January 3, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Christian Conservatives and the Caucuses
David D. Kirkpatrick/New York Times (01/03/2008)
Will Iowa’s conservative Christians turn out in force for Mike Huckabee? Locked in a tight race, Mr. Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist minister, is up against Mitt Romney’s well-financed army of operatives. The shoe-string Huckabee campaign is counting on the pre-existing informal networks of evangelicals and pastors— many of whom harbor doubts about Mr. Romney’s Mormon faith— to help get Huckabee voters to the caucus.

Mormons could play role in a Romney win
Dave Levinthal/Dallas Morning News (01/03/2008)
DES MOINES, Iowa – More than a few politicos have viewed Mitt Romney's Mormon faith as a political liability detracting from his fight for the Republican presidential nomination. But if Mr. Romney wins today's Iowa caucuses, he may have members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to thank.

Huckabee's double-edged faith
Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times (12/31/2007)
Religion helped him as governor, he says. Some saw it as a hindrance.

ABORTION
Abortion issue splits Missouri
Kirsten Scharnberg/Baltimore Sun (01/03/2008)
A restrictive measure could appear on the November ballot -- one that supporters contend would prevent coerced and unsafe abortions but opponents say would put any doctor who performs one at risk

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Vatican Clarifying Latin Mass Rules
Associated Press (01/03/2008: nytimes.com)
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican has begun drafting a document to elaborate on Pope Benedict XVI's recent liberalization of the old Latin Mass because some bishops are either ignoring his move or misinterpreting it, Vatican officials said.

A Priest's Lonely Ministry
Elizabeth Hamilton/Hartford Courant (01/03/2008)
Of the 213 parishes in the Hartford archdiocese, 123 are led by a single priest, and that number is expected to increase if the clergy shortage in the Roman Catholic Church worsens over the next decade, as predicted.

SCIENCE
Evolution: 'Overwhelming and Compelling'
Ned Potter/ABC (01/03/2008)
The National Academy of Sciences has released a book called "Science, Evolution and Creationism" -- a strongly-worded answer to the Creationist movement and the doubts about Darwin that many people express in polls and elsewhere.

ARTS AND MEDIA
Column: Finally doing the right thing
Paul Rolly/Salt Lake Tribune (01/03/2008)
You might recall my Dec. 12 column about Georgia Clyde, the 12-year-old Olympus Junior High School student whose essay about the trials experienced by her family and how that ties into Christmas caught the eye of the Deseret Morning News' LDS Church News supplement. The editor called Georgia's mother about possibly running her essay, but when the editor found out they were not Mormons, she said they couldn't run the essay. I ran Georgia's essay in my column, which touched many people, according to the e-mails I received and the comments posted online.