King’s College London will collaborate with London’s National Gallery to offer a new MA degree in Christianity & the Arts—a first of its kind to be offered in London.

The course brings together the forces of a world-class art gallery with one of the U.K.’s foremost departments of Theology & Religious Studies. King’s College, a research led university, is among the top 25 universities in the world, and the fourth oldest in England, Media Newswire said.

At the same time students of the program will have access to one of the world’s greatest art treasuries in London’s National Gallery, whose collection will be the centerpiece of the program. A large part of classes will be conducted in the Gallery and there will be much input from the curatorial staff. Students will be able to investigate the National Gallery’s online collection and catalogue material at length, Media Newswire said.

The program was launched by Professor Rick Trainor, who is principal of King’s College London; and Dr. Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery, Media Newswire said. For the first time, a program like this brings together church-historical, art-historical, and theological elements of Christian art which in the past had always been studied in isolation, Media Newswire said.
According to King’s College London’s website, students will study how Christian scripture, practice and belief were expressed in some 2000 years of Christian art, allowing them to cross disciplines and specialism boundaries and lending access not just to the National Gallery but also to related institutions like the Courtauld Gallery, Victoria and the Albert Museum. It is hoped that by the end of the course students may take away with them a distinct and unique understanding of one of the greatest art repository of treasures in the world, the website says.

It is also hoped that exposure and understanding of Christian art will lend new theological dimensions. Other modules in the course will examine Christian literature, musical, dramatic and cinematic traditions, Media Newswire said.

The MA program came about when King’s College noted a rise in the interest of students in this area. It will be coordinated by Ben Quash who was King’s first professor of Christianity and the Arts. As chair of the degree program, Quash noted the rich Catholic and Orthodox store of Christian art. Quash also noted that traditional Protestant churches have also begun to lose a former distrust of images and are exploring the potentials of visual culture, Media Newswire said.

A stand-out of the program will be the National Gallery’s collection which spans five centuries of Western European work and a large number of masterpieces. Of note, a sizeable proportion of the collection specifically dwells on Christian themes and subjects. With this MA program, more theological reflection will be encouraged on these works, Media Newswire said.

The Alliance Defense Fund urged recently the University of Illinois to reinstate a Catholic professor who was fired for teaching Catholic beliefs in his Introduction to Catholicism class.

Dr. Kenneth Howell, a Catholic religion professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign has been in the institution’s employ since 2001.

However last year Howell, a highly regarded faculty member with consistently high ratings from students, was fired for talking about the Catholic viewpoint on homosexual behavior, ADF Media said.

Travis Barham, litigator of the ADF, wrote on July 12 to the University of Illinois’ president, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and head of the religion department, seeking Howell’s reinstatement, the Catholic News Agency said.

In his letter Barham said, “In relieving Dr. Howell of his teaching responsibilities, the university is firing him for teaching Catholic doctrine in a class about Catholic doctrine,” Catholic News Agency said.

Barham said Howell was only removed because some people did not like his speech. Still, he stressed that the First Amendment protects controversial ideas from being silenced, the Catholic News Agency said.

In the actual letter it was noted that Howell stressed to his students that they need not become Catholics to do well in his class. Instead, he sought for them to understand and critically analyze Catholic thought.

The issue that led to Howell’s dismissal was an email that he sent to his class as a follow up to a classroom lecture, which explained utilitarianism and natural law theory in shaping the morality of homosexual acts, Catholic News Agency said.

One student decried the letter as hate mail and at the end of the semester Howell was let go for violating “university standards of inclusivity,” the Catholic News Agency said.
ADF Senior Counsel David French doubted the university had a right to curtail classroom speech that was lesson related, and called it an outrage that a professor was fired for doing so, more so because the professor was not allowed to defend himself, ADF Media said.
The subject matter, “The Question of Homosexuality in Catholic Thought,” had been regularly covered in this class. The topic was framed in the context of natural moral law and Catholic belief. In the past students would simply respectfully disagree. The purpose of the email was to enhance student understanding of the subject matter, Barham’s ADF letter noted.

The basis of Howell’s dismissal was an anonymous complaint sent by email to university officials, plus the fact that others including students, staff and faculty disliked Howell’s email.

Barham referred to this as a “heckler’s veto” in his letter, and stressed that the purpose of the First Amendment is to protect the right of controversial ideas to be heard, Barham’s ADF letter said.

French said, “The First Amendment protects the ability of faculty to speak freely, especially when the material is of direct relevance to the class. Professors’ careers cannot be made to stand or fall based on the emotions of intolerant, anonymous students who do not yet understand that opposing viewpoints exist within a free society,” ADF Media said.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling recently that allows San Francisco’s Hastings College of Law to force student groups to permit membership even to those who disagree with the group’s vision and mission, the Alliance Defense Fund Media said.

Leo Martinez, Hastings’ dean and acting chancellor said the school policy, which the Supreme Court backed in its ruling, is equitable and fair, FindLaw said.

UC Hastings COllege of the Law Web site

Martinez told PBS last April that the policy means that a Jewish league would have to admit Muslims, and a black group would have to admit white supremacists, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly said.

By the same reasoning, Democrats would have to allow the election of Republicans, and an atheist could lead a Bible study group, the ADF Media said.

The SC upheld the school policy in a 5-4 ruling. However, they did not address discrimination policies in general, and particularly, whether the school was targeting the Christian Legal Society only instead of applying the rule fairly to all school organizations, ADF Media said.

The SC said in its ruling that public universities have the option to supersede a religious student group’s freedom to choose its own leadership. However, they must apply the option equally to all student groups, ADF Media said.

Kim Colby, senior counsel of the CLS Center for Law & Religious Freedom expressed disappointment with the SC ruling and said, “All college students, including religious students, should have the right to form groups around shared beliefs without being banished from campus,” ADF Media said.

The Supreme Court noted in its ruling that the lower courts failed to address the CLS issue of whether Hastings was enforcing the policy only on the CLS, and in this way, exhibiting bias. The SC therefore left a window open by which the CLS may, if they wish, further pursue the issue, Speak Up said.

Lead counsel Michael McConnell said, “The record will show that Hastings law school applied its policy in a discriminatory way–excluding CLS from campus but not other groups who limit leadership and voting membership in a similar way. The Supreme Court did not rule that public universities can apply different rules to religious groups than they apply to political, cultural, or other student groups,” ADF Media said.

The case arose when Martinez denied funding and refused to give official recognition to the CLS, the Religion & Ethics Newsweekly said.

The CLS, an organization of Christian lawyers with chapters nationwide, seeks to practice law guided by their faith. They hold weekly Bible studies with prayer and worship, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly said.

While the CLS Hastings chapter permits all students to come to its meetings, one must sign a CLS statement of faith before gaining membership and the right to vote and be a leader in the organization. Martinez felt the requirement of a statement of faith was discriminatory, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly said.

Salem Web Network has acquired GodTube.com and tangle.com, affirming its leadership in Christian content online, as well as in radio and publishing.

Salem Web Network is part of Salem Communications Corporation, a leader in U.S. radio broadcasting, online content and media focused on Christian and family content, Market Watch said.

SCC owns 96 radio stations, with 58 of them in 22 of the top 25 markets. They also own Salem Radio Network which syndicates programming to some 2,000 radio stations; and Salem Media Representatives, a nationwide media advertising sales company, Market Watch said.

Salem Web Network provides conservative Christian content.  Under its wing are Christianity.com, Crosswalk.com, OnePlace.com, Hot Air.com and BibleStudyTools.com, Market Watch said.

With the acquisition of GodTube.com and tangle.com, SCC will command the largest Christian online video sharing network and the largest Christian social network with some 1 million visitors monthly, and some 800,000 registered users, MarketWatch said.

GodTube.com and tangle.com together provide a social network connecting Christians, videos, music by leading Christian musical artists, bible reading online, and a Prayer Wall where people can upload their prayer requests, Christian Post said.

Tom Perrault, senior vice president of Salem Web Network called both brands pioneers, and said “…we have plans to aggressively grow both over the next several years,” Christian Post said.

Rick Killingsworth, the network’s executive vice president of New Media, said the sites will provide professional quality videos for users, which as of now is a niche that can be exploited in network content, Christian Post said.

Killingsworth said, “This acquisition gives us the leadership position overnight, while also opening up significant new multi-media advertising opportunities,” Christian Post said.

Currently, trends indicate some 33 billion video views, as opposed to 15 billion searches monthly, with U.S. consumers watching videos online at an average 12.71 hours monthly, Market Watch said.

Political conservative pundit S.E. Cupp’s newest book, “Losing Our Religion:  The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity” has further polarized conservative and liberal media, even as its title and subject matter drew claims of irony.

Cupp’s book polarizes conservatives, liberals, raises claims of irony

Newsweek, which reviewed Cupp’s book, extensively quoted her and indicated page numbers; said it was melodramatic, patronizing to her readers, and inspired fear mongering.

Newsweek also denied that they are a mainstream publication, and said they are not attacking Christians or even religious freedom.

Media Matters for America focused on what Cupp wrote about evolution, and said that she does violence to the science of evolution and to the public’s expectations of science journalists and science teachers.

Cupp’s book has also raised a sense of irony that an atheist should write a book that strongly defends Christianity.  Cupp however says that political conservatives like herself would benefit if Christians worked harder to protect their turf, as mainstream liberal media shoots two birds with one stone when they attack Christianity.

Cupp said Christianity is a target so that mainstream media can also attack conservatism.  “If they can effectively paint Christians as dangerous fanatics, it’s just a skip away from painting conservatives as dangerous fanatics,” she said in an interview with Mediaite.

In that same report she said that her being an atheist gave her the needed objectivity to write the book.  “I would hope it gives a little more credibility to the project than having some fundamentalist Christian write about attacks on Christianity,” she said.

Christian Today noted that other studies have also documented Cupp’s viewpoints, including The Media Elite by Lichter, Rothman and Lichter (1986), and Bias by Bernard Goldberg (2001).

Bill Muehlenberg, who authored the Christian Today review wrote, “Western Christians are sleeping through their own execution.They seem oblivious [that] the surrounding culture has declared war on the Christian faith.”

In her book Cupp wrote, according to Newsweek, that:

1. Secular media has turned religious worship into a “subculture” and reacted to presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s 2007 Christmas commercial by focusing on a “strategically placed” cross in the background.  (She cites The Washington Post and CNN).
2. Major media did not cover Obama’s snub of the National Day of Prayer.
3. Newsweek’s review of the Christian bestseller “Left Behind” said, “Sociologists tell us that the United States is experiencing a religious revival, but if the bestseller lists are any guide, the revival looks more like a collective leaving of the senses.”
4. Reviews of the Christian story “Narnia” were lukewarm despite its being a box office hit.  Reviews for The Golden Compass, which attacks Christianity, were positive although the movie did not do well at the tills.

Cupp also noted that the liberal press downplays Obama’s discomfort with religious America and barely wrote about his covering up of religious imagery in the backdrop when he gave a speech at Georgetown University.