OUR COLUMNISTS Post the Ten Commandments, or ... ? Commentary by Matt Friedeman Instead of posting the Ten Commandments ... or even The Beatitudes ... how about displaying the two commandments upon which Jesus said "all the law and the prophets hang"? Public Policy Never Mended a Broken Heart Commentary by Jane Jimenez Americans can list the litany of social ills threatening our way of life. If only the solutions were as easy to identify. Image Isn't Everything Commentary by Brad Locke Instead of letting God mold him into what he should be, the "self-made man" tries to construct an image that the world would approve of and that he can hide his true self behind. Time and man's sinful nature have a way of crumbling such walls. Amnesia Commentary by David Sisler What would it be like to wake up and not remember the evil that you had done, the people you had hurt, the sins you had committed? What would you pay for a little selective amnesia? Seeing Islam Through 'Condi-Colored Glasses' Commentary by Mark Creech The fact of the matter is that violent jihad warfare against non-Muslims is at the heart of Islamic theology. And it is the mother of all politically correct myths to believe otherwise.

...A military chaplain and a fighter pilot are opposing a lawsuit that seeks to prohibit religious proselytizing in the U.S. Air Force. Attorney Joel Oster is representing Air Force Academy chaplain Major James Glass and F-16 pilot Captain Karl Palmberg. They say the lawsuit threatens "their ability to share their faith and to candidly discuss religion." They have filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit. The plaintiff wants a federal court to rule that no one, not even a chaplain, can try to "involuntarily convert, pressure, exert or persuade a fellow member of the U.S. Air Force to accept their own religious beliefs while on duty." The plaintiff also insists that the Air Force must not permit or advance one religion over another. [AP]

...A Republican senator has come up with a simple and unique way to cut government spending. While the U.S. House of Representatives is looking for $53.9 billion in spending cuts, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe believes he has a way to achieve that in his chamber of government through a very special amendment he wrote. "And that is a very simple one-sentence amendment that merely says that no non-defense or non-trust fund appropriation can exceed its last year's level," he explains. Although this would affect only 20 percent of the budget, Inhofe says it will lead to great savings and provide the offsets to make up for federal disaster expenditures. [Bill Fancher]

...In the ongoing battle over what U.S. public schools can teach about the origins of life, conservatives chalked up both a victory and a defeat in yesterday's voting. In Dover, Pennsylvania, a bid by local school board members to have the area schools at least consider intelligent design cost most of the board members their jobs. Voters there ousted eight of the nine school board members, all of whom had backed an initiative to force biology teachers to read a statement on intelligent design in class. The eight, all Republicans, were replaced by Democrats. Meanwhile, in Kansas, new public school science standards that have been criticized for promoting creationism while treating evolution as a flawed theory, won approval yesterday from the State Board of Education. The board's 6-4 vote was a victory for intelligent design advocates, who helped draft the standards and argued the changes would make teaching about evolution more balanced. However, it remains unclear how the new standards will affect what is taught in classrooms. Those decisions will remain with 300 local school boards. [Fred Jackson]

...A school board meeting in Odessa, Texas, on Thursday will consider what curriculum should be used in an elective Bible class. Extra security will be on hand for the public meeting. More than 6,000 people had signed a petition in support of offering the Bible class, which the Ector County Independent School District plans to start teaching next school year. A committee of 13 people, mostly teachers, is expected to choose one of two curricula. "The Bible in History and Literature" comes from the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools. It uses the Bible and a workbook. The second, from the Bible Literacy Project, uses a textbook called "The Bible and Its Influence." [AP]

...A high-profile Democratic senator from Vermont has used a Senate hearing on terrorism to attack American Christians. Senate Judiciary Committee member Patrick Leahy called remarks by Christian leaders offensive as terrorist jihad propaganda. As an example, Leahy quoted Franklin Graham's post-9/11 remarks that "'We're not attacking Islam, but Islam has attacked us" and the religious leader's comment that he believes "Islam is a very evil and wicked religion." Of Graham's statements, Leahy remarked, "Now that is extremely offensive." And the senator did not stop with Graham but also noted that "The Reverend Jerry Falwell called the prophet Muhammad a terrorist" and "The Reverend Pat Robertson has likened those who practice Islam, including a very large number of very loyal Americans, as our enemy." Leahy equated these Christian leaders' comments with those of terrorists, saying, "Just as a majority of Christians or Jews reject these statements, a majority of Muslims reject the publications [and] broadcasts we have discussed here." [Bill Fancher]

...Dr. Adrian Rogers is undergoing treatment at a Memphis, Tennessee, hospital for double pneumonia. The former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, nationally known Southern Baptist leader and host of the "Love Worth Finding" TV and radio broadcasts, was hospitalized last week. A statement from Bellevue Baptist Church says Dr. Rogers is resting comfortably and has started extensive antibiotic treatments. [Fred Jackson]

...Concerned Women for America is denouncing efforts by politicians to pressure the Food and Drug Administration to approve a dangerous abortion drug and make it available over the counter, without a doctor's prescription. CWA spokeswoman Wendy Wright says drug companies and the abortion lobby must not be allowed to put their agenda and profits above women's health. She believes the so-called "morning-after pill" should not be approved, and her group has hired expert lawyers to tell the FDA why they cannot do it. "They outline all the legal reasons and regulatory reasons why the FDA doesn't have the authority to do this kind of approval, and then also going into the medical reasons," Wright says. "If this drug's easily available, it will end up causing a public health catastrophe with sexually transmitted disease rates skyrocketing." Also, she contends, making this abortion drug easily available will allow sexual predators to cover up their abuse and will increase promiscuous behavior among young people who have been misled into thinking they can engage in risky sexual behavior without consequences. [Rusty Pugh]

...A new government report says the rates of two key sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise, and a key reason given is risky sexual behavior by homosexuals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report says last year saw the trend continue towards increased cases of early-stage syphilis. In fact, the rate has jumped 81 percent since 2000. Chlamydia has also increased, though not nearly as much as the incidence of syphilis. The report says that 64 percent of last year's reported early-stage syphilis infections occurred among homosexual men. [Fred Jackson]

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