W.V. School District Won’t Fight ACLU Over Jesus Painting After Theft

Top five, quote of the day, and commentary will return next week. We’re taking U.S. Labor Day off, so no fresh postings of any sort on the Christianity Today site until Tuesday. Enjoy your weekend.

Politics:

1. Religion in public life: Americans yearn for a middle way | Concerned about the moral state of their country, many Americans have long said they desire more religious influence in public life. They still feel that way, but they’re also growing wary about the forms it is taking (The Christian Science Monitor)
2. Holy Land churches attack Christian Zionism | The Vatican’s envoy in the Holy Land and bishops from three other churches have launched a rare joint attack on the Christian Zionist movement, accusing it of promoting “racial exclusivity and perpetual war” (Reuters)
3. Also: Religious leaders’ statement on Christian Zionism | “We Stand for Justice. We Can Do No Other” (Zenit)
4. In latest push, Bush cites risk in quitting Iraq | President Bush cast the struggle against Islamic extremists as the successor to the battles against Nazism and Communism (The New York Times)
5. Not God’s party | A new poll shows Democrats are losing (more) religious voters (Amy Sullivan, Slate)
6. Republicans target ‘Islamic fascism’ | Fascism seems to be the new buzz word for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq (Associated Press)
7. Churches reach out to mayoral candidates | Faith groups seek to regain clout (The Washington Post)
8. Poll: Crist, Gallagher splitting ‘born-again’ vote | Tom Gallagher had been counting on support from conservative Christians (The Orlando Sentinel)
9. State race turns nasty in final lap | Sen. Jim King and challenger Randall Terry both file complaints (The Orlando Sentinel)
10. Religious voters could doom the Democrats | The good folks who make up the religious right may not love the Republican party, but they know a threat when they see one. The modern Democratic party is hostile to their very existence (Patrick Hynes and Jeremy Lott, Financial Times)
11. Bush names new faith-based czar | Experienced think-tanker Jay Hein will also be deputy assistant to the president (Bill Berkowitz, WorkingForChange)
12. America the Brutal | A peace activist nun declares that America lost its soul after 9/11. Bill Moyers would concur (Mark Tooley, The AmericanSpectator)
13. God’s other party | Do Democrats have a prayer of converting Christian voters? (Patrick Hynes, The American Spectator)
14. The End Times hits primetime | Karl Rove and Co. may be flirting with selling the public the same thing cult leaders throughout history have sold their followers: the afterlife (Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com, via Alternet)

Katherine Harris:

1. Rep. Harris goes from GOP darling to liability | Polls say she’s no longer a shoo-in against her rivals in the U.S. Senate primary in Florida (Los Angeles Times)
2. Makeup call | Katherine Harris, still crazy (Jonathan Chait, The New Republic)
3. Harris’ antics | For the sake of Republicans, Jeb Bush should endorse Will McBride (Editorial, The Orlando Sentinel)
4. Church, state, and politics | Katherine Harris’s comments remind us that, in every election cycle, it is important to determine which candidates maintain a commitment to the ideals of the founders and which would try to turn the country toward theocracy (Editorial, The Capital Times, Madison, Wi.)

Abortion:

1. Colombian rift over abortion widens | A news report that a cardinal threatened doctors who performed an abortion with excommunication sparked controversy Wednesday and a denial from the prelate (Associated Press)
2. Fretting over Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood takes offensive | Gearing up for a state-level fight over abortion, Planned Parenthood staged a pledge-signing ceremony in Vermont Thursday to rally its legislative supporters and take aim at pro-life Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie (Associated Press)
3. Abortion rules for minors to include notarized consent | The Texas Medical Board has adopted rules for minors getting abortions requiring written parental consent forms that must also be notarized, officials said (Associated Press)
4. Choosing life | How pro-lifers become pro-lifers (Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard)

Same-sex marriage & homosexuality:

1. Alberta same-sex bill blocked by opposition | Alberta’s opposition parties made good on a promise Monday to delay debate on a Tory private member’s bill that would have allowed commissioners to refuse to perform same-sex marriages (CBC)
2. Religious alliance says gays can change | Local activist: Christian group’s seminar will stigmatize many (The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, Ca.)
3. Use of police psychologist put on hold for inquiry | A Minneapolis community relations group has questioned Michael A. Campion’s affiliation with an anti-gay organization (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
4. Court asked to revisit gay marriage | Gay and lesbian couples on Tuesday asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider its endorsement of Washington’s gay marriage ban, saying the court’s flawed reasoning ignored legal protections against sex discrimination (Associated Press)
5. New California gay anti-bias law assailed | Conservative groups say it will allow attacks on organizations that believe homosexuality is unnatural or sinful, and is an “assault” on religious freedom (The Washington Times)

AIDS:

1. Abstinence evasion | Contrary to what came out of the International AIDS Conference this month, the president’s anti-AIDS program is helping in Africa (Paul Chesser, TheAmerican Spectator)
2. Purpose-driven AIDS prevention | It’s as simple as ABC (Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online)

Church & state:

1. Harrison BOE seeks dismissal of lawsuit | Citing August theft of ‘Jesus Portrait’ from Bridgeport High (Times West Virginian, Fairmont)
2. Harrison won’t fight ACLU | BOE told lawsuit is moot, since Jesus portrait was stolen (The Charleston Gazette, West Va.)
3. Opponent of cross has terminal cancer | Plaintiff will be added so lawsuit can continue (San Diego Union-Tribune)
4. County attorney seeks rehearing of Bible case | A three-member 5th Circuit Court panel earlier ruled the display was unconstitutional (Houston Chronicle)
5. Churches must not play God with Caesar | Religious affairs writer Jill Rowbotham meets the bishop who defends church-state separation (The Australian)
6. Religion enters Russian schools | The Orthodox Christian religion is being made a compulsory school subject in four of Russia’s regions (BBC)
7. Harris County appeals monument Bible ruling | Entire 5th Circuit Court asked to review decision on courthouse display (Associated Press)
8. God and the ballot box | The separation of church and state is certainly no lie. Soon, the separation of Harris and state may be no lie, either (Editorial, The Oregonian)

Local government:

1. Pastor sues Marietta over denial of zoning | Just a few weeks after the Marietta City Council rejected a rezoning request that would have allowed Anderson’s Covenant Christian Ministries to build a sanctuary, school and dormitory on 8.2 acres off Powder Springs Street, the pastor has sued in U.S. District Court in Atlanta seeking to overturn the decision (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
2. Ruling allows Buddhists to continue worshiping | A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a Vietnamese Buddhist temple may hold religious services in a Chapman Avenue building despite the city’s objections over traffic and noise (Los Angeles Times)
3. Panel hears protests of YMCA tax exemption | In his opening statement to State Board of Assessment Appeals members, Larimer County attorney George Hass contended the YMCA’s 860-acre Estes Park center “is a resort, and not a place of religious worship” and therefore shouldn’t be exempt from paying local property taxes (The Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Co.)

Education:

1. Fundamentalist Christian group gets school of their own | A group of fundamentalist Christians in Bavaria has won a long battle for the right to privately teach their children — without sex ed and lessons on evolution. Bavarian officials are calling it an “emergency solution” (Deutsche Welle, Germany)
2. Odessan threatens Bible class suit | OC Professor David Newman questions PHS teacher’s background as Baptist minister (Odessa American, Tex.)
3. ‘God’s Sugar Daddy’ | School voucher proponent James Leininger has spent millions trying to buy political power in Texas (Bill Berkowitz, Bend Weekly, Ore.)

Science & evolution:

1. The evolution of evolution | Evolution’s radical new theories actually come from Darwin (Oren Harman, The New Republic)
2. More evangelicals see a need to protect the planet (Rob Zaleski, The Capital Times, Madison, Wi.)
3. Pope to debate evolution with former students | Pope Benedict gathers some of his former theology students on Friday for a private weekend debate on evolution and religion, an issue conservative Christians have turned into a political cause in the United States (Reuters)
4. Benedict’s thinking on creation and evolution | there’s no sign that Benedict intends to make a formal statement on evolution anytime soon, at least anything that would go beyond his numerous reminders to the effect that, “We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution.” (John Allen Jr., National Catholic Reporter)
5. Nuns prove God is not figment of the mind | The idea that there a “God spot” in the brain, a circuit of nerves which could explain mankind’s almost universal belief in a deity, is questioned today by a study of Carmelite nuns. (The Telegraph, London)
6. Author sees science, religion saving environment | Scientist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author E.O. Wilson is out to save life on Earth — literally — and as a secular humanist has decided to enlist people of religious faith in his mission (Reuters)
7. The Pope and Darwin | Why Benedict XVI wants to talk about evolution, but won’t tread into the U.S. battle over intelligent design (Time)
8. The evolution revolution | Our greatest science writers take on intelligent design in books that explore the theories of Charles Darwin—and the 21st-century consequences of not believing (Outside)

Health:

1. Experts advise no free IVF for obese women in UK | Severely overweight women should be denied access to free fertility treatment in England and Wales and obese women must lose weight before being offered the chance to try IVF, experts said on Wednesday (Reuters)
2. Medical practices blend health and faith | Doctors, patients distance themselves from care they consider immoral (The Washington Post)
3. Doubt cast over brain ‘God spot’ | A University of Montreal team found Christian mystical experiences are mediated by several brain regions (BBC)

Life ethics:

1. Prescriptions must be filled under newly adopted rule | A pharmacist who personally objects to a legal prescription, such as emergency contraception, would be required to fill it if it’s in stock, or face sanctions, under a proposed rule adopted Thursday by the state Board of Pharmacy (The Seattle Times)
2. Death penalty debate ahead | National group plans to push for end to South Dakota law (Associated Press)
3. Mass. governor says stem-cell research “Orwellian” | “I believe it crosses a very bright moral line to take sperm and eggs in the laboratory and start creating human life,” Romney told reporters. “It is Orwellian in its scope. In laboratories you could have trays of new embryos being created” (Reuters)
4. Stem cell experiment killed embryos, researchers say | Journal clarifies article on results of creating new lines for scientists (The Baltimore Sun)
5. New stem cell rules ignite a battle on Beacon Hill | Healey, legislators decry curb on work (The Boston Globe)

Georgetown evangelical groups ejection:

1. Ministry groups’ ejection protested | Some evangelical students at Georgetown University spent the first day of classes yesterday collecting 400 signatures from people who said they were displeased that the school had ejected several private ministry groups from campus (The Washington Post)
2. Barred ministries push back | Members of several outside Protestant ministries recently barred from the campus of Georgetown University yesterday began a petition drive appealing the decision by school administrators (The Washington Times)
3. Ministry decision draws criticism | Dozens of students circulated petitions in Red Square on Wednesday criticizing the university’s recent decision to bar six Protestant ministries from campus, following a week of extensive media coverage and complaints from alumni and students (The Hoya, Georgetown U.)
4. Some affiliates saw emerging split | While the university’s decision to cut its ties with six affiliated ministries two weeks ago came as a surprise to many, some of those involved in the dispute said that the relationship between the university and affiliates has become strained in recent years (The Hoya, Georgetown U.)
5. Ministry misguided | The Georgetown administration’s recent decision to strictly prohibit affiliated ministries from operating on campus has precipitated a firestorm of criticism from both inside and outside the university community (Editorial, The Hoya, Georgetown U.)
6. Control of religion activities on campuses still questioned | Georgetown leaders said the goal is a more unified Protestant voice on campus. Groups rocked by the decision say it’s an attack on diversity (Terry Mattingly, Scripps Howard News Service)
7. Religious “diversity” at Georgetown | Conservative evangelicals are singled out for exclusion (Joseph M. Knippenberg, The AmericanSpectator)

Religious freedom:

1. Christians lobby against anti-conversion bill | Christian groups in Chhattisgarh are lobbying against the anti-conversion bill passed by the state assembly that has banned religious conversion by force or allurement. (India eNews)
2. Cuffed during prayer | An Oklahoma preacher arrested and charged with violating Fort Payne’s noise ordinance at a tent revival Sunday pleaded—but he says he was only guilty of praying (Times-Journal, Fort Payne, Ala.)
3. Outgoing chief says Poso needs answers on religious riots | Outgoing Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Oegroseno warned Thursday that violence could break out again in Poso, saying he believed the real masterminds behind sectarian killings there in 2000 were still at large (The Jakarta Post, Indonesia)
4. Residents: Association is being intolerant of religious expression | A couple charges that the Byers Station Homeowners Association’s decision to deny their request to erect a 24-inch statue of the Virgin Mary in their front yard is intolerant (Daily Local, West Chester, Pa.)
5. More hospitals giving Muslims a place to pray | Christ in Oak Lawn among those setting aside special rooms (Religion News Service)
6. Cardinal pleads for rights | Muslims in the West must speak up for Christians denied their rights in Islamic countries, Britain’s top Catholic said in Melbourne last night (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
7. PM’s directive brings good cheer to Protestant Church | The Prime Ministerial directive governing the working of the Protestant Church has prompted fundamental changes for the better since it was issued more than a year ago, reports Religious Affairs Committee Chairman Ngo Yen Thi (Vietnam News Service)
8. Fundamentalism imperils ‘model’ Malaysian unity | This country is looked up to for its moderation, stability and impressive economic gains. But under the surface, a different reality appears to be unfolding, with potentially far-reaching con- sequences for this “model Islamic democracy.” (The Washington Times)
9. I converted at gunpoint | Am I really a Muslim? (Daniel Engber, Slate)
10. The religious war against all of us | For journalists such as Messrs. Centanni and Wiig to be forced to lie about the most important truths of all is an abomination worthy of condemnation in the strongest terms. Yet the condemnation was, at best, muted (Raymond J. de Souza, National Post)
11. A chance of faith | Religious conversions are unusual in most of the world (David Aikman, The Wall Street Journal)

Religious freedom in Malaysia:

1. Petition filed wrongly | The Syariah Court here turned down a former Roman Catholic’s attempt to return to Christianity after his conversion to Islam because he had used the wrong process (The Star, Malaysia)
2. Judge: Syariah (Shariah) process applies | Muslims cannot renounce the religion without following the process of the Syariah, says Syariah High Court judge Husin Ahamad (New StraitsTimes, Malaysia)
3. Learning from conservatism in Malaysia | How can we force someone to be a Muslim without her/his consent while Islam requires voluntary submission? (Arif Maftuhin, The Jakarta Post, Indonesia)

Africa:

1. How should Christian chiefs be buried? | The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana says henceforth it would consult the Volta Regional House of Chiefs on burial arrangements of chiefs who are members of the church in order to avoid running into conflict with tradition (Accra Mail, Ghana)
2. Sudan rejects Darfur resolution | The Sudanese government has vehemently rejected a UN Security Council resolution that would send a UN force to Sudan’s Darfur region (BBC)
3. The United Nations and Darfur | Don’t be fooled by yesterday’s Security Council resolution: Working through the U.N. is the wrong way to end this genocide (Editorial, The New Republic)
4. Christians seek West’s atonement for colonialism | In prayer sessions punctuated by wailing and weeping, song and dance, delegates said the West had to repent before God as the first step to reconciliation with Africa, which blames many of its problems on the legacies of enslavement and imperialism (Reuters)
5. Why did God not move you to speak earlier? | Spectacular act of repentance clearly moved President Thabo Mbeki (The Star, South Africa)

Zimbabwe:

1. Situation still dire for Zimbabweans | A new report by human rights activists Wednesday paints a grim picture of life in Zimbabwe, more than a year after authorities demolished urban houses, shelters and market stalls in a campaign called “Operation Drive Out Trash.” (Associated Press)

Uganda:

1. Peace talks set to resume in Uganda | Ugandan government forces began withdrawing to neutral positions Wednesday to provide northern rebels safe passage to two camps across the border in southern Sudan where they can be monitored until a final peace deal is reached to end 19 years of civil war. (Associated Press)
2. Peace pact may free women, youths held by LRA | Martin Ojul, who heads the LRA team in peace talks to end a 19-year insurgency, yesterday told reporters in Juba, southern Sudan’s capital, that arrangements were under way to free women and children in captivity (The Washington Times)
3. Uganda sets emergency plan for displaced | The government has drafted an emergency resettlement plan for the close to 2 million people displaced by the brutal 19-year northern Uganda insurgency, the prime minister said Thursday, two days after a truce with rebels began (Associated Press)
4. Pastors demand investigation | Several pastors under the advocacy group, Arising for Christ, yesterday asked the police to investigate all born again pastors and evangelists involved in questionable dealings (The Monitor, Uganda)
5. When criminals pose as church pastors | A group of 20 pastors have decided to take the bull by the horns and fight the rot that is threatening to destroy the born-again Christian churches in Uganda (Editorial, The Monitor, Uganda)

Church life:

1. In opening arms to gays, Woodside Church cast from state Baptist group | Woodside Church has become the first Baptist church in the state to be disaffiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA because of its stand on homosexuality (The Flint Journal, Mi.)
2. Church of God of Prophecy adjusts its stance on remarriage | Vote lets pastors rule case by case (The Tennessean, Nashville)
3. Spoken tongue secret stirs reverend controversy | A reverend found himself censored after he revealed a secret while speaking at a religious gathering in Fort Worth (WFAA, Dallas)
4. Seminary leader rebukes pastor over sermon | Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson has issued an unusual rebuke to the Rev. Dwight McKissic, a seminary trustee and prominent Arlington pastor, for acknowledging during a chapel service that he sometimes speaks in tongues when he prays (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
5. Are Swedes losing their religion? | A new archbishop will take office in Sweden on September 2. But how many people actually care? Only three out of 10 Swedes state that they have confidence in the church. Aren’t the Swedes interested in religion? (Sweden.se)
6. Virginia bishops hit impasse | Virginia Episcopal Bishop Peter J. Lee announced yesterday that he and the newly consecrated Anglican Bishop Martyn Minns have failed to reach an agreement on allowing the new bishop to minister in the Virginia diocese (The Washington Times)
7. The long-forgotten souls | Church plans monument to cemetery’s unknown dead (The Boston Globe)
8. Md. judge backs AME Zion in dispute | Breakaway faction told to turn over assets (The Washington Post)
9. Presbyterians: Congregation Decides: Kirk of the Hills votes to leave denomination | Members cheer after overwhelmingly voting to affiliate with a more conservative group (Tulsa World, Okla.)
10. Minister: Seminary censored sermon | Fort Worth: He says it’s not on Web because he questioned SBC policy (The Dallas Morning News)
11. Intimate confessions pour out on church’s web site | LifeChurch, an evangelical network based in Edmond, Okla., set up mysecret.tv as a forum for people to confess anonymously on the Internet (The New York Times)

Missions & ministry:

1. Pastor has global mission | New director of Beeson center wants students to see possibilities of worldwide outreach (The Birmingham News, Ala.)

Catholicism:

1. Our man in Rome | In his new home, Bernard Cardinal Law has built a pretty comfortable life for himself, presiding over a stunning basilica, mingling with admirers—and enjoying as much power as ever (Boston)
2. Catholic Bavaria gears up for Pope’s homecoming | As Bavaria, Germany’s Catholic heartland, works itself into a frenzy over next week’s visit by Pope Benedict XVI, nowhere is the sense of expectation greater than in his birthplace in the far south-east of the country, near the Austrian border (Reuters)
3. Desperate Catholics find “rent-a-priests” online | Some are Catholics who see their church as stuck in the past. Others are believers who happen to be divorced, pregnant before marriage or gay. A few just can’t find a priest when they need one. Roman Catholics shunned by the official church are “renting” married priests in times of crisis and celebration (Reuters)
4. Pope makes pilgrimage to see ‘Holy Face’ | Pope Benedict XVI on Friday prayed at a sanctuary in this village in central Italy that holds a veil some Christians believe was used to wipe blood and sweat from Jesus’ face on his way to his crucifixion and bears his image on the cloth (Associated Press)
5. Pope visits “Veronica’s Veil” with face of Jesus | But the Pope stopped short of endorsing the veil, venerated since the Middle Ages, as the true face of Christ. (Reuters)
6. Archbishop steps into gay pride row | The Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow said on Friday he had given his backing to nine firefighters who were disciplined for refusing to hand out leaflets during a gay pride rally (Reuters)

Crime:

1. Charity-raiding Va. mayor spared prison | A federal judge sentenced a former Lynchburg, Va., mayor to three years of probation Wednesday for raiding his church’s charity and stealing from disabled Social Security recipients (Associated Press)
2. Pastor who resigned amid money probe has new job | Norfolk church says it has hired Wendell Johnson (Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.)
3. First things first | Memo to members of the ministry: When the accusation against an employee is rape, 911 is the first number to dial, not the last (Eileen McNamara, The Boston Globe)

Abuse:

1. Bishop must answer questions in sex suit | A judge ruled Thursday that Bishop Earl Paulk must face questioning in the sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against him by two former parishioners and staff members of his South DeKalb church (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
2. Church sex scandal off the back burner | A year to the day after two longtime parishioners and staff members filed suit against Bishop Earl Paulk, the parties will appear before a DeKalb County judge on Thursday to try to move the case along (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
3. Youth minister accused of sex with student | A former San Angelo youth minister and football coach was being held in the Tom Green County Jail on Thursday after police arrested him on a charge of sexual assault of a child (Associated Press)
4. Pastor accused of raping church member indicted | Leonard Ray Owens, the 63-year-old pastor accused of raping a church member last year during a ceremony to cast out demons, has been indicted by a Tarrant County grand jury (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
5. Priest who exposed scandal leaves parish and the church | The priest who hired a private eye to investigate the extravagant spending of his pastor at St. John Roman Catholic Church in Darien resigned abruptly from the parish and the priesthood (The New York Times)
6. Also: N.Y. priests accused of abuse get choice (Associated Press)
7. A choice for New York priests in abuse cases | Priests accused of sexually abusing children have been given a choice: Live in supervised housing or quit (The New York Times)
8. Attorney: Milwaukee Archdiocese settles sex abuse lawsuits | The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has reached settlements that could total $16 million or more with eight victims of clergy sexual abuse whose lawsuits were heading for trial in California, according to an attorney representing one of the victims (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
9. $16M settlement reached in priest abuse | The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle sexual abuse claims involving 10 victims in California and a priest the archdiocese had transferred there, church officials said Friday. (Associated Press)

Music:

1. Religion on the road | Christian website offers sermons, music for iPods (The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
2. Previously unknown Bach work discovered | A previously unknown work by Johann Sebastian Bach has turned up in a crate of 18th-century birthday cards removed from a German library shortly before it was devastated by fire last year, researchers said Wednesday (Associated Press)
3. Gospel of the Fab Four | They met at a church party. John was an Anglican choirboy, and Paul was a not-very-active Catholic. And the band they created, John would later claim, became “more popular than Jesus. (The Washington Times)
4. An unholy row over gospel music in church | Christians based at a former Scout hut have been asked to keep the noise down after a day of gospel music upset neighbours (icSouthLondon)
5. Dutch minister can’t ban Madonna mock-crucifixion | The Dutch justice minister has rejected a call by a Christian party to stop Madonna staging a mock-crucifixion in concerts in Amsterdam (Reuters)

Sports:

1. Charles Barkley addresses politics, religion | “Religious people in general are so discriminatory against other people, and that really disturbs me,” he said. “My idea of religion is we all love and respect. We all sin, but we still have common decency and respect for other people. So right now I’m struggling with my idea of what religion is” (Associated Press)
2. Pastor says Catholics aren’t barred as coaches | Calvary says they’ve always been welcome in church youth league (The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)

Books:

1. Evangelicals find a friend in Catholic author | Working alongside evangelicals at the American Bible Society ignited a deep curiosity in Peter Feuerherd about what is arguably one of the most influential branches of Protestant Christianity. That curiosity—ueled by his daughter joining an evangelical church and Feuerherd’s participation in a 2003 summer seminar on religion and journalism at Northwestern University—led to him writing “Holy Land USA: A Catholic Ride through America’s Evangelical Landscape.” (Renee Schafer Horton, Northwest Explorer, Tucson, Az.)
2. Milingo, Da Vinci Code author team up | Renegade Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo has teamed up with Dan Brown, author of the controversial film and novel, The Da Vinci Code. According to the Catholic World News and The Universe newspapers, the African prelate is reported to have reached a tentative agreement to assist Brown with a future novel about exorcism (The Times of Zambia)
3. China atheist, U.S. preacher clash in book | One is a former spokesman for Communist China’s Cabinet, the other, an American evangelist known for his elaborate, two-day Christian festivals. The question they are both asking: Does God exist? While atheist Zhao Qizheng wants proof, preacher Luis Palau’s answer is a resounding “Yes!” (Associated Press)
4. The sinner’s guide to the evangelical right | A hilarious new book provides instructions on how to argue the big issues with ultra-conservative fundamentalists (Rob Lanham, AlterNet)
5. Agape Press censors itself over Loyola-for-Protestants book review | Book published by evangelical press accused of being “New Age” (Bartholomew’s notes on religion)

Taylor crash:

1. Student rejoins her Taylor family | Campus still coping with revelation of wrong identifications (Associated Press)
2. Charges filed in Taylor U. crash | The trucker whose big rig slammed into a Taylor University van on Interstate 69 this spring, killing four students and a college employee, has been charged with five counts of reckless homicide, prosecutors said today (The Indianapolis Star)
3. Whitney Cerak’s family thanks public | The final blog post (The Indianapolis Star)

People:

1. Miracle is sunk | A priest has died after trying to demonstrate how Jesus walked on water (Daily Record, Scotland)
2. Influential pastor who helped build local church dies | The Rev. Mark Corts expanded Calvary Baptist Church, held other prominent posts (Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.)
3. Also: Mark Corts | The Rev. Mark Corts was only 68 when he died Tuesday night, but he’d accomplished several lifetimes’ worth of work (Editorial, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.)
4. The Good List 2006 | Fifty men and women who make our world a better place (The Independent, London)

Film:

1. Sweet Jesus | Greg Sterlace’s new film, Sweet Jesus, is more ambitious and provocative than his previous efforts, Ross and Gwen and Failure (ArtVoice, Buffalo, N.Y.)
2. British slavery drama set for U.S. release | Michael Apted’s slave-trade drama “Amazing Grace” has lined up a U.S. distribution deal on the eve of the Toronto International Film Festival, where it will make its world premiere in the closing-night slot (Reuters)
3. No link between Gibson’s anti-Semitism and ‘Christ’ film, evangelicals say | The Christian evangelical community that so firmly supported Mel Gibson’s blockbuster movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” has remained conspicuously silent in the wake of the Hollywood star’s recent outburst of anti-Semitism, Anti Defamation League national chairman Abraham Foxman charged (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)

More articles of interest:

1. Sam’s Club holiday ad angers family group | Sam’s got a reminder that just wishing someone “Happy Holidays” isn’t enough for many Christians who value the “Reason for the Season.” (Family News in Focus)
2. Christian video game prays for mass appeal | God’s army will begin battling the Antichrist and his minions in a video game version of post-apocalyptic New York City to be released on Friday (AFP)
3. Doing away with God | It’s not the most conservative idea (Michael Pakaluk, National Review Online)
4. Vandals damage priceless rock carvings | “There were a lot of chunks missing and a lot of gouges” (Nunatsiaq News)
5. Religion in the news: Cross division | Soaring 11 stories above southern Illinois’ highest point, the Bald Knob Cross of Peace has been billed as a towering testament to goodwill. But peace and goodwill have been scarce lately on the board that administers the 43-year-old landmark about 130 miles southeast of St. Louis (Associated Press)
6. Religion news in brief | First African-American commandant at Army’s school for chaplains, Spiritual counselor fights removal of Jesus statue, and other stories (Associated Press)
7. Policies for churchgoers attracts Christians | More on FaithGuard insurance policies offered by West Des Moines, Iowa-based GuideOne Insurance (Associated Press)

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