It never fails to amaze me how parents surrender their children to schools for education, but are too quick to prevent schools to prepare and train their offspring for real life. Last month, a Texas teacher was reprimanded — and appears she wont be getting her contract renewed — because she took her fifth grade class to the Dallas Museum of Art and, of all things, they saw nude art.Oh, how awful! Eleven-year-olds actually seeing artistic representations of the human form. The parent signs a consent form to let a child go to an art museum in a major American city and is oblivious to the possibility that the naked human form might be depicted in art?

The Dallas Morning News reported that when 28-year veteran teacher Sydney McGee took her students to the major museum, the students were exposed to nude statues and other nude art representations. Before the trip in April, she had visited the museum and spoke with museum staff “to ensure that it was appropriate for the fifth-grade class. As is the routine for field trips, parents sign consent forms.

As typically happens, some overprotective parent complained shortly after the field trip.” Just one parent. So the next day, the principal in Fisher Elementary School District called McGee into a meeting to admonish her about the parents complaint. Shortly, thereafter, she received a negative review and a series of directives about displaying artwork and creating lesson plans, the Morning News reported. McGee then asked to be transferred to another school, but it was denied by the school board, which met on Aug. 21. The story gets murky over performance reviews and whether administrators were using the art trip incident, or not, in taking action against McGee. She is on administrative leave with pay and theres a recommendation to not renew her contract.

Obviously, students across the world go on field trips to museum of all sorts all the time — be it to see natural history exhibits with ancient peoples in much less state of dress or to art museums where the famous and not-so-famous have plied their skills to portray humans, cherubs, angels and being without clothing because it is a natural, unpretentious and grand form. Philistines would perhaps say art museums possess insidious pieces of work that corrupt minds. But art museum arent porn shops.

Five years ago when we spent the day in some of the Vaticans seemingly endless museums of art — including the Sistine Chapel — it occurred to me that the Roman Catholic Church got it right to gather and preserve the finest available art work of human history. So much of it portrays humans sans clothes. What better endorsement of the human form, displayed through art, than the Catholic Church despite its other famous conservative approaches to things.

Every so often, we hear about conservative organizations opting to hold conferences or meetings in locations with permanent art fixtures, including a nude statue or two. There have been groups that literally put clothing on the statues to protect the eyes of their members. And we know how, in puritanical periods, so many paintings with unadorned figures were painted over with clothing later by other artists. Or how former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered a curtain be put up in in the Great Hall of the U.S. Department of Justice in 2002, at a cost of $8,000, so photographers could no longer get him in the same photo with the two art deco aluminum statues, with exposed breasts. Since then the drape has come down. It gets bizarre.

Lets teach our children they have beautiful bodies, and God made them magnificently. What could be healthier?

Sixty years ago, I was given a name that, so far, I have never known another person to have — Lawn. For years, I resented it because it was so peculiar. Kids were cruel, calling me Lawn Boy, Lawn Mower, Grass Griffiths, etc. But as the newspaper bylines started coming more than 40 years ago, I reconciled to it. People said the name had distinction and character.My dad took a distant relative’s name of “Lon and meshed it with my mother’s maiden name of Bawn. He thought he was original, and he apparently was. In the tourist souvenir shops, I have never found a key chain, ballpoint pen or trinket with my name. And many confuse it with a last name of “Loren” or “Lawrence.

Comes a book, Classical Biblical Baby Names: Timeless Names for Modern Parents by Judith Tropea (Bantam Books, $12). It is billed as the essential guide to choosing a name that is rich in meaning and tradition.” She says the perfect name is one of the first and most important gifts that parents can give their children. She says its also one of their most challenging decisions. Some parents insist on names out of history or out of scriptures.

Tropea says the Bible has 3,300 names. For the book, she selected 500 with the consideration that they should appeal to contemporary tastes. Not chosen were names like Judas and Jezebel, names really loaded with evil contexts. A name like Jehosphaphat, she says, is too impractical. Some of us know large families where every offspring was given a solid Bible name.

Tropea invites parents to survey the names that can be both classic and unique. In our multicultural society, unusual names are no longer the exception, and the Bible is a rich resource waiting to be mined, she said. So from “Aaron” to Zorah, she has provided ample background of names, including their pronunciation, language and cultural origin, spiritual connotation, related names, alternate names and famous people who had the name or something close to it. It is divided into sections of boys’ and girls’ names.

Take Edom, which means red, with the spiritual connotation of spirited. It is also a name sometimes given to the Bibles Esau who came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle. Or Seth, meaning appointed and a connotation of placed by God. Seth is said to be Adam and Eves third son. He came after Abel was slain. Eve says in Genesis 4:25, God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him. Seths significance is that he lived 912 years, was an ancestor of Noah and connected the two biblical fathers of mankind (1 Chronicles 1:1).

And so it goes. Jesus is included. Its meaning is “savior” and its spiritual connotation is “son of God. Related nicknames include Isa, Issa, Johooshua, Jeshua, Jesusa, Josh, Joshawa, Josu, Josue, Jozsua and Jozua. Of course, the background of the name reads like a concise paraphrasing of the Gospels.

Country-western singer and actress Reba McEntire can learn that her name means stoops down and is a shortened version of Rebekah. Miriam means rebellious. Exodus tells that Miriam was Moses’ and Aarons sister, who, from a distance, watched over the infant Moses, until he was discovered in bulrushes by Pharaohs daughter. She later joined Moses and Aaron as they crossed the Red Sea.

What stands out in the book by the New Jersey children’s author is the rhythm of the names, their sweet sounds — even if they don’t conjure what one wound want to call their kids. But say these names aloud: Talmai, Kezia, Athalia, Nicodemus, Jamin, Azariah and Uriah. The vowels come as calls, even echoing through time with a richness.

It was nearly 10 p.m. Thursday while I was deep into writing the weekly Tempe Kiwanis Club newsletter at home when Keith Olbermann on Countdown on MSNBC uttered, Stout, Iowa. What! Olbermann had immediately grabbed my attention. I grew up on a farm just a mile west and a mile north of Stout, a tiny, tiny rural hamlet. Stout has been an obscure spot on a blacktop road that much of the world has passed by, especially once they ripped out the railroad tracks 30 years ago.

The MSNBC news story, moreover, involved the daily newspaper where I worked for nearly 12 years, and if I were still there doing the same duties, I could have been the fool who let the whole thing happen — who let the fake obituary get into the newspaper. For most of those years with the Waterloo Courier, I routinely took obituary information over the telephone or from a fax from communities like Stout — those communities outside of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area. Funeral home staff primarily called them in. Occasionally, I wrote feature articles from Stout. Stout is the first place I ever voted in an election, where we went for quick groceries, to see fireworks or to fix a tire. But there wasn’t much in Stout. The 2000 census showed it having 216 residents in 78 houses. The Stout Reformed Church there marked its 100th anniversary this year.

But the fact that the story was about Stout, about the newspaper where I once worked and about a phony obituary from my old territory of work made me jump. Seems one James Snyder, 36, of Stout was given a one-year jail time after pleading guilty to a charge of tampering with records. All but seven days of his term were suspended. Seems Snyder and his girlfriend colluded so that Snyder could get funeral leave from work. Last Dec. 30, an obituary was produced that said Dan Reddout, a 17-year-old Waterloo boy, had died from complications of surgery Dec. 24 in Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Reddout is the son of Snyders girlfriend, Mary Jo Jensen. Snyder dropped off the printed notice at the newspapers office, and the paper ran it the next day. Burial was said to be a graveside service in Osage, Iowa.

Things unravelled, however, when several people saw Dan Reddout out and about — and fully alive. A woman who had once worked with Reddout in a restaurant notified police and the Courier on Jan. 3. Mayo Clinic was contacted, and it confirmed there had been no Reddout dying in surgery. Later, Jensen said her son had, in fact, been in a hospital, but she said the whole thing was a matter of miscommunications. Yet, interestingly, both Snyder and Jensen took funeral leaves from Tyson Food plant where they both worked, according to press reports. The obituary had asked people to direct memorial funds “to the family,” and the newspaper had to check out whether anyone had actually made such donations. If they had, it would have resulted in an added charge of fraud. Jensen pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact, was given a suspended sentence and was fined $50 in Black Hawk District Court (yes, I used to be a court reporter who covered that court).

In the end, the Courier adopted a policy that if family members opt to directly submit obituaries, bypassing a mortuary, they must first provide official documentation or identify the funeral home for verification. Besides the quirky story making MSNBC, it was posted on the ABCs web site and a host of weird-story Internet sites.

By the way, Olbermann, who daily picks the “Worse,” Worser and Worst persons in the world, gave the “Worser award Thursday to Snyder for his hoax.

Theres just something special about news “from home, about those people who put the place on the map. You just think theres nothing folks back there could do to make national news. I was wrong.

Introduce a new hymnal in a denomination and you may have to stand back to avoid getting attacked, as folks discover which favorite old hymns were eliminated in favor of “obscure” new music. The Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod churches are getting their first new hymnal in a long time, and only the fifth version since the 2.5 million-member denomination was formed in 1847.In its materials introducing the change, there is no indication about what choices had to be made for removal. If it is a typical denomination, there will be fallout from what was taken out to make room for more contemporary hymns. Across Christendom, there is the drive to modernize texts of hymns, especially to diminish the sexism and often militancy of “Old Time Religion hymns.

On Sunday in St. Louis, they roll out The Lutheran Service Book for a grand hymn festival to showcase the hymnal that will shape worship for decades to come. A 120-voice choir and 26-piece orchestra will perform selected hymns in the book that has been in development since 1988. The book is described as a rich compilation of completely updated services, psalms, hymns and prayers that will serve worshipers for generations to come.

Next to the Bible and (Martin) Luthers Small Catechism, nothing has done more through all generations to shape the faith of Lutheran Christians than the hymnal, says the Rev. Dr. Paul Grime, executive director of the LCMS Commission on Worship and the books project director. Hundreds of hymn texts present the truths of Scripture in meaningful, artistic poetry and represent the theology of countless saints throughout the centuries. The church today learns from the song, both past and present. The hymnal is said to have more than 100 new hymns — some from other countries and some in original Spanish and German languages.

It is described as a hymnal for every generation. Here are titles of new songs: Lord, Support Us All Day Long; Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings; Lord Jesus Christ, the Childrens Friend; Heavenly Hosts in Ceaseless Worship; O Christ, Who Shared Our Mortal Life; and Lift Up Your Heads, You Everlasting Doors. Perhaps some of these will catch fire in peoples souls and become hymn standards like How Great Thou Art or Lamb of God.

Hymn texts dating from the third and fourth centuries can be found next to texts and tunes written as recently as three years ago, it notes. The new hymnal, like those of many faiths, especially mainline denominations, contains worship service resources and lectionaries for use in all occasions in the church.

Jason Shelton, writing about Unitarians and Universalists adoption of hymnbooks in the 1950s, noted, A hymnbook represents the theological and ecclesial self-understanding of a religious movement at a particular moment in history … They serve as proselytization tools for visitors to our churches by making statements about our common values and beliefs through the theological content of our hymn texts and the variety of musical traditions whence we draw our tunes. He said when a denomination is changing hymnals more often than others, it suggests greater evolving because members find the current one doesnt quite capture the essence of who and what we are anymore.

May Missouri Synod Lutherans find enormous joy and insight as they weekly flip the pages and sing gloriously from the words before them.

Doesnt it just seem like religion is seeping into every layer of daily life, too easily mucking up the world and tainting the common welfare? What with sectarian violence across the globe, we have been through a week of ferocious Catholic-Islam dialogue over the popes speech, and religion-related stuff constantly arises in this falls they-cant-get- them-over-quick-enough political campaigns.Pity Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia, as he fights off his challenger, Jim Webb, the Democrat seeking his Senate seat. They were debating Monday in Tysons Corner, Va., when one of the panelists, a TV reporter named Peggy Fox, hit him with a question, It has been reported your grandfather Felix, whom you were given you middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews, and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended? According to the story by Dana Milbank in the Washington Post, Allen was understandably taken aback.

Allen recoiled as if he had been struck, Milbank reported. And the senators supporters in the audience hissed, booed and made the WUSA-TV reporter know her remarks were not welcomed. Predictably, Allen asked her how probing into his mothers religion had any relevance to bona fide campaign issues. Furiously, he asked, Why is that relevant — my religion, Jims religion or the religious beliefs of anyone out there?

A normal and legitimate response. So Fox essentially used the reporters ploy that it was a question out there in the public needing to be asked. Milbank said Fox herself seemed a bit frightened by Allens fury. She offered a reason. Honesty, thats all, Fox emitted. Allen didnt let up, Oh, thats all? Thats just all. He then insisted she ask questions that really mattered to help the people of Virginia and not make aspersions. By then, the high-profile moderator, George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, ex-communications director for President Clinton, suggested they all move on.

Seems the national Jewish newspaper, The Forward, had reported that Allens mother, Etty, came from the august Sephardic Jewish Lumbroso family. Further, If both of Ettys parents were born Jewish — which, given her age and background, is likely — Senator Allen would be considered Jewish in the eyes of traditional rabbinic law, which traces Judaism through the mother.

Milbank then sought to explain why Allen, a Presbyterian, was so testy at any suggestion he had Semitic heritage. First, she suggested the questioning seemed out of place in a senatorial political debate given the raft of heady issues. But Allen turned on the questioner with ferocity, she wrote. … He may have been concerned that Jewish roots wouldnt play well in parts of Virginia. Or, maybe the senator was just in a quarreling mood, she suggested. In much of the debate, he was surly to other questioners, as well.

The Post reporter noted how Allen was still stinging from the fallout of his recently spotting a young Indian American photographer from the opposing campaign and called him macaca, meaning monkey. Its been speculated it was a racial slur that his mom might have learned in Tunisia where she was born. As Allen reacted and defended himself in that controversy, he offered that his grandfather was incarcerated by the Nazis in World War II.

It all has prompted a discussion over: 1) other than the impertinence of the question, did Allen overreact in a way suggesting he wanted to avoid acknowledging Jewish heritage?; and 2) where was Webb for not jumping on the question, too, and saying it was out of bound? Fox later insisted curiosity motivated her question. I thought it was important to find out, is this part of his heritage, because if it is, nobody knows it. Do you deny part of your heritage for political reasons? Fox, saying that she had a great-grandfather who was a Mormon polygamist, insisted Allen should not be upset. Why would he get so angry at the suggestion there might be something in your background thats Jewish? I don think that is a bad thing at all.

Surely, Allen should derive some sympathy for the incident. It has provided another nasty distraction for the campaign. In the final analysis, it should make no difference to voters what a candidates relatives religious heritage is and what candidates might do in roles of leadership.

Rosie ODonnell has triggered a useful and healthy debate with her remarks this week on The View, the morning ABC program featuring a band of women talking freely and often outrageously. ODonnell asserted that radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America.As expected, Christianitys most vociferous defenders on the right came down hard and fast on Rosie. Miss ODonnells comment was recklessly irresponsible and even dangerous, said the Rev. Rob Schenck, founder of Faith and Action, a Christian ministry on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. In his press release, he would have to identify her as the lesbian activist actress. Like what does that have to do with the issue? During their Tuesday morning show, the ladies were reviewing the Sept. 11th fifth anniversary and President Bushs White House remarks tied to it. ODonnell reacted to co-host Elisabeth Hasselbecks statement that militant Islam provides a threat to free people. Just a minute, radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state, Rosie fired back, noting that America was never attacked by a nation in 2001.

And as a result of the attack and the killing of nearly 3,000 innocent people, we invaded two countries and killed innocent people, ODonnell said. It prompted another co-host, Joy Behar, to interject that Christians are not threatening to impose mass murder on Americans. Theres that difference. This group is threatening to kills us, she said.

The fiery Rosie retorted, No, but we are bombing innocent people in other countries. True or false? The audiences applause favored ODonnell, whose outspokenness is her trademark. It only proved that “The View” is more than visuals, that it is sharply differing opinions targeted for ratings and provocation.

Schenck attempted, in his press release, to define radical Christian as someone who is deeply committed to his or her faith, takes it seriously and embraces a concept that blessed are the peacemakers. He denounced Rosie and said she was contributing to the suffering of Christians around the world. He noted, O’Donnells comments are dripping with contempt and hostility for the vast majority of Americans who consider themselves religious.

The American Family Association called on its followers to demand ABC apologize and to reprimand O’Donnell. Had she made similar comments about minorities or homosexuals, there would have been an apology, and she would probably have been fired, said Donald Wildman, AFA founder and president. He said ABCs message from it all is that bashing Christians is acceptable, even comparing them with murderers who kill in the name of Allah.

Well, this American who considers himself a committed Christian is not offended by ODonnell. It surely underscores a growing hopelessly polarized division that has no signs of being bridged. Radical Christianity, as Schenck would like people to believe, is NOT

fervent faith. It has a militancy, religious xenophobia and ultraconservative bent. It is not characterized by Christians who truly embrace the true tenets of the faith. Instead, radical Christians are the modern-day Pharisees who have distorted the words and teachings of Jesus. They are zealots dividing the world into camps. At the heart of their mindset is a cocksure belief their Christianity — only their brand and version of it — offers hope, instruction and salvation for humankind.

Radical Christians relentless demonizing of Islam, their failure to find common ground with it, or accommodation, does not portend good things. They are hellbent on hijacking the Christian faith and inciting Muslims in the process. Those who deliberately use the term Islamic fascism dont merit respect. From my newspaper position of following and writing about the religious scene for 15 years, I see these Christians as out of bounds and incapable of speaking for the majority of Christians. They only seem to want to capitalize on the fear-mongering that is so pervasive and to paint Islam as one monolithic threat to be dealt by launching the new Crusades. The two monotheistic religions with enormous, farflung followings, must co-exist. True Christians should not let radicals co-opt the faith nor gain greater advantage in public policy. Rosie was right: Radical Islam and radical Christianity are both dangerous. Militancy by either is unacceptable.

In a week, many Jewish congregations across this country will leave their comfortable temples and hold High Holidays services in strange quarters — often in Christian sanctuaries, fellowship and social halls and public auditoriums. Their Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur events to launch into the sacred time of the new year will need greater seating to accommodate many Jews who want to connect at this the holiest time of the Jewish year.Some temples in the Valley have moved their services around to various sites over the years in quest of the best arrangements, yet keeping them near enough to the temple itself lest the travel be unacceptable. Tempe Emanuel of Tempe has moved its services as far away at Phoenix Civic Plaza.

Congregations face logistical challenges to find places to accommodate the many unaffiliated Jews who turn out. They have to advertise aggressively to make sure Jews looking for a temple to go to will know where, in fact, to go this year. There are issues about making the setting feel right — and, of course, getting the Torahs and ark, prayer books, boxes of kippahs and other trappings transported to the temporary sites. In some cases, Jewish congregations take steps to cover or remove Christian crosses or objects that dont fit the environment. Sometimes, Jewish congregations make use of both campuses of churches that are side by side. The Judeo-Christian common ground takes on new meaning.

This year, for example, Temple Kol Ami in Scottsdale, is holding its Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, at huge Scottsdale Bible Church. And Tempe Emanuel of Tempe is using the Tempe Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tempe, with supplemental use of University Presbyterian Church across the street. The Hillel Student Union is moving its events to the Arizona State University Student Union for better space. As it has done for many years, the Chabad of the East Valley will hold its services at the Windmill Inn in west Chandler.

In some parts of the country, congregations avoid renting other halls. They will pack chairs into the sanctuaries and move out whatever they can, short of the bema and ark, to accommodate the crowds that swell to three times more they typically see at Shabbat services. It can get quite cozy.

Of course, many churches communities routinely set up shop in temporary sites all the time, especially rented schools. Also common are congregations that rent other church campuses and simply hold their worship and other events whenever their host congregations are no using the spaces. The relationships are win-win: Income accrues to the host church, while the renting congregation typically gets a ready-made facility and its resources — worship space, social hall, classrooms, pianos, acoustics, music rooms, nursery, parking lot and maybe even office space.

One Valley Jewish congregation insists that we must never mention the name of the church where it it regularly holds Shabbat services and other events. They only want the address published.

It is to the credit of diverse religious faiths to willingly hold sacred events in houses of worship that may contrast sharply in belief and doctrine with theirs. And that they choose not to be offended by the messages of stained-glass windows, stations of the cross, tabernacles and various crosses with or without the body of Christ. It underscores the notion that it is not where one worship, but how one does so.

Yesterday, we reported results of a Baylor University survey on how Christians choose to identify themselves as to their depth of faith. Its prompted one of Americas most conservative Christian womens group to lament that people are not so forthright in proclaiming what they are anymore –maybe even shy about their faith positions.Christian Women for America, or CWA, which identifies itself as the nations largest public policy womens organization, calls it an increasing bias against evangelicals that has caused folks to temper their self-labeling. Findings of the Baylor Religious Survey have been presented in a 76-page report, American Piety in the 21st Century: New Insights to the Depth and Complexity of Religion in the U.S.” Fewer believers say their beliefs are evangelical (33 percent). And fewer than half of that group use that label. And only just over 2 percent of evangelicals say that evangelical reflects their religious identity.

Sadly, some biblically orthodox believers are unwilling to proudly affirm their faith, said Janice Shaw Crouse, senior fellow of CWAs Beverly LaHaye Institute. They lack the self-confidence to boldly challenge the negative bias; they dont want to be called evangelical or religious right. Crouse said some believers opt for other labels — born again (28.5 percent) or theologically conservative (17.5 percent). All that combined, Crouse argues, dilutes things. The numbers dont reflect the strength of the true believers. She argues that todays pseudo-sophisticates view biblical orthodoxy with disdain and/or hostility.

It may be an indicator that the pendulum is swinging away from evangelicalism in America, that it is losing its appeal and influence.

Crouse pointed to a Washington Post article about the survey and that people who view God as engaged and punishing as the kind of Christians most likely to have lower incomes and less education, to come from the South and to be white evangelicals or black Protestants. She labeled that as just reinforcing old prejudices and continue the negative stereotypes about true believers.

The study found that 62.9 percent of Americans who are not affiliated with an particular religion has a belief in God or a higher power. Interestingly, a quarter of the people say they had read the best-seller, super-mystery The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. As peoples rate of church attendance declined so did the likelihood they had read it. Blacks believe overwhelmingly in an authoritarian-type God (53.4 percent). By region of the U.S., those of the West Coast tended to believe in a Distant God, while Midwesterners believed in a Benevolent God; Easterners in a Critical God; and Southerners in an Authoritarian God. The survey also found that people with lower education and lower income tend to think more of engaged images of God.

Crouse challenges scholars and those who analyze such findings to dig for the deeper revelations in the years to come to ensure they are rightly interpreted.

My wad of keys includes my U.S. Army dog tags from my two years with my Uncle Sam in 1969 to 1971, virtually all of it spent at Fort Polk, La. Among the tag’s information is my religious preference: Presbyterian. Two years after my discharge, I married a cradle” Presbyterian, and we have fully kept with that stripe of Christianity these 33 years together. Now after serving six three-year terms as a church officer — elder, deacon and trustee — Im staying with it for a lot of reasons. But, gosh, there are a bunch of other faiths out there I could be very comfortable with.I wonder how many of my GI peers from 35 years ago still subscribe to the faith that was on their dog tags, if one was initially listed at all. Were a nation of seekers and faith wanderers. Faith labeling itself is problematic for many. The experts keep saying denominational identity is in decline, and people would rather be labeled Christian at best.

Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post reports that sociologists at Baylor University have released research showing that religious polling of Americans in the past 15 years has been flawed that perhaps 10 million people should not have been put into a no affiliation category. Under examination are those people who checked none or no religion when asked for their affiliations. Since 1990, that group supposedly grew from 7 percent to 14 percent of the population.

Trouble is those people may have checked those boxes when they looked down a list of 40 possible options, but they also were asked about their worship patterns and to list a place they went for worship. And they wrote down real places. Hmmm. So the Baylor profs conclude that the unaffiliated should be more like 10.8 percent, rather than 14 percent. That comes to about 10 million Americans misplaced, writes Boorstein.

People might not have a denomination, but they have a congregation, said Kevin Dougherty, a sociologist with Baylors Institute for the Studies of Religion. He and his colleagues have thus said religious labeling and categorizing of Americans get more difficult. Thats because people are increasingly blending religions, church-shopping and worshiping in independent communities. Dougherty and his researches find that terms like mainline, evangelical, and unaffiliated lose their meaning to those sorts of folks.

Researchers found that 33 American said they can be found worshiping in congregations that call themselves evangelical, meaning they say the Bible should be taken literally and is inerrant and a “personal relationship with Jesus” is key. Yet only 15 percent of the surveyed said that evangelical described themselves.

The Baylor researchers see a need to tighten the questions and attack from other angles: Does your pastor talk about religion? Have you had a born-again experience? If you are Catholic, are you traditional or Catholic?, Boorstein writes.

In the final analysis, Americans seem to be more elusive and careful about their religiosity, so it creates a minefield for todays scholars trying to measure it. It raises such new questions: Is someone religious if he or she goes to church? Religious if there is a bona fide belief in God? Religious if they, in fact, identify with one group?

Oddly the researchers conclude that a “none” for affiliation more often indicates someone who tends to be a liberal voter, but not belonging to a particular political party. It tends to reflect independence and a maverick spirit. Their conclusion: If you dont belong religiously, you dont belong politically.

As a side note, Baylor surveyors asked about peoples perceptions of God. They were given 26 attributes from absolute and wrathful to friendly. A full 31 percent believed God was both wrathful and highly involved in human affairs. Finally, a lot of the surveying lost meaning to groups like Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims whose religious lives and practices don’t fit the 90-minute Sunday morning model.

Any semblance of restraint and discipline to avoid mixing politics and religion in America are gone. With such high stakes in the November mid-term elections, fewer religious groups are willing to hold off weighing in. Each week, I look at the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix and see how bitter things are getting.Start with advertising. In full-age ads on page 3 and 5 in the Sept. 8 issue, the Republican Jewish Coalition takes full aim on former President Jimmy Carter and then heralds President George Bush on page 5. With a Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll of July 6, it shows support for Israel by party runs 84 percent for Republicans and 43 percent for Democrats. It asserts, that recent polling suggests Carter does represent Democrats in their abandonment of Israels right to defend itself. Carters photo is featured along side a Der Spiegel magazine quote, dated Aug. 15: I don’t think Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon and I represent the vast majority of Democrats. Then comes the statement, Its time you ask yourself: Does the Democratic Party still represent you?”

On page 5, a black and white photo of former pre-World War II British prime minister Neville Chamberlain, long identified with appeasement with Hitler, carries the headline, He said appeasement would guarantee peace. Instead it guaranteed the death of six million Jews. The text goes on to say that appeasers like Neville Chamberlain always promise peace. They say we all need to do is make concessions to our enemies. They are wrong. The ad says Bush knows how important it is to confront the forces of tyranny and oppression. Mr. President, history will show you are right. And it ends, Mr. President, thank you for standing strong.

For months, an angry battle of words has been waged in the pages of the Jewish News regarding Rep. J. D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., and his lauding Henry Ford in his book about U.S. border/immigration issues, Whatever It Takes. Hayworth hailed the automaker for his stance on the Americanization of workers. But Jews quickly said the congressmen should choose his heroes more carefully because Ford was openly critical of Jews, propagating his ideas through his independent Dearborn, Mich., newspaper in the serializing of a work called The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Beginning with the Jewish News own editorial in early summer criticizing Hayworth, issue after issue of the weekly has carried letters to the editor blasting or defending Hayworth, along with the lawmaker’s own reply. The angry discussion has been followed nationally.

Three testy letters were chosen for the latest issue and they reflect previous letters. Sandor Shuch of Phoenix warns that voting Democratic will put Michigan congressmen like John Dingell and John Conyers into House leadership seats. Shuch says they were among eight congressmen who didnt support a resolution favoring Israel in its recent battle with Hezbollah. Election of a Democratic Congress will lead to withdrawal from Iraq, which will strengthen the hands of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas and be a major defeat for both this country and Israel, he wrote.

But Samuel Feinstein of Scottsdale wondered aloud how Jews could support Republicans. He regards it as the most puzzling political turn of events that I have ever encountered. Feinstein then accuses Hayworth of raping of America, gutting of environmental laws, threatening Social Security and destruction of valuable social programs. He underscored, I dont need to to remind you that such social progress was championed and accomplished by a disproportionately large number of Jews. For me, it has always been a source of pride. He then touted Democratic House candidate Harry Mitchell as someone who clearly and unequivocally support Israel.

Finally, Gordon Weiner, Arizona State University professor emeritus and one-time Jewish studies program chair, no stranger to controversy, wrote a commentary, “Henry Ford responds. Weiner says Republicans try to too lightly dismiss Hayworths embrace of Ford. It is interesting to note that Hitler read the Ford volumes while a prisoner after the failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 and credits Ford with his enlightenment of the Jewish problems, Weiner said. Then he excerpts the Ford writing, pointing to the automakers assertion that one of the strongest causes militating against the full Americanization of several millions of Jews in this country is their belief — instilled in them by their religious authorities — that they are ‘chosen, that this land is theirs, that the inhabitants are idolators, that the day is coming when the Jews will be supreme.

Dont expect this debate to end until at least Nov. 7. We’ll be watching what might be raised this Sunday afternoon (Sept. 17) at Temple Emanual of Tempe where federal office candidates and other office-seekers will debate. The District 5 candidates, Mitchell and Hayworth, are among those invited. (Those from District 4 and 6 also are invited.) It will be 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the temple, 5801 S. Rural Road.