OUR COLUMNISTS Is Your Jesus Homogenous? Commentary by Matt Friedeman If the West, especially America, wants to play a major role in the massive expansion of the gospel across the globe in the decades to come, we will need to shuck the homogeneity that bedevils our conception of Christ and begin to grow in our thinking. NARAL: The Finer Points of Vulgarity Commentary by Jane Jimenez What better way to let the public know what NARAL stands for than to throw a party and invite everyone you know to "Screw Abstinence." 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 Christian minister and author who was a key voice among Evangelicals voicing biblical viewpoints during the presidential race last year indicates he is pleased with George W. Bush's choice of Judge John Roberts as a Supreme Court nominee. World Harvest Church's Pastor Rod Parsley is the author of the book Silent No More, which tackles American cultural issues from a biblical viewpoint. He also founded the Center for Moral Clarity during the 2004 election year. Since the announcement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement plans, Parsley says he has encouraged people of faith to be just that -- people who believe, by faith, that the President would keep his campaign promise to choose strict constructionist nominees, which Parsley feels Bush has done in Judge Roberts' case. "The President went through the list of all those candidates and put forth what he believes in his heart is the best nominee to the Supreme Court," the pastor says, "and I think everyone is just amazed at what a brilliant pick this was by our president." Parsley says Bush showed not only his brilliance but that "he's a principled man, a man of prayer," by nominating Roberts, a judge who was appointed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals only two years ago and confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a vote of 16-3, then unanimously confirmed again by the entire Senate. [Ed Thomas]

...Not all conservatives are happy with President Bush's nomination of John Roberts to be the next U.S. Supreme Court justice. Some prominent right-wing voices are raising questions as to whether enough is known about the nominee. One who has voiced that sentiment is columnist and best-selling author Ann Coulter. And another syndicated columnist, Harvard Law School student Ben Shapiro, shares Coulter's concerns about Roberts. "He's a stealth candidate," Shapiro asserts, "just like [David] Souter was. We don't know where he stands on Roe v. Wade. His only statement on Roe v. Wade came as a brief that he signed back in 1992 ... that cannot be guaranteed to reflect his actual views." The 21-year-old conservative feels Bush should have chosen a judge more definitively to the Right and perhaps even controversial. Shapiro says Bush should have nominated someone like Judge Michael Luttig and forced the Left to filibuster a highly qualified candidate. [Chad Groening]

...The United Methodist Church, America's second largest Protestant denomination, reports a net loss of 71,000 members in the United States last year, bringing the total under 8.2 million. That followed a decline of 69,000 in 2003. The United Methodists have suffered annual declines for decades. The latest report shows some membership growth in the South, with the largest drops mostly in the Midwest and Northeast. [AP]

...Alan Chambers says leaving behind his life as a homosexual man was the equivalent of the Hebrews' biblical exodus from slavery in Egypt. Chambers, who is president of Exodus International, addressed hundreds of Christians at the 30th annual Exodus Freedom Conference, which bills itself as the largest annual gathering of former homosexuals. He said homosexuality is "a bondage issue," but "there's an alternative." This week's gathering at a Southern Baptist conference center outside Asheville, North Carolina, brings together leaders of Exodus-affiliated ministries, people who identify themselves as formerly homosexual, and others linked to the movement for six days of speeches, workshops and fellowship. Rev. Jerry Falwell is to address the conference today. [AP]

...A Family Research Institute spokesman says a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals some interesting facts about what homosexuals and smokers cost the American taxpayer in terms of health-care expenses. The Institute's Dr. Paul Cameron has taken the CDC numbers and broken them down to an individual level. By his calculations, smokers cost U.S. taxpayers $156 billion a year. "For direct medical costs, days at work lost, all the indirect cost of fires and whatever, it figures out to a little over $3,000 per smoker, per year," he says. But on the other hand, Cameron notes, homosexuals cost American taxpayers $102 billion a year. And since there are so few homosexuals as compared to smokers, he says the individual cost is more than $25,000 per homosexual per year. This calculation is based on the AIDS factor alone, without taking other unhealthy aspects of the homosexual lifestyle into consideration, such as transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases or the high incidence of depression and attempted suicide among homosexuals. [Bill Fancher]

...Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid believes members of the press are going to wage an all-out propaganda blitz to convince U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation that would protect them from having to testify to federal authorities. Kincaid says he had no doubt the media would be well represented at yesterday's hearings before the Senate committee dealing with the so-called "media shield bill." The press are pushing hard in favor of the legislation, and the media watchdog says, "I'm sure you'll see them hype this July 20th hearing and make it seem like somehow these poor journalists are getting their rights stripped away by these horrible prosecutors, when the fact is the First Amendment does not exempt them from giving testimony in criminal cases." Members of the fourth estate are eager to proceed with this hearing, Kincaid asserts, because they want a special media shield law to protect them from having to testify in criminal cases. "It's really a complete double standard on the part of the press," he says. "They have their own political agenda and they're trying to protect themselves at the same time from having to answer questions about this matter." The Accuracy in Media editor notes that the media shield bill has attracted more attention lately in light of the recent controversy involving Karl Rove and the CIA operative Valerie Plame. Still, Kincaid says the bill has only had a handful of co-sponsors in both the Senate and the House. [Chad Groening]

...A U.S. Representative from Mississippi says the Bush administration cannot afford to allow an American oil company to be purchased by what amounts to a front company for the Chinese government. Republican Congressman Charles "Chip" Pickering is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He was part of the recent 398-15 vote calling on the Bush administration to block any effort by the Communist Chinese to purchase Unocal oil company. Pickering feels the decision should be a no-brainer. "It should be," he says, "but we wanted to make sure that our message to the administration was very clear, and also to China, that we believe, as the people representing this country, that it is not in our national interests to see Unocal subsidized by the Chinese government to be used in a way that could be adverse to [America's] economic or strategic interests and to build up, in the future, the Chinese military." The Mississippi lawmaker says the U.S. needs to increase its economic independence and not do anything that would increase its dependence on foreign energy sources -- especially from nations that are not looking out for America's best interests. [Chad Groening]

...Author D.J. McGuire, a staunch critic of Communist China, says the recent provocative statements by a Chinese general demonstrates that America must recognize that regime as possibly the most powerful hostile force in the world today. Major General Zhu Chenghu told reporters that his country might respond with nuclear weapons if the U.S. became involved in a fight over Taiwan in the future. McGuire, president and co-founder of the China E-Lobby, thinks the general's comments were much more aggressive than the media has even reported, and that it is important for the U.S. to realize how evil the Chinese government is. "We need to recognize that Communist China is the biggest supplier and supporter of terrorist-sponsored regimes on the face of the Earth and the most powerful hostile force in the world," the author asserts. But the China E-Lobby spokesman says the Chinese are aware of just how tough a fight with the U.S. would be. "The fact is, if our military was in a position where we could not defend Taiwan, [that country] would have been invaded and conquered already," he contends. "Communist China knows that, as of right now, the United States could help Taiwan withstand a Communist invasion." McGuire is convinced China will inevitably invade Taiwan, although he cannot predict when it will happen. [Chad Groening]

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