Abuse:
- Priest sentenced on molestation charge | A priest accused of molesting a teenage boy has pleaded no contest in the case, but argues that he committed the acts in question for spiritual reasons and not sexual gratification, his lawyer said Sunday (Associated Press)
- Technical delays Lutheran trial resumes Monday | Technical difficulties with computer video equipment caused Judge Bonnie Leggat to give the jury most of the day off in the civil lawsuit trial against the Northern Texas/Northern Louisiana Synod of the Lutheran Church and two of its officials on Friday (Marshall News Messenger, Tex.)
Church life:
- Where gospel resounds in African tongues | An explosion of African immigrant churches in the past 15 years has helped reshape religious worship in the city (The New York Times)
- For Amish, the grass is greener in Wisconsin | Whole communities from Lancaster, Williamsport and other parts of Pennsylvania have been relocating to Wisconsin, where land is two to three times as cheap and the influences of modern society are less pressing (The Washington Post)
- For snake handlers, going to church can prove deadly | When the Rev. Dwayne Long picked up a rattlesnake in church last Sunday to show his faith in God, he was breaking a Virginia law that makes it a misdemeanor to handle dangerous snakes (The Roanoke Times, Va.)
Church bells:
- New church rules may sound the death knell for bell-makers | Plans to change the way church bells are listed could sound the death knell for Britain’s two remaining bell foundries, it was claimed (The Independent, London)
- Church blesses giant Tsar Bell | A giant bell that will be the biggest to chime in Russia has been blessed and placed in a monastery bell tower (BBC)
Music:
- The organ as extreme sport | Playing all the organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach or Olivier Messiaen is like hiking the Appalachian Trail. Usually, people take weeks or even months to do it. Paul Jacobs likes to do it more like a marathon (The New York Times)
- Christian music’s new wave | Two decades after Christian rock bands began to fill theaters, the popularity of the Passion Experience tour, billed not as a concert but as a “worship gathering” for college students, reflects a groundswell both within churches and in the Christian music marketplace (The New York Times)
- Piracy no stranger to Christian tunes | Christian teens are stealing Jesus music (The Dallas Morning News)
Books:
- Signs and wonders | In The Miracle Detective, a journalist goes on the trail of mystic apparitions (The Washington Post)
- All for one | God Against the Gods shows the trouble with the triumph of a single divinity (The Washington Post)
- Marketing the Messiah | Two books examine the popular appeal and agendas of evangelical Christians (The Washington Post)
Art & film:
- Portraying the divine | In a show at a Jewish museum, 100 artists share their visions of God. Many of the works are devoid of religiosity (Los Angeles Times)
- God in the aisles | It was probably inevitable, given the growing profile of evangelicals around the country and their open disdain for Hollywood hedonism. The first Independent Christian Film Festival & Jubilee Awards has been set to run in San Antonio Nov. 11-13 (Variety)
- Coverage of `The Passion’ | According to the initial findings of a study by the College of Communications at Marquette University, a Jesuit institution, most articles that it categorized as straight news reports were either neutral or positive. Reaction to the film, about the last hours of Jesus, became more negative in editorials, reviews, critiques and feature articles (The New York Times)
More articles:
- African Anglicans shun US money over gay policies | Bishops last week said they will not sacrifice conscience (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Taking the sin out of sex | Why has the church been so prudishly anti-sexual, giving grudging tolerance only to the marriage bed? (David Bryant, The Guardian)
- Nigeria’s ‘respectable’ slave trade | “Trafficking in human beings” is a phrase guaranteed to cause a sharp intake of breath among listeners from the liberal and affluent and concerned West. The view of trafficking in Nigeria is somewhat different. In fact, it is seen as an everyday part of West African life (BBC)
- Cathedral may see return of Muslims | Centuries after Christian building was put at the centre of Córdoba’s mosque, Vatican hears Spanish appeal to allow Islamic worship there (The Guardian, London)
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