Supreme Court was set to overturn Roe v. Wade in 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey Private notes just released from the late Supreme Court justice Harry Blackmun show that the Supreme Court was ready to overturnRoe v. Wade in 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey case. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist was set to write a five-justice majority opinion, along with Byron White, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Anthony M. Kennedy.
It was Kennedy who jumped ship, joining with David Souter and Sandra Day O’Connor on a compromise measure, which reaffirmed the right to abortion but revoked Roe v. Wade‘s calling that right “fundamental.” In the final Casey decision, the court ruled that states can put limits on abortion, such as requiring women’s “informed consent” and parental notification for minors.
“I need to see you as soon as you have a few free moments,” Kennedy wrote in a note to Blackmun, who wrote the Roe decision. “I want to tell you about a new development in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and at least part of what I say should come as welcome news.”
Well, not welcome news, of course, for the more than 44 million killed since Roe. But this development may energize those who believe Roe can’t be overturned. (The National Right to Life Committee has some commentary on the Blackmun papers and their media coverage.)
KOCE: We won’t sell to Christian broadcaster, even if it’s the high bidder KOCE, a public television station in Huntington Beach, California, was sold to a local foundation. But it sure looks like the actual high bidder was the Christian Daystar Television Network, based in Texas..
KOCE officials earlier claimed that they followed the law, which required a sale to the “highest responsible bidder,” suggesting that Daystar is irresponsible. Now they’re pointing to a line in their initial sale announcement that “the district reserves the right to reject any and all proposals.”
In any case, it seems clear that KOCE is rejecting Daystar’s money simply because it’s religious.
Daystar, which sued last week to have its high bid accepted.. This week, Coast Community College District, which owns KOCE, filed a countersuit.
“We made the decision to sell KOCE to the foundation with the best interest of the district, its students, and the community in mind,” district board President George Brown said in a written statement quoted by The Orange County Register. “We have at all times sought to comply with the law and preserve KOCE as an asset for the community at large. If we did something wrong, we want to know about it immediately so that we can correct whatever mistakes we might have made in the process. That is what our court action is all about — getting to the truth.”
That’s nice. And if the court says it was the wrong thing, would KOCE accept Daystar’s bid? Brown says no:
“We’d like to have the right to go back and rebid or keep the station rather than sell to Daystar.”
More articles
More on life ethics:
- Anti-abortion politics gets nastier | John Ashcroft has no respect for privacy (Marianne Means, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
- Activist trying to revive rallies against abortions | Operation Rescue founder tones down delivery in attempt to raise ongoing support (The Indianapolis Star)
- Ideology, science cross in ‘Plan B’ battle | Why has it been so hard to make emergency contraception easy? (Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe)
- Stem cell ideologues | The president should be seeking the best information and opinions, not just ones he agrees with (Editorial, The Boston Globe)
- Promise, peril and progress | The president may still want to rethink his guidelines for federal practice, or at least reinvigorate the stem-cell debate. Doing so will not nullify his commitment to human life. It may open the door to greater moral and medical progress (Editorial, The Washington Times)
Education:
- Again, teach the best science | Scientists’ warnings that including a critical analysis of evolution will make Ohio the nation’s laughingstock seem far-fetched (Editorial, The Cincinnati Enquirer)
- Bills would make Michigan schools push abstinence | Those that don’t beef up message would lose funding (The Detroit News)
- A suggestion to help the Manatee School Board keep on praying | Ask Manatee Religious Services group to invite a rabbi or imam to give the invocation roughly in equivalence to the number of synagogues or mosques in Manatee County, compared to Christian churches (Rod Thomson, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla.)
- Home school limits upheld | Court says public schools may exclude students from sports (The Ann Arbor News, Mi.)
- Also: Ruling gives public schools sports authority | Home-schoolers don’t have right to join their teams, appeals court says (Associated Press)
Law:
- Boy Scouts’ case backed by Justice Department | Group fighting to keep Fiesta Island site lease (San Diego Union Tribune)
- Also: Justice intervenes in Boy Scouts case | The government intervened Thursday on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America in a federal lawsuit over whether the Scouts should be evicted from a San Diego park because they discriminate against atheists and gays (Associated Press)
- Two Christian advocacy groups put faith in courts | Supporters and critics say the organizations are a force to be reckoned with in battles on rights (Los Angeles Times)
Locke v Davey:
- Why can’t a public scholarship fund a theology education? | Last week’s ruling in Locke vs. Davey, while it may seem limited just to the facts of a difficult case, could lead to substantial discrimination against religion (Terry Eastland, The Dallas Morning News)
- Religious studies | Court correctly leaves scholarship ban up to states (Editorial, Detroit Free Press)
- Holy discrimination! | The Supreme Court approves religious discrimination (Douglas W. Kmiec, National Review Online)
- Government scholarships for preachers? | Does the U.S. Supreme Court, in fact, believe the study of theology entails only preaching, prayers and pastoral visits? (David Hall, Chicago Tribune)
California’s Catholic Charities case:
- Handicapping religion | If the free exercise clause means anything, it means preventing government from handicapping citizens in public life because of their faith (Bruce Fein, The Washington Times)
- Bitter pill | California joins the post-Christian world by running roughshod on religious freedom (Shawn Macomber, The American Spectator)
Religion and politics:
- The Reagan Catholics | Who they are. Where they come from. How they think. How to reach them (Michael Novak, National Review Online)
- Bush praises faith-based groups’ work | President Bush yesterday said it was “essential” that the government reinforce the “vital work that faith-based organizations can do,” but tried to quell fears of liberals and civil libertarians that church and state would get too cozy (The Washington Times)
- Bush mends fences with voter base | From gun control to judicial appointments to supporting a constitutional marriage amendment, Mr. Bush’s election-year moves in the past few weeks have done much to mend fences with disgruntled grass-roots Republicans (The Washington Times)
- Bush goes to war with modernity | The more Bush supplicates his core voters, the more he repels the rest (Sidney Blumenthal, The Guardian, London; similar article in Salon)
- Raising the volume | Candidates of both parties want to sit out the culture wars, but that’s not possible (Jonah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times)
- Inapproriate mingling of religion and justice system in Rhode Island | The Rhode Island judicial system is not based on any religious faith or creed, nor was it ever intended to be, but one would never know this from recent actions and statements by Chief Justice Frank J. Williams of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and state Atty. Gen. Patrick C. Lynch (Stephen J. Fortunato Jr, The Providence Journal)
Church and state:
- Kuala Lumpur warns on ‘tickets to heaven’ | Malaysia’s elections chief has warned parties not to promise favours from God in exchange for votes in the forthcoming elections (BBC)
- ‘Ten Commandments Judge’ spreads the word in Northwest | Maryland lawyer Michael Peroutka appeared before the Oregon Constitution Party on Saturday as the conservative Christian party’s announced candidate for president (The Seattle Times)
- Group sues after failed talks to move commandments display | Duluth officials have 30 days to decide whether to move monument from outside City Hall or fight a lawsuit by Minnesota Civil Liberties Union (Associated Press)
- Costa Mesa could alter its rule on invocations | The City Council could decide tonight that having a moment of silence is more appropriate than a prayer before its meetings (Daily Pilot, Newport Beach, Calif.)
- Accept meeting’s Christian prayer as ‘community standard’ or get out | Declaring themselves victims of intolerance is a great ploy by ministers promoting Christian prayer at government meetings (Tom Lyons, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla.)
- Pope insult threatens coalition | An ally of the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has mocked the Pope and chastised his “thieving” cardinals (The Daily Telegraph, London)
- Religious leaders from former USSR meet | But Catholics are excluded (Associated Press)
- City code leaves Mission Waco project out in cold | Mission Waco’s proposed center for homeless men is homeless itself after executive director Jimmy Dorrell got word this week his plan to purchase the historic Central Presbyterian Church has been thwarted by a city ordinance (Waco Tribune-Herald)
Religious tolerance, liberty, and persecution:
- Army of believers | All is not well with one of the nation’s largest charities (Bill Berkowitz, AlterNet)
- Church members get hate mail | Deacons, several trustees and other members of a Campbell County church under investigation by the Kentucky State Police received some hate mail this week (The Kentucky Post)
- Only Jesus statue gets complaints in Scottsdale | There are plenty of things to offend. But 40 days of Jesus on a little strip of land outside an art gallery is not one of them (Laurie Roberts, The Arizona Republic)
- Britain’s Straw preaches more religious tolerance | Britain’s foreign secretary visited an Islamic school in conservative northwestern Pakistan on Friday and said later that followers of the world’s great religions need to understand each other better (Reuters)
- Specify the “tenets” | Last-minute amendment to the proposed Iraqi constitution threatens bill of rights (Nina Shea, National Review Online)
- The church in hiding in Pakistan | Christians in the Indian sub-continent fear for their lives (The Times, London, subscription required)
China and Christians:
- China touts new churches, but rules crimp faithful | Government still controls religion (Chicago Tribune)
- Two new churches to meet demand in Beijing | Two new Protestant churches will be added to the existing eight in Beijing to meet the rising needs of more than 40,000 local believers (People’s Daily, China)
- Christianity blossoms in China | As the 2008 Olympics approach, religion gets a hand from a government striving to make a good impression on the world (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- A new freedom for the faithful | Religious Chinese now find it easier to worship and express their beliefs. But, for some, their faith remains underground (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
- Chinese and American cultures clash in custody battle for girl | A trial in Memphis between two couples has exposed conflicting notions about what defines a good parent (The New York Times)
India:
- Prayer hall demolition upsets Christians | Around 500 Christians, including priests, held a protest rally at the Oshiwara civic cemetery on Tuesday morning to demand that the people who demolished the cemetery’s prayer hall on Saturday night be arrested (The Times of India)
- Christians convert back to Hinduism | More than 200 Christians in the eastern Indian state of Orissa have reconverted to Hinduism on Thursday in the presence of the leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BBC)
- Also: VHP ‘reconverts’ 212 tribals in Orissa, Judeo attends ceremony | The Vishwa Hindu Parishad “reconverted” some 212 tribal Christians to Hinduism at a ceremony held at a temple in Orissa’s Jharsuguda on Thursday, in the presence of tainted former Union minister Dilip Singh Judeo (PTI, India)
- Charity check blocked by India | An inquiry into allegations that a British-based charity has terrorist links has been hampered by a refusal by India to grant visas to a delegation from the Charity Commission (The Times, London)
Haiti:
- Standing on faith, some U.S. citizens stay in Haiti | Despite Washington’s warnings, many who are committed to aiding and proselytizing the impoverished populace refuse to evacuate (Los Angeles Times)
- Expatriates lift up prayers | There are some for whom Aristide, once a priest who served the despondent in Haiti’s slums, had cut the figure of a savior (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
- Missionary from here bides time during revolt | Johna Blockman headed to Haiti last month as others headed out (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
- Missionary tries to provide stability in strife-torn Haiti | As Haitian rebels began to tighten their noose on Port-au-Prince last week, a man in St. Charles worried about a truck (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Australian religious hatred case:
- Muslim MPs a bad thing, says pastor | Muslim members of Parliament would not be good for Australia, a Christian pastor told the tribunal hearing Victoria’s first religious hatred case yesterday (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
- When legal absurdity is watched world-wide |A religious vilification case has embarrassed the plaintiffs and shown the stupidity of the law (Piers Akerman, The Daily Telegraph, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia)
- Hate case pair had ‘death threats’ | Two Christians involved in Victoria’s first religious hatred case have received death threats, a tribunal heard yesterday (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
Australia:
- Church helps soothe Australia’s Aborigines | The race riots in Australia’s biggest city, Sydney, have focused attention on the role of the Church in helping to heal the country’s fractured indigenous community (BBC)
- Thou shalt not | The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, the man widely described as the “bully bishop from central casting”, now promises to be tougher on questions of morality. But he will try to do it with kindness (The Bulletin, Australia)
- Governor-General Michael Jeffery praises Christ’s leadership | Declares Jesus Christ is the “greatest personification of true leadership the world ever has or ever will see” (AM, Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
Burnhams:
- On a family mission Paul, Oreta Burnham say goodbye to Philippines | The Rose Hill missionaries say they welcome a retirement near their family (The Wichita Eagle)
- Gracia Burnham returns with story of survival, faith | These days, Burnham and her family have waged a holy war on her captors, but not for their destruction—for their salvation (The Star-Herald, Kosciusko, Miss.)
- Earlier: Gracia Burnham will co-write a more reflective book | “This book is more reflective on how to handle it when life goes crazy on you,” says co-writer Dean Merrill (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
- ‘Convert punished not for religion but criminal activities’ | The house of Golmei Ningthou Kabui and wife Golmei Apabi of Langthabal Khoupum village was demolished on February 24 last for their ‘illicit and criminal conducts’, the village authorities underscored again (The Imphal Free Press, India)
Spirituality:
- Icon making involves spirit as much as art | Today, there would be more-efficient ways of easing the gold leaf onto the prepared bole. But warm breath on cold clay also echoes the act of God giving Adam life so long ago (The Washington Times)Examining a little blue book | Saint Augustine’s Prayer Book explicates each sin in detail; it doesn’t miss a lick (Michele Marr, The Independent, Huntington Beach, Ca.)
- A time for prayer – up to eight times a day | A growing number of Christians are adopting Liturgy of the Hours – ‘It’s like spiritual yoga’ (The Dallas Morning News)
- Nanny state cannot fill this spiritual void | Much of the hunger for spiritual fulfilment in the UK stems from a period where the socialist state destroyed collective institutions (George Kerevan, The Scotsman)
- Spirituality: Why we miss God | Most Britons are non-believers but saving your soul may also save your life (Simon Crompton, The Times of London)
- A sign of things to come | Religion may be coming back to the center of our national thoughts (Tony Blankley, The Washington Times)
Business:
- Feeding the spirit | Let the church say amen. Then pass the peas and get your praise on. Welcome to Gospel Live, the Hyattsville restaurant that offers solace for the stomach and the soul with Southern cuisine and Christian-based entertainment (The Washington Times)
- You want Christ with that? | Chick-fil-A sticks God in the deep fryer (OC Weekly, Ca.)
- Onward, Christian lawyers | In Mark Lanier’s view, not all trial lawyers are alike, and he’s starting a new nonprofit group to prove it (Texas Lawyer/Law.com)
- Church reaches out through small businesses | The practice began in the 18th century when free blacks in religious-based free African societies started insurance and burial companies and invested in black banks in the North (The Washington Post)
- Priest wrong to sack housekeeper | A priest’s housekeeper who was sacked during a midnight phone call was unfairly dismissed (BBC)
Church life:
- New Presbyterian moderator makes plea for minorities | Churches should encourage and shelter ethnic minorities, according to the Moderator-designate of the Presbyterian Church (The Belfast Telegraph)
- Churches credit movie for recent attendance gains | Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church says attendance at last Sunday’s service was double the amount he usually sees. And at least 10-percent, he says, were visitors. (WSFA, Montgomery, Ala.)
- Attorney says court order crosses line, violates church sovereignty | The trouble began for Free Evangelical Lutheran Cross Church in Fresno when a small group of churchgoers did not appreciate what the pastor was preaching and decided to stop attending the services. As often happens in such cases, elders in the church let the disgruntled members know that their memberships would be revoked (Agape Press)
- Church and city separation | Butt out, Mr. Mayor. The closing of beloved parishes in Boston neighborhoods is going to be excruciating enough without you sticking your nose into it (Editorial, Boston Herald)
- Church lets go of old ways | After losing its leader, facing accusations of cultism and other scandals, the Chicago Church of Christ attempts to keep from falling apart (Chicago Tribune)
- Earlier: ‘Boston Movement’ Apologizes | Open letter prompts leaders of controversial church to promise reform (Christianity Today, June 4, 2003)
- Dutch Church threatened with legal action | After failing to stop the ordainment of the Dutch Reformed Church’s first woman minister, the group that was opposed to the ordination is now embarking on legal action (Mmegi, Botswana)
- Nkoyoyo appeals | The Church of Uganda is in doubt over who will pursue a court appeal lodged by retired Archbishop Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo (The Monitor, Kampala, Uganda)
Gene Robinson:
- Alabama Episcopalians reject gay bishop | Alabama Episcopalians have rejected their denomination’s approval of its first openly gay bishop, and some congregations have cut contributions to church headquarters (Associated Press)
- Gay US bishop cancels Oxford Union debate | Gene Robinson, the gay American bishop, has withdrawn from speaking at the Oxford Union debating society next week. The announcement led to speculation that he had been ordered not to reopen the furor over his appointment as bishop of New Hampshire in November (The Guardian, London)
- Also: Gay bishop cancels Oxford date | He said: “It has become clear to me that for me to participate would not be in the best interests of the Anglican Communion at this delicate moment in its history” (BBC)
- Gay bishop: ‘Being honest’ | The first openly gay bishop appears on 60 Minutes on the day of his investiture as the bishop of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire (60 Minutes)
Anglicans and Episcopalians:
- Judge must decide who controls church | A dispute rooted in controversy over a gay Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire is causing a judge to decide whether a splinter group can keep the Church of the Good Shepherd in Town and Country (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
- Also: Judge to decide who controls Episcopalian church | An Episcopal bishop from Missouri and the priest of the Church of the Good Shepherd agreed this week to settle the property dispute during a July bench trial before Mary Bruntrager Schroeder, a St. Louis County associate circuit judge (Associated Press)
- Crisis warning on women bishops | Archbishop of York inflames row over female ordination; ‘Third province’ proposal stirs fresh controversy (The Guardian, London)
- Ten years on, opponents are in the minority | It took the Church of England 20 years of debate and threats of a schism to agree to the ordination of women priests. But in the decade since the first candidates were ordained all but a small rump of the church have accepted them (The Guardian, London)
- Collection-plate protest costs diocese | Gifts to Episcopal Church in Colo. down 20% after gay bishop named (The Denver Post)
- Cathedrals fall on hard times | The scaffolding around the tower of Chester Cathedral is a symbol of the problems increasingly facing Britain’s cathedrals (BBC)
- Anglicans look for leader with a healing touch | Australia’s four million-plus Anglicans are about to embark on a year-long search for a leader who can heal their church’s growing rift over the ordination of gays and lesbians into the priesthood (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Catholicism:
- O’Brien files motion to toss conviction | Bishop Thomas J. O’Brien wants his hit-and-run conviction thrown out and a new trial granted because jurors were given improper instructions and his attorneys were prevented from cross-examining a key prosecution witness (The Arizona Republic)
- Religion Today: Defender of the faith, and himself | Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard has never shied away from a fight, and now the spiritual leader of 400,000 Roman Catholics in upstate New York is waging an unusually public campaign against sexual misconduct allegations to save his career (Associated Press)
- Fifth of parish groups reject closing | Move signals might of affluent churches (The Boston Globe)
- For priests, celibacy is not the problem | The real reason that priests have a bad image, even among their parishioners, is the poor quality of their work, especially their sermons (Andrew Greeley, The New York Times)
- Lenten season converts flock to Catholicism | More than 1,100 residents of the District and five Maryland counties began their journey of faith to the Catholic Church at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception yesterday, the first Sunday of Lent (The Washington Times)
Anti-Catholicism:
- Washburn controversial statue, faces backlash from Catholics | A statue criticized as anti-Catholic continues to cause problems for Washburn University, a week after a federal judge ruled that the school does not have to remove it from campus (Associated Press)
- Earlier: Coloradan’s ‘offensive’ sculpture to stay on campus (Associated Press)
- District to revisit Washburn issue | The Wichita Board of Education on Monday will re-evaluate its ban on recruiters from Washburn University, which was adopted to protest a controversial statue on Washburn’s campus that some think is anti-Catholic (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
- Cartoons that offend through stereotype | The cartoon atop last Monday’s editorial page was intended as a satirical comment on the violence in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” But many Globe readers saw it as something else: assault-by-stereotype on nuns (Christine Chinlund, The Boston Globe)
- Related: See the cartoon (Pat Oliphant, UComics.com)
Clergy abuse (news):
- Grand jury eyes charges for bishop | Hampden DA points to abuse accusations (The Boston Globe)
- Massachusetts grand jury to consider sexual abuse charge against ex-bishop | The district attorney in Springfield said that he would present a grand jury with accusations that former Bishop Thomas Dupre abused two boys when he was a parish priest (The New York Times)
- Retired Mass. bishop may face abuse charges | Statute of limitations might not apply if county prosecutor proves crime was concealed (The Washington Post)
- A dispassionate look at the wolf in priest’s clothing | Karen J. Terry, an unheralded expert on sexual deviancy, served as the principal investigator and author of the recently released national study of sexual abuse in the church (The New York Times)
- Jury to probe claims against former bishop | On Thursday, Hampden District Attorney William Bennett announced he will pursue sex abuse charges against retired Springfield Bishop Thomas Dupre, 70, who is accused of abusing two boys, who are now 39 and 40 years old (Associated Press)
- More study of Catholic crisis urged | Burke also calls for yearly audits (Chicago Tribune)
- Child porn cleric sentenced | A former college chaplain who downloaded child pornography from the Internet has escaped jail (BBC)
Clergy abuse (opinion):
- Go tell it on the mountain | Tennessee nuns take up the cause of sex-abuse victims (Rod Dreher, The Wall Street Journal)
- There must be consequences | If zero tolerance is the policy for wayward priests, why not for failed bishops? (Editorial, The New York Times)
- Grappling with abuse | A study on minors sexually victimized by Catholic priests is the most thorough yet, but the epidemic raises more questions (Paul McHugh, The Baltimore Sun)
- 4,392 priests; 10,667 kids | Are the princes of the church willing to give up some power and secrecy to save children from clerical sexual abuse? (Editorial, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
- Good counsel for U.S. Catholic bishops | Prevention is key to regaining moral high ground (Editorial, The Miami Herald)
- Should Catholics turn over personnel records to prosecutors? | Religious leaders respond (Los Angeles Times)
Crime:
- Crackdown on new child slavery | Minister to move against ‘vile’ traffickers bringing children to UK to help migrants and benefits seekers (The Guardian, London)
- A fallen chaplain’s second judgment | Descendants hope to restore name of disgraced Army officer (The Washington Post)
- Psychic didn’t see counseling sting | The Marin County woman faces state civil charges of practicing unlicensed social work (Los Angeles Times)
- Ministers join Detroit battle against crime | Baptists enlist their congregations to set up citizens patrols in city (The Detroit News)
- Missionary charged with murdering wife | Mario Hernandez pleaded not guilty (KNBC, Los Angeles)
- Also: L.A. man who claimed wife was kidnapped is charged with her murder (Associated Press)
Vandalism:
- Believers refuse to let vandals shatter spirit | Broken glass that bore the Virgin Mary’s image will be replaced, but the image is lost (The Orlando Sentinel)
- Vandals strike, uproot hundreds of crosses at church | When Al Wolff saw more than 200 uprooted crosses Monday morning at the Mission of Nombre de Dios, he wasn’t enraged. Instead, he felt sorry for the people who did it. (St. Augustine Record, Fla.)
- Windows with Virgin Mary image broken | Office windows that thousands of visitors believe bear the image of the Virgin Mary — but experts said is just corrosion — were discovered broken Monday, police said (Associated Press)
The Passion (news):
- What Mel’s Passion will earn him | Mel Gibson stands to personally make more than $300 million for pursuing his Passion. (Forbes)
- Critics take heat for their ‘Passion’ reviews | Film critics are divided over The Passion of the Christ#151;and their readers have had heated responses to their reviews (Houston Chronicle)
- Parents irate over ‘Passion’ in school | 6th-graders offered counseling after film (The Washington Post)
- Air Force cadets scolded over ‘Passion’ | Air Force Academy commanders admonished cadets for using academy e-mail to tout Mel Gibson’s movie about the crucifixion of Jesus (Associated Press)
- German Catholics call Gibson film ‘problematic’ | “With its drastic portrayal of atrocities, the film reduces in a problematic way the message of the Bible,” the German Bishops’ Conference said in a statement at the end of its semi-annual meeting (Associated Press)
- ‘Passion’ a flawed portrayal of Jews, interfaith panel says | “Jews are rightfully apprehensive,” said Emilio Chavez, a theological scholar at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Catholic Seminary in Boynton Beach. “This story is based on the fear and ignorance of the masses.” (Palm Beach Post)
- What’s popcorn in Aramaic? | Its alleged anti-semitism isn’t the only problem with Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. There’s also the small matter of it being in Aramaic. To help enrich your enjoyment, here is a handy glossary of useful terms (The Guardian, London)
The Passion (opinion):
- Gibson film may inflame suicide bombers | One can only imagine what this piece of tripe will do to the Middle East when Muslims, already prone to explosive outbursts, find their actions so sublimely justified – it’s almost like Mel was creating a bizarre recruitment film for the brigades of suicide bombers (Bruce Wilkey, The Chattanoogan, Tenn.)
- What’s so funny about the Passion? | I hope that there is a profounder point to be made in defence of weak folk like me, who find ourselves moved, at the worst moments possible, to inappropriate breaches of reverence (Boris Johnson, The Telegraph, London)
- ‘Passion’ so bloody it’s sadomasochism | This is a skillfully planned and presented but wasted exercise in sadomasochism (Al Neuharth, USA Today)
- Gibson’s blood libel | Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” is a singular act of interreligious aggression (Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post)
- Gibson’s Passion exploits believers | It’s strange how when Osama bin Laden promotes murder as a means to enhance spirituality, he is reviled for it. But when Christians rally at the multiplex to relive Christ’s killing, they pat themselves on the back for having lived their faith (Peter Howell, Toronto Star)
- What language did they speak in Sodom? | The astounding success of Mel Gibson’s Biblical bloodbath in dead languages prompts a few thoughts, both whimsical and serious, about the effects the film’s triumph could have on Hollywood and the public (Todd McCarthy, Variety)
Anti-Semitism:
- Basis of Christianity is bloodily sodden with hatred of the Jews | The New Testament is, among other things, an anti-Semitic tract. It is the source of the anti-Semitism which has characterized Christianity for two millennia (Eamonn McCann, The Belfast Telegraph)
- Ash Wednesday blues | This past Ash Wednesday Gibson reminded today’s remaining naive and complacent Jews, including self-flagellating post-Zionists, that plenty of evil-mongers still seek to preserve and perpetuate the hate (they cynically market as “love”) (Sarah Honig, The Jerusalem Post)
- Jews and Christians after ‘The Passion’ | This time the critics weren’t exaggerating (Yossi Klein Halevi, The Jerusalem Post)
Christians and Mideast peace:
- More security at Israel bus stops | U.S. Evangelicals kick in $2 million to get measures — guards and metal detectors — up and running (The Jewish Week)
- Also: Christians, Jews aim to protect Israel buses | A Chicago-based organization of Jews and evangelical Christians donated $2 million to Israel on Wednesday to step up security on Israel’s public buses and make it more difficult for Palestinian suicide bombers to launch attacks (Chicago Tribune)
- Israel begins wall cutting into Jesus’ birthplace | Israeli army crews laid the first 100 metres this week of a towering barrier that will scoop part of Bethlehem into an enlarged security zone being carved out of occupied West Bank territory fringing Jerusalem (Reuters)
- US Christian groups push for Mideast peace | Conference to lobby legislators on regional concerns (The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon)
Movies:
- Bible may not be hip enough for Hollywood | Will Hollywood green-light God? (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
- City that inspired Narnia fantasy | With work under way on a film of CS Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, BBC News Online’s Greg McKevitt investigates the roots of its Belfast-born author and the Northern Ireland settings that fired his boyhood imagination (BBC)
- Earlier: Disney to back Narnia film series | The Disney Company has signed a deal to co-finance and distribute a new film of CS Lewis’s children’s classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (BBC)
- Film forces us to face our non beliefs | Filmmakers, critics and viewers reveal a bias when they focus on the movie’s excessive violence, yet celebrate and award movies such as Pulp Fiction, Rambo or those chronicling Hannibal Lecter’s delectable experiences (Susan Martinuk, The Province, Vancouver)
Television:
- UPN show is called insensitive to Amish | In “Amish in the City,” a new reality series, Amish teenagers would face the shock and temptations of the big city for the first time (The New York Times)
- Earlier: Amish in the City: Has Reality TV Gone too Far? | The author of The Amish: Why They Enchant Us discusses why a television show about Amish teens is inherently flawed, and why we’re drawn to their 18th-century ways (Jan. 21, 2004)
- Coast files countersuit against Daystar | District says if court decides it can’t sell KOCE-TV to its foundation, it will look toward alternatives that don’t include selling to the Christian broadcaster (Daily Pilot, Newport Beach, Calif.)
- New series thrives with God on its side | Mary Steenburgen understands skepticism about “Joan of Arcadia.” She had the same reaction. (Associated Press)
Cyber-church:
- Wanted: virtual vicar for online parish | It cannot offer hard pews, draughty vestries or a parking headache on Sunday mornings, but the Church of England’s first internet parish promises everything else for a traditional congregation (The Daily Telegraph, London)
- Church plans parish in cyberspace | The Church of England is hoping a host of worshippers in cyberspace will make its first virtual parish a success (BBC, audio)
History:
- At a mountain monastery, old texts gain digital life | A monk uses digital tools to preserve manuscripts in an Egyptian monastery (The New York Times)
- Church history ‘something to be valued’ | The establishment of the Church of England had “put down a marker” for the significance of religious communities, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said (PA, U.K.)
- Monastery loses priceless artifacts | A fire in a 900-year-old Serb monastery in Greece has destroyed priceless religious artifacts and 17th century wall paintings, said Greek officials yesterday (Reuters)
Gay marriage (news):
- Latest developments on gay-marriage issue | Developments on the issue of gay marriage Thursday (Associated Press)
- State AGs come down against gay marriages | Some of the attorneys general have ruled reluctantly, pointing out they disagree with current law. Others have been swift (Associated Press)
- Gay couples rejected for NYC licenses | The fight over gay marriages reached the nation’s largest city Thursday as about three dozen same-sex couples asked for licenses and were turned down. One applicant warned, “This isn’t going away” (Associated Press)
- Despite rally, state Senate drops gay marriage issue | The Maine Senate refused by the narrowest of margins Tuesday to let lawmakers consider a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage (Portland Press Herald, Me.)
- Md. assembly debates gay rights, marriage | Maryland lawmakers considered a measure yesterday that would give homosexual couples certain rights afforded to married people, while other delegates scrambled to line up votes for bills outlawing recognition of same-sex marriage (The Washington Post)
- Gay marriages common in the Netherlands | Three years after Amsterdam’s mayor officiated at the Netherlands’ first gay wedding, the gay marriage rate is falling, the first divorces are being registered and the issue has disappeared from the political agenda (Associated Press)
- Oregon the new flash point for gay ‘I do’s’ | Opponents in Portland vow lawsuit after county begins issuing same-sex licenses. Pastors push to get a ban of such unions on the November ballot (Los Angeles Times)
- Brazilian go-ahead for gay unions | A panel of judges the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has ruled in favor of authorizing same-sex marriages (BBC)
- Who defines the word ‘marriage’? | Gay activists boldly issue marriage licenses as state legislators grapple with what’s legal, what isn’t (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Could gay marriage cut into Vermont’s economy? | With more cities across the nation standing up for same-sex marriage, civil unions could become old business here. Fewer ceremonies would mean fewer tourist dollars (WCAX, Burlington, Vt.)
Gay marriage (opinion):
- Gay marriage: Unaccountable courts just intensify culture wars | We soon will have either some form of the Federal Marriage Amendment that prohibits same-sex marriage and allows civil unions, or we will have gay marriage nationally mandated by the courts. There is, regrettably, no middle way. The activist judiciary is leaving the country no choice (Rod Dreher, The Dallas Morning News)
- Court the place to resolve gay issue | Going through the courts makes much more sense than local jurisdictions deciding to begin issuing licenses to couples of the same sex (Editorial, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
- It’s sacraments vs. rights | I understand the compulsion to “energize the base,” but couldn’t Republicans have found something a little less toxic than this brew of Gaytorade? (Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe)
- Why the fuss on gay marriages? It’s the S-E-X | Same-sex marriages aside, when is the Christian Civic League of Maine going to call for a constitutional amendment banning divorce? (Bill Nemitz, Portland Press Herald, Me.)
Federal Marriage Amendment:
- House moves slowly on marriage | House Judiciary leaders are taking a more cautious approach than their Senate colleagues to the possibility of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman (The Washington Times)
- It’s raining amendment | Lost in the storm is the real risk to religious liberty that would come from embedding a particular religious bias about marriage in the nation’s founding document (Hans Johnson, In These Times)
Sexual ethics:
- Web porn, minors, and free speech | Court hears case on regulating the Web (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Tourist nabbed for baring all by Rio Christ statue | Nudity might be all the rage at Rio de Janeiro’s famous Carnival that ended this week, but an Australian tourist learned on Friday not to try it beside the city’s landmark Christ the Savior statue (Reuters)
Health:
- Holy disorders | Anorexia is seen as a modern illness. But is it really so different from the suffering that female saints throughout history have put themselves through (Hilary Mantel, The Guardian, London)
- Sexual health plan angers church | Archbishop Mario Conti said the Scottish Executive proposals placed too much emphasis on medical treatment and not enough on spiritual or social worries (BBC, video)
Deaths:
- USA Radio Network founder Marlin Maddoux dies | Maddoux also founded International Christian Media and the National Center for Freedom and Renewal (Associated Press)
- Biblical scholar Lucetta Mowry dies | She was part of the interdenominational committee set up by the National Council of Churches to update the Revised Standard Version of the Bible into contemporary but accurate language (The Washington Post)
Other articles of interest:
- Sex ed program’s advocates say Girl Scout boycotters have muddied waters | The Girl Scout cookie boycott is over, but it has left a bitter aftertaste for Nancy Goodnight (Waco Tribune-Herald, Tex.)
- Marriage class plays national role | In Oklahoma, where the marriage initiative is a work in progress, the question is whether a marriage-education curriculum geared to middle-class couples can help women on welfare who lead distressed lives, with men often missing (The Boston Globe)
- Shockwave! | New media prayer warriors try to shake the world (Elizabeth A. Castelli, The Revealer)
- Community members give input on coverage of religion | I sat on the sidelines for four hours last week as two groups of people engaged in “civic conversations” about a very important topic: The community’s expectations of The Star in matters of religion and faith (Dennis Ryerson, The Indianapolis Star)
- Two beliefs, one common goal | Interfaith project combines Christian, Jewish teachings (The Washington Post)
- Franco disputes Van Slyke steroid allegations | Says he’s on Jesus, not juice (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Nzimbi backs besieged Njoka | Cash-for-prayers bishop Peter Njoka did not receive the Sh1.7 million Nairobi city hall funds fraudulently, his church boss clarified yesterday (The Nation, Nairobi, Kenya)
- Religion news in brief | Gene Robinson says no foreign speeches until Eames Commission reports, Maryland Muslims want schools to close on two religious holidays, Milwaukee church where sex abuse occurred is rededicated, and other stories (Associated Press)
- Religion in the News: From Khmer Rouge to Christ | Today, thousands of ex-Khmer Rouge who once fought for the movement’s Brother No. 1, Pol Pot, are seeking forgiveness and following a new leader: Jesus Christ (Associated Press)
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