April (Web-only) 2000

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"With God, all things are possible," but with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, not all state mottoes are legal. The court ruled 2-1 that the Matthew 19:26 reference "must be seen as advancing, or at a minimum, showing a particular affinity for Christianity" as Ohio's motto. "Simply put, they are an endorsement of the Christian religion by the State of Ohio," wrote Judge Avern Cohn. "No other interpretation in the context of their presence in the New Testament is possible." Judge David A. Nelson dissented, saying he found little difference between Ohio's motto and the national "In God we trust." Ohio Gov. Bob Taft says he "will do everything within my power to uphold and defend the motto of our state." (Read the decision here or see local coverage in The Columbus Dispatch, the Cincinnati Post ( two stories), The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cleveland's The Plain Dealer, the Akron Beacon Journal, and Toledo's The Blade).

In a Holy Week article, Peter Carnley (who will be installed this week as the primate, or head, of Australia's Anglican Church) criticized Christians who believe Jesus is the only way to God. "When St Luke wrote that there is salvation in no-one else, save Jesus Christ alone, he was not just comparing Jesus with other alternative religious leaders and rival religious systems," he wrote. "Indeed, if he had a vague idea of the existence of India at the fringes of his world, he probably had no idea of the existence of China at all, let alone of the teachings of the Buddha or Confucius. Mohammed was, of course, yet unborn. The modern question of 'other ...