Daily Review Online: "Such is the new life of G.P. Taylor, 46, a motorbiking Anglican vicar, former punk rocker, police officer and social worker—and the next J.K. Rowling, as some have dubbed him. "Hotter Than Potter," screamed headlines in Britain last year. The phrase, a publicist's dream, referred to Shadowmancer, Taylor's first book, a dark, 18th-century-era fantasy novel for ages 12 and older featuring boggles, witches, smugglers, heroic teens and an evil vicar's plot to over-throw the Almighty, no less. Since its publication, Tay-lor has written a second faith-based novel, Wormwood, just out in hardback, and has sold the rights for future books to publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. No longer reliant on his modest church stipend...."

Albert Mohler on Crosswalk: "We are now witness-ing a massive closing of hearts and minds, fueled by a radical divorce of morality and law. Behind all this stands the totalitarian aspirations of a new secular elite. Senator Kerry has given voice to their argument, and Rocco Buttiglione [rejected as Italy's commission-er on the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament] has felt the crushing weight of their hatred. Think it can't happen where you live? Just ask the members of Southeast Christian Church who wanted to remind their neighbors that marriage is to be a union of one man and one woman marked by honor and cherish-ing love. They can tell you what it is like to be on the receiving end of the secular onslaught."

Biographer George Weigel interviewed by Zenit: "I think the Pope's suffering has underscored the evangelical character of his pontificate. Perhaps the wisest single line ever written about John Paul II was penned on the day of his inauguration by the French journalist, Andre Frossard, who told his Paris news-paper, 'This isn't a pope from Poland; this is a pope from Galilee.' The world is now witnessing this 'pope from Galilee' leading the Church, not from a throne, but from the way of the cross, from Calvary. By inviting the Church and the world to walk the 'via crucis' with him, Karol Wojtyla continues to preach Jesus Christ to the very end."

CNSNews: “A federal judge [has] ordered the Ann Ar-bor Public School system to pay $102,738 in attorney fees and costs to the Thomas More Law Center, which defended a student who expressed her religious views against homosexuality. During her high school's annual 'Diversity Week' program, Betsy Hansen...was not all-owed to express her belief against homosexuality. Han-sen also complained about a school-sponsored 'Homo-sexuality and Religion' panel, which, she said, was stacked with religious leaders who endorsed her school's pro-homosexual agenda. School officials [call-ed] Hansen's religious objection toward homosexuality a "negative" message [that] would 'water-down' the 'positive'...message they wanted to convey...."

News-Journal: "They aren't 'traditionalists,' as Green calls the old-fashioned faithful in any religion, such as ultra-conservative Catholics like Mel Gibson. And they aren't 'modernists'—the liberals constantly working for change in any religion, such as Catholics pushing to ordain women. They're everybody else—faithful believ-ers seeking spiritual comfort, religious guidance and a supportive community. 'Their religion isn't political,' he says. For example, Green says, 'Most Catholics are just kind of regular Catholics. . . . They take the teach-ings of the church seriously. For them, the church is not about political things at all. It's about living a good life.' ...They love Jesus, try to be good people...[but] don't look to the pulpit for political direction."

Paul Strand, CBN: "Many accuse the Republican Party of being captive to the Religious Right or what some would call the Radical Right....But what the media rarely cover is how much the other side, secular humanism, now dominates the Democratic Party. It is a change that began to show up in 1972. By the time the 1992 Democratic Convention rolled around, the largest religious bloc of delegates was not religious at all. Social scientist Gerald De Maio said they were, '...Secularists, self-identified secularists, defined as atheists, agnostics and those with no religious pref-erence.' ...[De Maio says] secularists have become as important to the Democratic Party today as organized labor is."  

AP via Yahoo News: "Patti Davis, daughter of the late President Ronald Reagan, has filed a lawsuit charging that the Salvation Army canceled her speech planned for one of their events because she supports stem cell re-search. Davis was scheduled through her booking agent
...to speak at a Salvation Army event in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Nov. 19 for a fee of $15,000, said her lawyer, Lawrence Fabian. Fabian said officials at the religious charity recently told his clients they no longer wanted Davis as a speaker, and they would pay neither the $15,000 speaking fee nor the $7,500 cancellation fee called for by the contract... the Salvation Army cited Davis' support for stem cell research and said the sci-ence is against its beliefs.... [A]n attorney for the Salva-tion Army said the lawsuit was 'totally without merit.'"

AP via My Way: "The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up the constitutionality of Ten Command-ments displays on government land and buildings, a surprise announcement that puts justices in the middle of a politically sensitive issue. Justices have repeatedly refused to revisit issues raised by their 1980 decision that banned the posting of copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. In the meantime, lower courts have reached a hodge-podge of conflicting rulings that allow displays in some instances but not in others. The high court will hear appeals early next year involving displays in Kentucky and Texas." 

A forum of 71 evangelical pastors and college and seminary educators, via 'Christian Link': "Many Americans seek guidance from the Bible for important issues of life, while we recognize that many others do not. With thankfulness for the freedom of all Americans to believe whatever they think best regard-ing matters of religion and ethics, we offer this state-ment of our personal understanding of the teachings of the Bible for the thoughtful consideration of all who are interested in how the Bible might speak to ethical issues in the current election." Their "open letter" speaks to seven ethical issues they believe are critical in the current United States presidential election campaign.

San Mateo, CA., Daily Journal: "A Christian student group sued Hastings College of the Law in federal court in San Francisco Friday, accusing the school of viola-ting its free speech rights by imposing a nondiscrimina-tion policy. The San Francisco-based law school, which is part of the University of California, bars registered student groups from discriminating on the basis of reli-gion or sexual orientation. The Hastings chapter of the Christian Legal Society, a nationwide group headquar-tered in Virginia, says...that policy conflicts with its orthodox Christian beliefs. The chapter...says that all students are welcome to its meetings, but that its mem-bers and officers must adhere to orthodox Christian beliefs and may not engage in homosexual conduct."

The Omaha Channel: "Jennings said that everyone —even journalists—have points of view through which they filter their perception of the news. It could be race, sex or income. But, he said, reporters are ideally trained to be as objective as possible. 'And when we don't think we can be fully objective, to be fair,' the anchorman said. Does the public think network news is fair? There are a number of opinion polls that show news consumers feel that the media does have a slant. Jennings maintains those polls may be driven by groups with an agenda. 'There's a whole industry of conservatives saying, "Ah, it's those damn liberals," and a whole group of liberals saying, "It's all those damn conservatives,"' Jennings said."

AP via Fort Wayne.com: "Pope John Paul II exhorted Christians on Friday to display signs of their faith more forcefully, contending the practice neither infringes on separation of church and state nor breeds intolerance. His comments appeared to be a clear reference to raging debates over laws such as France's recent ban on wearing Islamic headscarves, Jewish skull caps or large Christian crosses in schools. ...In a 31-page letter ...the pope kept up his campaign to invigorate the faith of followers. 'May there be more commitment, on the part of Christians, to give witness with more force to the presence of God in the world,' John Paul wrote. 'Let's not be afraid to speak of God and to carry on high the signs of faith.'"

AP via Daily Press: "A federal judge has ruled that Lou-doun County school officials discriminated against some families by removing bricks engraved with crosses from a walkway in front of Potomac Falls High School. The families bought the bricks as part of a fund-raiser for the school's parent group. For $50, parents could buy a brick engraved with their child's name and class year and have it installed as part of a "walk of fame" surround-ing the school's flagpole. For an additional $5, they could add a symbol to the brick. An order form gave parents choices of 24 symbols.... The only religious symbol offered was a cross. In February 2003, Loudoun officials removed six bricks inscribed with crosses after receiving a complaint about the religious icon."

Report to U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution: "We do not agree with the few in the hearing who suggested that hostility to religious free-dom is not an issue in this country. Hostility to religi-ous expression is real and much too frequent, to an extent that would be shocking to most Americans. Exhibit A (attached) is a long list of cases, over 50 pages...reflecting religious hostility across America. These cases just scratch the surface of what is hap-pening across the country. ...the American Civil Liber-ties Union, People for the American way, and Amer-icans United for Separation of Church and State con-stantly batt[le] against expression of a relitious view-point in the public square."

Jos. Loconte, Philadelphia Inquirer via Heritage Foundation: "Politicians who invoke religion are always in for a rough ride. In his debates with Stephen Douglas over slavery, Abraham Lincoln was pilloried for his 'proneness for quoting Scripture.' Yet today a Methodist president who admits he prays for God's guidance is accused of 'faith-based extremism' not unlike that of Osama bin Laden. Columnist Bruce Bartlett, quoted in this week's New York Times Magazine, claims that George W. Bush understands the dark vision of Islamic terrorists 'because he's just like them.' Bush-bashing, it seems, has morphed into antireligious bigotry. It's doubtful any occupant of the White House has been so vilified for his attachment to traditional Christianity."

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