What would Jesus hack?

The Economist looks at "Just how much does Christian doctrine have in common with the open-source software movement?" here.

Mel Gibson Plans Maccabee Movie

Mel Gibson plans to make a film about Judah Maccabee, the Jewish hero whose story is commemorated in the celebration of Hanukkah. Gibson says he sees parallels between Maccabee’s story and the modern day church because of corruption in organized religion. The film will follow Maccabee who joins his father and four brothers to lead the Jewish revolt against the Greek-Syrian armies in the second century B.C. It's possible Gibson could act in the film, but he is more likely to remain behind the camera and direct.

Ad Campaign Banned

Britain has banned a mobile phone company ad commercial showing a cartoon Jesus who winks and offers a thumbs-up sign. The Phones 4 U campaign, which carried the slogan, "Miraculous deals on Samsung Galaxy Android phones," was nixed by the country's advertising watchdog group because the ad appears to be mocking the Christian faith. Phones 4 U said it regretted the ad campaign and that it offended people.

The Jefferson Bible

Thomas Jefferson’s edited bible will be published in color in November. Although it was once called The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, it's typically referred to as “The Jefferson Bible.” The founding father hoped to crop all but the most critical parts of Christ’s teachings from the Bible. HE literally cut and pasted his selections with a razor, creating a single story from the four Gospels. He left out anything miraculous and references to divinity. The final product was not published until after his death. It was intended to be a primer for the Indians on Jesus' teachings. The new version will be printed by Smithsonian in hardcover with introduction by Smithsonian curators Barbara Clark Smith and Harry Rubenstein.

Theology a hot Topic on the Campaign Trail

Read the story here.

Megachurch Gets Kicked out of Facilities

A Kansas megachurch is losing its home. Read the story here.

Theft of Christian CDs

Music CDs stolen from Knoxville Christian bookstore. Read the story here.

School Sells TV Station

Baylor is selling its Waco, Texas PBS TV station to a pastor who says three people tried to extort millions of dollars from him to stay quiet about an affair. Marcus Lamb founded the DayStar Television Network and heads the group buying the TV station, Community Television Educators for a quarter of a million dollars. It went off the air a year ago because of financial problems. Lamb says he decided to admit to the affair publicly because of the extortion attempt.

Santorum's View on Marriage Challenged

CNN’s Piers Morgan accuses presidential candidate Rick Santorum of bigotry. Read the story here.

The New Yorker and Francis Schaeffer

Ryan Lizza wrote an article in the The New Yorker about Michele Bachmann’s intellectual formation. It includes a negative portrayal of Christian theologian and philosopher Francis Schaeffer. Read a rebuttal here in the New York Times.

College Loses Religious Speech Case

The Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal by the University of Wisconsin in a case involving funding religious speech. A student group called Badger Catholic Inc. asked for $253,000 in funding from UW Madison's fee system which supports hundreds of student organizations. The school withheld $35,000 of the amount that was going to go for activities the University deemed “proselytizing, religious instruction and worship.” Badger Catholic sued, arguing that the decision amounted to discrimination against religious speech. The 7th Circuit Court agreed in a 2-1 decision.

Earthquake Church to Rebuild

A church located near the center of the Virginia earthquake plans to rebuilt. WTOP radio files a report here.