Amazing Grace takes top honors. Amazing Grace, the big-budget film that traced the life of abolitionist William Wilberforce, won Most Inspiring Movie of 2007 and Best Movie for Mature Audiences at the 16th annual Movieguide Faith and Values Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. The film stars Ioan Gruffudd as Wilberforce, a member of Parliament who fought to end the slave trade in the 18th century British Empire. The historical drama was awarded the $50,000 Epiphany Prize, sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, which provides $100,000 annually to films and television shows that reflect a “dramatic increase in either man's love of God or man's understanding of God,” according to the Epiphany Prizes' website.
Jehovah's Witnesses fastest-growing faith in America. Jehovah's Witnesses are the fastest-growing church body in the United States and Canada, with more than 1 million members, according to new figures that track church membership. The 2008 Yearbook of Canadian and American Churches, produced by the National Council of Churches, recorded growth trends in 224 national church bodies with a combined membership of 147 million Americans, based on self-reported membership figures for 2006, the most recent year available. Although Jehovah's Witnesses ranked 24th on the list of 25 largest churches, they reported the largest growth rate — 2.25 percent — of all churches. The badly divided Episcopal Church, meanwhile, reported the largest drop, at 4.15 percent.
Writer sues Gibson over Passion profits. The screenwriter of The Passion of the Christ has slapped creator Mel Gibson with a $5 million lawsuit, claiming the actor/director grossly underpaid him for writing the 2004 blockbuster's script. Ben Fitzgerald claimed Gibson and Gibson's Icon Productions deceived him regarding the Passion budget. The lawsuit does not list how much Fitzgerald was paid for writing the screenplay. Instead, it claims Fitzgerald was told in 2001 by the film's production team that it was a small $4 million to $7 million film and accordingly the amount available for a writer's fee was relatively small. Fitzgerald claims he was left out of sharing in the film's $611 million global box office receipts. A Gibson spokesman did not return a call for comment.
Turkey to allow headscarves. The Turkish Parliament passed two constitutional amendments granting Muslim women the right to wear Islamic headscarves in universities, despite protests from thousands of secular Turks. The first amendment grants equal treatment to everyone by state institutions, and the second amendment states, “No one can be deprived of (his or her) right to higher education.” Turkey, which is predominantly Muslim, was founded as a secular country by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who prohibited wearing religious attire in public. Secular Turks fear lifting the ban on hijabs, or Islamic head scarves, is the first step toward allowing religious symbols in all aspects of public life. The amendments still require the signature of President Abdullah Gul, an observant Muslim, to be made official.
Compiled from Religion News Service