"Mr. Bush told editors and reporters of The Washing-ton Times yesterday in an interview in the Oval Office that many in the public misunderstand the role of faith in his life and his view of the proper relationship between religion and the government. 'I think people attack me because they are fearful that I will then say that you're not equally as patriotic if you're not a religious person,' Mr. Bush said. 'I've never said that. I've never acted like that.' ...Mr. Bush said he has 'still got a rigorous agenda' for his faith-based initiative. The federal govern-ment has funneled 'about $1.2 billion' to religious groups so far, the president said, and he hopes to improve on that in the next four years."

Bill Tammeus, KRT: "says the Rev. Greg Boyd, senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., and author of 'Is God to Blame? Moving Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Evil' ...'Jesus didn't go around causing natural disasters. So I don't have any grounds for assuming natural disasters are ever God's will.' When people wonder why God doesn't prevent evil, some theologians ask us to imagine a world in which God, in fact, did just that. 'Do we really want God...manipulating the laws of physics in such a way that we would never know from one moment to another which were working and which had been suspended?" asks author and teacher John Blanchard."

Science&Theology News: "most dictionaries simply define 'universe' as 'all matter and energy, including Earth, galaxies and intergalactic space.' So even if there is more out there than we previously thought, it makes sense that 'universe' would cover it all. But when we say 'universe,' we really mean 'the universe as we understand it' — our concept of the unchanging laws of nature, the pull of gravity, the dimensions in which we move. The places beyond our realm, where these constants may not be so constant, are all parts of the multiverse. We can’t see these places, even with the best lenses on the biggest telescopes. These other universes, if they exist at all, are inaccessible. ..."

AsiaNews: "China’s new comprehensive regulations on religious affairs contain some positive elements but in other respects are even more restrictive than those they replace. The new regulations...will come into effect on March 1 and replace those issued in 1994 to administer places of worship and foreigners’ religious activities. Among the positive elements of the new rules are their nation-wide application. Under the 1994 rules religious activities such as opening of new churches and tem-ples and appointing religious personnel were adminis-tered by provincial authorities applying at least 50 different regulatory regimes. Under the new system the same rules apply to all religions and believers across the country."

Walter E. Williams, Columbia Daily Tribune: "The attack on Christian ideas and Christian public displays is part and parcel of the leftist control agenda in an-other way. Certain components of the leftist agenda require that our primary allegiance be with government. As such, there must be an attack on allegiances to the teachings of the church and family. After all, for exam-ple, if you want popular acceptance of homosexual marriages, there must be a campaign against church teachings that condemn such practices. Emboldened by their successes in the courts and intimidation of public officials, leftists will no doubt make other de-mands; there’s no logical end point except complete Christian capitulation."

Lex 18.com: "For more than a year, Larry Caldwell tried to get the Roseville Joint Union High School District...to consider changing how it taught the theory of evolution in its biology classes. Caldwell, who has three children, says he wanted the district to correct factual errors in its biology textbooks as well as to introduce students to some scientific criticisms of modern evolutionary theory. Caldwell did not propose that the district teach creation-ism or alternatives to evolution....in the process ...Cald-well alleges the district repeatedly denied him rights and procedures normally afforded other citizens in the district, banned parents from speaking in favor of his proposals
...publicly attacked his personal religious beliefs, spread false rumors about him...even threatened to sue him and other parents if they continued to speak out."  

Tim Stafford: "If 23 million Americans who claim Jesus as their Savior have no discernible church connection, they are joined by many more who attend church (bet-ween 40 percent and 50 percent of Americans do in a given week, according to Barna) but sit loose in their commitment. A good sermon, a moving worship experi-ence, a helpful recovery group—these they look at to find 'a good church.' When they become dissatisfied, they move on. Their salvation, they believe, is between them and God. The church is only one possible re-source....We do not need to condemn those alienated from the institutional church, but to help them reconsi-der. By keeping away from church commitments, they miss out on life essential. ...How can you follow Jesus and then...not follow him?"

Anthony B. Robinson, Seattle P-I: "For some today, all Christians are closed-minded religious bigots whose politics are somewhere to the right of the Terminator. For others, Christians can be explained in terms of two-party theory: There are liberal and progressive Chris-tians on one side and the conservative and evangelical Christians on the other. Both explanatory frameworks are inadequate to the diverse and complex reality.... Like much else in post-modern America, the situation is wonderfully messy. It doesn't lend itself to neat explana-tions or to a simple duality of liberal and conservative. ...today you have progressive evangelicals, theological post-liberals, the new orthodox, as well as ancient-modern Christians. Such stereotype shattering and boundary crossing strikes me as promising."

AP via SFGate: "The show, 'Unlocking the Mystery of Life,' challenges Darwin's theory of evolution....'The funders of this program have a clear and specific agenda that they openly promote,' said Joan Rebecchi, KNME-TV's marketing manager. 'KNME has no position regarding this agenda, but we must guard against the public perception that editorial control might have been exercised by the program funders,' she said. Chad Davis, KNME program manager, said the show lists five Christian organizations as funders, including the Crowell Trust, whose Web site says it promotes 'the teaching and active extension of the doctrines of evangelical Christianity through approved grants to qualified organizations.'"

Former Anglican Bp. Richard Holloway via International Herald Tribune: "God is dead, and we are alone in the world.... The only thing we can be certain of is that there is no certainty—including that one. Committed to being uncommitted, we should relish the irony of our position. Knowing what we know, we should stand closer to outsiders than insiders, remem-bering how the gods love to divide: So we should make alliances with poets and protesters, rarely with priests and politicians. We should not expect to win many battles against the world's tyrannous addiction to idols, but nor should we ever allow ourselves to be defeated by it."

Laurie Goodstein: "What does all this rising religios-ity add up to? It is easy to assume that a more religious world means a more fractious world, where violent conflict is fueled by violent fundamentalist movements. But some religion experts say that while it is clear that religiosity is on the rise, it is not at all clear that fundamentalism is. Indeed, there may be a rising backlash against violent fundamentalism of any faith. The world's fastest growing religion is not any type of fundamentalism, but the Pentecostal wing of Christianity. While Christian fundamentalists are focused on doctrine and the inerrancy of Scripture, what is most important for Pentecostals is what they call "spirit-filled" worship, including speaking in tongues and miracle healing...."

Ronald J. Sider in Christianity Today: "Whether the issue is divorce, materialism, sexual promiscuity, racism, physical abuse in marriage, or neglect of a biblical worldview, the polling data point to widespread, blatant disobedience of clear biblical moral demands on the part of people who allegedly are evangelical, born-again Christians. The statistics are devastating.... George Barna concludes, 'Every day, the church is becoming more like the world it allegedly seeks to change.' ...Professor Lamin Sanneh told Christianity Today recently that 'the cultural captivity of Christianity in the West is nearly complete, and with the religion tamed, it is open season on the West's Christian heritage. I worry about a West without a moral center facing a politically resurgent Islam.'"

Author Jim "Wallis...the founder and editor of the maga-zine Sojourners, described as 'a Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice.' Wallis is an evangelical Protestant leader committed to a prophetic vision of social and political transformation. The plight of the poor and the corrosive social and spir-itual effects of rapacious corporate capitalism, racism, militarism and war, and threats to the well-being of families are all on Wallis' docket. Progressive on the economy and foreign policy, conservative on sexuality and families, Wallis criticizes both the political right and left for having not taken the visions of justice articulated by the Hebrew prophets and the gospel writers suffici-ently seriously."

AP's Richard Ostling: "the novel has provoked unpre-cedented protest from serious scholars. First, it was Roman Catholic and Protestant conservatives, protes-ting that Brown's characters inaccurately malign Chris-tianity. Now, more liberal thinkers likewise say Brown's claim to present facts through fiction is itself fictional and misleads readers. The leader of this sec-ond wave is Bart Ehrman, religion chairman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code.... Ehrman, an expert in early church documents that are central to Brown's plot, says he wants 'to separate the fact from the fiction, the historical realities from the flights of fancy, for anyone interested in knowing about the historical beginnings of Christianity."

BPNews: "other polling by Gallup has shown Canadi-ans to be more liberal on moral issues. For instance, 53 percent of Canadians but only 40 percent of Americans say that abortion is 'morally acceptable.' On another issue, 60 percent of Canadians but 42 percent of Amer-icans say that homosexual behavior is morally accept-able. In fact, homosexuality may be where the two countries differ the most. Fifty-four percent of Canadians believe that homosexuality is 'something a person is born with.' Only 37 percent of Americans agreed with the statement. In addition, 51 percent of Canadians favor same-sex 'marriage' legalization while only 35 percent of Americans do so. Same-sex 'marriage' is legal in 7 of the 10 Canadian provinces, and the federal government is moving to legalize it nationwide."

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