DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES DEBATE FAITH'S ROLE CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) John Edwards says that if elected president, he wouldn't make any policy decision based on his personal religious beliefs.

Edwards was one of several Democratic candidates in last night's C-N-N debate to answer questions about the role faith should play in guiding national leaders.

Senator Barack Obama said faith shouldn't disqualify anyone from running for office, but he believes that both church and state benefit from separating the two, and leaders must translate their faith convictions into terms that all Americans can appreciate.

Senator Joseph Biden said he saw no conflict between faith and reason.

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John Edwards, Democratic presidential candidate, in debate John Edwards says U.S. policies shouldn't be decided according to a president's religious beliefs. COURTESY: CNN ((mandatory on-air credit)) CUT ..438 (07/23/07)


:12 "personal faith" Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., Democratic presidential candidate, in debate Senator Barack Obama says religious faith shouldn't disqualify a candidate for president. COURTESY: CNN ((mandatory on-air credit)) CUT ..439 (07/23/07)


:14 "and state" Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., Democratic presidential candidate, in debate Senator Barack Obama says he's a Christian, but supports separation of church and state. COURTESY: CNN ((Mandatory on-air credit)) CUT ..440 (07/23/07)


:18 "can share" Senator Joseph Biden, D-Del., Democratic presidential candidate, in debate Senator Joseph Biden says he's guided by faith as well as reason.

COURTESY: CNN ((mandatory on-air credit)) CUT ..441 (07/23/07)


:06 "use reason" ATTENDance EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS AT CREATION MUSEUM PETERSBURG, Ky. (AP) The controversy surrounding the opening of a Kentucky museum that presents the Biblical account of creation hasn't hurt attendance.

The Creation Museum near Cincinnati hosted its 100-thousandth visitor over the weekend, less than two months after it opened, putting the museum on pace to easily exceed the 250-thousand visitors that organizers expected in the first year.

The museum's first weeks have been highlighted by packed parking lots and long lines to get in.

The response has been so overwhelming that the museum is petitioning to add 650 spaces to the parking lot, which currently has about 500 spaces available. The museum would also like to add a canopy over the entrance to protect people waiting in line from the weather.

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Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman, Creation Museum, in A-P interview Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman for the Creation Museum, says attendance has far exceeded expectations.

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:11 "we expected" Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman, Creation Museum, in A-P interview Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman for the Creation Museum, says more than 100-thousand people have visited in the museum's first seven weeks.

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:14 "Creation Museum" Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman, Creation Museum, in A-P interview Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman for the Creation Museum, says visitors are getting answers they can't find elsewhere.

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:17 "and science" Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman, Creation Museum, in A-P interview Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman for the Creation Museum, says the larger than expected crowds have strained capacity at times.

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:13 "parking spots" Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman, Creation Museum, in A-P interview Mark Looy (LOY), spokesman for the Creation Museum, says more people than ever are visiting the Web site too.

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:13 "one day" KOREAN CHRISTIANS PRAYING FOR MISSIONARIES HELD BY TALIBAN Washington (AP) Korean Christians are praying as another deadline nears for 23 South Korean medical missionaries being held by Taliban kidnappers in Afghanistan.

A purported Taliban spokesman said the deadline was extended until 10:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Tuesday, but warned that the hostages will be killed unless 23 Taliban prisoners are freed.

The Afghan government has rejected that demand, but its officials have been negotiating with the captors in person and over the phone.

A 24-hour prayer vigil continues at the missionaries' Evangelical church near Seoul and at Korean churches in the United States.

Young Kim, a Korean language Christian broadcaster based in Washington, says it was very brave maybe too brave for the church to send a mission team into the war-torn Islamic country.

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Young Kim, President of the Korean language Washington Christian Broadcasting Network, in A-P interview Young Kim, President of the Korean language Washington Christian Broadcasting Network, says Korean-American Christians are praying for the South Korean missionaries who were kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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:07 "Sunday service" Young Kim, President of the Korean language Washington Christian Broadcasting Network, in A-P interview Young Kim, President of the Korean language Washington Christian Broadcasting Network, says it was courageous of the South Korean missionaries to go to Afghanistan.

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:07 "Afghanistan people" Jeremy Sewall, Policy Analyst, International Christian Concern, in A-P interview Jeremy Sewall, Policy Analyst for International Christian Concern, says many South Korean Christians have been fearless in their mission work.

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:09 "South Korea" PRAYER DELEGATION GIVING TEN COMMANDMENTS TO IraqIS WASHINGTON (AP) The director of the Christian Defense Coalition says his six-member prayer delegation leaves Washington this evening with a gift for the Iraqi people.

The Reverend Patrick Mahoney says they'll deliver a stone tablet engraved with the Ten Commandments, a gift which he believes can bridge cultural differences with the Muslim nation.

Mahoney says U-S officials haven't offered his delegation any security in Iraq, but the Iraqi government has offered security within the confines of Baghdad's protected Green Zone.

While there, Mahoney says his group will demonstrate the American Christian community's prayer support for the Iraqi people in their nation's time of crisis.

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The Reverend Patrick Mahoney, Director, Christian Defense Coalition, in A-P interview The Reverend Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, says the American prayer delegation leaves for Iraq Tuesday evening.

CUT ..450 (07/23/07)


:13 "Ten Commandments" The Reverend Patrick Mahoney, Director, Christian Defense Coalition, in A-P interview The Reverend Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, says his delegation will take the Iraqis a stone tablet engraved with the Ten Commandments.

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:12 "another culture" The Reverend Patrick Mahoney, Director, Christian Defense Coalition, in A-P interview The Reverend Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, says the delegation won't have U.S. government protection.

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:11 "us security" China FEARS RELIGIOUS AND OTHER ACTIVISTS COULD DISRUPT OLYMPICS BEIJING (AP) China's intelligence services are gathering information on religious and activist groups who might disrupt next year's Olympics in Beijing.

Government spy agencies and think tanks are compiling lists of potentially troublesome foreigners, including evangelical Christians eager to end China's religious restrictions.

Foreigners suspected of covert missionary work have been expelled from China.

Disaffected groups also include Tibetan Buddhists eager to cast off Chinese rule and the Falun Gong, a once-popular spiritual movement the government suppressed as a cult.

But Chinese and foreign security experts say attacks by militant Islamic groups top the list of scenarios the police and the military are preparing for.

DEVELOPERS SAY AVE MARIA ISN'T JUST A Catholic TOWN NAPLES, Fla. (AP) The builders of Ave Maria, Florida, insist it's not a Roman Catholic town.

The streets have names like Annunciation Circle and John Paul the Second Boulevard, and the Catholic university bans the sale of condoms and warns that premarital sex can be grounds for expulsion.

But Ave Maria Latin for Hail Mary is open to everyone, according to the company building the town for Domino's Pizza founder Thomas Monaghan (MAH'-nah-han), a devout Catholic.

In 2005, Monaghan told a Catholic group that Ave Maria's stores wouldn't carry contraceptives or pornography, and cable T-V would have no adult channels. But he backed off when critics called it un-American and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida threatened to sue.

Monaghan now says Ave Maria University will follow strict Catholic guidelines, but the town will be largely unrestricted, except for no adult stores or topless clubs. The developers say cable T-V won't be restricted and they'll merely suggest that merchants not sell contraceptives or porn.

PRIEST PLEADS GUILTY TO THEFT FROM HIS CHICAGO CHURCH CHICAGO (AP) A Roman Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to charges he stole 190-thousand dollars from his Chicago church to fund foreign vacations, expensive clothes, food and liquor.

The Reverend Mark Sorvillo was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to theft.

Prosecutors said Sorvillo helped himself to money from the weekly offerings at St. Margaret Mary Parish for more than seven years. He's also accused of taking donations from baptisms and weddings.

Sorvillo was accused of spending the money on shopping sprees at Neiman Marcus, pricey meals and European vacations using a secret money-market account and credit cards issued to the parish.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the priest also lavished gifts and cash on a man who stripped at gay bars.

MORMON SAYS HE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN FAITH AND SCHOLARSHIP CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) A Mormon student at West Virginia University says he shouldn't be forced to choose between his religion and his state-funded merit scholarship.

David Haws is suing the state's PROMISE scholarship board for denying him a leave of absence to serve a church mission for two years.

In a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, Haws says that violates his constitutional right to free exercise of religion.

In the Mormon church, young men serve missions at age 19, and women serve at age 21.

The official who oversees West Virginia's PROMISE program said he couldn't comment because his office hadn't seen the lawsuit yet.

BRITISH COURT RULES SACRED BULL SHOULD BE SLAUGHTERED LONDON (AP) A British court says the decision to slaughter a bull revered as sacred by his Hindu caretakers is justified.

The ruling Monday could spell the end for Shambo, a six-year-old bull whose life has been in jeopardy since he tested positive for bovine tuberculosis in April.

Local regulations stipulate that cattle suspected of carrying the disease be slaughtered, but Hindus consider cattle sacred, and lawyers for the Skanda Vale monastery in Wales argued that slaughtering the bull would interfere with their religious rights.

Last week, a judge in Wales ordered local authorities to reconsider their decision to slaughter the bull. But on Monday the Court of Appeal in London reversed the decision, ruling that Shambo's slaughter is justified considering the risk posed by bovine tuberculosis.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 07-24-07 0231CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list