OUR COLUMNISTS Religious Communities Hardly Score with TIME Commentary by Matt Friedeman You'd think that in trying to identify a hundred people who have had a positive influence in the world over the past year, that TIME Magazine could drum up a healthy list of those known for their relationship with God and service to those less fortunate. Think again. CDC: Center for Disease Confusion Commentary by Jane Jimenez The CDC conference and panel on STDs much in the news last week has caught the attention of news writers. But they have missed the heart of the story. My 'Worthless' Job Commentary by Brad Locke Ever wonder why you are doing what you're doing? Not all of us are given lead roles. But God does not look down on the supporting actors, if you will, or think them less important than anyone else. The Truth of Scripture -- The Lies of The Da Vinci Code Commentary by David Sisler Know what the Bible says. Know what happened in history. And be ready with an answer for the 43,000,000 who bought the hardcover version of Dan Brown's novel, and the millions more who are buying the paperback, and the still millions more who will see the movie. Before Nicea, the Voice of the Martyrs: 'Jesus Alone Is Lord!' Commentary by Mark Creech One all-consuming conviction has driven thousands upon thousands of men and women to give their lives in sacrifice for Christ since Christianity's beginning: Jesus is the Lord God Almighty -- despite what The Da Vinci Code would want you to believe.

...The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to approve a constitutional amendment that would outlaw homosexual "marriage." However the vote today fell along party lines, with ten Republicans voting in favor of protecting traditional marriage and eight Democrats voting against the measure. The Committee's top Democrat, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, called the same-sex marriage ban a waste of time. Today's approval clears the way for the full Senate to vote on the matter. That is expected the week of June 5. [Fred Jackson]

...The board of the American Baptist Churches' Pacific Southwest region has voted unanimously to break ties with the denomination in a dispute over homosexuality. The region includes hundreds of congregations in southern California and five other states. The break is effective November first. American Baptist policy states that "homosexuality is incompatible with biblical teaching," but southwestern Baptists were upset that practicing homosexuals were still being ordained to the clergy and were allowed to hold leadership posts in American Baptist agencies. The Southern Baptist Convention cited such complaints in a 2004 decision to quit the Baptist World Alliance, in which it shared membership with the American Baptists. [AP]

...A conservative rabbi is skeptical of a religious conference in Washington designed to help religious liberals reach out to people of faith. The recent "Spiritual Activism Conference" was organized by liberal Jewish rabbi Michael Lerner, but one Orthodox Jewish cleric, Rabbi Yehuda Levin of Jews for Morality, has some questions he'd like Lerner and his liberal colleagues to answer. "Will you condemn adultery under all circumstances?" Levin asks. "Will you condemn abortion? Will you say that homosexual activity is incompatible with the Torah? If they're not going to do these things, then they have to be exposed for the phonies that they are," the Orthodox leader says. "It's this kind of doubletalk that doesn't mean anything," he continues. "It's just really patronizing and condescending to those religious fundamentalists, whether they be of Jewish or Christian persuasion -- you know: 'Let's try to figure out an Orwellian way of talking to them to totally muddy the waters.'" To reach out and speak convincingly to the faith community, Levin insists, a religious leader must not only "talk the talk," but also to "walk the walk." [Bill Fancher]

...The chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission says "The Da Vinci Code" is an anti-Christian and anti-Semitic film that was financed by a British Muslim. Ted Baehr says Mohammed Yusef's Invicta Capital put up most of the estimated 200 million dollars it cost to make the film version of Dan Brown's novel. Baehr told reporters at a Washington news conference, "I think it's a very serious problem when people start funding movies and books to attack somebody else's religious faith." He said the financial backing for "The Da Vinci Code" reveals "a terrible double standard" by Muslims who erupt in violent protests when they believe their own faith is being attacked. [AP]

...Well known pro-family advocate Judie Brown of the American Life League says The Da Vinci Code, the movie and the book based on it, are just another attack being launched against faith in contemporary society. Brown believes the latest barrage is a sign that the anti-God forces are getting frustrated. "I think that people who hate God and who hate the entire idea of Christianity are trying to develop ways to be more scathing in what they have to say," the pro-lifer asserts, "because Christianity is growing stronger. And the very fact that that is happening is debilitating to those people who hate God. It's almost like the anti-Christ is among us and has taken about 500 different forms, all of which have the same message: you have to hate God to be accepted in our society." But as these vehement attacks against God and against Christian belief are a good thing, Brown contends, because they show that Christianity is making giant forward strides in the postmodern world. [Bill Fancher]

...Christian activists Rick and Jane McKinney have already crossed the 2000-mile benchmark on their "Walk to Reclaim America," putting them less than 800 miles from their final destination. Their journey, which began January 1 in Santa Monica, California, has taken them through seven states. Now it only remains for them to traverse Tennessee and Virginia and continue to their final destination in Washington, DC. The McKinneys are walking across the U.S. to draw attention to what they believe is a need for America to reclaim the foundational truths held by its founding fathers, whose faith, Rick McKinney notes, "was the cornerstone of this nation then and the only thing that will keep this nation under God's protective care now." McKinney says he and his wife "have come to understand that the answer for America is pointing people back to that same deep and abiding faith in God through Jesus Christ." The couple have endured leg cramps, blisters, sunburn and other difficulties along their journey, but Jane McKinney observes, "The blessings of sharing Christ with hundreds of people, encouraging Christians in their walk with the Lord, and being able to materially bless those in need has far outweighed the hardships." The McKinneys plan to arrive in DC on July 4, 2006. [Jenni Parker]

...American Immigration Control Foundation spokesman Phil Kent says it is time for the federal government to quit dragging its feet and deal firmly with the illegal immigration problem. He feels the recent Minutemen rally in Washington highlights the need for U.S. lawmakers to take action on this volatile issue. "I hope that the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House are going to do the right thing this year," Kent says. "There have been so many Band-Aid approaches to immigration over the last 30 years. It's time to say, 'yes' to border enforcement first and 'no' to any amnesty guest worker programs that just ultimately reward the law breaking." According to the immigration control advocate, recent polls show that more than 80 percent of Americans want illegal immigration stopped and U.S. immigration laws enforced. [Bill Fancher]

...Frank Gaffney, head of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC, does not believe it is a good idea for the United States to restore its severed ties with Moammar Gaddafi's Libya. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the normalization of diplomatic relations with the Islamic country, citing what she calls Libya's commitment to renounce terrorism and to cooperate with the global war on terror. Several years ago, Gaddafi agreed to dismantle his nuclear weapons program, but Gaffney has doubts about whether the Libyan strongman has actually done so. "The truth is, I'm not sure he's actually given up his weapons of mass destruction or, certainly, the know-how that he had that enables him at will to make chemical and biological weapons," the policy analyst says. "And I cannot for a moment imagine who's kidding themselves," he adds. "Moammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime is currently actively promoting throughout Africa and probably beyond this political ideology that I call Islamofascism." The Center for Security Policy spokesman says Libya is the source of much of the terror America is confronting these days, and rewarding Gaddafi's regime is a bad idea. "And to think that he's now being given the 'Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval' because he's gone through certain motions," Gaffney asserts, "and as a result we're going to start not just rewarding him by sitting at the same table with him and exchanging diplomatic niceties but encouraging investment in his country ... is an abomination, quite frankly." [Chad Groening]