April (Web-only) 2000

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Hansie Cronje, whom the Associated Press called "perhaps the country's most revered sports hero," is accused of fixing a cricket match for about US $15,000. The Times of India calls it "a 'death blow' to 'born-again' believers." That may be overstating the case a bit (ChristianityToday.com Weblog predicts that born again believers will probably survive the scandal), but there's no denying that the Christian witness of Cronje, one of cricket's most prominent Christians, is hurt worldwide.

From the Heart Church Ministries left the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in July. The denomination sued for the congregation's $38 million worth of assets, including a Learjet, two sanctuaries, and a school. The resolution of the case isn't expected for a while, but arguments over who controls the assets in the meantime have already reached Maryland's highest court. When Chief Judge Robert M. Bell said From the Heart could hold on to the assets for now, trial judge E. Allen Shepherd resigned from the case.

For the most part, anti-death penalty conservatives like Robertson don't oppose it because they believe the death penalty itself is immoral, writes Steven A. Holmes in The New York Times. They believe it's applied immorally. Of course, there are plenty of Christians who oppose the death penalty itself because they believe in the sanctity of life.

Deneen Brown's lengthy article looks at what happens when women literally diet religiously. A sidebar suggests programs like ...