August 14, 2008

CULTURE AND SOCIETY
America's face evolves, blurs
Paul Overberg and Emily Bazar/USA Today (08/14/2008)
The number of minorities in the USA is growing so briskly that non-Hispanic whites will lose their majority status in 2042, years before demographers had previously projected, according to Census data released today. The population is surging on almost all fronts, the new figures show. There will be 400 million people in the USA in 31 years, up from fewer than 305 million now. The swelling numbers will transform Americans' standard of living from the environment to public schools, demographers and public policy experts say.

FAITH LEADERS
Visits by McCain, Obama to Orange County church underscore Pastor Rick Warren's prominence
Duke Helfand/Los Angeles Times (08/13/2008)
Backers say the Saddleback Church leader and 'The Purpose Driven Life' author puts social justice ahead of partisanship. Others say he's strayed from the core Gospel or is a spiritual entrepreneur.

Cat-loving Pope urged to stop wearing fur
Reuters (08/14/2008)
VATICAN CITY - Italian animal rights campaigners are urging Pope Benedict to stop wearing ermine on his hats and robes, appealing to his reputation as a cat lover. The Italian Association for Defense of Animals and the Environment, which has a white bunny logo, has started an online petition signed by nearly 1,900 people asking the German-born pontiff to stop wearing fur

PHILANTHROPY
Charities Will Undergo Review Process to Win Back Donors
Tamara Audi/Wall Street Journal (08/14/2008)
Muslim charities in the U.S., hit by a drop in donations since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are turning to the Better Business Bureau in an effort to give donors the confidence to open their wallets again.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Tribes object to fighting fire in sacred places
Associated Press (08/14/2008: msnbc.msn.com)
GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Indian tribes from the Klamath River canyon are worried that the U.S. Forest Service is violating some of their sacred lands by fighting a remote wilderness wildfire rather than letting it burn naturally. The area is home to many prayer seats or vision quest sites shared by three tribes, where tribal members have fasted, prayed and sought spiritual guidance for thousands of years.

Group gives thanks to the Lord -- for lower gasoline prices
Vimal Patel/Los Angeles Times (08/14/2008)
WASHINGTON -- Forget Congress. Forget President Bush. About four months ago, frustrated by the apparently immutable laws of supply and demand, Rocky Twyman turned to a higher authority in his quest for cheaper gasoline. The recent dip in prices, he says, is proof of divine intervention.

EDUCATION
Murrieta Christian school loses case against UC
Larry Gordon/Los Angeles Times (08/13/2008)
The University of California did not violate students' freedom of expression and religion when it rejected some classes at a Riverside-area Christian school from counting toward UC admission, a Los Angeles federal judge has ruled. In a case that has attracted significant attention in religious and academic circles nationwide since it was filed in 2005, the judge upheld the university's decision to disqualify several classes offered by Calvary Chapel Christian School of Murrieta for being too narrow or not academically rigorous enough to fulfill UC's entrance requirements.