OUR COLUMNISTS (Click on photos for archives) Reasons You Shouldn't Vote (and Perhaps a Couple Reasons You Should) Commentary by Matt Friedeman First, if you don't know what is at stake, don't know the issues, the candidates, the framework of the local, state and national debate and ... don't want to know -- please, don't vote. Fighting for That City on a Hill Commentary by Joe Murray Does a Christian's responsibility in creating a government that reflects natural and biblical law stop at prayer? Is it enough for a Christian to pray for a Godly government and then go about their business? Not a chance. Poisoning Childhood Commentary by Jane Jimenez It's the lead in an Internet article from England about "the escalating incidence of childhood depression and chldren's behavioural and developmental conditions." We are ... poisoning childhood. Losers Commentary by Brad Locke People still have this notion that being good enough -- earning enough points, if you will -- will satisfy God. It may ease a person's conscience, but that's it. Real Hope for Stem-Cell Research Commentary by Mark Creech It seems that the direction of stem-cell research has turned a corner. Recent research indicates a growing interest in a more ethical approach -- perhaps even discomfort with destroying human embryos for stem cells.

...Best-selling author and political commentator David Limbaugh says he has little doubt that the Democrats will try to impeach President George W. Bush if they gain control of Congress in November. In fact, he contends, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and other Democrats have already threatened to do so, even though "there's no basis upon which to bring impeachment charges." Regarding Mr. Bush's "supposed extra-constitutional wielding of power" through the NSA spying program, Limbaugh asserts, "everyone in the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] court and other experts have conceded that [the president] has inherent constitutional authority." The issue may be debatable, Limbaugh says, "but there is no even colorable impeachment offense that they can bring charges on." Still, the conservative pundit adds, "there's no question" that some Democrats would try to do it. [Chad Groening]

...Ohio's Republican gubernatorial candidate is accusing his Democratic opponent of touting himself as a former Methodist minister while having an anti-Christian voting record in Congress. Ted Strickland's senatorial campaign website quotes scripture and is replete with references to his service as a minister. Indeed, Strickland's resume includes a master of divinity degree from Asbury Methodist Theological Seminary in Kentucky; however, Republican Ken Blackwell questions Strickland's faith commitment. "When asked directly by the Dayton Daily News what church he attended, he said, 'I don't attend a local church,'" Blackwell says. "And they asked him how frequently do you attend church, and he said rarely or occasionally." But according to Blackwell, this is an example of consistent behavior with Congressman Strickland. "He has tried to position himself as one thing in the state of Ohio, but his voting record shows him to be the left-wing extremist that I think he really is," the Republican candidate observes. Also, he points out, Strickland has been a leading advocate for removing displays of the Ten Commandments from public buildings and has voted against public prayer in schools. Such positions, Blackwell contends, are hardly what one would expect from someone who served as a Christian minister. [Chad Groening]

...Liberal evangelicals, weary of a Republican-centric image, have launched a campaign to promote Christian values beyond the issues of abortion and homosexual marriage. Red Letter Christians, a project of Sojourners/Call to Renewal, has announced plans to establish a network of 7,000 moderate and progressive clergy members. The project's name comes from the color of some Bible's type, with words directly attributed to Jesus appearing in red. Sojourners' executive director, Rev. Jim Wallis, says the war in Iraq, poverty, education, and the environment "are moral issues, too." The Red Letter Christians campaign plans to brief pastors and publish voter guides for their congregations. [AP]

...The founder of a Washington, DC-based Christian ministry says evangelicals should bombard the ABC network with protests over comments made by talk-show co-host Rosie O'Donnell. Last week, the outspoken lesbian co-host of ABC's The View commented that radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country such as the United States. Religious leader and activist Rob Schenck, founder of the group Faith and Action, says O'Donnell's remarks were recklessly irresponsible and dangerous, and may have actually put Christians at risk -- particularly those living in the Middle East. "The first thing Christians ought to do is always call these media people to account," he asserts. "Making a call, sending an e-mail, even just letting it be known -- whether writing a letter to the editor ... or calling a local talk-show and just saying, 'I have turned her off' and sending a letter to the network saying the same -- that sends a very powerful signal." Schenck feels O'Donnell and others in the entertainment industry are promoting religious intolerance, and it will take a strong public outcry to rein them in. "Sadly, media enterprises are largely driven by a craven bottom line," the Faith and Action spokesman says. "They're looking for profits and if our actions threaten their profits, it awakens them." [Allie Martin]

...Homosexual activists are making some demands of Israel's highest court in efforts to promote their deadly lifestyle in the Holy City. At a recent summer festival in Jerusalem, homosexuals were denied the right to have a parade in the streets, but they have been besieging the government ever since with their demands. Jewish Orthodox Rabbi Yehuda Levin says the homosexual activists "want to make Jerusalem the 'gay tourism capital of the world'" and have now gone before the Israeli Supreme Court, "demanding that they have the right to hold a march in the Holy City of Jerusalem on the very eve, on the very advent of the high holy days." If granted permission to hold their parade, the event could take place as early as next week. The homosexual activists were denied the opportunity to stage their parade during their recent summer festival in Jerusalem, after Chief of Police Elan Franco received some 500 communications and telephone calls from American Christians, urging that the "gay pride" event be prohibited. Levin says Franco was "really surprised" by the inundation of Christian protests. The Orthodox rabbi is asking U.S. Christians to spend a dollar and about one minute to call Franco and ask him to deny permission for the homosexual parade once again. [Bill Fancher]

...Weekend firebombings of churches in the West Bank and Gaza have left Palestinian Christians confused, frightened, and increasingly struggling with their identity. The church attacks were part of the uproar in the Muslim world over Pope Benedict's comments last week about Islam, which many Muslims saw as an insult to their religion. Some Palestinian Christians distanced themselves from the Pope, saying he caused them needless trouble, while others accused their Muslim neighbors of intolerance or concocted conspiracy theories, saying Israel must somehow be involved. The tension highlighted Palestinian Christians precarious status as a dwindling minority in an overwhelmingly Muslim society. [AP]

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