UPN affiliate refuses to air a new reality show called Amish in the City; conservative Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) says Take that, liberal media! Meanwhile, “Stop ‘Amish in the City'” (what, they should stay on the farm?) stands up and fights for the pacifist sect — without asking them their opinion. Apparently, they don’t have one — much of the press, including The Washington Post and CNN, neglected to consult the rowdy rumspringa would-be reality stars of the upcoming series. Who’s exploiting who?
Should educators ever tell students about their faith? Randy Dotinga, of The Christian Science Monitor, reports on the lawsuit brought by philosophy professor James Tuttle against his former employer, Ohio’s Lakeland Community College. “While the college hasn’t presented its side of the story yet,” Dotinga writes, “it appears that the case will pit the professor’s freedom of speech against the school’s right to control its staff.”
“‘Every religion has a marriage contract. But when I, a Christian Palestinian, married Alison, a Jewish Israeli, I was asked to sign the Jewish marriage contract, the Ketubah. Alison added a few extra provisions. It says we can get divorced, but only if there’s 18 straight days of no violence in the Middle East.'” Bill Tammeus reports on the “Allah Made Me Funny” comedy tour and other comics of faith.
Ron Reagan, President Reagan’s younger son, will address the Democratic National Convention in Boston about stem cell research.
Day without the press: Senegal’s privately-owned newspapers have refused to publish, and private radio stations have replaced news bulletins with music as part of a protest at the arrest of an editor, Madiambal Diagne, whose Le Quotidien paper wrote about alleged corruption in the customs service and interference in the judiciary. The BBC reports that Diagne was charged with publishing confidential reports and correspondence, false information and news “‘which could cause serious political problems.'”
‘I always knew I had a relationship with God. But I wasn’t sure God had a relationship with me.'” The New York Times’s Jon Pareles talks to Prince about his new-found spirituality.