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. A Failure to Love (Part 1) Commentary by Jane Jimenez St. Patrick's Day brings stories of love to the front page. In our quest to find that perfect love, we might be well served to consider the reasons that love fails. Ask, and You Shall Receive Knowledge Commentary by Brad Locke Asking "lazy" questions can come in handy when you're interviewing someone about an event or another person that you've been unable to gather much information about. It's also okay if you're asking questions about life or about God -- provided you're committed to digging until you find the real truth. The Need for Wisdom in an Age of Intellectual and Spiritual Insanity Commentary by Mark Creech Never has there been a day when wisdom, both intellectual and practical, was more needed than today. Yet, we're not seeing much wisdom. In fact, we're seeing just the opposite.

...The Family Institute of Connecticut is planning a religious freedom rally at the state Capitol, an event that spokesman Peter Wolfgang describes as a proactive response to anti-Christian attacks. "There's been a number of threats to religious freedom in Connecticut during this legislative session," he explains. "There was also a bill that was introduced at our state legislature designed to force religious hospitals to perform chemical abortions." That bill, which would have required Catholic and other private hospitals to provide the "morning-after pill" to rape victims despite any religious conflicts or objections, has been defeated; and now Connecticut pro-family groups are hoping for more victories. The Family Institute of Connecticut is currently focused on defeating bills that would recognize same-sex "marriages" from Massachusetts and expand anti-discrimination protections for transgendered individuals. Wolfgang says religious institutions and leaders have long been the targets of all sorts of anti-family lawsuits and sanctions. But now, he asserts, pro-family forces have had enough and are fighting back. [Bill Fancher]

...About a thousand people have gathered at Minnesota's Capitol building to sing and pray for a state constitutional amendment that would reserve marriage "or its legal equivalents" for unions between a husband and wife. Yesterday's rally was organized by Minnesota for Marriage, which wants the amendment put to a vote this fall. The measure has passed the state House but needs Senate approval before voters can weigh in during a statewide referendum. Catholic speaker Jeff Cavins told rally participants, "Across time and culture and different religions, marriage has been the basic unit of the family, which is the basic unit of society." Opponents of the proposed amendment say the words "or its legal equivalents" would prohibit any legal recognition of same-sex relationships, including civil unions and domestic partner benefits. [AP]

...In California, the statewide VoteYesMarriage.com coalition, sponsor of "The Voter's Right to Protect Marriage Initiative," is challenging the results of the latest Field Poll, which reportedly finds scant support among Californians for protecting the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. Randy Thomasson, a spokesperson for VoteYesMarriage.com, says the Field Poll has been "consistently incorrect on the people's pulse on marriage" in the past. In 2000, he notes, the Field Poll said Proposition 22, the Protection of Marriage Initiative, was supported by only 53% of the voters; however, the measure passed a week later by 61.4%. And in June 2004, just three months after the City of San Francisco outraged many by issuing "gay marriage" licenses, the Field Poll found that 43% of Californians supported same-sex marriage, when a Los Angeles Times poll using a larger sample found only 31% of the state's voters supported creating "gay marriages." Thomasson also points out that the Field Poll failed to mention the 4.6 million Californians who voted for Prop. 22 in the organization's multi-year list of "voter opinion" on homosexual marriage. These facts beg the question, "Why is the Field Poll ignoring California voters?" the activist contends. "Californians are not asleep on this issue," Thomasson adds, and he says they are more than ready to go to the ballot to override activist judges and politicians and to "permanently protect marriage rights for one man and one woman." [Jenni Parker]

...Pro-family leaders in Kentucky would like to see this final full week of the state's legislative session, accomplish the passage of a measure to restrict indecent activity inside strip clubs. Kent Ostrander, president of the Family Foundation of Kentucky, says his and other pro-family groups are encouraging voters to contact legislators this week about pushing SB 250, a bill dubbed the "Public Decency Act," through the House to become law. The bill has already passed through the state's Senate. The legislation does two things, Ostrander explains. "It simply makes sure that every performer in a strip bar must have something on," he says. "There cannot be total nudity, which is quite common. And number two, that same performer must remain six feet away from the patrons." Ostrander says supporters have been trying to get such a decency act passed for as many as seven years. The Family Foundation of Kentucky is urging members of the voting public to call 800-372-7181 and leave a message for their state legislators expressing support for this pro-family measure. [Ed Thomas]

...More people are raising concerns about a federal government decision to waive restrictions against people infected with HIV or AIDS entering the United States to attend the 2006 "Gay Games" in Chicago, Illinois, this summer. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky are behind the push that obtained the waiver. But Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute believes the nation's health standards are being lowered for a homosexual event. "It's bending to political correctness to please homosexual activists, and it defies good public health standards," he contends. Twelve-thousand homosexual athletes from 100 countries are expected to take part in the Gay Games, and because the event promotes, among other things, public bathhouses, Knight feels this combination of factors could lead to a public health crisis. "To invite people into the United States with HIV to [attend] an event that promotes promiscuous, anonymous sex is asking for more cases of AIDS," he says. "It's absolutely irresponsible." The Department of Homeland Security should suspend the waiver immediately, Knight asserts, and should "reinstate the commonsense medical procedures" the U.S. normally uses to screen immigrants and visitors with visas. [Bill Fancher]

...Middle East politics have disrupted an international meeting aimed at getting Muslim and Jewish clerics talking about peace. The meeting in Spain has drawn some 250 imams, rabbis and academics from 31 countries, including the United States. Yesterday's dispute erupted over the issue of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Muslim delegates stood up and shouted when a moderator tried to halt a Palestinian professor from the Gaza Strip who said life under Israeli occupation was like being in "a large prison." A session dealing with family issues had become heated the day before. [AP]

...The head of a Minnesota-based ministry says someone with influence needs to inform President George W. Bush on proper biblical eschatology in light of his recent response to a question at a Cleveland, Ohio, news conference. Jan Markell, founder of Olive Tree Ministries, says the president was clearly caught off guard when a reporter asked him if he had considered the apocalyptic ramifications of the war in Iraq and the situation in the Middle East. Bush responded that the reporter's question was "the first I've heard of that, by the way," and said he was "more of a practical fellow." Markell thinks Mr. Bush obviously needs better advisors on matters pertaining to end-times prophecy. The idea that "he hadn't even thought of it kind of boggles the mind here," she says, "because he does have some spiritual advisors who speak into his life; but perhaps they are ignorant on the topic of eschatology." Markell believes President Bush may be uninformed about apocalyptic events because he has attended churches that teach the doctrine of replacement theology. This doctrine teaches that the Church has replaced Israel as God's chosen people, she says, and that contemporary Israel holds no spiritual relevance. "And if there's no relevance for modern-day Israel," Markell notes, "there's not much to think about prophecy-wise either, because Israel is at the heart of eschatology." [Chad Groening]

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