Religion Today Summaries – February 19, 2004
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world. In today's edition:
- Ambush Kills U.S. Pastor Starting a Church in Iraq
- Improving Trends in Moral Content from Hollywood
- Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion’ Already Big at Box Office
- Democratic Contender Chastised for ‘Moral Incoherence’
Ambush Kills U.S. Pastor Starting a Church in Iraq
Charisma News Service
A Rhode Island pastor who was helping Iraqi Christians start a church was killed in a Valentine's Day ambush near Baghdad. John Kelley, 48, pastor of Curtis Corner Baptist Church in rural Wakefield, was killed last Saturday when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle near the town of Mahmudiyah, about 15 miles south of Baghdad, the Associated Press reported. Three other pastors -- Kirk DiVietro, of Grace Baptist Church in Franklin, Mass.; David Davis, of Grace Bible Baptist Church in Vernon, Conn.; and Garland Carey, of Valley Bible Baptist Church in Newburgh, N.Y. -- were slightly injured in the attack. Kelley sat behind the Iraqi driver, who was unharmed. The U.S. military in Baghdad confirmed Monday that gunmen killed an American Baptist minister and wounded three other pastors, but did not identify them. "Pastor Kelley was willing to give his life so that people would hear the message that Jesus had. He was just that kind of man," said Roland Vukic, a church member and a close friend of Kelleys, "The Woonsocket (R.I.) Call" reported. Kelley, a former Marine and pastor of Curtis Corner Baptist Church for 19 years, is survived by his wife, Jane, and their four children. (http://www.charismanews.com/)
Improving Trends in Moral Content from Hollywood
Agape Press
Since telling the entertainment industry his group would be monitoring the moral and spiritual content of movies and television programs, Dr. Ted Baehr reports notable increases in the number of movies with positive moral content. Baehr founded the Christian Film & Television Commission in 1978 with the objectives of redeeming the values of the entertainment industry according to biblical principles, and influencing top executives and creative artists to adopt higher moral and spiritual values in their productions. Acccording to Baehr, only 68 films in 1991 had "positive moral" content -- but by 2002, that number had increase to more than 200. In the same vein, he says the number of movies with "spiritually uplifting, redemptive, and/or Christian content" jumped from 27 to 135 in the same time period -- an increase of 400 percent. Next month, the Christian Film & Television Commission will present its 12th annual Faith & Values MOVIEGUIDE Awards, honoring those in the entertainment industry who the group feels have best extolled moral/biblical values and Christian principles in the pursuit of entertainment. The awards gala will take place on March 24 and is scheduled to be telecast by PAX-TV.
Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion’ Already Big at Box Office
Charisma News Service
Mel Gibson, the producer and director of "The Passion of the Christ" -- a graphic depiction of the final 12 hours of Jesus' life -- defended the film this week during an hour-long interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC's "Primetime Live". Gibson told Sawyer that he simply tried his best to interpret the Gospels. "Critics who have a problem with me don't really have a problem with me in this film," he said. "They have a problem with the four Gospels." The R-rated film, which took $25 million of Gibson's own money to produce, "is already big box office," "The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times" observed. Churches nationwide have already bought thousands of advance tickets and rented theater auditoriums for private screenings of the highly anticipated movie. Church groups started calling theaters last month, seeking to reserve tickets and work out rental contracts. The movie is scheduled to play on 2,000 screens. "We have not seen this level of activity for any movie, ever," said Dick Westerling, senior vice president of marketing for Regal Entertainment Group, which owns Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theatres and Edwards Theatres, the "Times" reported.
Democratic Contender Chastised for ‘Moral Incoherence’
Agape Press
A pro-life activist says the leading Democratic presidential candidate has no intention of "doing the right thing" when it comes to protecting innocent, unborn children. Senator John Kerry professes to be a Roman Catholic, yet he is on record as a staunch supporter of abortion on demand. Kerry has been quoted as saying he is "privately pro-life" but "publicly pro-choice." Joe Starrs of American Life League says first of all, being pro-abortion is not the same as being pro-choice. And he says Kerry's flip-flopping is not going to wash. "That statement is morally incoherent," Starrs says. "There is no such thing as public and private beliefs when it comes to something like the sanctity of human life. People would laugh at a politician who said, 'I'm personally opposed to segregation, but my constituents want it so I have to support it.' Or 'I'm personally opposed to pornography, but my constituents want it.' That argument really doesn't fly."
Originally published February 19, 2004.
