OUR COLUMNISTS So, Now the Church Is the New Whipping Boy for the GOP? Commentary by Matt Friedeman While acknowledging GOP Senator Tom Coburn has courage to "slap around" the Religious Right, columnist Matt Friedeman questions the lawmaker's accusation that the church has played a role in food stamp fraud. The Gift of Kindness Commentary by Jane Jimenez With the entire country engaged in finding the perfect Valentine's Day gift, could we imagine a year of endless days for Valentine gifts ... a day that never ends? A Cynic's Playground Commentary by Brad Locke The Olympics...NASCAR...spring training...March Madness.... Unfortunately, much of the current optimism will give way to the cynicism that has been infecting the sports world with alarming frequency the last few years. Comparing Islamic Fascists to Christian Conservatives Commentary by Mark Creech The media has often compared Christian conservatives in America to violent Islamic radicals. Such comparisons are common today by those on the left, but nothing less than asinine -- and recent events on the world stage prove it.

...In an attempt to unseat U.S. Senator Rick Santorum in this fall's election, Pennsylvania Democrats have selected a pro-life candidate to appeal to the state's values voters. The Democrats hope their candidate, Bob Casey, Jr., will help them re-connect with pro-family citizens. However, Diane Gramley of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania says Casey has made a huge blunder by agreeing to be the keynote speaker at a fundraiser sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest homosexual advocacy organization in the world. "He touts himself as a pro-life Democrat; that is one reason why the Democratic Party has fallen in line behind him so readily," Gramley says, "because, of course, Senator Santorum is pro-life, so they're thinking [they've also] got a pro-life candidate." But now, the pro-family spokeswoman notes, "Bob Casey Jr. is scheduled to speak at a Human Rights Campaign black-tie gala." What that means, she explains, is that as Casey addresses the crowd at the $175 per plate dinner, "part of the proceeds from that will be used to fight our Marriage Protection Amendment that was just introduced here in Pennsylvania on January 24." Meanwhile, Gramley says Casey's devotion to pro-life issues also leaves room for doubt because she cannot seem to find any comments on pro-life issues on his website. [Bill Fancher]

...A Georgia public school has chosen not to fire a principal who used a school computer to send pornography to his colleagues during school hours. Principal Ed Rohrbaugh was suspended for five days without pay for reportedly e-mailing pictures of nude women to five Union County High School faculty members with a caption that read, "It is large breast appreciation week once again." Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute believes Principal Rohrbaugh's actions disqualified him from remaining in that position. "Kids are watching all the time," Knight says, "and to have kids in the care of a guy who thinks this is proper, to send pornography to colleagues, and just get a slap on the wrist like that, shows the schools don't think that character regarding sex is all that important. If I were a parent of a child in that school, I'd be raising Cain, and I'd also take a closer look at what they're teaching the kids in terms of sex education." After returning from his suspension, the local school board renewed the disgraced principal's contract for next year. However, Knight notes that "kids are always watching, " and he believes Rohrbaugh will never be viewed in the same light by students in his school and community. [Jim Brown]

...The North Koreans have lately reiterated their demand that the United States lift recently imposed financial sanctions against the regime and warned that if this does not happen, Pyongyang will not return to the Six Party Talks. The U.S. imposed the sanctions based on evidence that the North Koreans are involved in the counterfeiting of U.S. currency and other illegal activities. But Suzanne Scholte, chairman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, says the U.S. should not return to the Six Party bargaining table anyway, especially while Kim Jong Il continues to starve his own people. "The Six Party Talks are based on the premise that you can negotiate with a dictator and that whatever agreement the dictator signs, he's going to abide by," Scholte asserts. However, she says, "History tells us that dictators don't follow agreements." And while U.S. diplomats "keep hoping we're going to make some deal with Kim Jong Il on the nuclear issue," the activist insists, it only means "more horrendous suffering [for] the North Korean people." The U.S. must bring up human rights violations when dealing with the North Korean regime, Scholte contends, because "If anyone has the illusion that Kim Jong Il is somebody who actually cares for his own people, they just have not looked at the facts and the evidence. They haven't talked to North Korean defectors that have actually lived in North Korea." [Chad Groening]

...In Egypt, a clash between Muslims and Christians has left at least eleven people wounded. Residents of a village south of Cairo say the violence erupted as Christians were building an events hall, which angered some Muslims who thought it was a church. Before police could restore order, witnesses say at least seven Muslims and four Christians were injured as they fought with stones and sticks. Last month, an attempt to turn a guest house into an informal church in southern Egypt provoked clashes among Christians, Muslims and police in which one person was killed and at least eleven wounded. [AP]

...Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback is calling attention to what he sees as one of the real tragedies on the international scene, the plight of Palestinian Christians. He says the persecution of these much put-upon people of faith has grown steadily over the years. "Palestinian Christians are a religious minority who have faced almost uninterrupted persecution in the years since the Oslo peace process began," Brownback contends. "On the heels of the Gaza disengagement, which was intended to empower the Palestinian authority to improve the lives of its people, times are even worse for Christians residing in areas governed by the Palestinian Authority." According to Brownback's research, Palestinian believers are subjected to such abuses as employment discrimination, boycotting of Christian businesses, protection fees extorted by Muslim militias, violation of property rights, sexual harassment, rape and forced marriage of Christian women, legal persecution through the courts and even imprisonment of Christians unjustly accused as traitors or collaborators with Israel. And to make matters worse, the senator notes, this religious persecution has been almost entirely ignored by the international community and organizations that normally fight persecution and human rights violations. Brownback is urging that something be done to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian Christians. [Bill Fancher]

...A producer of Christian TV programs in Arabic says Christians in Muslim nations are being blamed for the Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad. Jos, who asked that his last name not be used because he works in an Islamic country, is representing Arab Vision at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Dallas. He says anything that happens in the West "that is considered anti-Islamic is hurting the churches of the Arab world." Jos says he has shown some of the Muhammad drawings to Arab Christians who found them amusing. But he adds, "They don't like the fact that Muslims blame them for it." While converting from Islam to another religion can be dangerous, Jos says Arab Vision gets letters every month from Muslims who say, "We saw your programs and we became Christians." [AP]

...A scholar and writer born in Denmark believes the extreme reaction by radical Muslims over the publication of cartoons depicting Mohammed demonstrates a clash of cultures going on in Europe right now. Helle Dale, Director of Foreign Policy and Defense Studies at the Heritage Foundation, believes the cartoon controversy represents an ideological confrontation of international proportions. "We're certainly seeing on display very fundamentally different values and value systems that are coming into more and more direct opposition and conflict," she asserts. "And I think the anger that you're seeing in the Muslim world over this is ... like a fuse that lit, and the anger is against the Western world." The foreign policy analyst believes the Islamic community's volatile and in some cases violent reaction to the cartoons may end up generating a huge anti-immigration recoil among non-Muslims on the continent. "There could be a radicalization in Europe and a backlash against these Muslim uprisings," Dale says, "where young people become much more opposed to the immigration populations in their midst, and where you see more support for the parties who are against immigration." [Chad Groening]

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