July 17, 2008

ENVIRONMENT
Pope: Natural resources being squandered
Associated Press (07/17/2008: msnbc.msn.com)
SYDNEY, Australia - Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday the world's natural resources were being squandered by "insatiable" consumption and urged people to care more for the environment. The pope, in a 10-day visit to Australia, also condemned television and the Internet for exalting violence and sexual exploitation as entertainment.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
McCain hasn't ignited the passions of evangelicals
Mike Glover/Associated Press (07/17/2008: news.yahoo.com)
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa - Stirring her morning coffee, lifelong Republican Grace Droog voiced her doubts — and those of many evangelical voters — about what she isn't hearing from John McCain in this year's presidential election. "I look for something about his faith," she said. "It's very important, it's what our nation was founded on."

Catholic Activists Ask McCain to Boot Faith Adviser
Michelle Boorstein/Washington Post (07/17/2008)
Tensions are heating up among politically-minded Catholic activists after a group of left-leaning Catholics today publicly asked Sen. John McCain to boot a faith adviser who resigned from the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004 because of allegations he sexually harassed a college student.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Pastors defy United Methodist officials to conduct gay weddings
Duke Helfand/Los Angeles Times (07/17/2008)
Some have officiated at such ceremonies, some plan to and 82 retired ministers have offered their services. Bishop warns that violating church guidelines has consequences.

CHURCH AND STATE
Man's home is castle—and church
Susan Kuczka/Chicago Tribune (07/17/2008)
When George Michael placed a cross on the side of his lakefront mansion, neighbors assumed the decoration was simply a display of the man's religious faith. What his neighbors didn't know is that Michael had decided to convert his $3 million residence into the Armenian Church of Lake Bluff, qualifying him for a nearly $80,000 break on his annual property tax bill. Now, locals are questioning whether the property is a church at all.

FAITH LEADERS
Fox: Jesse Jackson used n-word on tape
Christi Parsons/Chicago Tribune (07/17/2008)
Jesse Jackson apparently was caught on tape using the n-word, the racial epithet he has railed against for years, adding an ironic new twist to the controversy over his recent remarks about Barack Obama during an off-air break in a televised interview.