OUR COLUMNISTS Yes, We Have Race Problems ... Yes, We Should Do Something About Them Commentary by Matt Friedeman What am I proactively doing in my community to promote loving others of a different hue? What is my family doing? My church? Typical answer -- not a thing. To Know Love When We See Love (Part 2) Commentary by Jane Jimenez Ask anyone. Love makes the world go 'round. So ask anyone. Why are we all hurting for lack of love? Pursuing Perfection Commentary by Brad Locke When God gives us a blessing, He expects us to use it well. It behooves me to strive for excellence in my work. So it is with my Christian walk. I am instructed to imitate Christ and to please God in all I say and do. 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 has been approved on a party-line vote (10-8) by the Senate Judiciary Committee. One member of the committee, Republican John Cornyn of Texas, says the vote would have been unanimous if Alito's "qualifications, integrity, fairness, and judicial philosophy" were all that had been taken into consideration. But Cornyn says unless a judicial nominee promises to impose a liberal agenda from the bench, the nominee is subjected to "tactics of distortion and smear" by his or her opponents. The lawmaker from the Lone Star State says that at some point the Judiciary Committee needs to examine the confirmation process he says too often now treats nominees "more like piñatas than human beings." The Alito nomination now goes to the full Senate for confirmation -- where Jan LaRue of Concerned Women for America says the judge should be confirmed by unanimous consent. "Sadly, that won't happen," says LaRue, "because the process has been marred by partisan politics." [Jody Brown]

...An online abortion-prevention organization says it is seeing an increase in the number of contacts from individuals seeking advice on how to deal with a crisis pregnancy. Care Net reports that December 2005 was a record month for its Option Line call center, fielding more than 13,000 calls and e-mails. Consultants are available 24-7 on the Option Line, says Care Net, noting that it has expanded its resources to the point where it now offers a dozen live call stations to handle the incoming calls. In addition, the organization recently launched instant messaging (IM) communication (on AOL) to women who are facing unplanned pregnancies -- and reports it chatted with 69 people in just the first few hours. Option Line's toll-free number is 1-800-395-HELP, and its IM screen name is "AnswersatOL1." [Jody Brown]

...The congressman who's been urging President Bush to issue an executive order allowing military chaplains to pray as they see fit now says a simple phone call will do. Congressman Walter Jones says hundreds of chaplains have told him that they have been discouraged by their superiors from praying in Jesus' name. Jones says he told White House domestic policy adviser Claude Allen that as commander-in-chief, all the president has to do is pick up the phone and tell Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that he wants restrictions on chaplains' prayers to stop. The North Carolina Republican says that after talking to Allen, he is hopeful that President Bush will issue that order by next week. Meanwhile, Christian Coalition of America reports Allen has assured the congressman that Bush will speak to Rumsfeld, thereby avoiding the need for an executive order. Says the Coalition's president, Roberta Combs, "Our brave men and women serving all over the world ... deserve a discrimination-free atmosphere when it comes to their faith." [AP/Jody Brown]

...George Barna's research group interviewed more than 4,000 teens about their exposure, through the media and otherwise, to the "supernatural world" -- and the findings should be enough to send shivers down Christian parents' spines. Three nationwide studies conducted by The Barna Group indicate, for example, that three of four teens (73 percent) have "engaged in at least one type of psychic or witchcraft-related activity" beyond that contained in the media; only a minority of teens believes that horoscopes are not accurate and should be avoided; and only 28 percent of churched teens recall receiving any teaching at their church over the last year that affected their views on the supernatural world. David Kinnaman, author of the report and vice president at The Barna Group, says churches need to do more to help teens become wiser consumers of media -- and to train them how to integrate scriptural perspectives into their decision-making. Teens' comfort and familiarity with today's technology and media-driven tools, says Kinnaman, enable them to accomplish their choice of spiritual goals -- "But millions of teens," he says, "are precariously close to simply shelving the Christian faith as irrelevant, uninspiring, and 'just a phase.'" He adds: "The supernatural world represents the epicenter of the spiritual struggle for their hearts and minds." The research group has compiled the results from the three studies into a report -- Ministry to Mosaics: Teens and the Supernatural -- designed as an aid to help youth workers, pastors, and parents understand and respond to the spiritual needs of America's youth. The "Mosaic generation," explains the Barna website, consists of those Americans currently age 3 to 21. [Jody Brown]

...An immigration reform activist believes it is a huge conflict of interest for Border Patrol agents to have romantic relationships with illegal aliens. That is why she is disturbed by a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper reported that a number of Border Patrol agents have lost their jobs and even faced charges for knowingly having relationships with people they are supposed to deport. Susan Tully, national field director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says there is no excuse for this activity. "It would be like a police officer dating a drug dealer ... or a known bank robber," Tully offers. "You could make the same kind of analogies for a number of things. It would be inappropriate [and] in direct violation of what [the agent] is paid to do on the job." Tully believes this sort of behavior is the result of the federal government not emphasizing to Border Patrol agents the serious nature of their assignments. "I think when you have an administration that sends a message that we're not really going to enforce the borders, [that is] the first step in creating an agency [in which] these kinds of abuses could happen," she says. [Chad Groening]

...A national defense expert and former Defense Department official under the Reagan administration believes the Israeli defense minister was serious when he hinted over the weekend that the Jewish nation could take military action to deal with Iran's nuclear threat. Frank Gaffney is the president of the Washington, DC-based Center for Security Policy. The former assistant undersecretary of defense believes if forced, Israel will act in its own defense. "I believe that Israel would do what it can to disrupt the Iranian nuclear weapons program if it feels that its very existence is at stake," says Gaffney. "How well they can do it -- how long the effect would be -- what the repercussions of it might be, we can only speculate about." Gaffney says Israel will act unless something else is done to prevent the Iranian regime from being able to do what the Iranian leader promised recently; namely, wiping Israel off the map. [Chad Groening]

...The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has removed an agency website containing numerous pages of what some conservatives called "pro-homosexual propaganda." The website of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration boasted of "celebrating the pride and diversity among and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations." The Family Research Council had called on the government to take down the site. Conservative columnist Dr. Warren Throckmorton said the website contained inaccurate statistics and was a waste of tax dollars. (See earlier article) [Jim Brown]

...A Florida rabbi has held a celebratory prayer meeting in his house after winning a court battle. A judge ruled last week that Rabbi Joseph Konikov can continue services at his Orlando home despite a county policy prohibiting such gatherings. In 2002 the Orange County Code Enforcement Board had ordered Konikov to stop holding services at his home after neighbors complained they caused traffic congestion in the neighborhood. Konikov then sued alleging the board was selectively enforcing its code by going after him and not dozens of home-based Christian Bible-study groups. Konikov says, "We had faith in our Constitution and in our Torah and the Bible and we know in our country we're allowed to practice our religions freely." [AP]

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