Could a Bible course have prevented the Virginia Tech Massacre? and other Bible bending news

Inside Bay Area (CA): M.F. Chester Palesoo, a trustee in the Ravenswood School District, believes massacres like the one on Monday at Virginia Tech can be averted, if students are exposed to the Bible as teens. Palesoo has been advocating for school board members to get behind the Bible Literacy Project as a way to squelch the violence in East Palo Alto (CA). "Our community is overwhelmed with shoot-outs and crime," he said Tuesday. "The Bible will help them develop a spiritual relationship between them and their parents and other students on school sites."
Many Christian organizations have been on hand to offer support and now International Bible Society/Send the Light (IBS/STL). "You're not just handing them a full Bible and challenging them to work through it on their own," said Rich Blanco, Director of Outreach for IBS/STL. "It's giving them daily thoughts to think about and a place to journal some of their ideas. And at the end of the booklet it just continues to draw them closer to that point of making a decision for Christ."

Lincoln Courier (IL): Gov. Rod Blagovevich vows to keep legislation in session as long as necessary to pass his sweeping health care proposal declaring that Illinoisans have a "God-given right" to health care. "In Ecclesiastes, there's the famous statement that there's a season for all things," he said. "Today in Illinois, in this spring, 2007, this is the season to provide comprehensive health care to every citizen in our state. ... I am determined to make this happen, and we will stay as long as it's necessary to provide health care to all families in Illinois and do what's right."

The Spoof (U.K.): The British satirical newspaper announces: "New Immigration Legislation Requires 40 years in the Desert!"

St. Cloud Times (MN): A letter to the editor asks what would Jesus would do about immigration. The writer apparently feels he would urge his congress person to adopt Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

La Crosse Tribune (WI): Members of the Amish community in Wisconsin are protesting a new law that requires marking livestock. The 200 Amish daily producers who met with state officials recently say the Bible prohibits them from buying or selling numbered animals, and consider it the "mark of the beast."