September (Web-only) 2007

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1. Town charges congregation for police presence during protest
With Elvira Arellano and her son back in Mexico after a year's stay in a Chicago church, the neo-sanctuary movement's eyes have turned to United Church of Christ in Simi Valley, California, where an undocumented/illegal immigrant identified only as a 25-year-old Mexican woman named Liliana has taken shelter with her 5-month-old son.

It's safe to say the UCC congregation is not evangelical. Its website, for example, has links to three different Rastafarian websites, CAIR, earthspirit.org, pagans.org, wicca.org; and countless gay sites. But not one to an evangelical organization, ministry, or church. In a recent sermon, the pastor preached: "There are those who would have us believe … that God wants each of us to find Jesus and be saved. Don't believe it for a minute!" In that same sermon, she condemned, from the pulpit, by name, the "no middle ground thinking" of "a young man [who] wanted to give testimony to his own journey and his decision to follow Jesus."

In other words, it seems like a rather intolerant and insular congregation to me. Still, I don't really see the point of the demonstration organized by Save Our State, which protested outside the church Sunday and sought to make a citizen's arrest of Liliana. News reports say there were about 120 protesters and counter-protesters when someone sprayed a chemical, injuring one of the church's supporters. No arrest was made in that incident, but between four to fifteen officers were standing by to make sure the protest and counter-protest didn't get out of hand.

Simi Valley mayor Paul Miller announced that the United Church of Christ congregation will be billed $39,306 for the police presence. Miller explained that while the church didn't ask for a police presence, it created a need for one by announcing it was harboring an illegal immigrant.

"They set up this confrontation," he told the Ventura County Star.

Legal experts say it may be an unprecedented move, and that the city will have an uphill legal fight in making the bill stick.

A Ventura County Star editorial agrees: "The city of Simi Valley is using the weight of government improperly, trying to intimidate the church by sending it a bill. It is unconstitutional — un-American — and we are certain a court of law will make that clear to the city council."

That's a better argument than the over-the-top response from Rabbi John Sherwood, chairman of the local interfaith ministerial association. "What the city is doing is giving legal license to racism, and they are attacking the victim," he said. Dude, you're not helping.

2. New Jersey punishes Methodists for barring lesbian civil union ceremony
The Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association barred lesbian couples from holding civil union ceremonies at its boardwalk pavilion. The state civil-rights office is investigating whether that violates state antidiscrimination law, but in the meantime the state's environmental commissioner has revoked the tax-exempt status for the pavilion. "Simply put, the pavilion needs to be available equally to all persons to retain its tax exempt eligibility under this particular statute," the commissioner explained.

New Jersey's main gay-rights group may appeal the tax exemption denial because it's not harsh enough. News reports say the association will probably end up paying only about $175 a year as a result of the decision. The rest of the boardwalk and the beach, which are also owned by the camp meeting association, are still tax exempt. By the way, one of the lesbian couples who filed a complaint with the civil rights office held a civil union ceremony on the association-owned pier rather than the pavilion.

Maggie Gallagher notes that the decision makes the stakes clearer in the gay marriage debate:

"How can Adam and Steve's marriage hurt you?" I've been asked over and over again, as if gay marriage were primarily about expanding personal liberty. Many libertarians and conservatives, in particular, have been seduced by this false framing of the issue. Liberty arguments lead to values pluralism: Live and let live; let each of us do what we want.

Equality arguments are, by contrast, high-octane fuel for expansions of government power. In this case the government of New Jersey has officially endorsed the idea that treating same-sex couples any different from unions of husband and wife is immoral discrimination — and those who do so must be disciplined for their bigotry.

3. Pro-life defeats in New Jersey
"Abortion fight's epicenter is Aurora" says the Chicago Tribune. If that sounds a little grandiose, consider Time's headline: "The abortion wars hit Illinois." (Believe it or not, we Illinoisans have been debating this issue for a few months now.) But while the planned opening of Aurora's abortion clinic is getting national attention, you may have missed some important developments in New Jersey. Within 24 hours last week, the state's Supreme Court ruled that doctors performing abortions are not obligated to tell patients that an embryo is an existing living human being, and the state's public advocate said he would not take action against the health department for not following state law on inspecting abortion clinics.

4. Casey striking out with some pro-lifers
Abortion opponents are wondering if Sen. Bob Casey, one of Congress's most prominent pro-life Democrats, is really such a pro-life Democrat. National Review Online reported:

[H]e voted for an amendment by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Ks.), to preserve the federal government's so-called Mexico City policy, which prohibits the granting of federal funds to overseas groups that refer and perform abortions.

Twenty minutes earlier, however, Casey had voted for an amendment by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.) that not only overturned the Mexico City policy, but also increased funding for overseas groups that perform and refer abortions. Certainly, Casey had not had a change of heart in the space of 20 minutes.

The contradictory votes received little attention, but certainly neither made sense in the context of the other. [Four days later], however, Casey resolved the tension. He went to the floor of the Senate and announced that on the Brownback amendment, "It was my intention to vote 'nay.' Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to change my vote since it will not affect the outcome of that vote."

Casey's vote in favor of funding abortion providers has been duly updated on the Senate website.

Another prominent pro-life Democrat, Rep. Heath Shuler, told Christianity Today earlier this year that reducing the number of abortions is the responsibility of communities and churches, adding, "I don't think it's as much about legal measures."

But don't buy the spin that pro-life Democrats are fakers. Philadelphia City Paper notes that on the same day that Casey cast his Mexico City policy vote, "He joined a winning effort by Republicans to uphold a Bush administration policy that denies U.S. aid to the U.N. Population Fund because of its tolerance of China's use of coerced abortions and sterilizations. Casey went against Planned Parenthood on that one, but batting 1-for-2 apparently doesn't cut it with the pro-life crowd."

And Focus on the Family this week praised Shuler (along with three other freshmen members of Congress) for consistently voting pro-life.

5. Report criticizes British evangelicalism's most famous institution
Oxford University's Wycliffe Hall, where Alister McGrath was principal, and where evangelical luminaries like J.I. Packer, N.T. Wright, and Michael Horton studied, has been the focus of some significant criticism lately (even, reportedly, from McGrath). But a new university panel report may be one of the most significant blows yet. According to The Times of London, the report claims that "Wycliffe does not resemble 'an Oxford experience in its essentials' and is not 'a suitable educational environment for the full intellectual development of young undergraduates.'"

The report "concludes that Oxford's seven Christian private halls risk failing to provide a rounded learning experience in keeping with Oxford's liberal ethos," the Times reports. I'm not sure the Times has the story right. While it quotes the report as saying the halls' licenses will be reviewed if they are "shown to be departing from the values of a liberal education," the newspaper seems to believe that means "Halls could risk losing their Oxford University licenses altogether if they teach a fundamentalist biblical doctrine on sexual ethics and in other areas of theology."

You know the phrase "liberal arts" doesn't actually mean liberal in the political or theological sense, right? I didn't go to Oxford, but I'm pretty sure my English is right on that point.

6. Good news, bad news for Focus on the Family
An IRS audit says James Dobson's personal endorsements of candidates in 2004 didn't disqualify Focus on the Family's tax-exempt status. But the same day Focus made the announcement, it also said it was laying off 30 of its 1,205 employees.

In related news, Dobson still doesn't like Fred Thompson. "Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?" Dobson wrote in an e-mail obtained by the Associated Press. "He has no passion, no zeal, and no apparent 'want to.' And yet he is apparently the Great Hope that burns in the breasts of many conservative Christians? Well, not for me, my brothers. Not for me!"

Gary Bauer had earlier reported that members of the Arlington Group, the conservative umbrella organization reportedly trying to find a candidate to rally around, were "excited by Thompson."

7. U.S. government indoctrinating Iraqi insurgents on Islam
There are some significant church-and-state issues raised, but not directly addressed, in this Washington Post report:

The U.S. military has introduced "religious enlightenment" and other education programs for Iraqi detainees, some of whom are as young as 11, Marine Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, the commander of U.S. detention facilities in Iraq, said yesterday.

Stone said such efforts, aimed mainly at Iraqis who have been held for more than a year, are intended to "bend them back to our will" and are part of waging war in what he called "the battlefield of the mind." Most of the younger detainees are held in a facility that the military calls the "House of Wisdom."

The religious courses are led by Muslim clerics who "teach out of a moderate doctrine," Stone said, according to the transcript of a conference call he held from Baghdad with a group of defense bloggers.

8. A pius candidate?
After resigning as Zimbabwe's Catholic archbishop amid allegations of adultery, Pius Ncube is sending signals that he may run for president against the longtime subject of his criticism, Robert Mugabe.

Meanwhile, African Anglicans are becoming more vocal in their criticisms of the dictator. Desmond Tutu said African nations need to get tougher with Zimbabwe. "By now it ought to be clear that the softly softly approach — quiet diplomacy — has not worked at all and we want something a little more forthright, a little more categorical," he said. "All of us Africans must hang their heads in shame for having allowed such a desperate situation to continue almost without anybody doing anything to try and stop it."

Ugandan-born John Sentamu, the Church of England's Archbishop of York, says it's not just African nations that need to act. "The time for 'African solutions' alone is now over," he wrote in The Observer, likening Mugabe to Idi Amin and calling South African president Thabo Mbeki at best ineffectual and at worst complicit. "Britain needs to escape from its colonial guilt when it comes to Zimbabwe. Mugabe is the worst kind of racist dictator. … We cannot look the other way on Zimbabwe. Enough is enough."

9. Universal Life Church marriages invalid, says Pa. judge
Ever hear of those instant online ordinations from the Universal Life Church? A Pennsylvania judge says you can't use them to officiate at weddings, at least in that state. "Under Pennsylvania law, those qualified to officiate a marriage are judges, mayors, or ministers, priests, or rabbis of a 'regularly established church or congregation,'" the York Daily Record notes.

10. A novel turn on evangelicals and alcohol
What does it mean that publishers of Christian fiction now allow their protagonists to imbibe alcoholic beverages? It demonstrates that "U.S. evangelical attitudes toward 'demon rum' have shifted," Lauren Winner writes in Publishers Weekly's Religion BookLine. But it also may signal a shift in evangelical attitudes toward fiction, she says. "The increasing willingness of Christian publishers to show casual imbibing may be another step in the direction of depicting, rather than sanitizing, ordinary American life."

Quote of the day
"How can we expect these no-show candidates to take on Osama bin Laden and other world leaders when they're afraid to show up and answer questions from Phyllis Schlafly?"

— Rabbi Aryeh Spero, president of the Jewish Action Alliance, at the "Values Voter Debate" with Schlafly, Paul Weyrich, Don Wildmon, Mat Staver, Rick Scarborough, and Janet Folger. Did Schlafly object to the comparison?

Bonus quote of the day:
"I just am loving it. It's in newspapers around the world and every article starts with 'Emmy winner Kathy Griffin' and then the letters all just blur after that."

— Kathy Griffin, on the hubbub over her Emmy award acceptance speech, on Larry King Live. Members of The Miracle Theater in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, paid $90,440 for a full-page USA Today ad to note that they "take offense" to her comments.

More articles

Church billed for protest | Immigration | Church and state | Religious flyers in backpacks | Canada & religious schools | Education | Prison books | Military | Crime | Embezzling priest | Abuse | O. C. abuse | San Diego abuse settlement | Monk accused of abuse dies | FLDS Polygamy case | Juanita Bynum case | Discrimination | Senator sues God | Displays | Gambling | Morality | Dobson's endorsements | 2008 elections | Giuliani | Romney | McCain | Thompson | Other candidates | Values vote debate | Politics | Mukasey | Mormonism | Presbyterianism | Paisley | Rowan Williams | California Supreme Court takes church property cases | Anglicanism | Episcopal meeting in New Orleans | Other denominations on gay issues | Same-sex issues | Ocean Grove | Ex-gays | Love & marriage | Chastity | Monasticism | Interfaith | Benedict in Austria | Catholicism and environmentalism | Benedict to visit U. S. | Catholicism | Vatican investigates theologian | Catholics & Amnesty International | Abortion clinic in Illinois | Abortion | Life ethics | New Zealand | Australia | China | Korean hostages | East Asia | South America | Africa | Ncube resigns | Mugabe & Zimbabwe | Lebanon | Iraq | Pakistan | India | Religious freedom | Israel | Jewish holidays | Fasting and Ramadan | Holidays | Missions & ministries | Amish | Church life | Property and zoning | Prayer | Atheism | Books | God's Harvard | The Stillborn God | Media & entertainment | Kathy Griffin | People | Science, evolution, & faith | Cremation | Other

Church billed for protest:

• Simi bills church targeted by protesters | Officials charge for costs incurred at site where a Mexican woman is taking sanctuary (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• City charges sanctuary church for police services | The city of Simi Valley is sending a $40,000 invoice to the church that was the site of a weekend protest over its sheltering of an illegal immigrant (Ventura County Star, Ca.)
  
  
• Bill for protest raising eyebrows | Simi mayor defends decision to charge church (Ventura County Star, Ca.)
  
  
• Church to be billed for costs of protest | Simi wants $40,000 for police presence at event (Ventura County Star, Ca.)
  
  
• Groups clash over immigration at church | Dozens of activists on both sides of the illegal immigration debate faced off outside a church where an illegal immigrant is being sheltered with her U.S.-born infant son (Associated Press)
  
  
• Earlier: Protesters target Simi church | Group sought citizen's arrest of illegal immigrant inside (Ventura County Star, Ca.)
  
  
• Goofball politics | The immigration debate gets silly in Simi Valley (Editorial, Los Angeles Daily News)
  
  
• 1st Amendment? It will cost you | Simi wrong to bill church (Editorial, Ventura County Star, Ca.)
  
  
• Better ways to effect change | Church protest a waste of time (Editorial, Ventura County Star, Ca.)
  
  

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Immigration:

• Congress quietly returns to immigration | A broad overhaul failed this summer, but an array of smaller measures is under discussion, including ways to legalize certain workers (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Church expands its mission to immigration advocacy | A program designed to foster cooperation between two congregations, one largely white, one mostly Hispanic, has expanded in an unexpectedly political direction (The New York Times)
  
  
• The new sanctuary | Portland Christians join a movement that helps support immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally (The Oregonian)
  
  
• Sanctuary protest turns violent at church | Anti-immigrant group sought citizens arrest (WNBC, Los Angeles)
  
  
• Latino church groups lead rally | Protesters criticize Georgia law, pray for federal solution (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• Majority of Lutheran vicars ready to defy law to help asylum seekers | Survey shows nearly all would give sanctuary to asylum seeker (Helsingin Sanomat, Finland)
  
  
• Church good, immigration authorities bad | The church and the Directorate of immigration are in a battle of words which does neither side any good (Keijo Himanen, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland)
  
  

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Church and state:

• Two Rivers Baptist Church faction sues for files | Some members say Two Rivers pastor misspent money (The Tennessean, Nashville)
  
  
• Also: Church-state issues arise in local lawsuit | A church-state attorney representing Nashville pastor Jerry Sutton has described a Sept. 14 lawsuit filed by 54 church members as "completely unfounded." (Baptist Press)
  
  
• In dispute over cross, court sides with Jewish veterans | Three members of Congress who led efforts to transfer a large outdoor cross in San Diego to the federal government must turn over some of their official records on the subject to a Jewish war veterans group challenging the Mt. Soledad memorial as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, a federal judge ruled (The New York Sun)
  
  
• Also: Another interesting installment in the Mt. Soledad cross litigation (Religion Clause)
  
  
• Monarch faith role 'should stay' | Prince Charles should not become defender of all faiths rather than just Christianity when he becomes King, the Archbishop of Canterbury has insisted (BBC)
  
  
• Judge overturns vote to oust Shiloh pastor | Ruling is only round one in dispute (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Tempe church making controversial move to Chandler | No-tax industrial funding sought in Chandler (The Arizona Republic)
  
  
• Parishes facing big tax bills for churches closed by Diocese of Buffalo | Tax-exempt status will be in jeopardy (The Buffalo News, N.Y.)
  
  
• Most think founders wanted Christian USA | Most Americans believe the nation's founders wrote Christianity into the Constitution, and people are less likely to say freedom to worship covers religious groups they consider extreme, a poll out today finds (USA Today)
  
  
• God and the Constitution | A poll shows widespread ignorance of basic freedoms and a belief that many of the Constitution's rights apply only to some Americans, not to all (Editorial, USA Today)
  
  
• What part of 'secular nation' do we not understand? | 2007 State of the First Amendment survey finds majority of Americans believe Founders intended and established a Christian nation — though in no way did they do so (Charles C. Haynes, First Amendment Center)
  
  
• Should churches remain tax-exempt in Georgia? | The narrow vote - a 2-2 deadlock that had to be broken by Mayor Jim Joiner - was clear evidence of the difficulty the Jefferson City Council faced in voting last week to keep churches off the town square. (Jim Thompson, Athens Banner-Herald, Ga.)
  
  

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Religious flyers in backpacks:

• Religious fliers prompt complaint | A flier sent home this month in the backpacks of 2,000 Madison elementary students carried an unmistakably religious pitch: "Plant the Seeds of Faith in Jesus in Your Child at our Sunday school." (Wisconsin State Journal)
  
  
• Packing propaganda | Religious fliers, junk mail stuffed in public school backpacks (The Capital Times, Madison, Wis.)
  
  
• School backpack handout raises religious controversy | A "church vs. state" controversy is brewing over a flier sent home with Madison school students (WRN, Wisconsin)
  
  

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Canada & religious schools:

• McGuinty, Tory clash over PC offer to fund private religious schools | The penultimate event in Ontario's provincial election - a live, televised debate - kicked off Thursday night, with the three leaders sparing little time to clash over the campaign's most divisive issue (Canada.com)
  
  
• Tories ponder how to shift focus off religious schools | Faith-Based Funding; 'It's an idea the Ontario public just doesn't want to buy': professor (National Post, Canada)
  
  
• Religious schools won't be main issue: McGuinty (CTV)
  
  
• Ontario Catholic school board votes in favour of HPV vaccine | Catholic educational leaders across Ontario are debating whether to allow Grade 8 girls to get the new HPV vaccine in school, amid fears the controversial needle effectively condones the kind of premarital sex their religion condemns (National Post)
  
  
• Ontario leaders spar over religious education | Leaders of the two main parties sparred Monday over money for religious schooling, with the New Democrats complaining that the issue had diverted attention from under-funded public schools (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
  
  
• Ontario leaders spar over religious education | Leaders of the two main parties sparred Monday over money for religious schooling, with the New Democrats complaining that the issue had diverted attention from under-funded public schools (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
  
  
• Newfoundland offers religious school lessons | Province reversed centuries of education based on faith to adopt a new public system (Toronto Star)
  
  
• Tory stands firm on religious-school funding | Despite its unpopularity among voters, and against advice of pundits and pollsters, Conservative Leader keeps issue in spotlight (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
  
  

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Education:

• Oxford's Christian colleges 'are not suitable for school-leavers' | Official report raises grave concerns about the narrow Christian education that is being received by some of the younger students (The Times, London)
  
  
• Trustees question Roberts' leadership after VP resigns from Midwestern | The chief financial officer at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary resigned Sept. 20 in a dispute with president Philip Roberts over a financial analysis that raised questions about Roberts' leadership, the school's trustee chairman said (Associated Baptist Press)
  
  
• Controversy over funding denial for Christian concert at University of Arizona | The concert, "Overflow", had been funded for the last seven years, but a recent change in the bylaws of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona was applied to deny funding this year (Religion Clause)
  
  
• Law school's shortcoming noted | The Ave Maria School of Law, which has been embroiled in a bitter dispute over a planned move from Michigan to Florida, may face a challenge to its continued accreditation, according to a letter released last week by the law school's dean (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req'd.)
  
  
• Catholic students sue UW over fees | Group says school won't let funds pay for activities (Associated Press)
  
  
• Temple U. to restore namesake temple | Temple University will begin a two-year, $29 million renovation to the abandoned Baptist Temple that is its namesake, transforming the landmark building into a performing arts center (Associated Press)
  
  
• Board: Charter school can teach Hebrew | A charter school may resume teaching in Hebrew, three weeks after the lessons were halted over concerns the Jewish faith was seeping into public classrooms, the school board voted Tuesday (Associated Press)
  
  
• A clash of rights | The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that a college's anti-bias rules served an important state function — and a function that was more important than the limits faced by a fraternity not being recognized (Inside Higher Ed)
  
  
• Angry mother sues after children told to leave | A family whose three children were told to leave a Catholic primary school against their will earlier this year is suing the Catholic Education Office, alleging discrimination and bullying (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
  
  
• "Equal access" for high school groups under federal law interpreted | The court found that a Christian group is entitled to all the privileges granted by Farmington High School to any other student group (Religion Clause)
  
  
• Wheaton College to open Hastert Center | The J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy is scheduled to open in December, college officials announced Wednesday (The Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)
  
  
• Profs seek change in ETS statement | Citing insufficiencies with the current doctrinal basis of the Evangelical Theological Society, two Baptist college professors are spearheading an effort to amend it (Baptist Press)
  
  
• Accommodating the faithful | Public schools go dark on Saturdays and Sundays, the traditional days of worship for Christians and Jews. And on Christmas, class will not be in session. But when schools provide foot baths for Muslims, critics cry foul. So what is acceptable in a country that has a wall between church and state? (T. Jeremy Gunn, USA Today)
  
  
• Religious education | There's not much for secularists to sing about (Philip Beadle, The Guardian, London)
  
  
• Faith schools should not be tax-funded, and here's why | If the Catholic church is prepared to ban Amnesty because of its stance on abortion, what other rights might it censure? (Zoe Williams, The Guardian, London)
  
  
• Why are we here? | Colleges ignore life's biggest questions, and we all pay the price (Anthony Kronman, The Boston Globe)
  
  

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Prison books:

• Prisons purging books on faith from libraries | Chaplains in federal prisons have been quietly carrying out a systematic purge of religious books and materials (The New York Times)
  
  
• Critics right and left protest book removals | The federal Bureau of Prisons is under pressure to reverse its decision to purge prison chapel libraries of all religious books and materials that are not on a lists of approved resources (The New York Times)
  
  
• Can't find religion in the federal pen | The Bureau of Prisons wants to keep dangerous reading materials from prisoners. To do so, they've stripped library shelves of all but 'approved' books. (Editorial, The Roanoke Times, Va.)
  
  
• Overly zealous approach | Removing faith-based books could hinder inmates in adopting better values (Editorial, Las Vegas Sun)
  
  
• Faith-based censorship | It is particularly alarming that what amounts to book banning is occurring in the United States, a democracy, which thrives on free speech and a mix of ideas (Editorial, The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
  
  
• Prison library purge | In response to a genuine problem, the Bureau of Prisons has managed to be late, clumsy and self-defeating, all at the same time (Michael Gerson, The Washington Post)
  
  

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Military:

• Military sued over religious freedom | A soldier whose superior prevented him from holding a meeting for atheists and other non-Christians is suing the Defense Department, claiming it violated his right to religious freedom (Associated Press)
  
  
• Former Guantanamo detainees sue officials | Four accuse U.S. of faith-based humiliation; religious groups rally around the plaintiffs (The Baltimore Sun)
  
  
• Bush apologizes to Wiccan soldier's widow for meeting slip-up | President Bush has apologized to the widow of a Wiccan soldier after she was excluded from a Nevada meeting this week that the president held with the families of soldiers killed in combat (The Washington Post)
  
  

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Crime:

• Vegas priest pleads guilty to battery | The Rev. George Chaanine admitted Thursday in Clark County District Court that he smashed a wine bottle over the 54-year-old woman's head at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church in January (Associated Press)
  
  
• Diocese bans priest accused of harassment | An Arlington priest accused of sexual harassment was banned Thursday from working in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese, despite the inconclusive results of an investigation (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
  
  
• Church bilked of property, judge told | When investigators raided the home of a disbarred Berwyn lawyer in June 2006 as part of a probe into the fraudulent sale of vacant lots belonging to churches and charities, they found $100,000 in cash neatly stacked in the bottom of a laundry basket covered with dirty clothes (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Earlier: Curtain to rise on land-scam trial | Ex-lawyer accused of property theft (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Vandalism of Virgin of Guadalupe statue a strong blow to Hispanic Catholics | Virgin of Guadalupe image depicted in statue has social significance (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Also: Dallas church to repair vandalized Virgin Mary statue (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• IRS combats fake-church tax scams | Feds aim to stop spread of fraudulent 1-person corporations (The Arizona Republic)
  
  
• Jury consulted the Bible, but death sentence stands | The federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld a death sentence from a jury that had consulted the Bible's teachings on capital punishment (The New York Times)
  
  
• Appeals court upholds death sentence | A juror's reciting Bible verses did not taint the verdict for Stevie Lamar Fields, a panel rules (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• No charges in N.O. nursing home deaths | Days after a jury acquitted two nursing-home owners in dozens of Hurricane Katrina-related patient deaths, a prosecutor said that no charges would be filed in a similar case involving a nursing home run by an order of Roman Catholic nuns (Associated Press)
  
  
• Church leader's trial on tax evasion opens | The Rev. Jonathan Yates, accused of helping himself to church funds, faces 13 charges (Mobile Press-Register, Ala.)
  
  
• 'He hurt a lot of people' | St. Charles man found investors at his church; they lost millions (Chicago Sun-Times)
  
  
• Lord knows how much this church leader owes | Kendrick Turner, head of Faith Deliverance Outreach Ministry, isn't paying his bills (Tamara Dietrich, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.)
  
  
• Man charged in vandalism of churches | Nassau police arrested a Roosevelt man who they say went on a vandalizing spree, hurling objects through windows of three churches in his hometown and each time leaving a note in which he complained about not getting things on his wish list (Newsday)
  
  
• Assault case against pastor put off for a year | The Rev. Carlton R. Upton Sr. is accused of assaulting a church secretary in his office after a meeting (Daily Press, Newport News, Va.)
  
  
• Also: Verdict delayed over altercation between reverend, secretary (The Virginian-Pilot)
  
  
• 'Da Vinci Code' of Ulster | Police puzzled by mysterious church thefts resembling bestseller (Belfast Telegraph)
  
  
• Cleveland Catholic Diocese kickback trial postponed | The federal court trial of a former accountant for the Cleveland Catholic Diocese was postponed Monday after the defendant, Anton Zgoznik, refused to participate and tried to fire his lawyers (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
  
  
• Rape case against pastor is dismissed | Tarrant County prosecutors have dismissed a sexual assault charge against a 65-year-old Fort Worth church pastor who had been accused by a church member of raping her in 2005 during what she described as a cleansing ceremony to cast out demons (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
  
  
• Lawyer claims defendant in hate crime is gay, too | A melodramatic turn in the trial of four men accused of killing a gay man because of his sexual orientation temporarily obscured the darker nature of the case (The New York Times)\
  
  
• Also: Sexuality as defense puzzles judge | A judge cast doubts yesterday on a defense raised by one of the young men accused of chasing a gay man to his death in traffic on the Belt Parkway last year (The New York Times)
  
  
• Arson's aftermath a trial by fire | Kim Cloyd tells how family has coped (The Birmingham News, Ala.)
  
  
• Graffiti cleanup team works on its own church hit by taggers, vandals | Seventeen-year-old Tadacha Cooper is used to spending Saturday mornings cleaning up graffiti in southwest Fresno with teens from her church -- but this time it was personal (Fresno Bee, Ca.)
  
  
• 9th Circuit: Parolee can't be forced to attend AA | Buddhist plaintiff Ricky Inouye objected to meetings because of program's religious content (First Amendment Center)
  
  
• 6th Circuit rejects challenge to admission of religious journal entries into evidence | The court rejected Varner's argument that Michigan's clergy-penitent privilege law "improperly favors religions that encourage their members to seek guidance through intermediaries, such as a pastor or priest, over faiths that have no such tradition." (Religion Clause)
  
  
• Winkler granted supervised visitation | Mary Winkler will be able to visit her three daughters again, starting a week from Saturday, after more than a year with no physical contact with them (The Jackson Sun, Tenn.)
  
  
• Also: Slain minister's wife can visit kids | A judge ruled Wednesday that a woman who killed her minister-husband with a shotgun can begin supervised visits with her three young daughters, but did not decide whether she can have custody of them (Associated Press)
  
  
• Channeling their discontent | Baptist pastor leads 500 at BET executive's D.C. home to protest stereotypes (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Decision in torture case upsets churches | Representatives of several black churches appealed to prosecutors Thursday to pursue hate-crime or civil-rights charges against six white people accused of torturing a black woman over several days (Associated Press)
  
  

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Embezzling priest:

• Former pastor will be sentenced in December | The Rev. Michael Jude Fay admitted in federal court he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his wealthy Darien church to buy a Philadelphia condominium and lead a life of luxury (The Advocate, Stamford, Ct.)
  
  
• Also: Parishioners hope to put events into the past | Longtime parishioners of St. John Roman Catholic Church in Darien felt surprise, relief and sadness yesterday when they heard their former pastor, the Rev. Michael Jude Fay, pleaded guilty (The Advocate, Stamford, Ct.)
  
  
• Also: Ex-priest pleads guilty in fraud case (Associated Press)
  
  
• Father Fay admits it | Former St. John pastor pleads guilty and faces up to 10 years in prison (The Darien Times, Ct.)
  
  
• Priest pleads guilty to defrauding parish | The Rev. Michael Jude Fay, a Roman Catholic priest with a taste for high living, pleaded guilty to federal charges of defrauding his parishioners of nearly $1 million from 1999 to 2006 (The New York Times)
  
  

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Abuse:

• City diocese settles abuse cases | Catholics will pay total of $1.25 million to 32 people (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
  
  
• Archdiocese settles priest abuse lawsuit | The family of a 15-year-old boy who was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest has reached a $1.65 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Chicago (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Boy abused by Rev. McCormack settles for $1.6 million | At least two other suits against McCormack and the archdiocese are pending. (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Retired priest's jailing stirs man's emotions | Former Catholic Priest Francis DeLuca will serve 60 days in jail for molesting a teenage boy in Syracuse, where he settled after retiring in Delaware (The Post-Standard, Syracuse, N.Y.)
  
  
• Group: Mexican Cardinal knew of abuse | A victims' group said Tuesday that newly released documents support its claim that Mexico's most prominent cardinal knew a Mexican priest was suspected of molesting children but transferred him to the United States anyway (Associated Press)
  
  
• Pittsburgh diocese to settle abuse cases | The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said Monday it has created a $1.25 million fund to settle 32 lawsuits alleging abuse or injury by priests (Associated Press)
  
  
• Fresno church congregation turns to God during difficult time | Pastor accused of sexual abuse (KFSN, Fresno, Ca.)
  
  
• Fresno pastor pleads not guilty to sex abuse charges | The pastor of Sierra Heights Baptist Church pleaded not guilty Thursday to 107 felony counts of sexual misconduct involving two girls (The Fresno Bee, Ca.)
  
  
• Motion filed to hold bishop in contempt | Attorneys for a woman who alleges sexual abuse by a lay teacher at a Roman Catholic high school asked a judge Wednesday to hold the bishop of the Diocese of Orange in contempt of court (Associated Press)
  
  
• Lawyer calls priest in sex abuse suit 'sociopathic' | A New Haven lawyer said the priest implicated in a clergy sex-abuse lawsuit filed in August against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford was "one of the most sociopathic abusers" he has dealt with as an attorney (New Haven Register, Ct.)
  
  
• Jacksonville priest target of suit | Parishioner accuses him of sexual assault (The Florida Times-Union)
  
  
• First coast priest sued, accused of abusing and trying to buy rights to teen | The lawsuit centers around the St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church of Jacksonville and its former priest, Nicholas T. Graff (WTLV/WJXX, Jacksonville, Fla.)
  
  
• Ex-Jeff Co. pastor faces child-sex counts | Authorities in California have charged a Baptist minister who once served in Jefferson County with 107 felony counts of sexually molesting two girls under the age of 14 (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
  
  
• Award reduced in Mormon church abuse case | The state Court of Appeals has overturned a portion of a 2005 civil court verdict that found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints financially liable after a church member sexually abused his two stepdaughters (The Seattle Times)
  
  
• Former church elder guilty of sex offence | A former elder of the Jehovah's Witnesses Lakeview church pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexual exploitation of a teenage girl who was a member of the same congregation (The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon)
  
  

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O. C. abuse:

• O.C. diocese moves to seal bishop's testimony in abuse suit | O.C. Bishop Tod Brown testified in a civil sex abuse suit against an ex-Mater Dei teacher (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Offers of help overwhelm Santa Barbara nuns | News of the planned sale of their convent to help pay a clergy sex abuse settlement has brought promises of assistance and media attention (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• O.C. bishop's accuser identifies himself | The man who accused Bishop of Orange Tod Brown of sexually abusing him in the 1960s spoke publicly for the first time about his allegations Friday, saying he was molested three times when he was a boy living in Bakersfield (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• The costs of church scandal | The Catholic Church's divestiture to pay for abuse settlements means good works will go undone (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Diocese hasn't learned futility of concealment | Developments in a current sex-abuse lawsuit cast doubt on church's promises of transparency. (Editorial, The Orange County Register, Ca.)
  
  
• A taste of what's ahead in church trial | What did Diocese know? (Frank Mickadeit, The Orange County Register, Ca.)
  
  

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San Diego abuse settlement:

• Settled: $198 million | Victims tearful, elated after deal with diocese (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  
  
• Parishioners voice opinions on settlement (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  
  
• Frustration, then relief as two sides struck deal (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  
  
• Church's path to penance is chided | Legal experts fault bankruptcy option (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  
  
• Abuse claims are settled for $198 million | The San Diego diocese's agreement to pay 144 molestation victims is second only to the L.A. archdiocese's in the church's sex scandal (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Diocese settles abuse claims for $198M | The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said Friday it has agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy, the second-largest payment by a diocese. The agreement caps more than four years of negotiations in state and federal courts (Associated Press)
  
  
• San Diego diocese settles lawsuit for $200 million | The settlement with 144 people who said they were sexually abused by clergy members would be the second-largest payout related to such abuse in the Roman Catholic Church (The New York Times)
  
  
• Deposition reveals abuse allegations against O.C. Bishop Brown | A judge's unsealing of testimony in the Mater Dei High School case leads to the disclosure (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Brown abuse claim a mystery | Bakersfield police do not know if they investigated molestation charge (The Orange County Register, Ca.)
  
  
• Closure? Not so fast | Settlement can't erase so many sordid details (Editorial, San Diego Union-Tribune)
  
  

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Monk accused of abuse dies:

• Sheriff: Monastery leader's death might have been suicide | Samuel Greene, founder of the Christ of the Hills monastery, was facing child sexual assault charges (Austin American-Statesman)
  
  
• Blanco monks' leader is dead | Samuel A. Greene Jr., whose charisma carried him from being a land pitchman to leader of a monastery outside Blanco, was found dead Monday, just days before facing up to 180 years in prison for allegedly violating his probation (San Antonio Express-News)
  
  
• Monk accused of molesting boys dies | Samuel Greene had health problems, faced probation revocation (Austin American-Statesman)
  
  
• Monk's final pill-popping is detailed | Before mixing a cocktail of painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs late Sunday, admitted child molester Samuel Greene Jr. had been drinking heavily and was very depressed by the prospect of being ordered to prison at a hearing Friday (San Antonio Express-News)
  
  
• Founder of scandal-mired monastery dies | Samuel A. Greene Jr., the founder of a monastery that closed amid scandal over the alleged sexual abuse of novice monks and a fraudulent weeping Virgin Mary painting, has died. He was 63 (Associated Press)
  
  

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FLDS Polygamy case:

• The polygamy paradox | The trial of Warren Jeffs pits the state's interest in protecting children against his claim to religious freedom (Time)
  
  
• Jury gets accomplice-to-rape case against polygamist sect leader today | Among the central questions for jurors: Who pushed Doe's marriage? And, did a rape occur? (The Salt Lake Tribune)
  
  
• Polygamous leader's defense focuses on family's role in reluctant teen bride's marriage | Mom, dad, sisters had more impact than Jeffs did, attorneys assert (The Salt Lake Tribune)
  
  
• Jeffs case seems a little shaky | It's a strange rape case when the attacker hasn't been put on trial (Rebecca Walsh, The Salt Lake Tribune)
  
  
• Man who wed girl in arranged union testifies for polygamist leader | The final defense witness in the case against the polygamist leader Warren S. Jeffs testified that there had been no rape in the consummation of the marriage of a 14-year-old girl (The New York Times)
  
  
• Followers dispute that Jeffs allowed men to force sex | The polygamist leader's teachings say it is up to women to initiate marital relations, witnesses say, contrary to a teen bride's claims (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Polygamous leader's flock testifies FLDS sect embraces kindness, not forced sex | FLDS faithful counter alleged teen bride's marriage rape claims (The Salt Lake Tribune)
  
  
• Despite leader's trial, sect slow to evolve | As polygamist Warren Jeffs faces accomplice-to-rape charges, only little progress is seen in the enclave he once controlled on the Arizona-Utah border (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• In polygamy country, old divisions are fading | The old and bitter history of intra-Mormon relations hangs over everything in St. George, Utah (The New York Times)
  
  
• Boys cast out by polygamists find help | Over the last six years, hundreds of teenage boys have been forced out of a polygamous settlement on the Arizona-Utah border (The New York Times)
  
  
• Many jurors dismissed in Jeffs case | Prospective jurors in the trial of a polygamous-sect leader have expressed some firm views about polygamy and arranged marriage — opinions that were strong enough to weed out the majority of people summoned to the courthouse (Associated Press)
  
  
• Teen bride describes her wedding day | A former follower of a polygamous-sect leader sobbed on the witness stand Friday as she described the terror and despair she felt on the eve of her wedding at age 14, and said she became intensely depressed after having sex (Associated Press)
  
  
• Defense grills Jeffs accuser on day 3 | A defense attorney picked over the testimony of a key witness in the trial of a polygamous sect leader Monday, looking for discrepancies in her story about being forced to marry an older cousin when she was 14 (Associated Press)
  
  
• Defense rests in Jeffs case | Closing arguments slated for Friday (The Salt Lake Tribune)
  
  
• Witnesses describe Jeffs' sect as kind, empowering for women (The Salt Lake Tribune)
  
  
• Sect leader's rape-by-proxy trial begins | Warren Jeffs might not have laid a hand on the 14-year-old girl he's accused of coercing into marrying her cousin, but he's still responsible for her rape, prosecutors maintained Thursday as opening arguments neared (Associated Press)
  
  
• A rape trial that misses the big picture | This case raises a different question about consent. How much power did the religious leader wield over the 14-year-old? (Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe)
  
  

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Juanita Bynum case:

• A minister's public lesson on domestic violence | A domestic violence case involving a television evangelist has left some questioning her credibility (The New York Times)
  
  
• Preacher denies he abuses women | "My role has always been to operate as a protector and not as an aggressor. I have walked away from many situations between the two of us, just like I walked away that night." (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• Televangelist's husband speaks out | Televangelist Juanita Bynum's husband said Friday he and his wife spent the night together the day before she says he beat her, and it had boosted his hopes for reconciliation (Associated Press)
  
  
• Prophetess' case highlights domestic violence in faith communities | Anti-domestic violence advocates say they can use all the fire power they can get in their efforts to get religious communities to put their faith in action against what some consider a "silent epidemic." (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• More twists in the clash of bishop vs. evangelist | If refiling of the petition continues, it could come with some surprises (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  

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Discrimination:

• Three men face charges of criminal discrimination against woman pastor in Hyvinkää | Refusal to work with a woman pastor at a church in Hyvinkää last March has brought charges of discrimination to three men (Helsingin Sanomat, Finland)
  
  
• Bill would ban bias on sexual orientation | The panel's Democrats and Republicans split over proposed legislation that would ban discrimination against federal employees and job applicants based on sexual orientation. Republicans asked for a roll call, and Democrats, as the majority party, prevailed, 5 to 3 (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Push to end anti-gay discrimination | Measure to end workplace bias against gays gains traction (Associated Press)
  
  
• Gay activists hopeful on job bias ban | But Rep. Barney Frank and others are less optimistic about the fight ahead in the narrowly divided Senate, where they would need 60 votes — rather than a simple majority — to overcome anticipated GOP stall tactics, such as a filibuster (Associated Press)
  
  
• Judge denies Baptist seminary's request to dismiss woman's suit | A federal judge has denied Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a female former professor (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  

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Senator sues God:

• Nebraska state senator sues God | Angered by another lawsuit he considers frivolous, State Sen. Ernie Chambers says he's trying to make the point that anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody. (Associated Press)
  
  
• 'God' apparently responds to lawsuit | A legislator who filed a lawsuit against God has gotten something he might not have expected: a response (Associated Press)
  
  

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Displays:

• Courthouse display that includes Jesus now OK, judge rules | A portrait of Jesus Christ may remain on the wall at Slidell City Court as part of an expanded display that includes portraits of 15 other historical figures and a copy of the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge ruled Friday morning in New Orleans (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
  
  
• 'Intent' affects display rulings | Commandment suits vary in Ky. (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
  
  
• Rowan's display OK; Garrard's isn't | Rulings on Ten Commandments (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
  
  

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Gambling:

• Detroit casinos deal city urban renewal | While they aren't a panacea for all the city's ills, the casinos have hushed many critics, including some pastors who thought they'd bring only more crime and blight (Associated Press)
  
  
• Bingo may be dying, but not in a West Boca Catholic Church | Weekly games still a draw at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
  
  
• Debate on opening casinos in Massachusetts reflects new attitude | Despite some lingering vestiges of a Puritan blue law culture that brought "banned in Boston" to the nation's vocabulary, Governor Deval Patrick's willingness to embrace casinos represents a fundamental shift over the last generation in Bay State residents' comfort level with the ethics and glitz of gambling (The Boston Globe)
  
  

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Morality:

• At least on Wall Street, wages of sin beat those of virtue | Funds that invest in "sin stocks" — companies involved with drinking and gambling, for example — have earned better returns this year than funds striving to be socially responsible (The New York Times)
  
  
• Rum not so demonic anymore | As U.S. evangelical attitudes toward "demon rum" have shifted, standards about alcohol in Christian publishing also have begun to change (Publishers Weekly)
  
  
• Addictive behavior | Pastors and pornography (The Christian Century)
  
  
• The devil in every fan | We cheer when our teams cheat. That's because all we care about is winning. And if that makes us immoral, so what? (Peter Beinart, Time)
  
  

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Dobson's endorsements:

• Christian broadcaster Dobson no fan of Thompson | Dobson says he won't back actor, who says, 'it's a free country' (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Dobson says he won't support Thompson | James Dobson, one of the nation's most politically influential evangelical Christians, made it clear in a message to friends this week he will not support Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson (Associated Press)
  
  
• Dobson's choice | Focus on the Family's Fred focus (The American Spectator)
  
  
• IRS: Dobson's endorsements were legal | Focus on the Family's nonprofit status upheld amid complaints of partisanship (Associated Press)
  
  
• Dobson's politics won't affect Focus' tax-exempt status | Focus on the Family chairman James Dobson's endorsement of 2004 Republican candidates did not disqualify his conservative media ministry from tax-exempt status, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ruled after an audit (The Denver Post)
  
  
• Focus vindicated after yearlong IRS audit | 'No dings. No criticisms. Not a single allegation was found to have substance.' (CitizenLink, Focus on the Family)
  
  
• Focus on the Family will lay off 30, move 15 more to new jobs | Most of the layoffs are in the organization's Constituent Response Services department that answers mail and telephone requests (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
  
  
• The FundamentaList | The quest for Dobson's endorsement, the Values Voter Presidential Debate, secret Bible codes about 9-11, Santorum's prep for war with Iran, and televangelist domestic violence (The American Prospect)
  
  

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2008 elections:

• Faith's role on the rise in Campaign 08 | A new Pew poll on religion and politics finds that 70 percent of Americans want a president with strong religious beliefs (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  
• Falwell's son urges conservative pastors to get out the vote | The son of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, whose Moral Majority helped reshape the national political landscape, vowed Tuesday to pick up where his father left off and help change public policy in Virginia and in Washington (The Washington Post)
  
  
• A crisis of political faith for evangelicals | GOP hopefuls will get no free passes this time from a religious base angered by tepid progress on its agenda (CQ)
  
  
• AP Poll: GOP presidential race a toss-up | White men, conservatives, evangelicals and other pivotal blocs are divided among the Republican Party's leading contenders for president (Associated Press)
  
  
• Those Christian candidates | Faith matters a lot in the coming presidential election, but it is unclear whether the candidates' faiths are more likely to hurt or help (Editorial, The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
  
  
• Christian Coalition back in the news | Randy Brinson, a physician known for his work registering young Christians through Redeem the Vote, guided what was left of the Christian Coalition of Alabama on a more pragmatic, more progressive path. The going was slow at first, but apparently some wealthy contributors have stepped up, and the CCA is on the move again (Editorial, The Anniston Star, Ala.)
  
  
• Theology on the hustings | If Mr. Kinsley would require candidates who worship and claim to know God to come clean about any hidden agendas they might have, should not full disclosure also be required of those who practice a religion of political convenience and even the secularist and the practical atheist (which would include a nontheistic candidate as well as one who simply invokes God's name for political reasons, but doesn't seriously believe in Him)? (Cal Thomas, syndicated)
  
  

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Giuliani:

• Giuliani's GOP lead shrinks in new poll | Giuliani now stands at his lowest point yet among mainline Republicans, men, conservatives and white evangelical Protestants (The Washington Post)
  
  
• I am pro-life and I support Rudy | Why? Precisely because he is unreligious and a supporter of abortion rights (Eric Johnston, The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Some religions and politics just don't mix | Candidates bewitched and bewildered (Ben Krull, The Baltimore Sun)
  
  
• Anti-Roe and pro-Rudy | By taking the side of pro-lifers for democratic, but not devout, motives, a President Giuliani could shake up the nearly 35-year-old debate over Roe v. Wade (Eric Johnston, The New York Times)
  
  

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Romney:

• Romney targets gay marriage in new ad | Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is launching a radio ad touting the strength of his opposition to gay marriage (Associated Press)
  
  
• Mitt Romney - the Mormon challenger who hopes 'to do a JFK' in quest for presidency | He leads the polls in most of the early primary states but will Mitt Romney's religion bring him down in the race for the White House? (The Times, London)
  
  
• For Romney, it's not his father's campaign | Mormonism wasn't really an issue 40 years ago (Dan Gilgoff, The Washington Post)
  
  

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McCain:

• McCain says he's been Baptist for years | Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who has long identified himself as an Episcopalian, said this weekend that he is a Baptist and has been for years (Associated Press)
  
  
• McCain: Overall faith what's important | Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday that questions over whether he identifies himself as a Baptist or an Episcopalian are not as important as his overarching faith (Associated Press)
  
  
• Candidates invite questions about their faith | As personal as religion is, it is also a staple of political campaigns — and this year more than ever (The Washington Times)
  
  
• Can we get past Baptist bashing? | I don't care whether Republican presidential candidate John McCain is an Episcopalian or a Baptist. But the implication in Monday's paper that he'd been caught at something -- outed while trying to pass as an Episcopalian -- hit a nerve. (Dannye Romine Powell, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
  
  

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Thompson:

• Evangelicals hesitant about Thompson | Prominent evangelical leaders who spent the summer hoping Fred Thompson would emerge as their favored Republican presidential contender are having doubts as he begins his long-teased campaign (Associated Press)
  
  
• Thompson says he won't tout his religion on trail | Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson, who is basing his campaign on an appeal to conservative voters, says he isn't a regular churchgoer and doesn't plan to speak about his religion on the stump (Bloomberg)
  
  
• Evangelicals hesitant about Thompson | Prominent evangelical leaders who spent the summer hoping Fred Thompson would emerge as their favored Republican presidential contender are having doubts as he begins his long-teased campaign (Associated Press)
  
  
• Thompson cites 'good Church of Christ' upbringing but doesn't attend regularly | Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson says his religion is Church of Christ. He was baptized as a youth, worships at a congregation in Tennessee when he visits his mother and has made donations to at least one church-affiliated university (The Christian Chronicle, Church of Christ newspaper)
  
  

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Other candidates:

• John Edwards: working-class values and a closely held faith | While Christian beliefs help gird his antipoverty campaign, he believes that politicians who identify closely with one religion cannot be inclusive (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
  
• God and … Hillary Clinton? | An interview with Paul Kengor (FrontPageMag.com)
  
  

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Values vote debate:

• 'Values voters' hold debate | Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Fred Thompson — sat out the Values Voter Presidential Debate, citing scheduling conflicts. That didn't stop questioners from addressing the front-runners who didn't attend (Associated Press)
  
  
• Values voters | Despite a gaffe that showed he's not yet familiar with Washington-speak on abortion, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee won the values voters straw poll, held after the first-ever Values Voter debate Monday night (The Washington Times)
  
  
• Values voters pick Huckabee | For all those wondering whether Mitt Romney can break through among Christian conservatives, add this data point: he was the only candidate who received zero votes in a straw poll after last night's Values Voters Debate, an event he and the other leading Republican contenders decided to skip (The New York Times)
  
  
• 7 GOP hopefuls face off in values debate (The Miami Herald)
  
  
• GOP debate in Lauderdale targets faithful | On a night that opened with 90 minutes of prayers, gospel music and Bible verses, seven Republican presidential candidates gathered in Fort Lauderdale to try and win over an evangelical voting bloc that has been a political powerhouse in past elections (The Miami Herald)
  
  
• GOP presidential debate in Fort Lauderdale focuses on conservative values | Little more than asterisks in the public opinion polls, the lesser-known candidates for president tried Monday to appeal to the most conservative elements of the Republican Party in an attempt to break into top-tier status (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
  
  
• Huckabee triumphs in 'Value Voters' straw poll | "How can we expect these no-show candidates to take on Osama bin Laden and other world leaders when they're afraid to show up and answer questions from Phyllis Schlafly?" Rabbi Aryeh Spero of the Jewish Action Alliance asked (The Hill)
  
  
• Values-voter label is simplistic, ill-fitting | It's become a caricature of what Christian conservatives believe, and is summed up by some as only being about God, guns and gays (Brent Castillo, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
  
  

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Politics:

• House passes Vietnam Human Rights Act | Among other things, it prohibits any increase in nonhumanitarian foreign aid to Vietnam until the President certifies that various human rights goals have been met (Religion Clause)
  
  
• New York just says no to abstinence funding | The decision puts New York in line with at least 10 other states that have decided to forgo the federal money in recent years (The New York Times)
  
  
• "Pro-life" Casey votes twice to enable US funding for abortion overseas | Last week Senator Bob Casey, Jr. (Democrat-Pennsylvania) actively contradicted his largely pro-life campaign promises by voting to approve a funding appropriations bill that would provide US funding to foreign organizations that promote and provide abortions (LifeSiteNews.com)
  
  
• Bush advisers' paths diverge as end nears | Dowd steps back from campaigns; McKinnon still active (Austin American-Statesman)
  
  
• Comelec: Priesthood not obstacle in polls | The Commission on Elections' second division has dismissed the petition of lawyer Ely Pamatong to remove Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio on the basis of his being a priest (The Philippine Inquirer)
  
  
• Religious right set to gather | A three-day summit will bring well-known figures to Brandon to talk bedrock issues (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
  
  
• Bible Society in link with Liberal Democrats | The new project aims to help Lib Dem Christians explain how their faith and politics fit together (Religious Intelligence)
  
  
• Ky. opens own faith-based service office | Program is modeled on White House plan (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
  
  
• State debuts faith-based office | Meeting to link officials, providers (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
  
  
• Faith-based politics | It's not happenstance that Gov. Ernie Fletcher's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is having its public debut this week, with polls showing Gov. Fletcher far behind and his re-election campaign making raw appeals to narrow religious sectarianism (Editorial, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
  
  
• Evangelicals' own fear dooms them | They are responsible for a great many of the most notable social and intellectual embarrassments in America since the new millennium took hold, and rest assured, we and the rest of the civilized world shall recall their bleak accomplishments for much of our natural born lives, and shudder. (Mark Morford, San Francisco Chronicle)
  
  
• Keep virgin births and gold plates out of politics | "Mainstream" Christianity turns the two most preposterous ideas imaginable—conception without gametes and resurrection from the dead—into planks of its theology and has the nerve to taunt Mormons about adding gold plates into the mix (Giles Whittell, The Times, London)
  
  
• A strange way to woo religious voters | Outreach efforts might be more credible if Democrats were not simultaneously trying to incite conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Louisiana -- and managing to offend both groups in the process (Michael Gerson, The Washington Post)
  
  

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Mukasey:

• Bush picks Mukasey as attorney general | Despite his experience with the terrorism docket, opponents of Mukasey — especially those who are against abortion — are upset about a 1994 case he handled (Associated Press)
  
  
• No conservative rebellion over Mukasey | Conservatives may not like President Bush's nominee for attorney general, but they are not rebelling against Michael Mukasey (Associated Press)
  
  

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Mormonism:

• Mormon church regrets 1857 massacre | A ranking Mormon church official expressed "profound regret" Tuesday for the massacre of 120 California-bound pioneers moving through Utah on a wagon train on the 150th anniversary of the ambush (Associated Press)
  
  
• Wives and Republicans | Observations on polygamy (New Statesman)
  
  
• The Mormons are coming | Long before Mitt Romney and "Big Love," Mormons were demonized as polygamists, prudes and vampires. But Mormonism just may be the first major world faith since Islam. (Salon.com)
  
  

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Presbyterianism:

• Church battle comes to head | Can fate of Linn Grove church be resolved before it goes to a courtroom? (Storm Lake Pilot Tribune, Ia.)
  
  
• Top Presbyterian official to leave post | The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who has been elected to three terms as stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) since 1996, announced his retirement (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
  
  
• Also: Presbyterian leader praised, blamed | Well-liked despite controversies (The