August 21, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Most Americans think churches should avoid politics
Adelle M. Banks/Religion News Service (08/20/2008: pewforum.org)
A slim majority of Americans, including rising numbers of conservatives, say churches should stay out of politics, according to a survey released Thursday (Aug. 21) by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Fifty-two percent of Americans say they think houses of worship should not express their opinions about political and social matters, while 45 percent say they approve of such expression.

MEDICAL ETHICS
Doctors can refuse abortions, agency says
Associated Press (08/21/2008: msnbc.msn.com)
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration Thursday proposed stronger job protections for U.S. doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions because of religious or moral objections.

U.S. regulation stops short of defining abortion
Maggie Fox/Reuters (08/21/2008)
WASHINGTON - Health officials released a controversial regulation on Thursday to protect health professionals who do not want to provide abortions or certain other health care services. The regulation could strip federal funding from employers or institutions that fire a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or other health professional who refuses to provide abortion care or information.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Now on the Hallmark aisle: Gay marriage cards
Sarah Skidmore/Associated Press (08/21/2008: ap.google.com)
PORTLAND, Ore. — Most states don't recognize gay marriage — but now Hallmark does. The nation's largest greeting card company is rolling out same-sex wedding cards — featuring two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. "Two hearts. One promise," one says. Hallmark added the cards after California joined Massachusetts as the only U.S. states with legal gay marriage.

SPORTS
For Coach, God and Archery Are a Package Deal
Katie Thomas/New York Times (08/21/2008)
BEIJING — Two weeks before leaving to compete in the Olympics, the archer Brady Ellison waded into a pool not far from the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., and was baptized in the Christian faith. In the water with him was Kisik Lee, the head coach of the United States archery team and a Christian who has become a spiritual guide for Ellison, 19, and the larger group of athletes who train and live full time at the Olympic Training Center. He has also served as a sponsor in the baptism of three other resident archers.

ARTS AND MEDIA
Race for 'white space' pits churches vs. techies
Mallika Rao/Religion News Service (08/21/2008: pewforum.org)
WASHINGTON -- A race for an invisible prize is pitting America's largest churches against the giants of technology. At stake are unlicensed television airwaves, or "white spaces," the fuzzy channels between one network TV station and the next. The arena is overseen by the Federal Communications Commission and populated by unlikely neighbors such as megachurches and Broadway, where white space frequencies are used for wireless microphones.