OUR COLUMNISTS A Pinch of Incense Guest Commentary by Dr. Don Wildmon The founder of the American Family Association says the leadership in the Church -- and in the government -- is not willing to face the "torture" by the media and the liberal elite, and is willing to simply drop their pinch of incense on the altar of political correctness. If Education is the Answer, Are We Asking the Right Questions? Commentary by David Sisler Sex education lesson plans need three basic points in their outlines: first, practice abstinence until marriage and then practice monogamy; second, if you are sexually active, stop and refer to point number one; third, sex can kill. A Pro-Life Victory in the Senate? Commentary by R. Cort Kirkwood Abortion advocates use only one term honestly: "unwanted pregnancy." This is the one and only reason they want abortion "safe and legal." If they could add the word "free," they would. Should the Church Accept Lottery Winnings? (Part 2) Commentary by Mark Creech Churches may take lottery winnings if they want. But you can be certain when they do, the world will say, "Ah hah, you see that? They rail against the evils of gambling. Yet gambling enriches them." How sad when we trade souls for spoils.

...An academic freedom controversy has been resolved at the Mississippi University for Women (MUW). Just one day after Dr. Nancy Bryson delivered an honors forum presentation that included criticisms of Darwinism, MUW's vice president of academic affairs asked Bryson to resign from her position as head of the school's Division of Science and Mathematics. Bryson believes the call for her resignation was a form of punishment for challenging evolutionary thought. But late Thursday, the school dodged a potential lawsuit from the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy by deciding it will allow Bryson to remain as division head. University president Dr. Claudia Limbert says the school's change of heart "reassert[s] MUW's absolute commitment to academic freedom and freedom of speech." [by Jim Brown]  Earlier Story

...A Southern Baptist preacher is offering no apologies for his comments about Islam and Mohammed -- even after a major television news anchor equated his comments to hate speech. Late last month, Tom Brokaw of NBC Nightly News promoted an upcoming news item, using the term "preaching hate." The news story focused on Jerry Vines, a Southern Baptist pastor in Jacksonville, Florida, who has said the Islamic prophet Mohammed was a "demon-possessed pedophile" -- a reference to Mohammed marrying girls as young as nine years old. Vines says in his interview with NBC, he did not back away from those controversial comments. But he says NBC ignored other comments he made about what a Christian's attitude should be towards Muslims. The Baptist pastor says he "affirmed a great love" for Muslims in the Jacksonville area, and noted the fact that Christians and Muslims in the area "seem to get along quite well." Vines adds that since the piece was aired, he has checked with the Jacksonville sheriff's office and was told there had not been even one incident of a hate crime involving a Muslim in the City of Jacksonville. Vines says he had hoped for a fair and balanced piece from NBC, but the network failed on both counts. [by Fred Jackson]

...With the United States at war with terrorists and on the brink of an invasion of Iraq, there is still an almost forgotten battle raging in America over abortion -- and while abortion may not be getting media attention, some pro-life activists are pushing to move it back into the spotlight. Georgette Forney, executive director of the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life, is tired of seeing what the abortion experience is doing to women. She says it is time women found out there are more choices available than the killing of innocent children. She insists that abortion does more than kill a baby -- it also kills the spirit in women. Forney admits to her own abortion experience. "I had an abortion when I was 16-years-old," Forney says. "I struggled with that choice for 25 years." She says she has received healing and forgiveness for that poor choice, and that there are many post-abortion programs available for women in similar circumstances. Forney says women need to know that abortion -- with its painful psychological damage -- is not the only choice. She feels this is one battle that is slowly turning in the pro-life direction. [by Bill Fancher]

...People in the Lone Star State are expressing their dismay with a state judge who granted a "divorce" to a homosexual couple who had traveled to Vermont for a "civil union." According to Family News In Focus, Hyrum Sasser, staff attorney for the Texas-based Free Market Foundation, says the state should not be able to grant the divorce -- and that Judge Tom Mulvaney is overstepping his bounds. Sasser says the state's attorney general should intervene in the case because the judge cannot grant a divorce for a "marriage" that the state does not recognize. FNIF reports that since both parties agreed to the divorce -- which was for financial reasons -- an appeal is unlikely. Instead, experts say the court would likely rule that the marriage was not binding in the first place. [FNIF]

...Public school officials in Michigan are checking to make sure their districts do not bar constitutionally protected prayers. The Bush Administration has issued new guidelines for prayer in school as part of the federal No Child Left Behind law. The guidelines allow students to silently pray in school and allow prayer at student-sponsored events, but not at school-sanctioned activities. Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Watkins has told school districts to send him a letter by March 15 agreeing to the guidelines or else face the loss of federal funding. [AP]

...A federal judge has upheld Virginia laws calling on public schools to lead children in a daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and compelling them to display the national motto, "In God We Trust." The judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the laws as unconstitutional infringements on free speech and religious freedoms. Evidently, the man who objected to national motto posters being displayed in the schools did so because they were supplied by a Christian, pro-family group. Edward R. Myers of Loudoun County filed the lawsuit that challenges the display of posters distributed to schools statewide by the Virginia-based Family Policy Network. FPN president Joe Glover says the reason for Myers' objection was "ridiculous." Glover explains that last year, Myers threatened to sue any school district in Virginia that displayed the posters because they were provided by Family Policy Network -- the American Family Association state affiliate in Virginia. Myers alleged that by posting posters provided by FPN, the state was thereby making a de facto endorsement of "extreme religious views" of the Family Policy Network. Glover's reaction? "That's preposterous!" The judge rejected Myers' argument, saying that just because a religious group designed the poster does not necessarily mean the poster is religious by nature. Interestingly, Glover says, Myers is not an atheist -- he is a Mennonite. [by Rusty Pugh]

...California Judge Vincent Difiglia has thrown out several lawsuits brought against gun manufacturers by city councils and administrators who are seeking money from gun makers to help pay the bill for fighting violent crimes. Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America is glad to hear of the ruling, but realizes the attack on gun manufacturers is not over. Pratt says the judge has helped to take some of the heat off the manufacturers -- which, Pratt says, was the purpose of the lawsuits all along. While Pratt does not think such lawsuits will succeed in the traditional sense, he worries they can win by continuing to take away the profits of the gun industry by diverting them into higher litigation costs. Pratt says the judge's ruling will be appealed and the fight will continue. [by Bill Fancher]

...A former U.N. weapons inspector says Hans Blix is a total failure as director of the current U.N. inspections program. Bill Tierney worked as a weapons inspector in the mid-1990s before the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was replaced by the current United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC). Tierney says when the Iraqis, the Clinton Administration, and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan managed to bring about the end of UNSCOM, they talked about the new organization coming to pass. He reports that those on UNSCOM did not "want to have anything to do with it." According to Tierney, Annan picked Blix to head the new team because he knew Blix would do everything he could to discourage war against Saddam Hussein. Tierney adds that Blix was a complete failure as director of the International Atomic Energy Agency -- and yet, Annan appointed him to lead UNMOVIC. So, as Tierney puts it: "Kofi Annan gets what he wants -- complete and total failure." He adds that Annan knows the Iraqis have no intention of ever complying with U.N. demands -- but does not want to do what is necessary to make that clear because it would clear the way for the U.S. to remove Saddam from power, thereby making the U.S. stronger. Tierney believes President Bush is wasting his time dealing with the United Nations. [by Chad Groening]

...Federal Bureau of Investigation officials say they will not press Muslim leaders in Maryland to produce a list of mosques, or their members. After FBI Director Robert Mueller told the agency's field offices to keep a tally of all mosques, civil liberties and Islamic groups objected, calling it a form of ethnic and religious profiling. The FBI said it only wanted to defend sites vulnerable to terrorism. An agency spokesman said that as war with Iraq looms, agents anticipated that Muslims could become victims of hate crimes. [AP]

...A messianic Jewish evangelist says he believes the anti-Christ will be a Muslim. David Brickner is executive director of Jews for Jesus. He believes the struggle in the Middle East is the "conflict of the ages" -- and that the world is seeing the fulfillment of biblical prophecy unfold before its eyes. Brickner also says he is convinced that in order for the temple to be rebuilt according to prophecy, the anti-Christ will have to be Muslim. Brickner asks: "What world leader would enable a temple to be built on the temple mount without creating World War III among the Muslim world?" Brickner says his theory about a Muslim anti-Christ does not contradict scripture that indicates the individual will be of Roman origin. He says the Islamic world spreads throughout Europe. "So whether its Italy, Romania, or anywhere that the Roman Empire was in power," Brickner says Europe could be the source of the anti-Christ. He says for years, scholars have believed that communism will be the source of the army that attacks Israel. But Brickner believes Islam -- not communism -- will be the power base of the great deceiver. [by Chad Groening]

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