January 10, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Romney Patronizing Mormon Businesses
Glen Johnson/Associated Press (01/04/2008: ap.google.com)
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Mitt Romney has benefited from the financial support of his fellow Mormons as he runs for president, and he hasn't shied from returning the favor as he conducts the business of his campaign.

DEATH PENALTY
Chief justice seeks constitutional amendment on death penalty
Associated Press (01/10/2008: mercurynews.com)
SACRAMENTO—California's chief Supreme Court justice wants a constitutional amendment on the death penalty to go before voters next November. Ron George says the state's process for reviewing death sentences is dysfunctional. He says it takes years before cases are reviewed and convicts are executed.

EDUCATION
The atheist's daughter
Nara Schoenberg/Chicago Tribune (01/10/2008)
Teen atheist Dawn Sherman is fighting the state's new Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act in court.

Court Ends Bible Distribution in School
Jim Salter/Associated Press (01/10/2008: ap.google.com)
ST. LOUIS — A rural school district's long-standing practice of allowing the distribution of Bibles to grade school students is unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled. An attorney for the southeastern Missouri school district said Wednesday he will appeal the judge's injunction against the practice.

STEM CELLS
Human Stem Cells Created Without Destroying Embryos
Gautam Naik/Wall Street Journal (01/10/2008)
Scientists have created fresh human stem-cell lines without destroying embryos from which they were derived, the latest in a series of experiments aimed at overcoming ethical concerns that have long hobbled such research.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Buddhist abbot is face behind Ask a Monk online service
Janet Fillmore/Religion News Service (01/09/2008: chicagotribune.com)
CLEVELAND - When the Ven. Shih Ying-Fa parks his 5-foot-10-inch frame before the computer in his home office, he never knows who will be seeking his help.

CONGREGATIONS AND FAITH GROUPS
In Property Dispute, Litigation Drags On, And the Costs Grow
Michelle BoorsteinWashington Post (01/10/2008)
A nasty property dispute between the Virginia Episcopal Diocese and 11 breakaway congregations is likely to stretch into 2009 as a result of a judge's decision, and the two sides say they have spent more than $1 million apiece on legal fees and expect to spend at least that much again before the case ends. The Virginia dispute is one part of a global Anglican battle over how to interpret Scripture and Jesus's view of homosexuality.

Pa. Presbyterian church sues to avoid threat of property seizure
Associated Press (01/10/2008: startribune.com)
PITTSBURGH - A local church that voted to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) has filed a lawsuit seeking to bar any threat of seizure of its property by the local presbytery as it joins a more conservative denomination.