January 15, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
McCain in Michigan: 'We are Judeo-Christian' nation
Rick Pearson/Baltimore Sun (01/15/2008)
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—In an appearance at Kalamazoo Christian High School today, Republican presidential candidate John McCain today urged that votes keep in mind that this is a 'Judeo-Christian valued nation' in dealing with the issues of displaced workers and illegal immigrants. But the Arizona senator told reporters later he was not attempting to reach out to religious conservatives in Michigan, which have become the target base for rival Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister.

Huckabee Splits Young Evangelicals and Old Guard
David D. Kirkpatrick/New York Times (01/13/2008)
If Mr. Huckabee can continue to galvanize evangelicals around his novel message while attracting other Republicans and perhaps independents, he will do more than advance his own campaign. He will also challenge the establishment of the Christian conservative political movement.

Evangelicals in S.C. not just voting on faith
Lisa Anderson/Chicago Tribune (01/13/2008)
White evangelicals, a significant voter segment nationally, are a political powerhouse in the conservative Palmetto State, where they represent an estimated 40 percent to 50 percent of the primary voters in an overwhelmingly white Republican Party. But evangelicals here, and those who boosted former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to a stunning first-place GOP finish in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3 and to a respectable third place in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, are not quite the same as they were when they helped propel President Bush into the White House in 2000.

Huckabee seeking South Carolina's evangelical vote
McClatchy Newspapers (01/13/2008: ajc.com)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tiptoed around any mention of his run for the Republican presidential nomination. And the ex-Baptist minister assured 5,000 members of First Spartanburg North Baptist that that he'd come to their church Sunday to give a sermon, not a speech. But if church protocol forbade Huckabee from overtly asking for their votes in South Carolina's hotly contested GOP primary on Saturday, he still managed to court them in code.

Black churches use King's legacy in voter drive
Brandon Lowrey/L.A. Daily News (01/15/2008)
Phillips Temple is one of more than 50 Los Angeles churches drawing on King's legacy of political change and urging members to register in a bid to enlist tens of thousands of voters by the end of the drive this Sunday.

EDUCATION
Oral Roberts University takes $62M gift
Associated Press (01/15/2008: usatoday.com)
TULSA — Leaders of Oral Roberts University voted unanimously Monday to accept a $62 million donation from an Oklahoma City businessman that will help alleviate debt at the scandal-plagued Tulsa school. Mart Green, the founder of the Christian office and education supply store chain Mardel, will take over as chairman of a new board of trustees that will replace the current panel of 21 voting regents as a result of his donation.

SUPREME COURT
Ginsburg Is Latest Justice to Reflect on Faith
Robert Barnes/Washington Post (01/15/2008)
Ginsburg is one of several justices this term who have spoken frankly about religion and their personal lives. Justice Clarence Thomas has received the most attention, the result of numerous references to his faith in a best-selling autobiography that provided a moving account of his rise from poverty and an often-angry reprisal of his tumultuous confirmation process.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Catholics Rethink Quinceañera Craze
Eric Gorski/Associated Press (01/12/2008: washingtonpost.com)
An elaborate coming-of-age ritual for Hispanic girls on their 15th birthday, the quinceañera has long been divisive in the U.S. Catholic Church, where it's viewed as either an exercise in excess or a great opportunity to send a message about faith and sexual responsibility.

Minister loses 78 pounds for challenge
Ken Valenti/Journal News (01/15/2008)
Pastors expect to make sacrifices for their churches, but rarely does that include giving up doughnuts. For the Rev. Robert Hartwell, senior minister of the Village Lutheran Church, it meant that and more.

Galileo protest halts pope's visit
CNN (01/15/2008)
ROME, Italy -- Pope Benedict XVI has canceled a planned visit to a prestigious Italian university after a protest by academics and students attacked his views on Galileo, the Vatican confirmed Tuesday. In the letter, academics -- pointing to a speech the pope gave at the same university as a cardinal in 1990 -- claimed he condones the 1633 trial and conviction of the scientist Galileo for heresy.