April 11, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Clinton and Obama to vie for the 'faith vote'
Ed Stoddard/Reuters (04/11/2008)
DALLAS - Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will court the "faith vote" at a forum this weekend, seeking support from a sizable constituency with a major influence on U.S. politics.

BENEDICT XVI
Security Measures, Seen and Unseen, Are Planned for the Pope’s Visit
Al Baker/New York Times (04/11/2008)
Portions of the sky above, the water around, and streets all over New York will be sealed off next week when Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the city.

Thou shalt not sell pope tickets
Manya Brachear/Chicago Tribune (04/11/2008)
Scalping your coveted Cubs ticket on eBay might not be a sin in Illinois. But auctioning your tickets to a papal mass is a crime in the eyes of the Roman Catholic church.

POLYGAMY
Polygamist ranch raid climaxed with nonviolent protest at temple
CNN (04/11/2008)
ELDORADO, Texas -- Nearly 60 men surrounding the temple of a polygamist sect in Texas dropped to their knees, prayed and wept openly -- but never violently resisted -- as law enforcement officers raided the building they hold sacred.

Sheriff Had Polygamy Informant For 4 Years
CBS/AP (04/11/2008)
It was no secret that a polygamist sect that built a compound in the West Texas desert believed in marrying off underage girls to older men. And the sheriff had an informant for four years who was feeding him information about life inside the sect. But authorities say their hands were tied until last week, when they finally obtained the legal grounds to move against the group.

Polygamist Sect's Kids Face Health Issues
Dan Childs/ABC News (04/11/2008)
While the nightmare of confinement within a restrictive sect in West Texas may be over for more than 400 children in Texas, the outside world may present them with unique health threats. A dozen of the children have already been identified as being infected with chickenpox, and experts fear that the outbreak could be seen by the sect's members as an ominous result of being removed from their cloistered world and complicate efforts to care for these children.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Jewish marathoners balancing diet, faith
Associated Press (04/11/2008: cnn.com)
Passover begins just two days before the April 21 marathon, and the holiday's strict dietary rules mean Jewish runners can't eat bread and pasta, the normal staples in the days before the big race.

BUSINESS
Fever Grows for Faith-Based Funds
Liz Wolgemuth/U.S. News & World Report (04/11/2008)
Socially responsible funds are an increasingly popular fraction of the mutual fund universe. But the SRI movement is rooted in the activist sentiment of the 1960s and has largely been a haven for liberal values, making traditional SRI funds and religious funds sometimes strange bedfellows. Faith-based funds fall chiefly into Islamic, Catholic, and Protestant groupings, and several use screening criteria that would be seen by many as highly conservative.

DALAI LAMA
Dalai Lama begins US visit amid Olympic torch turmoil
Manuel Valdes/Associated Press (04/11/2008: boston.com)
SEATTLE - The Dalai Lama arrived in the United States yesterday for the first time since the recent turmoil in Tibet, serenaded by fellow Tibetans as he prepared to anchor an ambitious conference on compassion. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader came here a day after demonstrators disrupted the Olympic torch run in San Francisco in a protest of China's treatment of his people. The Dalai Lama will be attending a five-day conference that begins today.