March (Web-only) 2000

ARTICLE TOOLS

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"There does not seem to be revival taking place in America," says pollmeister George Barna announcing his latest report, The State of the Church. "Whether that is measured by church attendance, born again status, or theological purity, the statistics simply do not reflect a surge of any noticeable proportions. The increase in Bible reading may be setting the stage for such a revival, but it does not appear to be occurring at the moment."

The Washington Post lionizes the former presidential candidate in its Sunday edition. "The last month [of Bauer's campaign] was just a final step in his departure from the conservative religious orthodoxy," write Hanna Rosin and Dana Milbank. "At its most idealistic, it was his effort to salvage a movement and a political party he has come to see as misguided and tainted by money." Among the myriad comments treading the line between reverence and eulogy is Bill Kristol's prediction that "sooner or later, [Bauer] will be vindicated."

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled last September that reciting the Lord's Prayer at public municipal council meetings violates the country's freedom of religion. The Canadian Jewish Congress says the Ontario Legislature should apply the ruling to itself as well. The Legislature says that's not going to happen.

One of the more interesting—and sad—incidents of Pope John Paul II's visit to the Holy Land came Saturday night, at an ecumenical meeting held by Diodoros I, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. The papal nuncio in Jerusalem, Pietro Sambi, offered the unscripted suggestion that all present recite the Lord's ...