OUR COLUMNISTS WorldCom's Ebbers Gets 25 Years ... Is There a More Christian Way? Commentary by Matt Friedeman America is a long way from devising sentences that take real justice to heart. Until we do, however, we only hurt ourselves. And, in this case, we destroy a man who could still contribute much, given the opportunity. Medically Accurate Cowards Commentary by Jane Jimenez Trojan brought condom ads to mainstream television last month. One hopes next month they will buy a little more time to offer Americans the medically accurate truth about condoms. Itching Ears Commentary by Brad Locke Failure is inextricably tied to self-esteem for many people, but those who don't fear failure are the ones who succeed most often. When nothing else can cause a person to re-examine his approach and fix it, failure will often do so. It is a great teacher. 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? Preaching a 'Celebrity Gospel' Commentary by Mark Creech A "celebrity gospel" is when a preacher compromises the gospel of Christ in order to achieve or sustain a celebrity status. Columnist Mark Creech offers two examples of preachers he says are proclaiming a celebrity gospel of late.

...A week after the London suicide bombings, a Washington, DC-based Muslim advocacy group has released a public service announcement denouncing Islamic terrorism. The PSA from the Council on American-Islamic Relations includes a man and woman declaring that as Muslims, they "reject anyone of any faith who commits such brutal acts" and will not allow Islam "to be hijacked by criminals." CAIR board chairman Parvez Ahmed says his organization wants everyone -- including Muslims abroad -- to know that "any effort by terrorists to hide their criminal activities under the mask of religious piety" is "rejected by mainstream Muslims." Meanwhile, in England at the mosque where suspected homicide bombers once prayed, the imam told worshipers Thursday, "The devil of radicalism is at our doorstep. We must fight it, brothers." At least two of the four young men who are believed to have killed themselves and 50 other people in London last week attended the Stratford Street mosque in Leeds. One worshiper, a Pakistani shopkeeper, lamented that young Muslims "always hear these calls of martyrdom and jihad in the name of religion." But he asked, "How do you fight an enemy you can't see -- an enemy that resides in people's souls?" At a vigil last night in London's Trafalgar Square, Bishop Richard Chartres prayed that "goodness will prevail," and terrorists will realize that "all life is sacred." [AP]

...First Lady Laura Bush flies back to Washington today after visiting faith-based schools and charities in East Africa. In Rwanda yesterday, she helped treat AIDS sufferers at a project run by the Christian charity World Relief. The first lady was joined by Rev. Rick Warren -- author of The Purpose Driven Life -- and Warren's wife, Kay. Warren and his congregation at Saddleback Church in California are working with Rwandan pastors to help their nation recover from the 1994 genocide. Mrs. Bush began her day in Zanzibar, Tanzania, where she reached out to East Africa's large Muslim community by touting U.S. efforts to help them educate children at Islamic schools. [AP]

...Authorities in Washington, DC, have arrested six teenagers and two adults who were praying on a public sidewalk in front of the White House: their crime -- being in a "restricted area" and not remaining mobile. The young people were from the pro-life groups Generation Life and Survivors. Their objective in coming to the White House was to offer prayers that President Bush would stand firm in his commitment to uphold the sanctity of life, especially as he prepares to nominate someone to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court. But while the group prayed, officers moved in and cordoned off the area where the Christians were kneeling with yellow police tape, then proceeded to arrest the pro-lifers. One group member, Mark Howell of Philadelphia, tried to explain why they had come. "We're here today because we want President Bush to continue to build a culture of life as he said he wanted to, to stay the course." he said. Another of the eight continued praying for the president even as she was being taken away in handcuffs, crying out, "Please give him the strength to continue in his commitment to protect life. You give him all strength!" Generation Life director Brandi Swindell, who coordinated the prayer event, says these "members of the post-Roe generation" came to Washington from all around the nation "to peacefully pray that President Bush would nominate someone that would uphold the dignity of life." A dozen secret service agents took positions atop the White House as the arrests took place, while a huge crowd watched in silence. [Bill Fancher]

...Empire High School near Tucson, Arizona, is about to make education history. When the new school year begins, it will be the first all-wireless, all-laptop school in the state. At Empire High, the traditional first-day activity of putting new covers on textbooks will not happen, because there will be no books to cover. Every reading assignment, all homework, and every test will be online. Dr. Elizabeth Byrom of the SERVE Center for Continuous Improvement says America will likely see more of these classrooms in the near future. She says their increased use could be influenced by "the extent to which teachers come on board" and "the extent to which the research community can show that this is a better way for students to learn." If the efficacy and popularity of these wireless computer classrooms are indicated, Byrom says, "then, yes, we could indeed see a sea change." The laptops, reports Family News In Focus, will cost the district about $850 apiece. [FNIF]

...A computer programmer has found a way to unlock pornography hidden in a popular video game. An easily available program opens up hidden scenes, apparently included by the programmers of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." Adam Holz of Plugged In magazine says the game is bad enough as it is, but if the explicit sex scenes are unlocked, it hits an all-time low. "And I think the manufacturers have a responsibility to tell the truth about hidden stuff in their game," he says. "We need to be able to make an informed decision as parents, as influencer, knowing what is actually in these games." Holz warns that parents need to keep an eye on all the electronic games their kids play since "Grand Theft Auto" is not the only one that can be modified by additional code. [FNIF]

...A youth baseball team in Mississippi is proving that coaches who are Christians can teach kids to be winners on and off the field. Donnie Wooten of Hernando says he wanted his son to play baseball, but wanted him to learn from coaches who were committed Christians. He and other like-minded dads formed a 12-member team, called the Explorers, that focuses on "how Jesus would play" instead of on winning at all costs. Wooten says he and the other parents were concerned about the kind of coaches their kids were playing for in recreational league baseball. "The kids occasionally would get a good coach that would be a good man," the Christian parent notes, "and he would be a good influence on our kids, and we'd be really happy about that. But usually they didn't know anything about baseball. Or we'd get somebody that knew a lot about baseball, and those guys were usually the screaming lunatic jerks that nobody wants their son to play for." Wooten points out that he and the other "founding fathers" had plenty of support for the way they wanted the team to be handled. He says, "Up front we let everybody know, we're going to talk about God; we're going to have a lot of discipline; we're going to focus on a lot of things that we believe -- just know what you're getting into. And most people said, 'Okay, that sounds good to me.'" And even though the focus is not on winning, the Explorers have done well. In their first season they were undefeated and won a state championship -- thanking God, of course, along the way. [Rusty Pugh]

...The new kid on the advocacy block in Washington, DC, is called the Center for a Just Society. Genevieve Wood, a spokesperson for the organization, says it was formed "basically because we believed that social conservatives and pro-family organizations are busy with a lot of issues but not able to hit everything right now. And the Center for a Just Society decided we need to talk about Social Security reform. We need to talk about elder care. We need to talk about things like keeping a right to a trial by jury." Ken Connor, former head of the Family Research Council, directs the new Center. Well respected for his legal expertise, Connor has been in the foreground of advocacy regarding the sanctity of human life, nursing home reform, parents' rights, adoption, correctional system reform, and other pro-family issues. [Bill Fancher]

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