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." Live Stronger Commentary by Brad Locke Lance Armstrong's ex-wife once told him that his recovery from cancer was a work of God's grace, but Armstrong scoffed at that. I suppose he thought men alone -- himself and the doctors -- were responsible for his regained health. 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.

...The city of Los Angeles has renamed an intersection after an outspoken opponent of homosexual marriage, but refused to pay for the weekend ceremony. Last May, the City Council unanimously approved a motion to rename the intersection after Frederick Price, a televangelist who presides at the ten-thousand-seat Faithdome in South Los Angeles. The council had been expected to sign off on waiving the city's thousand-dollar cost for the dedication ceremony. But councilman Bill Rosendahl, who is homosexual, withdrew his supoort for the fee waiver after he learned of Price's views. Price has been quoted as saying he has "nothing against homosexual individuals" but that the Bible led him to believe "homosexuality is an abomination." Councilman Bernard Parks defended the decision to honor Price, saying that he has been a minister for 50 years and has built a congregation with 15-thousand members. [AP]

...The city of San Francisco is refusing a gift from the U.S. Navy because it does not like the military's policy against open homosexuality. The city's stance has some veterans steaming. The Navy was set to send the historic World War II battleship U.S.S. Iowa to the City by the Bay, where it was to be converted into a museum and tourist attraction. But by a vote of eight to three, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors told the Navy "anchors away" -- far, far way -- until and unless the Navy changes its policy. One U.S. Iowa veterans upset about the city's vote commented, "I don't know what that has to do with the Iowa. It was us that got the ship moved to the West Coast, and now these idiots called politicians are making a statement like this. It's terrible." The nearby port of Stockton says it will welcome the battleship and the revenue it generates. [FNIF]

...One of the nation's most recognized pro-family leaders is accusing Democrats of not living by the same rules they demand of Republicans. Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson told a press conference that Democrats play by a different set of rules, especially when it comes to judicial nominations. When conservative Byron White retired from the Supreme Court, Dobson recalls, Republicans gave President Bill Clinton the kind of judge he wanted. "Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an ACLU lawyer and a leftist activist, was confirmed by a vote of 96 to 3," the pro-family spokesman says, "and I don't remember any comment being made during her confirmation hearing about litmus tests or about the ideological balance on the court." Yet Dobson says those topics are all that are being heard from the Democrats and the national media. He insists this is not how the United States Constitution dictates the judicial nomination process to be carried out. [Bill Fancher]

...A midwestern U.S.-based immigration reform activist says several governors are using cost as an excuse to oppose a new federal statute designed to prevent illegal aliens from obtaining valid driver licenses. But Susan Tully of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (F.A.I.R.) believes those governors are catering to the illegal alien lobby. In Des Moines, Iowa, at the recently concluded National Governors Association annual meeting, Iowa Democrat Tom Vilsack and Arkansas Republican Mike Huckabee expressed their concerns about the cost of implementing the Real I.D. Act passed by Congress last month. That legislation mandates that states require proof of citizenship or legal residence to anyone applying for a driver license. However, according to Susan Tully, cost is not the real motive for their complaints. "Most of those particular governors are part of the pro-illegal alien lobby," she says. But when illegal aliens are "not supposed to be here at all," the activist wonders, "why would you be worried about making sure that they have a driver's license to legally drive? It's just nonsense. This is not the kind of stuff you should see logically thinking lawmakers propose. The F.A.I.R. spokeswoman says governors should be concerned with enforcing federal immigration laws. Moreover, Tully contends, governors should recognize that their states will be safer and less money will need to be spent on homeland security in the future because of the Real I.D. Act. [Chad Groening]

...An activist dedicated to exposing the threat posed by communist China says he is confident the stockholders of a U.S. oil firm will reject the bid by a Chinese government front group to purchase the company. B.J. McGuire, president and co-founder of China E-Lobby, feels the U.S. government should already have stepped in and stopped an attempt by a Communist Chinese state-run company to purchase the American oil company Unocal. McGuire says the U.S. cannot afford to allow China to run any part of America's energy sector. "They've already gotten into the rare earth metals part of the American market and have practically pulled it out of the United States," he points out, "and if they start moving into the energy sector, we could be basically in a situation where the United States is dependent upon its leading hostile enemy for its fuel. That's not a situation any country should allow itself to get into." But McGuire is confident Unocal stockholders will do the right thing, and approve a merger with Chevron instead. The stockholders are scheduled to vote on the merger August 10. [Chad Groening]

...Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have taken steps to ensure that Americans will not be faced with international taxes. An amendment was added to the State Department Re-Authorization Bill to protect U.S. citizens from the prospect of such outside taxation. The amendment says, as GOP House Whip Roy Blount of Missouri explains, "No federal money, no federal employee, no one representing the United States of America could do anything to advance in any way, the ideal of international taxation from the U.N. or any other international organization." There has been a recent renewal of efforts to levy international taxes to help solve the spending problems of the United Nations and other global groups. But Blount says the way to solve these spending problems is through reform, not international taxation. [Bill Fancher]

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