November (Web-only) 2000

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Sorry we called you a Nazi, Father
The story as it appears on The [Spokane, Washington] Spokesman-Review's Web site now seems pretty innocuous: "Jesuit priest promotes his book." But that's not the headline that ran over the 100-word story on Wednesday. Then it was "Nazi priest promotes his new book." The following day the newspaper apologized to the priest, Robert Spitzer, who is also president of Gonzaga University. (His book, Healing the Culture: A Commonsense Philosophy of Happiness, Freedom and the Life Issues, has nothing to do with Nazis, in case you were wondering.) The headline writer, a 24-year-old recent graduate of Gonzaga who had wrestled with Spitzer during her tenure, was asked to resign. (See a related article from the Associated Press.)

A dotted line in the sand
The Greek Orthodox Church has for months been fighting the removal of religious affiliation information on the country's identity cards. In the latest volley, Church officials are urging members to add the initials X.O. (for Christian Orthodox) after their name on the signature line. The chairman of Greece's Authority for the Protection of Personal Data called the plan absurd and says he has made clear to the ministry that regulates the cards that religious identification is not a valid part of a signature.

Norwegian missionary arrested in Nepal
Trond Berg, 36, faces up to six years in jail for attempting to convert a Hindu to Christianity. He denies offering the Hindu the equivalent of $535 to convert, but he was apparently carrying religious tracts. The Norwegian Foreign Office has hired a Nepalese lawyer to assist Berg. (See our earlier coverage of Christianity in Nepal and the U.S. State Department's report on religious freedom in Nepal.)

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