OUR COLUMNISTS Cast Your Vote: Who Is More 'In the Bubble' – George W. or Newsweek? Commentary by Matt Friedeman "Bush's World," reads the front cover of this week's Newsweek. "The Isolated President: Can He Change." Hilarious, really. To Know Love When We See Love (Part 1) Commentary by Jane Jimenez Love American Style is still a television favorite. And the search for love drives nearly every television talk show from Phil to Montel to Oprah. With so many people looking for love, why is it so hard to find? Chasing the Fleeting Commentary by Brad Locke Little of what occurs on the playing fields delivers on its hype. We have a habit of building something up well beyond its real significance. Christians can be just as guilty of this as anyone. The Church Joins the World -- and Almost No One Notices Commentary by David Sisler In the spirit of the season, churches all over our nation will have a very spiritual experience by being closed in celebration of the birthday of our Savior. No matter how you phrase it, no matter how you spin it, that is a prime example of evangelical Christianity having lost its way. The Book of Daniel: A Form of Godliness, But Denying the Power Commentary by Mark Creech Wrapped in the garb of professed good intentions, NBC's The Book of Daniel is really a slight on genuine faith in Christ. It highlights and emphasizes "a form of godliness," but denies the power of the Gospel to transform a life.

...Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito says he doesn't decide cases based on his personal religious beliefs. Alito told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that his role as a judge "does not involve imposing any religious views that I have, or moral views that I have, on the rest of the country." Alito, whose confirmation would give the court a Roman Catholic majority, also said that his faith does not conflict with his duty to uphold the Constitution. He said Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has ruled that while government religious speech is unconstitutional, private religious speech is protected the same as secular speech. [AP]

...Dr. Janice Crouse of the Beverly LaHaye Institute says the president's signing of the End Demand Act this week sends a signal around the world that America will not tolerate sex trafficking. Dr. Crouse was among several guests invited by President Bush for the signing ceremony of the legislation (H.R. 972). "All of us who have worked against sex trafficking worked very hard on the bill to end demand," Crouse says. The bill goes after the prostitution industry and those who seek out sex with young girls and children. "Once we do that," Crouse explains, "we'll be able to kind of stop all of those networks that prey on vulnerable young women and children." According to Crouse, the formal signing ceremony was a lot more than a photo-op. The president's stamp of approval, she says, "raised the profile of the legislation so that people all around the world know that this is an administration, this is a country that takes this problem very seriously." The End Demand Act passed the Senate unanimously three days before Christmas. [Bill Fancher]

...A media watchdog group has charged the Washington Post with being a cheerleader for the homosexual movement. Accuracy in Media director Cliff Kincaid says in the past weeks the Post has emerged as a proponent of the homosexual movement -- and the vehicle being used, he says, is the homosexual cowboy film Brokeback Mountain. He says he has counted nine Post stories in six days regarding the movie. "It's just unbelievable. It's an avalanche of very sympathetic coverage," says Kincaid. "People, clearly, who are reading the paper and see this have to be offended as well." This is not the first time Kincaid has leveled the "pro-homosexual" charge at the newspaper. The Accuracy in Media spokesman contends the Post has acted like a "virtual house organ" for the homosexual rights movement. "They clearly want to generate interest in the film and get people out to see it so that it will make a big splash and pave the way for even more explicit homosexual movies," he says. [Bill Fancher]

...An author and constitutional attorney says he is not optimistic that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment, which requires universities receiving federal funding to give military recruiters access to their campuses. Joe Klein is a graduate of the Harvard School of Law, one of 36 liberal law schools that oppose the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The schools won their lawsuit before the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the right to deny access to military recruiters but still receive federal funds. Klein thinks it is "mind-boggling" that law schools "... once they take our taxpayers' money, to bar recruiters who are trying to provide opportunities for people who should at least be given the choice to consider whether they want to enter the military [when] we are in a war." And Klein is not optimistic that the Supreme Court will reverse the Third Circuit's decision and uphold the Solomon Amendment. "Until we get Judge [Samuel] Alito on the court and we have some more balance, they may well tip against the position of the government and say it's okay for the universities to declare a policy to bar recruiters because of the composition of the court that we have now, with Judges Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, [and] Souter," he says. Klein believes the military has the right to talk to the best and brightest students about military careers. [Chad Groening]

...A gun-ownership rights advocate contends that Canada's recent increase in violent crime is not the fault of the United States, but in fact is attributable to Canada's increased gun control. A recent fatal shooting on a crowded Toronto street has brought to light the increasing incidence of gun-related crimes in Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Toronto Mayor David Miller have publicly said the U.S. is to blame for exporting violence to their country. But Erich Pratt of Gun Owners of America calls that a ridiculous argument. Pratt says gun-control advocates always use the argument that easing gun restrictions increases crime, when just the opposite is true. "Washington, DC, has done this for years," Pratt offers. "They blamed Virginia for their high crime rates; but in Virginia, where there are very few gun restrictions, [there are] very low crime rates." Pratt continues: "But since beginning an aggressive system of gun controls in the 1990s, Canada's crime rates have been rising, while [crime rates] in the United States ... have been dropping because state after state has started allowing private citizens to carry guns concealed." The Toronto mayor also blamed poverty for the increased gun violence, saying one reason young people use guns to kill people is because they face "poverty and discrimination." [Rusty Pugh]

...Israel has suspended contact with evangelist Pat Robertson for suggesting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was God's punishment for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. But Israel's tourism minister says the order does not apply to "all the evangelical community, God forbid." Israeli leaders see evangelicals as tireless lobbyists in Washington and elsewhere. Robertson has been leading evangelicals who have pledged to raise $50 million to build a Christian Heritage Center in Israel's Galilee region, where Jesus lived and taught. Under a tentative agreement, Robertson's group was to put up the funding, while Israel would provide land and infrastructure. Robertson's comments on Sharon have been condemned by other Christian leaders. [AP]

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