'Take my soul and body’s powers;
Take my memory, mind, and will;
All my goods, and all my hours;
All I know, and all I feel;
All I think, or speak, or do;
Take my heart—but make it new.’

[C. Wesley]

Bishop Iker’s Interview On Public Radio

Have a listen.

Found at Drell's Descants

Cross Free Chapels

One by one, they disappear. They go into storage, closets, or God knows where. Crosses, I mean. Some "churches" even remove them from their own buildings, sanctuaries. Some are removed by judicial fiat from municipal logos. St. Paul said the Cross is offensive, a stumblingblock.

God truly have mercy upon those who chose to remove the sign of atonement from their eyes, their lives, and their hearts. While it may be for them merely an ornament, they still know not what they do. When the symbol of the Cross is gone, that for which it stands will fade from the memory and imagination. In many cases the removal, perhaps, follows the latter. Still, some child may look and ask someone, what is that symbol? If he finds the answer, he may come to embrace it. "Better, Screwtape, that we put the Cross into a childproof closet." We wouldn't want someone to get the Wrong Idea.

The latest Removal took place, it is reported here by Todd Starnes, from the chapel of the College of William and Mary. While it may seem more inclusive to remove the Cross of Jesus, He would disagree, He who intends to draw all men, all nations, every tribe and tongue, to the sign of the Divine Mercy and forgiveness that all men need.

Mere Comments

'The Unpaid Bills of the Church'
Wicca's Charm
By Chuck Colson

"Imagine losing all your friends at once," a woman named Margaret Ann told Catherine Edwards Sanders, the author of Wicca's Charm. Margaret Ann was talking about her decision to leave her Baptist faith and become a Wiccan during her college years. "My family ganged up on me and refused to discuss it with me at all," she recalls.

Sanders adds, "All of her friends, except one, deserted her. Not one of the members of the Christian group [on campus] bothered to ask why she liked Wicca. . . . Other Christian students would only talk to her to tell her that they were praying for her.

"At another point in the book, Sanders tells the story of what happened to a group of Wiccans in Orange County. As they were practicing a sunrise ritual, a group of Christians surrounded the Wiccans with their cars and blared loud Christian rock music at them.

What's wrong with this picture?

To begin with, we need to understand that Wicca and its power are real. Marketers of popular kids' books and TV programs about Wicca told Sanders that it's all fake and something kids do just for fun. But as both current and former Wiccans report, Wicca is a real, powerful, and dangerous thing. Laura, a high school student, told Sanders that she "had a very bad experience" during a Wiccan ritual and is now "haunted by a scary presence." Kathleen and Paula, two former Wiccans, also report "negative experiences too frightening to describe." Others have similar accounts.

the rest

Why is Sexuality so Important to the Church?
Albert Mohler
Posted: Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Dr. Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, is one of the most influential evangelical leaders in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The archdiocese he leads is among the most conservative within the Communion and, not surprisingly, one of the healthiest as well.

In a recent address to the synod of his archdiocese, Archbishop Jensen explained why issues of human sexuality are so important to the Christian church. A church that will abandon biblical truth on issues of sexuality will set the pattern for denying biblical authority when addressing any issue. Consider this passage from his address:

As you know, I have taken the view from the beginning that the crisis over human sexuality is a very deep one indeed. The idea that we are somehow to blame for making so much fuss about sex is ludicrous. Human sexuality is so powerful a gift and so basic to our human nature, and so fraught with both good and ill, that it is bound to occupy a large part of our thinking. Indeed it is all part of our cultural reappraisal of the roles of men and women, with vast consequences for the quality of family life and the good of the begetting and nurturing of the race. In the end, it is also a crisis over biblical authority and its clarity; hence the importance of Biblical Theology. Here is a crucial sticking point. To accept various contemporary ways of reading scripture will leave us vulnerable at all points. We will not defend the uniqueness of Christ, if we will not defend the plain teaching of scripture on human sexuality.

the rest

U.S. Marriage Decline Seen as Foreboding Sign for Society's Future
By Allie Martin
October 31, 2006

(AgapePress) - A leader in the pro-family movement says a new Census Bureau report points to dark days ahead for American society. The recently released America Community Survey found that for the first time in the nation's history, married couples represent a minority of U.S. households.

According to the recently released report on the survey, marriage has been in decline during the past 50 years and has fallen from 76 percent of all U.S. households in 1957 to just below 50 percent today.

Dr. Allan Carlson is founder of the World Congress of Families (WCF), an international network of pro-family organizations and leaders whose goal is to restore the natural family as society's fundamental unit. He says the U.S. needs to rediscover the importance of marriage if the current pattern of decline in married households is to be turned around.

What cultural analysts are seeing at present, Carlson says, is "a greater trend towards an extreme form of individualism, a reluctance to make binding commitments." And a binding commitment is, "in fact, what a marriage is," he points out. the rest

The Confession
Have same-sex-marriage advocates said too much?
By Stanley Kurtz

Suppose a large group of same-sex-marriage activists came together and made the following confession to a group of same-sex-marriage skeptics:

“Look, we’re going to level with you in a way that we haven’t up to now. We all support same-sex marriage, but for many — even most — of us, gay marriage isn’t an end in itself. It’s a way-station on the path to a post-marriage society. We want a wide range of diverse families — even ‘polyamorous’ groupings of three or more partners — to have the same recognition, rights, and benefits as heterosexual married couples. In short, your worst fears are justified. The radical redefinition of marriage you’ve been worried about for so long is exactly what we want.

“Oh sure, some of us are more radical than others. But even the most committed and prominent mainstream advocates of same-sex marriage largely support a radical family agenda. A few advocates who back a ‘conservative’ interpretation of same-sex marriage may regularly engage you in debate, yet their views carry relatively little weight within the gay community. Some of these ‘conservative’ supporters of same-sex marriage have claimed that there is no significant political constituency for polygamy-polyamory, or for a general legal deconstruction of marriage. That’s just wrong. As gay marriage gains acceptance, we’re going to have a polygamy-polyamory debate in this country. And among those sponsoring that debate will be many of the very same people and groups who’ve already pushed for same-sex marriage. the rest

Hundreds of haredim riot against gay parade in J'lem
Protest against upcoming gay pride parade in capital becomes violent as hundreds of ultra-Orthodox gather on main traffic route in town, block road, torch trash cans and throw stones. Four policemen hurt by stone throwing
Neta Sela
10.31.06

Several hundreds haredi rioters blocked one of Jerusalem's main traffic routes, road number one connecting the western and eastern parts of the city, Tuesday evening, in protest of the plan to hold the gay pride parade in the capital next Friday.

Four policemen were lightly injured from rocks thrown by Haredi rioters and received medical treatment at the scene.

The Jerusalem police have detained nine haredim during the protests. the rest

Abstinence message goes beyond teens
Millions in federal money targeting adults up to 29
By Sharon Jayson
USA TODAY

The federal government's “no sex without marriage” message isn't just for kids anymore.

Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.

The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual behavior of adults.

“They've stepped over the line of common sense,” said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C.-based group that supports sex education. “To be preaching abstinence when 90% of people are having sex is in essence to lose touch with reality. It's an ideological campaign. It has nothing to do with public health.”

Abstinence education programs, which have focused on preteens and teens, teach that abstaining from sex is the only effective or acceptable method to prevent pregnancy or disease. They give no instruction on birth control or safe sex.

The National Center for Health Statistics says well over 90% of adults ages 20-29 have had sexual intercourse. the rest

Pagan inmates to observe festival

Pagan prisoners in Britain are to be given time off work duties to allow them to observe a religious festival on the day of Halloween.

Pagans observe the Celtic New Year's Eve on 31 October, which they see as Britain's indigenous New Year event.

The Home Office, which agreed to the move, said it was committed to treating all prisoners with decency, which included respecting all religions.

There are more than 300 registered Pagans in Britain's prisons. the rest

Episcopal leader`s gay stance irks flock
Oct 31, 2006

NEW YORK, NY, United States (UPI) -- The new leader of the Episcopal Church has revealed a part of her agenda with letters written to two out-of-favor bishops.

Katharine Jefferts Schori is days away from becoming the leader of the left-wing denomination, whose promotion of homosexuality has put it at odds with most of the 77-million member worldwide Anglican communion. Most of that 450-year-old church refuses to accept the Episcopal denomination`s promotion of homosexuality. The Episcopal denomination is regarded, currently, as the U.S. province of the Anglican Church.

The election this summer of Schori, an active supporter of consecrating homosexuals as bishops and same-sex marriage, to Episcopalianism`s top job has prompted numerous bishops and their dioceses to seek alternative spiritual oversight from the Anglican Communion`s nominal head, England`s Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. the rest

Religion today is not transforming people; rather it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society; it is descending to society's own level, and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smilingly accepting its surrender. ... A. W. Tozer

US ‘Foreign Aid’ Consists of Billions of Condoms
Despite AIDS program abstinence emphasis US is still largest condom donor in the world By Meg Jalsevac
EUFAULA, Alabama,
October 30, 2006

(LifeSiteNews.com) – An Oct. 28 New York Times article has exposed the self-serving business and political interests behind the U.S. export of billions of condoms to under-developed and developing countries as part of the nations’ foreign aid and international AIDS programs.

Despite the detrimental effects, both societal and physical of such so-called aid, the past two decades have seen both Republican and Democratic senators alike treating the manufacture of billions of condoms as a purely economic perk and fighting for the manufacturing to remain in the US.

The Bush administration has spent billions of dollars in its global AIDS plan. Of that money, one-third must be spent on promoting abstinence programs such as the Ugandan ABC program. However, that still leaves billions of dollars for family planning and population control programs. the rest

In Touch With Jesus
Sugarcoated, MTV-style youth ministry is so over. Bible-based worship is packing teens in pews now
By SONJA STEPTOE / BELLFLOWER

Sometimes a scavenger hunt is just a scavenger hunt. That's all it is at many churches, where the frenzied chase to collect trinkets and complete silly tasks is a perennial activity aimed at getting teenagers into their doors. But at Calvary Baptist Church in Bellflower, Calif., a scavenger hunt is also a metaphor for the lifelong pursuit of meaning and happiness that begins in adolescence--and rich grist for a sermon targeted to teens. "A scavenger hunt is a search," youth leader Doug Jones, 20, tells the 80 teens who have just returned from a race through this working-class city 30 miles east of Los Angeles. Quoting from Romans 10: 13 ("Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved") and Matthew 7: 7 ("Ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find"), he urges them to "ask God to come into your life and rescue you, and bring your personal scavenger hunt to an end."
the rest

Albert Mohler commentary here

Presiding Bishop's Chancellor Threatens Fort Worth, Quincy Dioceses
10/30/2006

On the eve of Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s investiture as the 26th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, her chancellor, David Booth Beers, has written identical letters to the chancellors of two traditionalist dioceses demanding that they change language “that can be read as cutting against an ‘unqualified accession’ to the Constitution and Canons of the General Convention of The Episcopal Church.

“The timing of this letter is shocking,” Fort Worth Bishop Jack L. Iker told The Living Church. “Some of the changes he refers to go back as far as 1989. All this was done completely out in the open and news of it was distributed widely. We have kept the Presiding Bishop informed at every step.

“We are still contemplating our response, but I think we will refuse to take the ‘bait’ by responding in kind,” Bishop Iker said. “We will probably refer him to our website where our constitution and canons are published.”

the rest at The Living Church (HT to Connecticut Six)

Albany Diocese: Bp. Herzog and Bp. Bena to retire
via email-Priests and Deacons update

At the meeting of the Standing Committee today (Oct 30) Bishop Dan Herzog and Bishop Dave Bena advised the members that they each intend to retire in early 2007.

“We have both prayerfully considered what God’s will is, and believe that this is the right time to pass on the apostolic ministry.

We have discussed this with Bishop William Love, the Coadjutor of the Diocese, and he is ready to assume leadership as Ninth Bishop of Albany. By the time we retire on January 31, over ten months will have elapsed since his election.

Bishop Bill was for some time a member of the Standing Committee and the Diocesan Council and therefore well acquainted with the vision and operations of the diocese. Since March he has been able to participate in many meetings, ministries and events along side us. He is an able leader, committed to Christ and His kingdom.

Each of us has been especially blessed by having a supportive and prayerful wife. Carol Herzog and MaryEllen Bena have sacrificed time and companionship so we could carry out this ministry. Words are inadequate to express our gratitude.

Both of us have been blessed to labor together in this portion of the Lord’s vineyard. We have been particularly blessed by our fellow disciples, both lay and ordained. Both of us are deeply grateful for the help of so many as we endeavored to carry our episcopal ministry across this vast diocese.

In Christ Jesus,

+ Bishop Dan Herzog
+ Bishop Dave Bena

3 Episcopalian groups worship as one in Vista
By Sandi Dolbee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 30, 2006

VISTA – In ordinary times, Episcopal Bishop James Mathes would have been in Fallbrook yesterday, presiding over services at the church there as part of his rotating visit of parishes in the San Diego diocese.

These are not ordinary times.

Instead, Mathes found himself at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Vista, where three congregations have taken sanctuary from the departures and dissension afflicting the U.S. Episcopal Church.

He brought words of encouragement during what he called “a time of conflict and confusion.” And he suggested good things would come.

“In your future, as you separate back to your home communities, I don't think you'll ever be the same again – in a very positive way,” Mathes said.

Since December, six priests have left the San Diego diocese as part of a national division over such issues as the ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire, the election of the denomination's first female presiding bishop and other disagreements. the rest

And I will put a division between my people and thy people: tomorrow shall this sign be. (Exodus 8:23)

Pharaoh has a people, and the Lord has a people. These may dwell together and seem to fare alike, but there is a division between them, and the Lord will make it apparent. Not forever shall one event happen alike to all, but there shall be great difference between the men of the world and the people of Jehovah's choice.

This may happen in the time of judgments, when the Lord becomes the sanctuary of His saints. It is very conspicuous in the conversion of believers when their sin is put away, while unbelievers remain under condemnation. From that moment they become a distinct race, come under a new discipline, and enjoy new blessings. Their homes, henceforth, are free from the grievous swarms of evils which defile and torment the Egyptians. They are kept from the pollution of lust, the bite of care, the corruption of falsehood, and the cruel torment of hatred, which devour many families.

Rest assured, tried believer, that though you have your troubles you are saved from swarms of worse ones, which infest the homes and hearts of the servants of the world's prince. The Lord has put a division; see to it that you keep up the division in Spirit, aim, character, and company. ...CH Spurgeon photo

Church says sorry to bullied priests
COLIN JAMES
October 29, 2006

ANGLICAN priests "silenced, bullied or threatened" when they tried to report child sex abuse have received a public apology.The annual Synod of the Diocese of Adelaide has endorsed a report urging it to "acknowledge and apologise for the distress experienced by some clergy who attempted to report abuse in the past and were silenced, bullied or threatened".

The apology was among measures approved by Synod at the weekend to overhaul the church's handling of child sex abuse allegations, including the adoption of a new code of conduct for priests, church officials and church workers.

The strategy - developed over 12 months by a special working party - included the introduction of mandatory reporting of child abuse to church and welfare authorities.

Archbishop Jeffrey Driver yesterday described the measures as "one of the best models for best practice in professional conduct of any diocese in Australia". the rest

Muslim Riots Renew in France
October 29, 2006

By Sher Zieve – Muslim riots began again in France, overnight on Sunday. Fox News reports the riots are being described as well-planned, “commando style” and designed to “overthrow governments”.

Bombs were thrown and buses were burned overnight and the violence is said to be increasing. The rioting is reported to be occurring in predominantly North African and Arab Muslim neighborhoods outside Paris. French police have said that the continuing conflagrations and violence have created police “no-go zones” in Muslim suburbs. the rest

In Teens' Web World, MySpace Is So Last Year
Social Sites Find Fickle Audience
By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 29, 2006

Teen Web sensation MySpace became so big so fast, News Corp. spent $580 million last year to buy it. Then Google Inc. struck a $900 million deal, primarily to advertise with it. But now Jackie Birnbaum and her fellow English classmates at Falls Church High School say they're over MySpace.

"I think it's definitely going down -- a lot of my friends have deleted their MySpaces and are more into Facebook now," said Birnbaum, a junior who spends more time on her Facebook profile, where she messages and shares photos with other students in her network.

From the other side of the classroom, E.J. Kim chimes in that in the past three months, she's gone from slaving over her MySpace profile up to four hours a day -- decorating it, posting notes and pictures to her friends' pages -- to deleting the whole thing.

"I've grown out of it," Kim said. "I thought it was kind of pointless."

Such is the social life of teens on the Internet: Powerful but fickle. Within several months' time, a site can garner tens of millions of users who, just as quickly, might flock to the next place, making it hard for corporate America to make lasting investments in whatever's hot now. the rest


Caffeine-stoked energy drinks worry Docs
By CARLA K. JOHNSON,
Associated Press Writer 1

CHICAGO - More than 500 new energy drinks launched worldwide this year, and coffee fans are probably too old to understand why.

Energy drinks aren't merely popular with young people. They attract fan mail on their own MySpace pages. They spawn urban legends. They get reviewed by bloggers. And they taste like carbonated cough syrup. the rest

Faithful seek communion
Defiant Catholics create new home
Saturday, October 28, 2006
By JEFF DIAMANT
Star-Ledger Staff

She grew up Roman Catholic, but like millions of others, Rebecca Ortelli came to disagree with church teachings on contraception, communion and priestly celibacy, among other things.

Many like-minded Catholics drift away from the church or join other denominations. But Ortelli, 57, wanted to maintain both her Catholic identity and her world view. And she didn't want to feel one was inconsistent with the other. the rest

Bearing witness to a sea change in Unitarian practice
The usually low-profile church now spreads its message with mass mailers, radio spots, newspaper ads.
By David Haldane, Times Staff Writer
October 28, 2006

A devout Baptist, Larry Kuechlin believes he knows the source of the proselytizing postcard he recently received from a church that embraces homosexuals.

The mailer's architect, the Long Beach man says, is "the devil himself."

In fact, the direct mail campaign was masterminded by a force no one would suspect: Unitarians.

A denomination with no formal creed, a low profile and a strong tradition against proselytizing, Unitarian Universalists — Unitarians for short — are trying something new: a splashy dose of evangelism. Using radio spots, newspaper ads and mass mailers, they hope to spread the word (lower case) about their faith's openness, diversity and undogmatic approach. the rest

Gay Couples' Adopted Kids May Be Baptized, Catholic Draft Says
Religion News ServiceSunday,
October 29, 2006

Children adopted by gay couples may be baptized in the Roman Catholic Church, even though the church does not support such adoptions, calling them "a pastoral concern," according to new guidelines for ministering to gay men and lesbians that will be presented to U.S. bishops next month in Baltimore.

The 23-page draft document affirms traditional church teachings on same-sex issues, such as forbidding the blessing of same-sex unions or marriages, and addresses some relatively new issues, such as discrimination against and harassment of gay men and lesbians. the rest

Episcopal Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. is under fire over his brother's misconduct.
Sun, Oct. 29, 2006
By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer

Episcopal Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. is used to church conservatives' denouncing him as a "false teacher" and a "heretic" because of his liberal views on gay clergy, gay marriage and Scripture.

Now moderates and fellow liberals in his five-county, 55,000-member Diocese of Pennsylvania are taking the gloves off, too.

Saying they are frustrated with his financial practices and "imperious" management style, some clergy and lay leaders are seeking to oust the 62-year-old bishop with evidence that he concealed his brother's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl more than 30 years ago.

The abuse occurred under Bennison's watch; his brother, John, served as youth director of the California parish where Charles Bennison was rector. the rest

Christian haunted houses aim to scare to salvation
By David Casstevens
McClatchy/Tribune newspapers
Published October 29, 2006

FT. WORTH -- Ten years ago a Colorado preacher wrote a manual about how to stage a Christian-themed haunted house. It sold for $199.Like everything else, scaring the hell out of teens is getting more expensive.

The Hell House Outreach kit now costs $299.

Rev. Keenan Roberts has distributed his product to 800 churches in every state and in 18 countries. He estimates 3,000 ministries will sponsor similar attractions this harvest season. the rest

When I walk by the wayside, He is along with me. When I enter into company amid all my forgetfulness of Him, He never forgets me. In the silent watches of the night, when my eyelids are closed and my spirit has sunk into unconsciousness, the observant eye of Him who never slumbers is upon me. ...Thomas Chalmers photo

My soul waits for the Lord

more than those

who watch for the morning,

more than those

who watch for the morning.

Call: Out of the depths I have cried to You.

Response: O Lord, hear my voice.

Call: With my whole heart I want to praise You.

Response: O Lord, hear my voice.

Call: If you, Lord, should mark iniquities:

Response: Who could stand? who could stand?

I will wait for the Lord.

My soul waits,

and in His word

do I hope.

This weekend’s conventions: brief summary and list of information needed
October 27th, 2006

There are TWENTY conventions happening this weekend (including Tennessee’s special convention to attempt to elect a new bishop). Don’t forget to pray for Tennessee tomorrow!!

You can find the list of all the dioceses holding conventions this weekend here.

titusonenine

Stand Firm: Coverage of Tennessee Bishop Election-updated with each ballot

Update:12th Ballot - Bauerschmidt is the new Bishop of Tennessee

The political race between the Evangelical God and the 'ordinary one'
Credo by Stephen Plant
October 28, 2006

GRACE DAVIE, the sociologist of religion, reports a conversation that took place during a survey in Islington in 1968. The interviewer asked a resident: “Do you believe in God?” “Yes”, the individual replied. “Do you believe in a God who can change the course of events on Earth?” continued the interviewer, “No” replied the interviewee, “just the ordinary one.” The exchange could still happen today. Most Britons still believe in God, but the God they believe in is “the ordinary one” who makes little practical difference either to their own lives, or to those of the society to which they belong.

It is therefore a striking feature of Christianity in contemporary Britain that the most confident Christian perspective is the one most at odds with that of the man in the (Islington) street. Against the flow of opinion both outside the churches and to an extent on the more liberal end of the Christian spectrum, Evangelical Christianity maintains that God can change the course of events on earth and looks for the realisation of this hope in British social and political life. the rest

Media Twist Good Economy Into Bad News
Thursday, October 26, 2006

Since Election Day 2004, the U.S. economy has added more than 3 million new jobs. The unemployment rate dropped from a healthy 5.5% to an even more impressive 4.6%. Even with energy prices gyrating, the Consumer Price Index shows inflation at a controlled annual rate of 3.4% for both 2005 and the first nine months of 2006. Since the fall of 2004, the overall size of the U.S. economy (GDP) has increased by more than $1.3 trillion — new wealth that exceeds the total size of the Russian, Saudi Arabian and Hong Kong economies combined.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released October 9 found nearly a fourth of Americans (23%) said the economy will be the "single most important" issue for them on Election Day, nearly twice as many as said Iraq was their most important voting issue (12%). But the same poll also found pessimism: 53% said the economy was "not so good" or "poor," vs. 47% who said it was "good" or "excellent." the rest

A Sterile Worldview
By Chuck Colson
10/25/2006

Vanishing Russia

According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, Russia “has lost the equivalent of a city of 700,000 people every year since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.” We’re talking about the population of San Francisco or Baltimore—a grim reminder of how fruitless some worldviews can be.

If demographic trends hold steady, Russia’s population, which stands at 142 million today, will drop to 52 million by 2080. At that point, according to Sergei Mironov, the chairman of the upper house of the Dumas, the Russian parliament, “there will no longer be a great Russia . . . it will be torn apart piece by piece, and finally cease to exist.”

Mironov isn’t alone in his fears. Russia’s demographic crisis raises “serious questions about whether Russia will be able to hold on to its lands along the border with China or field an army, let alone a workforce to support the ill and the elderly.” the rest

Michael J. Fox: The politics behind the cure
By Bonnie Rogoff
MichNews.com
Oct 27, 2006

Senator Jim Talent should easily be re-elected in Missouri. He’s a young pro-life conservative and a rising star in the GOP. Yet, all current polls indicate a very close race, with Senator Talent leading Claire McCaskill by 3 percentage points. The election will now hinge upon one shameful, misleading commercial ad about embryonic stem cell research.

The image of actor Michael J. Fox exhibiting the extreme symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease has been commented on by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The media has focused attention entirely on Rush’s statements (which are being misconstrued) with no attention given to Mr. Fox, whose comments about stem cell research and Senator Jim Talent are false.

Thanks to the mainstream media and their shameful biased promotion of embryonic stem cell research, the American public is unaware that the benefits of adult stem cells far outweigh embryonic stem cells. Important organizations and hundreds of articles detail the advantages of adult stem cell research. Do No Harm and Missourians Against Human Cloning are two examples. In human clinical trials and animal research, Parkinson’s Disease, spinal cord injuries, heart disease and diabetes have been treated with adult stem cells with impressive results.

the rest

Pope: Church Must Rebuild After Deep Wounds of Sex Abuse Scandal
Saturday, October 28, 2006

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that the church must urgently rebuild confidence and trust damaged by clerical sex abuse scandals, which have created deep wounds.

The pope made the remarks to a group of visiting bishops from Ireland, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation where the church has been damaged by sex abuse scandals over the past decade.

"In the exercise of your pastoral ministry, you have had to respond in recent years to many heart-rending cases of sexual abuse of minors," the pontiff told the bishops. "These are all the more tragic when the abuser is a cleric." the rest

Episcopalians hope 4th vote begets bishop
Diocese runs 3 moderates in attempt to heal local rifts
By ANITA WADHWANI Staff Writer
Saturday, 10/28/06

After a five-month respite, local Episcopalians will try again today to elect a new bishop amid deep divisions here and within the U.S. denomination over the interpretation of the Bible, openly gay clergy and same-sex unions.

In three previous elections during March and May, clergy and lay leaders weren't able to reach consensus on who will succeed the retiring Right Rev. Bertram Herlong, who, since 1993, has led the 51 congregations of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, which stretches from the Cumberland Plateau to the Tennessee River. the rest

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH WILL BE SHOWN THE DOOR, SAYS ORTHODOX BISHOP
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
10/28/2006

NASHOTAH, WI: The Episcopal Church has crossed the line and will be shown the door by the Global South Primates if she does not comply fully with the demands of the Windsor Report, says canon lawyer and Episcopal Bishop, the Rt. Rev. William Wantland.

Speaking recently to more than 150 members of the Southeastern Wisconsin chapter of the American Anglican Council, at Nashotah House, the former Bishop of Eau Claire said that the eight dioceses are not asking for Alternative Pastoral Oversight, they told PB Frank Griswold and PB-elect Katharine Schori, 'do you want to be part of this process of separation or do you not. If you are not part of the process of disengagement, the Global South primates have said they will separate from you, so you'd better get on board and the Archbishop of Canterbury will be totally behind them.'

the rest at Virtueonline

Internet Explorer 7.0
Davis D. Janowski - PC Magazine
Oct. 26

Those of you who've followed our coverage of the development saga that is Internet Explorer 7 know that I and others at PC Magazine haven't been easy on the Softies for their laggardly development and the various shortcomings we've noted in beta builds. I've lived with the various preliminary versions of Internet Explorer 7.0 for almost a year now, using it on a daily basis. What I said in my beta 3 review still applies: I think it's solid overall and a big improvement over the patchwork quilt IE6 has become. At the same time, when I'm in a mood to really try new things and push the envelope, I like the current Firefox and Opera more.

I'm constantly surprised that Firefox—an underdog that originated as a passionate open-source response to lack of innovation throughout the graying years of Internet Explorer 6—has wholly stolen the development momentum (as well as considerable market share) from Microsoft. But it has. Still, Microsoft has the vast majority of the market. Those who purchase a new PC next year will find IE7 on it. That alone will make it the default browser of choice for millions of people by the end of 2007. Depending on whose statistics you believe, 80-something to 90 or so percent of consumers use IE, mostly version 6. Millions of XP users will be downloading the IE7 to replace their very-long-in-the-tooth-patched-to-the-hilt versions of IE6. If you're in that camp but on the fence, let me push you over: Upgrade. The rest

Anti-abortion rights leader disparages Drinin honor
Syracuse Post-Standard
Saturday, October 28, 2006
RENEE K. GADOUA
RELIGION NOTEBOOK

The leader of an international, Catholic, anti-abortion rights organization this week criticized the Georgetown University Law Center for creating the Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Chair in Human Rights.

"Referring to Father (Robert) Drinan as a human rights hero is like calling Attila the Hun a diplomat," the Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, said in a news release issued by Christian Newswire and in a statement on the organization's Web site, www.hli.org. the rest

In Clean Politics, Flesh Is Pressed, Then Sanitized
October 28, 2006
By MARK LEIBOVICH

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 — Campaigns are filthy. Not only in terms of last-minute smears and dirty tricks. But also as in germs, parasites and all the bacterial unpleasantness that is spread around through so much glad-handing and flesh-pressing.

“You can’t always get to a sink to wash your hands,” said Anne Ryun, wife of Representative Jim Ryun, Republican of Kansas.

Hands would be the untidy appendages that transmit infectious disease.

Like so many other people involved in politics these days, Mrs. Ryun has become obsessive about using hand sanitizer and ensuring that others do, too. She squirted Purell, the antiseptic goop of choice on the stump and self-proclaimed killer of “99.99 percent of most common germs that may cause illness,” on people lined up to meet Vice President Dick Cheney this month at a fund-raiser in Topeka. the rest

We come to Jesus Christ: and He does for us what He promised; and the thing works out. To our amazement, it works out. And then we settle down. We have had our own first-hand and irrefutable experience. But, instead of opening the windows to the glory of the sunshine so evidently there, instead of being incited to a hugeness of faith by what Christ has already done for us, we can't believe that there can be anything more, or that even He can work, for us, anything better. That first foretaste satisfies us. And so we camp for life out on the confines of the Kingdom, and never press on to inherit what is there and meant for us.
... A. J. Gossip photo

Study: Vegetables May Keep Brains Young
By Lindsey Tanner
AP Medical Writer
Tue, Oct. 24 2006

CHICAGO (AP) - New research on vegetables and aging gives mothers another reason to say "I told you so." It found that eating vegetables appears to help keep the brain young and may slow the mental decline sometimes associated with growing old.

On measures of mental sharpness, older people who ate more than two servings of vegetables daily appeared about five years younger at the end of the six-year study than those who ate few or no vegetables.

The research in almost 2,000 Chicago-area men and women doesn't prove that vegetables reduce mental decline, but it adds to mounting evidence pointing in that direction. The findings also echo previous research in women only. the rest


A brisk walk a day keeps those winter colds away
By Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor
October 27, 2006

HALF an hour’s exercise a day cuts the risks of catching colds in half, a new trial suggests.
story

The Phenomenon of Facing the Giants
by Marc T. Newman, Ph.D.

Hollywood salivary glands must be working overtime as industry suits watch the grosses for a micro-budgeted little film produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. In a savvy marketing move, distributors Samuel Goldwyn and Sony Pictures made sure that Facing the Giants did not have to face many at the box office. They launched this "little movie that could" right near the start of the high school football season that it depicts, and far enough ahead of any of the big "must see" films, such as Flags of Our Fathers or The Prestige and two weeks after Gridiron Gang. As a result, Facing the Giants, produced for $100,000 with volunteer actors, but a professional camera crew, has stunned the bean-counters with box office sales north of $6 million – so far. With the exception of the rapidly-expanding film The Queen, Facing the Giants had the smallest week over week drop of any film in the top thirty, and managed something else few films accomplish – the second week's weekday box office was actually larger than the first.

Don't get me wrong. If your production standard for film fare is Lord of the Rings or even The Guardian, Facing the Giants is not a great theatrical release. The acting is mostly wooden, the location sets lackluster, and the story's multiple conclusions are too miraculous for my tastes. By all normal measures of evaluating film as art, Facing the Giants fails. But the film is striking a chord with audiences because it is told with conviction when it counts, depicts Christians turning toward and trusting God for the results (something rare in film), and even though the tidy ending might be much, it reminds people that with God nothing is impossible. the rest

Dioceses' Appeal for APO Modified
10/27/2006

The dioceses which appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury for alternate primatial oversight (APO) last summer have modified their petition and no longer seek an “alternative primate” to exercise metropolitan oversight. Instead they have asked Archbishop Rowan Williams for a “commissary” from Canterbury. The Living Church has learned that Archbishop Williams recently informed the petitioning bishops the issue will be discussed during the meeting of Anglican primates Feb. 14-19 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

“Commissary” or Commissarius Apostolicus is an ecclesial term for someone appointed to act on behalf of a bishop as an episcopal agent in the bishop’s absence. Commissaries were appointed by the Bishop of London for the 13 colonies to oversee Church of England parishes until the American Revolution. the rest

Archbishop Williams Meets With Presiding Bishop-elect Jefferts Schori
10/27/2006

Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefforts Schori met Oct. 27 with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in a closed-door session at Lambeth Palace in London to discuss the state of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

Introduced to Archbishop Williams by Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, the three met for 90 minutes without aides present in Archbishop Williams’ office. The meeting was requested last spring by Bishop Griswold in order to introduce the person elected to succeed him.

Bishop Griswold told Anglican Communion News Service afterward that the discussions had been “cordial and collegial.” Bishop Jefferts Schori said she welcomed the opportunity to meet with Archbishop Williams and noted the three had shared a “frank conversation about challenges in the Communion.” the rest

Abortion exposes women to higher risk of depression
October 27, 2006
By Rosemary Bennett, Social Affairs Correspondent

WOMEN who have abortions are risking depression and other mental illness and should be told of the dangers, a group of leading doctors says today.

In a letter to The Times, 15 senior obstetricians and psychiatrists say that new evidence has uncovered a clear link between abortion and mental illness in women with no previous history of psychological problems.

Women who have had abortions have twice the level of psychological problems and three times the level of depression as women who have given birth or never been pregnant, they say.
the rest

Can You Grow Up, But Not Be a Grown-up?
Albert Mohler
Posted: Friday, October 27, 2006

Michael Bywater is concerned that the present generation is growing up, but not becoming grown-ups. Writing in The Telegraph [London], Bywater bemoans the infantilism of the culture and the immaturity of so many young adults.

"My grandfather was born in 1888 and he didn't have a lifestyle. He didn't need one: he had a life," Bywater observes.

Yes, his grandfather's life was almost assuredly very different than his own. Previous generations did not think of life as an endless experiment, and they saw their grown-up role as a matter of responsibility, not a lifestyle choice.

the rest

Antibiotic-resistant infection spreads
BY TROY ANDERSON, Staff Writer

After spreading through Los Angeles County jails and Skid Row, a stubborn and potentially deadly skin infection is increasingly showing up in the general population, a health report released Thursday warned.

At the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center emergency room in Sylmar, the percentage of skin infections due to the virulent strain of an antibiotic-resistant staph infection has risen from 29 percent in 2001 to 64 percent in 2004, according to the report.

Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding, the county's public health director, said other hospitals throughout the county are seeing similar increases. Outbreaks have been reported among members of a football team, a commercial gym, firefighters, police and even newborns.

"We are finding this broadly in the community," Fielding said. "It is not simply a problem of Skid Row or the jails. But the conditions on Skid Row and in the jails increase the likelihood of one having it and transmitting it. Those are close, crowded living conditions with poor hygiene and frequent skin-to-skin contact. the rest

Clergy warned on partisan preaching
Several faiths act to keep tax status
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff
October 27, 2006

In the face of increased federal scrutiny of politics in the pulpit, religious denominations are warning clergy against overtly partisan preaching.

As Election Day approaches, with the Massachusetts governorship and both houses of Congress up for grabs, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has sent a memo to all priests instructing them not to provide parish directories to political candidates, not to allow the distribution of campaign literature on church property, and not to express support or opposition for political candidates.

The memo warns explicitly that the tax-exempt status of the Archdiocese of Boston could be at risk if those rules are violated. the rest

Religious Conservatives Cheer Ruling on Gays as Wake-Up Call
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 27, 2006

The New Jersey court decision that gay couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples was bad news for social conservatives -- the bad news they were hoping for.

"Pro-traditional-marriage organizations ought to give a distinguished service award to the New Jersey Supreme Court," said the Rev. Richard Land, head of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. the rest

Church and city of San Diego reach settlement in equal access case involving unfair rental fees
Baptist church defended by ADF succeeds in securing fair treatment by city officials Thursday, October 26, 2006

SAN DIEGO — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund secured a settlement agreement today in a lawsuit brought by a local church against city officials. Canyon Ridge Baptist Church rents a city-owned facility and filed suit when it learned the city had been charging higher rental fees for churches than those charged to similar non-religious community groups.

“A landlord should not treat Christian tenants any differently than other tenants. This is especially true when the landlord is the government,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Tim Chandler. “A city cannot single out religious organizations for unequal treatment in comparison to other similarly situated groups. San Diego officials are doing the right thing in agreeing to correct this injustice.”

Canyon Ridge Baptist Church rents space at the Kearny Mesa Recreation Center. The city provides the recreation center at no cost or for a nominal fee to many governmental and community groups. But San Diego officials were automatically charging religious organizations the highest rate, which is many times higher than what other community groups are charged. On June 16, a federal judge granted ADF attorneys’ request that the city be barred from charging the church the higher fees while the case, Canyon Ridge Baptist Church v. City of San Diego, moves forward (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3781).

the rest

Williams joins faith symbols row

The Archbishop of Canterbury has entered the Muslim veil debate by saying people should be free to wear visible religious symbols.

Dr Rowan Williams said aiming for a society where no symbols such as veils, crosses, sidelocks or turbans would be seen was "politically dangerous".

It would treat the state as a "central licensing authority" which creates public morality, he told the Times. the rest

While sitting on the bank of a river one day, I picked up a solid round stone from the water and broke it open. It was perfectly dry in spite of the fact that it had been immersed in water for centuries. The same is true of many people in the Western world. For centuries they have been surrounded by Christianity; they live immersed in the waters of its benefits. And yet it has not penetrated their hearts; they do not love it. The fault is not in Christianity, but in men's hearts, which have been hardened by materialism and intellectualism. ...Sadhu Sundar Singh photo

Matt Kennedy: Ecclesiology: The Achilles Heel of Orthodox Anglicanism?

I fear that this historic division, this inherent orthodox weakness, has arisen again in the guise of arguments about whether to “stay” or “leave”, whether to create a “new province” or to remain within and reclaim the existing structure. The Camp Allen debates and criticisms with regard to recent actions of various orthodox bishops and dioceses, all seem to founded in this basic catholic/evangelical disagreement regarding nature of the Church.

the rest at Stand Firm

Four Primates Offer to Meet With Dioceses Requesting APO
10/26/2006

The primates of four provinces in the Anglican Communion have offered to meet in November with the bishops, chancellors and standing committee presidents from the eight Episcopal dioceses that petitioned Archbishop Rowan Williams last July for alternative primatial oversight.

The Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Primate of Nigeria; the Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, Primate of the West Indies; the Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi, Primate of Kenya; and the Most Rev. Justice Akrofi, Primate of West Africa, have told the seven bishops and eight dioceses that the Nov. 15 meeting, to be held at The Falls Church in Falls Church, Va., will not preempt whatever is decided at the Feb. 14-19 primates’ meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Instead, the November meeting is intended to allow the American dioceses to express their needs directly to Global South leaders. the rest

Female Bishop to Take Top Job in Episcopal Church
By Daniel Burke
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON -- At a ceremony filled with pomp and tradition, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will become the first woman in the Anglican Communion's nearly 520-year history to lead a national church when she is installed as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church on Nov. 4.

Seated on the bishop chair's in Washington's National Cathedral before what is expected to be an overflow crowd, Jefferts Schori, 52, will be handed the primatial staff, which symbolizes her guidance over the nation's 2.2 million Episcopalians.

Soon after her election, Jefferts Schori faced a mini rebellion from conservatives who said she is too liberal to lead the badly fractured U.S. church, and some who said her gender disqualified her from leadership. the rest

Sex abuse tarnishing Anglican Church's credibility: Archbishop

The Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide has acknowledged that the biggest problem facing the church is ongoing revelations of sexual abuse.

Speaking at the opening of this year's delayed synod last night, Archbishop Jeffrey Driver said the significant number of sexual abuse claims has severely tarnished the church's credibility.
He also says it has put extra pressure on the overall budget.

Archbishop Driver says this year's synod will focus on how to cope with the claims and better ways of reporting complaints in the future.

"Some of the financial challenges we now have to face are the responsibility of those who abused a sacred trust of leadership, and to an extent, of the diocese itself for being too slow to respond to the situation before it," he said. the rest

New Internet Auction Site Launched to Help the Homeschool Community

WHITE PINE, Tenn., Oct. 26 /Christian Newswire/ -- With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, fans of online auction sites are introduced to the new kid on the block - http://www.homeschoolbuy.com/. Homeschool Buy is poised to meet the needs of homeschoolers and others who were turned away when eBay decided to prohibit the sale of Teacher's Editions. Homeschool Buy is prepared to handle much more than just homeschool curriculum though; everything home and family-oriented is welcome. Customers can shop without worrying about objectionable content.

the rest

Why Johnny is reading Islamist propoganda
Critics charge Muslim radicals determining textbook content
Posted: October 26, 2006
By Bob Unruh

Islam is being taught in the nation's public schools as a religion to be embraced because "organized Islamists have gained control of textbook content," according to an organization that analyzes textbooks.

The American Textbook Council has concluded that the situation is the consequence of "the interplay of determined Islamic political activists, textbook editors, and multiculturally minded social studies curriculum planners."

It has gone so far that correcting the situation now becomes a problem, because "educational publishers and educational organizations have bought into claims propounded by Islamists – and have themselves become agents of misinformation. the rest

NASA's STEREO Spacecraft Begin Sun-watching Mission
By Tariq MalikStaff Writer
posted: 25 October 2006

A pair of Sun-watching satellites launched into the night sky above Florida late Wednesday, kicking off a NASA mission to take three-dimensional (3-D) images of our nearest star.

NASA’s nearly identical STEREO spacecraft rocketed spaceward atop a Boeing Delta 2 booster after a successful 8:52 p.m. EDT (0038 Oct. 26 GMT) liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

“The satellites are in their intended orbit and everything went as planned,” NASA launch director Omar Baez said just after liftoff. the rest

Evangelical schools ordered to teach Darwin
Quebec crackdown
David Rogers; with files from Joanne Laucius, National Post; CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, October 24, 2006

OTTAWA - The Quebec Ministry of Education has told unlicensed Christian evangelical schools that they must teach Darwin's theory of evolution and sex education or close their doors after a school board in the Outaouais region complained the provincial curriculum was not being followed.
"Quebec children are legally required to follow the provincial curriculum ... but these evangelical schools teach their own courses on creationism and sexuality that don't follow the Quebec curriculum," said Pierre Daoust, director-general of the Commission Scolaire au Coeur-des-Vallees in Thurso, Que.

Mr. Daoust's complaint sparked the province-wide investigation.

Quebec law requires school boards to assure the Ministry of Education that every child between the ages six of and 16, with the exception of home-schooled children, receives an adequate education, he said. the rest

The Future of Anglicanism - an end to Western hegemony: Bishop Bob Duncan
Thursday October 26th 2006

“We have reached the moment where a mediation to achieve disengagement is the only way forward.”“The future of Anglicanism depends on the shift of its systems and institutions from North to South, and from Anglo- to Afro-, Sino- and Latino-.”“What of the radical imbalances between Provinces when comparing the Primates of Scotland, Ireland, Wales or even the United States with Provinces like Nigeria, Uganda or Kenya?”“Diocesan boundaries are lost forever.Things will never return to the simplicity of one Anglican bishop having authority over one Anglican territory.”

The Future of Anglicanism

the rest (found at Stand Firm)

New Church of England Book Challenges Rural Churches to Fresh Expressions
A new Church of England book is challenging rural churches to maximise the use of their existing church buildings in a bid to boost mission and bring the rural community church.
by Maria Mackay
Posted: Thursday, October 26, 2006

Churches in the countryside should consider setting up farmers’ markets and using school buildings after hours to organise café-style events to reach out to rural communities, argues a new book released today by the Church of England.

Mission-shaped and Rural, written by the Rev Sally Gaze, comes one week after a report supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs showed that the actions of people of faith enhance and sustain vibrant rural communities.

The book sheds light on how traditional models of the Church’s work in the countryside should be complemented by emerging forms of ministry in order to meet the needs of today’s rural communities.

The insights of Mission-shaped and Rural have been praised by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who said: “Rural faith today is in the process of finding its own distinctive voice in a climate of enormous cultural change and economic challenge. In this informed and inspiring guide Sally Gaze affirms the distinctive and complex quality of rural life today while courageously exploring new possibilities for ministry.” The rest

"On Equal Terms" -- New Jersey Joins the Revolution
Albert Mohler
Posted: Thursday, October 26, 2006

In a 4-3 decision handed down on Wednesday, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the state's legislature to grant same-sex couples all the rights and responsibilities previously reserved for civil marriage. In a sweeping decision, the court found that homosexual couples in the state have been unconstitutionally denied the statutory benefits and privileges conferred on married heterosexual couples.

The court stopped short of ordering the legislature to call this new arrangement "marriage," but it left the legislature that option and gave the legislative branch 180 days to comply with the order. Furthermore, the court declared that the legislature must provide some rational basis for denying homosexual unions the terminology of marriage, should it choose to create another equal but distinct statutory arrangement. the rest

New Scientology church signals expansionist thrust
Ruth Gledhill weblog

Actress Anne Archer is among the celebrities due to attend the opening of London's new Church of Scientology headquarters on Sunday. The Church of England has welcomed the new church, which is opening its doors to the public in a building that was once the headquarters of the Bible Society.

The five-storey Italian palazzo building in Queen Victoria Street was originally designed and built in 1866 by architect Edward l’Anson after he won a competition to design the new headquarters for the British and Foreign Bible Society. On completion the building was called Bible House. In 1985 the building was taken over by BP and named D’Arcy House, after William Knox D‘Arcy, the founder of BP. The Scientologists bought it in 2004.

Virtually in the precincts of St Paul's, the teams of Scientologists out on the streets around Tottenham Court Road, where the old London headquarters is still functioning as a centre of the church, are about to become a familiar sight in and around the City of London. Given the many criticisms levelled at Scientology, not least from its own former acolytes, I was slightly surprised to learn how warmly the Church has been welcomed by the clergy at the cathedral.

Canon Peter Delaney, Archdeacon of London and a Canon of St Paul's, hosted a welcome "tea party" for the Scientologists at his home close by the cathedral. Senior clergy from churches in the City of London were also invited to get to know their new neighbours. the rest

Patricia Heaton, Sports Stars Rebut Michael J. Fox on Missouri Stem Cell Ad
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 25, 2006

St. Louis, MO (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life advocates in Missouri have prepared a response ad to one that actor Michael J. Fox has made in numerous states that contains misleading information about pro-life candidates and their views on stem cell research. The new ads feature St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan and stars Jim Caviezel of "The Passion of Christ."

Fox recorded an ad that aired during the first game of the World Series and St. Louis-area voters were falsely told that pro-life Sen. Jim Talent, who is in one of the nation's closest Senate races, does not support stem cell research.

"Amendment 2 claims to ban human cloning, but in the 2000 words you won't read, it makes cloning a constitutional right," Suppan says in the ad.

Suppan will be pitching for the Cardinals tonight and the ad is slated to be shown during the World Series. the rest


Michael J. Fox Uses Misleading Information to Promote Doyle
By Newswires
MichNews.com
Oct 25, 2006

MADISON, Wisconsin /Christian Newswire/ -- "Brace yourself! Wisconsin is being deluged with ads featuring actor Michael J. Fox which are just as misleading as the ones currently airing in Missouri and other states," declared Barbara Lyons, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life.

"Everyone deeply sympathizes with Fox who has Parkinson's disease. What we don't respect is the 'hype' and false hope he conveys about embryonic stem cell research."

"There is no cure or even help for humans from this controversial research," said Lyons. "No human being has ever received an embryonic stem cell because they are too dangerous and tend to produce tumors." the rest

Cleric in sex sermon furore
Thursday 26 October 2006

Australia's most senior Muslim cleric has suggested that women who do not wear headscarves are to blame for sexual assaults, comparing them to uncovered pieces of meat.

Sheikh Taj El-Din Hamid Hilaly, the mufti of Sydney's biggest mosque, said in a Ramadan sermon that sexual assaults might not happen if women wore a hijab and stayed at home.

Hilaly criticised women who "sway suggestively", wear make-up and no hijab, or Islamic headscarf, for inviting sexual attack. the rest

The growth of 'online Jihadism'
By Frank Gardner
BBC Security Correspondent, Norway

Housed in a shallow valley just outside Oslo is the Norwegian Defence Research Institute.

It is an unremarkable place to look at, but inside sits one of Europe's leading teams of researchers into the growing phenomenon known as "online Jihadism", or al-Qaeda-inspired extremism on the internet.

They are neither intelligence agents nor soldiers, but academics who use their fluent Arabic to produce unclassified research.

Like many who study this subject, they disguise their real identity by using false Arabic names and proxy addresses. the rest

Episcopal 'U2-charist' uses songs in service
Updated 10/25/2006
By Gary Stern, USA TODAY

When Anglican Archbishop Thomas Cranmer compiled the Book of Common Prayer during the 16th century, he wanted to make the prayers accessible, so he wrote in English, not Latin, and made sure it was distributed to every church.

About 450 years later, there is another attempt to make prayers more accessible — by an Irish bard who wears wrap-around shades instead of a clerical collar.

It may not qualify as a mini-Reformation, but a Communion service driven by the music of singer Bono and his U2 bandmates is catching on at Episcopal churches across the country.

The U2 Eucharist is not some kind of youth service held in the church basement but is a traditional Episcopal liturgy that uses U2's best-selling songs as hymns. the rest