OUR COLUMNISTS Fighting Off Political Cynicism and Arrogance -- a Plan Commentary by Matt Friedeman Just talked with a editor of a local newspaper. We like each other but have precious little in common as far as political ideology is concerned. I asked him a question along these lines: "How do you keep from getting cynical?" How's It Working for You? Commentary by Jane Jimenez Nightly, Americans literally trip over each other to get onto Dr. Phil's show and pour out the failures in their lives. One question ... and so many problems! If You Build It, Will He Come? Commentary by Brad Locke How often do we see churches build bigger, more beautiful sanctuaries? Nothing inherently wrong with that, but I don't think it should be as high on the priority list as it often is. Seed Magazine Writes About the 'Clergy Letter Project' Commentary by Mark Creech A recent article in this magazine was skewed, not surprisingly, toward evolution. Only a smidgen of my interview answers were used in the piece -- hopefully, God might use the entirety of my response (contained herein) as a means of defending and furthering the truth.

...A new study from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania reveals that weekly church attendance can add years to a person's life. Of course, Dr. Gene Rudd of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations already knew that. "I remember in Hebrews, Chapter 10, we're cautioned not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together," Rudd says, "and I think that's just good medicine for us to do that, and the literature bears that out." The recent study analyzed death rates and found that those individuals who attended church weekly lived an average of three years longer than those people who did not attend services each week, and Dr. Rudd says many similar studies have come to the same conclusion. However, Daniel Hall, a general surgery resident at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, points out that the findings of this study indicate "correlation, not causality." Still, Hall asserts, "these findings tell us there is something to examine further." [Bill Fancher]

...Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has called for a review of standards used to determine whether charities can participate in a state-run program allowing employees to automatically donate part of their paychecks. A coalition of faith-based groups filed a federal lawsuit last week claiming they were excluded from a list of groups to which state employees can direct part of their earnings. The lawsuit challenges a state rule that requires groups to adopt a statement agreeing not to discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation in hiring staff and accepting members. The Christian Legal Society says it was excluded last year after refusing to adopt such a statement. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes also was shut out, according to the lawsuit. [AP]

...Liberal Ohio ministers have filed a second complaint with the Internal Revenue Service alleging improper political activity by two conservative churches on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell. They accuse Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster, Ohio, and World Harvest Church in suburban Columbus of violating federal laws against political activities by nonprofits. Leaders of both churches have said they have done nothing wrong and are supporting Blackwell for his work on public policy issues such as opposition to abortion and homosexual marriage. The pastor of Fairfield Christian Church calls the IRS complaint "an attempt by the religious left to sabotage a courageous leader's political future." [AP]

...A former homosexual is expressing concerns over how the news of a possible AIDS prevention pill will affect those he used to know in the deadly lifestyle. Although the drug has registered success in recent trials on monkeys, Christian entertainer Stephen Bennett has mixed feelings about the test results of the new medication. "This is very promising news in the research for a cure for AIDS," he says, "but I think this is sending a wrong message to a lot of individuals." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said much the same thing, Bennett notes. "Our concern," he explains, "is we do not want individuals to look at this as [suggesting that] you can take a pill and go on and have sex, and that's going to solve the problem." The former homosexual, who accepted Christ and left the lifestyle more than a decade ago, is a happily married, heterosexual husband and father today. He insists that there is only one real solution for the prevention of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. "It is against God and against God's laws to engage in any kind of sexual behavior outside of the grounds of marriage," Bennett says. "This pill is not a cure-all or an answer for anything," he adds, "but we believe the real answer is abstinence and following the Word of God." [Bill Fancher]

...A critic of George W. Bush's immigration policy ideas doubts administration officials will be very vocal about what the president's proposed reforms are going to cost because the numbers are staggering. Jim Boulet of the group English First says the immigration reform bill now being debated in the Senate will have an enormous price tag. "Once amnesty is granted," Boulet asserts, "every one of these 12 million illegal aliens could go on the dole immediately. This would mean an increase of at least 65 billion -- with a 'b' -- dollars in Medicaid spending alone." Meanwhile, he notes, Clinton Executive Order 13166 will require local hospitals to advertise in Spanish to illegal aliens, informing them of their new free healthcare. Boulet feels this is unfair. After all, he contends, "There are hard-working, tax-paying American citizens doing without all the healthcare they might desire. Frankly, charity should begin at home." [Bill Fancher]

...Advancements in science that are expected to raise life expectancies could also put economies -- and social entitlement programs -- under major pressure around the world. That's the theory proposed recently by prominent biology professor Dr. Shripad Tuljapurkar. He sees the rate of medical advances extending lifespans by as much as 20 years by the year 2026, and the retirement age changed, accordingly, to 85. BBC News reports that Tuljapurkar recently told an audience at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that the change in the retirement age should be made no later than 2050. This, the biology scholar asserts, would help industrialized nations adjust to what he called the "profound" effects on their economies, lifestyles, and populations that his life expectancy model forecasts. Those changes may possibly include mortgages with terms of 50- or 75-years rather than 30 years; and as much as a doubling of Social Security and medical costs. Tuljapurkar believes raising the retirement age is one solution that will allow seniors to adjust so that their costs are relatively equivalent to today's levels. [Ed Thomas]

...Al Garza is the national executive director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a movement aimed at urging U.S. officials to act to secure America's borders and curb illegal immigration. Garza notes that he was deeply offended, particularly as a combat veteran and an American of Hispanic descent, by demonstrations that took place recently, in which illegal aliens and their supporters displayed Mexican flags on U.S. soil. "The protesters obviously felt they had the right to not only be illegal in our area and our country," he says, "but also to protest with the Mexican flag, pulling ours down and putting theirs up. I thought that was a pretty awful display, to say the least." But Garza believes the Mexican flag-waving display has already backfired. Even as the event happened, he observes, the Minutemen were receiving an increasing number of calls from outraged citizens, asking where they could sign up to join the Minuteman Project. "I think they finally realize who the true Americans are," Garza says. "We're not the vigilantes that a lot of people were portraying us to be. We're compassionate; we just believe in this cause, chiefly because we know for a fact that our borders are not secure. They're porous. They're dangerous." The Minutemen volunteers were flying the U.S. flag along the U.S. borders yesterday, as they urged other Americans to join them in observing "Take an American Flag to Work Day." [Chad Groening]

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