OUR COLUMNISTS Saying Sorry for Lynchings and the Cheap Talk of Congressional Apologies Commentary by Matt Friedeman This year's Senate apology casts a vote of regret for Senate inaction on lynchings. All in favor, say "Aye!" And for those who didn't sign up as co-sponsors (only 15 of 100 senators didn't), get ready for reporters' phone calls. Love Affair With Failure Commentary by Jane Jimenez PBS producers have tremendous power to teach children and parents. So where do they put their energies? Sporting Dads Commentary by Brad Locke Father-son relationships can literally be established or destroyed on the playing fields. Fathers who understand this can make a world of difference in the lives of their sons. Amnesia Commentary by David Sisler What would it be like to wake up and not remember the evil that you had done, the people you had hurt, the sins you had committed? What would you pay for a little selective amnesia? 'Thou Shalt Commit Sexual Immorality' Commentary by Mark Creech Most people don't usually think of the Bible as a wicked document. But that's exactly what people thought of the 1631 edition of the King James Version. It seems when the printers went to print that particular edition, an error was made, and the word "not" was left out of the Seventh Commandment.

...The chairman of the Greater New York Billy Graham Crusade, which starts tomorrow (June 24), says it couldn't come at a better time. Rev. A.R. Bernard told reporters that New York is in the midst of a "religious transformation" like some "of the great revivals of the past." Bernard, who pastors the 20,000-member Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, says his church and other local evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic churches have grown dramatically in recent years. He expects this weekend's crusade to advance what he sees as a movement of God. Musical guests on the crusade's opening night will be Salvador and Steven Curtis Chapman. [AP]

...Spokesmen for two big Roman Catholic dioceses in the New York City area say they will have no official involvement in the Billy Graham Crusade that starts on Friday because they're too busy. Church spokesman Joseph Zwilling tells The Washington Times that the 413 parishes in the Archdiocese of New York, representing about two and a half million Catholics, are too involved with school graduations, confirmations, and the Vatican's emphasis on the Eucharist during 2005. The Times says it was given a similar response to the same question posed to the Diocese of Brooklyn, which represents about a million and a half Catholics. Rev. A.R. Bernard, the chairman of the crusade, professed puzzlement over the archdioceses' reasoning, noting Catholic involvement in past Graham crusades. Graham biographer Bill Martin also expressed surprise and speculates that perhaps some directive has come down from higher Catholic authorities. The Times story reports a Brooklyn bishop, Nicholas DiMarzio, wrote an article for a diocesan newspaper on Saturday outlining the significant divide over how Catholics and Protestants understand salvation. [Fred Jackson]

...The Anglican Communion has rejected an attempt by traditionalists to punish the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Canadian Anglican Church for their acceptance of homosexuality. The Anglican Consultative Council watered down a resolution that had called for the North American branches of Anglicanism to be suspended from all church bodies. The North American churches were summoned to this week's council meeting in England to explain the theology behind the consecration of V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire, and the decision by a Canadian diocese to authorize the blessing of same-sex unions. Official Anglican policy declares sexual relations between individuals of the same gender "incompatible with scripture" and opposes homosexual ordinations and same-sex blessings. [AP]

...Oregon was one of eleven states in November to pass constitutional amendments defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman -- but the only Fortune 500 company in that state has now voiced its support for state legislation that would create "civil unions" for same-sex couples. According to Associated Press, Nike vice president Wes Coleman, in a letter to the president of the Oregon State Senate, said civil unions "promote inclusion by providing all our employees the opportunity to enter into lasting permanent relationships without regard to sexual orientation" -- and that the lives of many Nike employees "will be better" with the passage of such legislation. The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to vote on the SB 1000 within the next week, and supporters are hopeful Nike's announcement will improve the chances the bill will be approved. In November 2004, a state constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage was passed by Oregon voters 57 percent to 43 percent. [Jody Brown]

...Chilling. That's how some people are responding to today's ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court which gives local governments new powers to seize private property. The Supreme Court ruling dealt with a Connecticut-based case where homeowners sued to stop city officials from seizing their properties for economic development. The homeowners had argued that there had to be some clear public purpose -- like the building of a school or a highway. But by a 5-4 vote, the justices said a community that simply wanted to improve its tax base or bring in jobs could force out homeowners who stand in the way. Scott Bullock is senior attorney for the Institute for Justice, which represented the plaintiffs. "Under the court's rationale, any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private property, so long as they claim that some public benefit is going to come from it," Bullock explains. "So that really puts ... many homes and businesses [up] for grabs." At issue was the scope of the Fifth Amendment, which allows governments to take private property through eminent domain if the land is for "public use." Some Christian leaders say this ruling moves well beyond that, and could mean local governments now have the right to seize even church property if it is deemed to be economically beneficial for the community. [Fred Jackson]

...A high-profile conservative columnist has joined in the call to eliminate the government subsidy for public broadcasting. The House of Representatives is dealing with efforts to cut taxpayer funding of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Commentator George Will says PBS's time has come and gone. "Public television may have made a smidgen of sense in 1967 when Lyndon Johnson concocted it as a filigree on the 'Great Society,' at which point for many Americans it increased their basic television choices from three to four," the columnist says. Will feels that in this day of 500 cable channel choices, PBS should sink or swim on its own. But he also believes it is "immortal" and will go on and on and on -- at taxpayer expense. [Bill Fancher]

...Pro-family advocates applauded the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in its efforts, through a program knows as "Operation Predator," to catch sexual predators who target children. Operation Predator recently arrested its 5,000th suspect and in the process has deported more than 2,000 non-citizen offenders. In addition, the operation recently netted more than 1,200 alleged Internet child pornographers. "This program is not just something that will help protect American children," said Jamie Zuieback of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "but we're also living up to our responsibility to keep Americans who try to abuse children overseas from doing so." [AFA Journal]

...A New York Times best-selling author says he knows the country in which Osama bin Laden has been hiding out -- but he doubts the CIA can find the Islamic terrorist leader. CIA director Porter Goss recently told Time magazine that he as "an excellent idea" where bin Laden is hiding. But Goss did not reveal the location, only indicating that the U.S. cannot violate the sovereignty of another nation to go in and nab him. But Ken Timmerman says he knows that the terrorist mastermind is in Iran and up to no good. "Osama bin Laden is in Iran right now, and they're preparing new terrorist attacks against the United States," the author contends. "We don't have a minute to lose." And Timmerman says the reason the U.S. cannot go in and get bin Laden is because American authorities do not know where the Iranians are hiding him. "The United States has not penetrated Iranian intelligence," he explains. "The CIA is completely incompetent when it comes to running human agents -- so we don't have the operatives in place who can track Osama bin Laden." Timmerman has detailed his concerns about bin Laden's Iranian activities in his new book, Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran. [Chad Groening]

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