OUR COLUMNISTS An Optimistic Pro-Lifer: A Sea-Change in the Courts Guest Commentary by Daniel Lennington A Michigan attorney says pro-lifers everywhere should take comfort in the fact that we could be seeing a sea-change in the courts, prompted by state and federal legislation banning that dreaded procedure: partial-birth abortion. Great Athletes, Poor Theology Commentary by Brad Locke The media's favorite way to attack an athlete's character is by belittling his intelligence or beliefs -- particularly when it's a Christian athlete. All too often, the Christian athlete is a hapless victim, felled by his own bad theology. What's an Antonym for 'Super'? Commentary by David Sisler What were the themes evident during Sunday night's airing of the Super Bowl? If all you saw were the commercials and the halftime show, you'd have to include beastiality, hypocrisy, sexually-suggestive dancing, and partial nudity -- all under the title of 'Super.' The Da Vinci Code: A Brilliantly Crafted Deception Commentary by Mark Creech Few things have done more to injure the witness of the Church than attacks on the deity of Christ, the reliability of Scripture, and the rise of feminist ideology. Now these three have been brilliantly combined into one profoundly evil witness in Dan Brown's latest best-seller book, The Da Vinci Code.

...A 157-year-old Episcopal church is nearly empty on Sundays now that its conservative members have broken off to form a new congregation. Historic St. John's Episcopal Church in Versailles, Kentucky, drew only 60 people to its three services this past Sunday. Most of its members left after diocesan leaders fired the church's entire governing board, which had denounced Bishop Stacy Sauls' support for the consecration of the openly homosexual Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Days after the firings, conservative members of St. John's voted to form a new church and contributed $40,000 in seed money. They met informally in a supporter's living room for three weeks and had their first formal worship service Sunday with a new pastor. [AP]

...An important school-choice bill is proceeding through the Virginia State Legislature. Supporters are calling it a positive step forward for education freedom in that state. For the first time in years, school-choice legislation has passed by a Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee. The bill now goes before the full House Finance Committee. Victoria Cobb of the Family Foundation of Virginia says the bill is a new plan, based on an old idea. "We have a proposal this year that would work to create tuition tax credit scholarships for children who are in poor performing schools [and for] children who may be in an okay school, but they themselves are not able to pass the Standards of Learning [test] here in Virginia," Cobb says. She adds that those scholarships would also be available for students in overcrowded schools and those in areas where construction cannot keep up with the pace of enrollment. Cobb says fewer students in public schools means less money needed to build new schools, which saves taxpayers millions of dollars. [Rusty Pugh]

...As Democratic voters in seven states cast their ballots in today's "Super Tuesday" primaries, one observer says there's not much of a choice on the Democrats' political buffet. Writer Daniel Jennings says Democrats continue to push liberal candidates from the northeastern part of the nation -- like John Kerry of Massachusetts, who he describes as "Ivy League" and "extremely left-wing." Jennings says he cannot see how Kerry could garner the support of the average American. "This is, after all, a guy who did fight in the Vietnam War," he says, "but when he [returned], he joined this really radical protest." It is alleged that Kerry threw his military medals away in protest of the Vietnam War -- yet a major element of his campaign to this point has been his military service. Jennings says the Democratic candidates just do not mesh with the mainstream values of the nation's voters. [Bill Fancher]

...A Vermont legislator who spent many years fighting Howard Dean over the issue of civil unions does not believe her former governor will ultimately be able to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Nancy Sheltra, one of Howard Dean's staunchest critics, thinks the former governor will not be able to recover the momentum that once made him the favorite to win the nomination. "I think he's running on low steam right now -- and with [John] Kerry winning in New Hampshire, I think that's making a strong statement for Kerry," she says Sheltra believes that, in the end, Dean's temper did him in. "I think he showed that he has a temper. He doesn't like to lose, and I think there's an amount of arrogance there." Based on her 16 years in the Vermont legislature, during which Dean served as governor, Sheltra says knows the former governor "quite well." The state lawmaker says she hopes voters in South Carolina and other southern states do not fall for Dean's attempt to convince them that he is a Christian. [Chad Groening]

...French lawmakers are opening debate on a bill that would ban the wearing of Islamic head scarves, large Christian crosses, and Jewish skullcaps in public schools. The ban is intended to guarantee respect for France's secular foundations. But President Jacques Chirac has made clear that the bill also is meant to keep France's Muslim population from forcing its traditions onto French society rather than assimilating. That concern is magnified by fears of a rise in Muslim fundamentalism. France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, and Islam is the second-most popular religion in the traditionally Roman Catholic country. Some Muslims call the bill discriminatory. It has prompted demonstrations by Muslims in France and around the world, with another planned in France for Saturday. [AP]

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