Rusty Nails, 1/18/05...

Update: Joe Carter tells us that these daily postings might just be catching on. Check Jollyblogger's Jolly Digest. Mere Comments has a post titled, Churchless Christians?, in which we find that the

Barna Research Group reports that in the United States about 10 million self-proclaimed, born-again Christians have not been to church in the last six months…

and

About a third of Americans are unchurched, according to Barna’s national data. Approximately 23 million of those—35 percent of the unchurched—claim they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their lives today.

With all the seeker-sensitive churches out there, one wonders if they're simply targeting these churchless Christians? Matt Powell takes on our friend DarkSyde in Playing it both ways, over at Wheat & Chaff. ------------ From CNN.com, Rice, Boxer spar in confirmation hearing,

California Sen. Barbara Boxer questioned Rice aggressively before the panel broke for lunch, suggesting that Rice's loyalty to Bush and her mission to defend the war in Iraq "overwhelmed your respect for the truth."

Truth, Barbara? How about facing up to the truth of partial-birth abortion? Readers may want to refer back to a post I titled Boxer's babbles to get a flavor for her respect for the truth. An excerpt from the congressional record,

Mr. SANTORUM. What we are talking about here with partial birth, as the Senator from California knows, is the baby is in the process of being born—— Mrs. BOXER. In the process of being born. This is why this conversation makes no sense, because to me it is obvious when a baby is born; to you it isn’t obvious. Mr. SANTORUM. Maybe you can make it obvious to me. What you are suggesting is if the baby’s foot is still inside of the mother, that baby can then still be killed. Mrs. BOXER. I am not suggesting that. Mr. SANTORUM. I am asking. Mrs. BOXER. I am absolutely not suggesting that. You asked me a question, in essence, when the baby is born. Mr. SANTORUM. I am asking you again. Can you answer that? Mrs. BOXER. I will answer the question when the baby is born. The baby is born when the baby is outside the mother’s body. The baby is born. Mr. SANTORUM. I am not going to put words in your mouth—— Mrs. BOXER. I hope not. Mr. SANTORUM. But, again, what you are suggesting is if the baby’s toe is inside the mother, you can, in fact, kill that baby. Mrs. BOXER. Absolutely not. Mr. SANTORUM. OK. So if the baby’s toe is in, you can’t kill the baby. How about if the baby’s foot is in? Mrs. BOXER. You are the one who is making these statements. Mr. SANTORUM. We are trying to draw a line here. Mrs. BOXER. I am not answering these questions.

They say that controversy is the mother's milk of sales. Consider the ludicrous actions of Fox in pixellating a cartooned rear end to avoid potential FCC fines. Self-censorship? Nah... more like self-promotion. Atheist Appeals to Supreme Court Over Inauguration Prayer.

In an emergency filing, Michael Newdow argued that a prayer at Thursday's ceremony would violate the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs.

Michael Newdow really does have too much time on his hands. Krispy Kreme axes CEO, shares jump. Buy a dozen to celebrate.