OUR COLUMNISTS The Harry Potter Vacation Bible School Commentary by Matt Friedeman Mainline denominations have struggled for years in the area of church growth. But forgive this columnist if he tackles a mainline church that actually appears to be growing. Or, at least, its vacation Bible school is growing -- Hogwarts and all. One-Stop Shopping Commentary by Jane Jimenez Comprehensive sex education ... it's being sold all over America. The best thing about comprehensive sex education, we parents are told, is that it teaches our children everything. That's right ... everything. The T.O. Show Commentary by Brad Locke When does someone stop being worth the trouble? When do an athlete's shenanigans start costing a team more than a fat contract? When do you deliver an ultimatum? 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? A Rebuttal, Promises, and Challenge to the Raleigh News & Observer Commentary by Mark Creech Columnist Mark Creech responds to charges from a North Carolina newspaper that he misinformed readers and thereby created "negative perceptions of traditional media."

...A pro-Israel activist says if it's okay to force Jewish settlers to abandon their homes in Israel, it should be okay to relocate Palestinians to "friendly" Arab lands where they can establish their own homeland. In fact, a study published recently reveals a good place for them to settle. Esther Levens is founder and CEO of the Unity Coalition for Israel. Levens says she is not happy with what is going on in the Holy Land, as Jewish settlers have been forced to give up their homes to the Palestinians, who have pledged to remove everything Jewish from the area. But Levens says there is a more suitable place for the Palestinians to settle. She notes a report by the Ariel Center for Policy Research, a think tank in Israel. "They have published a very wonderful treatise on resettling the Palestinians in just four percent of the land area of Saudi Arabia -- and it would be near Mecca and Medina," she points out. "They're saying it's time the Saudi Arabians, who have fomented terrorism, really took responsibility and tried to do something to help their fellow Arabs." And Levens asserts that the Palestinians do not really have a legitimate claim to Israel's covenant land. "If it's okay to remove Jews from Gaza, then it's certainly okay to remove Palestinians because there never was a country called Palestine," she says, noting the expanse of land available in Saudi Arabia. That country alone, she says, has 500 times the land mass of Israel, to say nothing about the 21 other Arab countries that can welcome the Palestinians. [Chad Groening]

...ABC Radio's Washington, DC, affiliate has fired talk show host Michael Graham after he refused to apologize for on-air remarks describing Islam as "a terrorist organization." Graham had been suspended without pay from his daily three-hour show on WMAL since he made the comments July 25. The comments drew complains from the Council on American-Islam Relations of Washington. However, the station says it did not lose any advertisers amid the controversy. Officials with the station say they asked him to read a station-approved statement calling his statements "too broad." Graham told The Washington Post that he and the station had reached an agreement on terms of his return last week, but the station revoked it because it did not contain an apology. He tells the newspaper he, quote: "will not apologize for something that is true." [AP]

...A former Defense Department undersecretary is taking exception to Republican Senator Chuck Hagel's comment last weekend on ABC comparing the war in Iraq to Vietnam. Jed Babbin, who served in the "Bush 41" administration, says the Nebraska senator's comparison was "way off" -- except for one troubling area. "If we learned anything from Vietnam it's that we cannot establish a schedule for withdrawal and start defunding this war," Babbin says. "This would be a recipe for defeat -- and that's what everyone from Chuck Hagel to Russ Feingold to Vladimir Putin to Cindy Sheehan wants to have happen." Babbin says while the U.S. is not losing the war in Iraq, it is not winning it either. He says he does not expect that to occur until American troops tackle the supply lines in Iran and Syria. [Bill Fancher]

...An author and expert on Islam hopes his new book will debunk several misconceptions about the Crusades, which Muslim terrorists still use as a basis for their jihad against the West today. Robert Spencer's latest book is called The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades. The director of Jihad Watch says the Crusades were not acts of aggression by Europe against the Islamic world, but a delayed response to centuries of Muslim aggression. But Spencer says it is unfortunate that a group of early Crusaders attacked and killed some innocent Jews in eastern Europe while heading to the Middle East. "It's absolutely true that it happened," the author says. "It's also true, however, that there was nothing mentioned about the Jews in the Pope's calling of any Crusades. They were not directed toward Jews, and this was an abuse of what the Crusades were supposed to be." And Spencer refutes the arguments that the Islamic world was so highly advanced at the time of the Crusades. He recalls that an Islamic historian wrote what a "terrible thing it was that Muslims themselves preferred to live in the Crusader lands rather than in lands ruled by Muslims because the lands ruled by the Crusaders were so much quieter, so much more peaceful, and so much higher in their standard of living." Spencer says Americans can be thankful the Crusaders stopped Muslims from overrunning Europe and vastly altering the course of human history. [Chad Groening]

...A new poll suggests that the more often Americans go to church, the more supportive they are of U.S. foreign policy, including the war in Iraq. The poll by Public Agenda finds that people who frequently attend worship services are far more likely to support the war on terror and believe that the U.S. is achieving its objectives in Iraq. Americans who never attend worship services are much more likely to believe that the war is damaging international relations and is costing too much in money and casualties. Public Agenda's Michael Remaley says the poll reflects evangelical Christians' greater tendency to view the world in terms of good and evil, and their support for President Bush. The survey results are published in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs. [AP]

...While single-parent households have now become the most common type of American household, cohabiting continues to rise and to pressure the two-parent household for second place. Dr. Janice Crouse of the Beverly LaHaye Institute is concerned that American culture has promoted "careerism" above all things -- and now, she says, the country is reaping the consequences. "We have said to our young women for years, 'You want a career. You've got to focus on your career.' [And] we've said that to men as well: 'You don't want to get married until you're settled in your career; until you've established yourself and gotten enough money to buy a house and buy a good car and those kinds of things.'" The result? "We have downgraded marriage in the minds of young people," Crouse says. The Institute spokeswoman says that is one of the factors that has led to cohabiting and that has helped to create the single-parent household, of which there are now 27 million on the U.S. alone. [Bill Fancher]

...The attorney general of Kansas filed a lawsuit last week against Governor Kathleen Sebelius, arguing that use of state money to finance abortions violates the state constitution. Medicaid currently pays for abortions resulting from rape, incest, or when the pregnancy poses a threat to the mother's life. Kansas' constitution, however, protects individuals' "inalienable natural rights," among which are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In his lawsuit, AG Phill Kline says using Medicaid to pay for abortions is contrary to those protections, and he also requests that the court agree that life begins at conception. A spokesperson for the Kansas attorney general says Kline is simply doing what the state legislature instructed him to do in 2002 when the State House voted to ask the courts to determine the legality of state funding for abortions. Kline's lawsuit has the backing of pro-life state representative Lance Kinzer and the group Kansas Right to Life. [Jody Brown]

...An animated video endorsing violence against pro-life demonstrators has been removed from a Planned Parenthood website, but a critic says the organization refuses to condemn the content of the video. Jim Sedlak of the pro-life group STOPP International challenged Planned Parenthood to condemn the spot, which depicted a pro-abortion "hero" shooting demonstrators. After two weeks, says Sedlak, there has been no response from Planned Parenthood. "This is disturbing to us because we believe it shows that Planned Parenthood in fact endorses this animated short, which promotes violence against pro-lifers," Sedlak says. "We see this as a major turn in the public perception of Planned Parenthood." The animated short was posted on the Planned Parenthood-Golden Gate website, but was removed a few days after a conservative news agency broke the story. [Bill Fancher]

...An official with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps believes the Republican Party has completely dropped the ball when it comes to the issue of border security -- and he thinks Democrats may be picking up that ball. Bob Wright is the New Mexico director for the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. He is pleased that Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, made the bold move to declare a state of emergency in four border counties in the state. Richardson's move was followed by a similar declaration by another Democratic governor, Janet Napolitano of Arizona. Wright believes the border is going to be the major election issue in both 2006 and 2008. "The Republicans, in my opinion, have just dropped the ball here [and] that ball's been laying on the field for some time," Wright states. "Governor Richardson was wise enough to pick it up and run with it. [T]his is going to be the number-one issue in those two elections." And Wright says Republican congressmen are hearing a lot about this issue during the recess. "You know, the Republican congressmen were supposed to come out on their recess and sell the Social Security plan," he points out. "They have been unable to do so because the people don't want to talk about anything but this border security issue." Wright says traditionally the border problem should be a Republican issue because it involves national security and strong support for law enforcement. [Chad Groening]

...The coordinator of a coalition of activists helping to fight eminent domain across the country says the Supreme Court's refusal to rehear a recent landmark case won't change his organization's strategy. Steven Anderson is with Castle Coalition, an organization that joined with the Institute for Justice to file a rehearing petition for Connecticut landowners on the June 23 ruling in the Kelo v. New London case. On Monday, the justices turned the case back without comment. Anderson says fighting eminent domain for profit will continue with the Coalition's recently launched $3 million campaign called "Hands Off My Home." He says given that the court agreed not to rehear the case, "it's not a huge surprise because they don't typically do that." But the denial, he adds, does make it "crystal clear" that the Supreme Court is not going to protect home and small business owners. "It's now up to state legislators and state courts to do that -- to protect them from eminent domain abuse," Anderson says. "That was part of our campaign all along, to take the battle to the states -- and that's what we're going to continue to do." That includes monitoring the progress of state-level eminent domain battles nationwide, and suggesting how to craft model legislation when needed. Anderson says Alabama has enacted a new law limiting eminent domain use, and there are approximately 30 states in all that are working on some form of the same kind of law. [Ed Thomas]

...More Christian leaders in the nation's capital are feeling uneasy regarding some of the memos that have surfaced from the background of Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts. The latest memo to surface shows Judge Roberts cautioned the Reagan administration to quit calling America the "greatest nation God ever created" because, according to Roberts, God did not create nations. In another memo from that period, Roberts warned to stay away from the "religious right" and said Christian leader Paul Weyrich was "not a friend of ours." American Values' Gary Bauer is troubled by that. "I'm a close personal friend of Paul Weyrich's, and I found this memo by Judge Roberts to be disturbing, too," Bauer says. "But interestingly, in my conversations with Mr. Weyrich, [I found that] he doesn't take it personally." Bauer says he hopes the memo was just "the meanderings of a young staffer." [Bill Fancher]

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