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. Teaching the Value of Love Commentary by Jane Jimenez Many sex educators are fond of stating, "We don't teach values." If that's true, then aren't they admitting they're failing? 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. Rebuking the 'Clergy Letter Project' Commentary by Mark Creech It is most unfortunate so many Christian leaders have concluded that evolution is scientific, whereas creationism and intelligent design are simply religious -- when, in fact, evolution is incapable of being scientifically proven.

...A firing squad in Yemen has executed a second Islamic militant who killed three American missionaries in a Yemeni hospital in 2002. Abed Abdul Razak Kamel had been convicted of opening fire on a staff meeting at a Baptist hospital, killing hospital director William Koehn of Kansas, purchasing agent Kathleen Gariety of Wisconsin and Dr. Martha Myers of Alabama. Another Islamic militant, Ali al-Jarallah, was executed last November. Yemeni officials said that both may have been linked to al-Qaida and its leader, Osama bin Laden, who has ancestral roots in Yemen. Police found bin Laden audiotapes at Kamel's house. (See AgapePress story on the December 2002 shooting) [AP]

...The head of a pro-Israel ministry says she cannot understand why the U.S. State Department is continuing to fund the Palestinian Authority with the naïve belief that the money will be channeled into humanitarian needs of the Palestinians. Jan Markell, founder and director of Minnesota-based Olive Tree Ministries, says the State Department has fulfilled her prediction that the U.S. would not follow through on its pledge to stop giving aid to the Palestinians in the wake of the Hamas election factory in January. She feels it is naïve to think that millions and millions of American tax dollars somehow will not go into the hands of Hamas. "It will," she says. "It's as simple as that -- it will." Markell says she agrees with the assessment of the Israelis, who believe the American dollars will be channeled into salaries for Hamas officials and military equipment, not for humanitarian purposes. She also notes that the 22 Arab nations will not lift a finger to aid the Palestinians, who are being kept in poverty by their own leaders -- not by Israel. "Israel's trying to correct the problem," she asserts. "It's the corrupt Palestinian leadership [and] a society that lives by the rule of corruption [that is causing the problem]." She wonders, then, why American tax money -- and not that of Arab nations -- is being siphoned to address the situation with the Palestinians. Yesterday (February 27) the European Union announced it would be granting $143 million in urgent aid to the Palestinians before Hamas assumes control of the Palestinian government. Associated Press says the EU's decision was welcomed by the State Department. [Chad Groening]

...The man who served as President Bush's envoy to Iraq following the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime says there is evidence that the former dictator had intended for Iraqi insurgents to conduct terrorist attacks once their army was defeated. Ambassador Paul Bremer was presidential envoy to Iraq from May 2003 until June 2004. The career diplomat has published My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope. Bremer says Saddam did not have any intention of standing and fighting prior to the U.S.-led invasion. "We found a document from the intelligence services that was written a couple of months before our invasion which basically called for an insurgency, assassinations, the kinds of attacks we've seen," Bremer shares, "and I think it's fair to say we didn't anticipate how resilient this insurgency would prove to be." But Bremer notes the insurgency is limited to a small part of the country. "About 85 percent of the attacks are in four of the 18 provinces," he says, "so [in] most of the country there is basically peace." Bremer acknowledges, however, that not all is well. "There still is crime, of course," he says. "Saddam let something like a 100,000 prisoners out of jail before the war, and [many] of these guys are still on the loose." Bremer says despite the constant news of violence, most Iraqis themselves are optimistic about the future of their country. [Chad Groening]

...What many see as a compromising trend among Republican Party leaders has one pro-marriage defender concerned. High-profile Republicans have recently angered many advocates of a constitutional marriage amendment by suggesting that granting marriage rights to "domestic partnerships" might be a workable compromise. Peter LaBarbera of the Illinois Family Institute says such a step could spell trouble. "When you start asserting domestic partnerships, you are eroding marriage," says the IFI spokesman. "I think the grassroots of the Republican Party has to take notice of what's going on." LaBarbera says "selling out" traditional marriage in an effort to win the votes of the homosexual community has no place in a pro-family political party. [Bill Fancher]

...The author of The Da Vinci Code denies basing his novel on the 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail as its authors allege in a copyright lawsuit. Both books claim that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that they had a child, establishing a blood line that survives to this day, but the earlier book also says Jesus did not die on the cross. Brown told reporters outside the London courtroom that he was raised as a Christian and sang in the choir, so he knows that the crucifixion and resurrection are at the "very core" of Christianity. If the plaintiffs get an injunction to bar use of their work, they could hold up the May release of the Tom Hanks movie The Da Vinci Code, which is based on Brown's novel. Meanwhile, Christian speaker and author Lee Strobel says Brown's book has undermined faith and evangelism because too many people believe its claim that Jesus had children and the church has covered it up. Strobel says his book Exploring the Da Vinci Code and upcoming DVD curriculum Discussing the Da Vinci Code expose the errors in Brown's novel and the upcoming movie. Strobel maintains that the final chapter of The Da Vinci Code will be written as Christians seize the opportunity to help people "realize the truth about who Jesus is." [AP]

...Later this week a Los Angeles-based media watchdog group plans to release the results of its first study on children's television programming. The Parents Television Council says its study, which will be introduced at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on Thursday, will address numerous topics of interest to parents -- for example, the content that children are watching on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon; the persistent themes found children's cartoons, which are now available around the clock through cable television; and the messages being absorbed by the nation's children as they view rerun after rerun and learn through repetition. Joining PTC president L. Brent Bozell on Thursday will be Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and Dr. Michael Rich, the director of the Center on Media and Child Health. [Jody Brown]

...The founder of the modern creationist movement is now with his Creator. Dr. Henry M. Morris, 87, died in San Diego on Saturday (February 25) after a brief illness. Morris founded the Institute for Creation Research and co-founded, along with Dr. Tim LaHaye, San Diego Christian College (Christian Heritage College) in El Cajon, California. A press statement from ICR notes that Morris is best known for his work "challenging the credibility of the naturalistic and evolutionary theories of origins" and was considered "the person most responsible for the rise of the modern creation-science movement." Beverly LaHaye, wife of Dr. LaHaye and founder of Concerned Women for America, says Morris left a legacy of faithfulness, intellect, diligence, and servanthood. "He used the many gifts God gave him to contribute greatly to the kingdom of God," she says. Morris wrote more than 60 books in the fields of science and theology, among them The Genesis Flood and The Bible and Modern Science. He appeared in several documentaries and on many national television programs -- and also wrote a graduate textbook, Applied Hydraulics in Engineering, that is still in use around the world today. "[His] life shows each one of us how much God will use us if only we will let Him," adds Mrs. LaHaye. Morris leaves behind his wife of 66 years, Mary Louise, five children, 17 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren. [Jody Brown]

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