They want to pass a law making it illegal for gays to associated with each other, and for anyone to read a gay book, etc. (Gay sexual relations are already illegal in Nigeria, with the penalty of jail-time or execution, depending where you live.)

From a second AP story:

Bishop Joseph Ojo, who presides over the congregation at the evangelical Calvary Kingdom Church, contends gay relationships are "foreign to Africans" and should be outlawed..."

And you'll know they are Christians by their love.

Parishioners who support a split say they can no longer abide what they see as moral backsliding by the Episcopal national leadership, marked most starkly by the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

The two Virginia churches hope to align themselves with Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, among the fiercest critics of Robinson's election. The archbishop is seeking to create a U.S. alliance of disaffected parishes as a rival to the Episcopal Church.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the 77 million-member world Anglican Communion, which is struggling to stay unified despite deep divisions over whether gays should be ordained.

Most overseas Anglicans believe gay relationships violate Scripture, but conservatives are a minority within the 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church. Still, the protests by traditionalist Episcopalians - including those in Virginia - have had an impact. Last week, the Diocese of San Joaquin, in Fresno, California, took what its leaders called a first step toward a formal break with the national church.

The potential split by the two Virginia churches comes after three years of effort by local Bishop Peter James Lee to keep conservatives in the fold. Lee, who voted to confirm Robinson, has earned praise for his outreach even from those who opposed his vote.

Now, the Virginia bishop is warning that any move by the two prominent Virginia churches to leave could prompt nasty civil lawsuits over who owns the historic properties.

Lee said he respects the crisis of conscience some feel, but he said there is no recognized way for a church to leave the diocese as a group and take their property with them.

"We live in a free country, and individuals are free to walk away," Lee said.

Several small Virginia churches have broken with the denomination, but none are of the size or historic importance of Truro, located in Fairfax, and The Falls Church, in the city of Falls Church. The two parishes go back to before the founding of the Episcopal denomination in the U.S.

The Truro parish was established in 1732 and George Washington worshipped there. The use of The Falls Church as the parish's name dates to 1757 and the city of Falls Church took its name from the parish when it incorporated in 1948. On an average Sunday, nearly 1,300 people worship in Truro Church and more than 1,900 at The Falls Church. Each church claims more than 2,400 members.

The vestries, or boards of directors, of both parishes voted last month to recommend a split. Starting Sunday, parishioners will vote throughout the week on whether they agree. Seventy percent of those casting ballots is required to approve a break.

"The vast majority of members are very concerned about the direction of this church, and it's very likely that the upcoming vote will reflect that," said the Rev. Rick Wright, associate rector at The Falls Church.

The churches' leaders believe Virginia law will be on their side in a property battle. They say a state statute dating back to the Civil War favors congregations over denominations in such property disputes, provided that a majority of all church members vote to leave.

The diocese disputes this. Lee said he has been advised by canon lawyers that the hierarchical structure of The Episcopal Church favors the diocese over the parish and that a civil court would be violating the denomination's religious freedom if it were to intervene in favor of the two churches.

"I really want to avoid litigation if at all possible," said Lee, who raised the possibility of some type of settlement involving property sharing or a buyout. "But we do operate under a system of order and discipline, and I have an obligation to bring to the attention of those congregations the potential repercussions of their actions."

Valerie Munson, a Philadelphia-based attorney who specializes in religion and law, said civil courts consider a variety of competing principles when they wade into such disputes.

"People on both sides of the issue would like to state it in black-and-white terms, but it's not," Munson said. "If courts judge these cases following neutral principles of law rather than politics, they are going to be very difficult cases to decide."

"This meeting, right here, would be illegal," said activist Bisi Alimi, stabbing the air with a French fry for emphasis as he sat at a table with three gay friends and a reporter.

Other activities prohibited under the proposed law include belonging to gay clubs or reading books, watching films or accessing Internet sites that "promote" homosexuality.

Alimi has been trying to drum up opposition to the legislation, but says Nigeria's gay community is too far underground and the subject too taboo.

The 27-year-old activist is one of few openly gay Nigerians, having been "outed" by a university newspaper three years ago. None of his companions have told their families of their sexual orientation. They asked to be identified only by their first names, citing the risk of arrest, beatings or even death.

"A few of my best friends know, but I don't have the courage to tell my parents," said Ipadeola, a 23-year-old medical student.

"I don't tell people because it is none of their business," said Mukajuloa, a 21-year-old beautician. "Do heterosexual men go around telling the world they are attracted to women?"

Haruna Yerima, a member of Nigeria's House of Representatives, said he supported the proposed ban. Social contact between gays should be limited, he said, because it might encourage behavior that was "against our culture ... against our religion."

Attitudes toward gays in Nigeria are typical of those across the continent. In neighboring Cameroon, Amnesty International says accusations of homosexuality and anti-gay laws have been used as a weapon against political opponents.

South Africa legalized gay marriages last month in fiercely debated legislation, making it the only country on the continent to do so. But the impetus was more a desire to stamp out all forms of discrimination in a reaction to apartheid than tolerance of gays, who are subject to prejudice and violence in South Africa.

The hostility in Nigeria means that there are very few gay or lesbian organizations. Oludare "Erelu" Odumuye - the nickname means "queen mother" in Yoruba - heads one, Alliance Rights.

"That bill would criminalize me if it was passed into law. It would criminalize my organization, it would criminalize my friends," he said.

Thousands of people use Alliance Rights for health services, to gather information or to meet, Odumuye says. To avoid harassment, the group has no membership list and its buildings are not in town centers or identified by signs.

Visitors find them through word-of-mouth, Odumuye said. To give an idea of their size, he says the group received more than 1,500 responses to a recent health survey among gay Nigerians.

Odumuye said the bill is aimed at pleasing the ruling party's political base - which includes powerful religious groups - ahead of April elections.

Akin Marinho, a Nigerian human rights lawyer, argued the bill's prohibitions are illegal under Nigeria's constitution and international treaty obligations. Not only does the legislation affect freedoms of speech and expression, but foreign companies could face lawsuits if gay or lesbian staff are unable to take up positions in Nigeria, he said.

Even some conservative religious leaders say the bill goes too far. Though Bishop Joseph Ojo, who presides over the congregation at the evangelical Calvary Kingdom Church, contends gay relationships are "foreign to Africans" and should be outlawed, he adds that gays should "have freedom of speech and expression."

Nigerians have been publicly flogged or beaten severely in prison after being charged with homosexuality.

"There is a lot of ignorance, and that is why people are afraid," Alimi said. "We are not willing to come out and say, "Yes, I am gay. Here I am. I am human, too.'"

The series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins is based on their interpretation of the Bible's Book of Revelation and takes place after the Rapture, when Jesus has taken his people to heaven and left nonbelievers behind to face the Antichrist.

Left Behind Games' president, Jeffrey Frichner, says the game actually is pacifist because players lose "spirit points" every time they gun down nonbelievers rather than convert them. They can earn spirit points again by having their character pray.

"You are fighting a defensive battle in the game," Frichner, whose previous company produced Bible software, said of combatting the Antichrist. "You are a sort of a freedom fighter."

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the retailer has no plans to pull Left Behind: Eternal Forces from any of the 200 of Wal-Mart's 3,800 stores that offer the game, including just seven in California. The nearest are in Chico and Redding.

"We look at the community to see where it will sell," said Tara Raddohl. "We have customers who are buying it and really haven't received a lot of complaints about it from our customers at this time."

Clark Stevens, co-director of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, said the game is not peaceful or diplomatic.

"It's an incredibly violent video game," said Stevens. "Sure, there is no blood. (The dead just fade off the screen.) But you are mowing down your enemy with a gun. It pushes a message of religious intolerance. You can either play for the 'good side' by trying to convert nonbelievers to your side or join the Antichrist."

The Rev. Tim Simpson, a Jacksonville, Fla., Presbyterian minister and president of the Christian Alliance for Progress, added: "So, under the Christmas tree this year for little Johnny is this allegedly Christian video game teaching Johnny to hate and kill?"

Both groups formed in 2005 to protest what their 130,000 or so members feel is the growing political influence and hypocrisy of the religious right.

In Left Behind, set in perfectly apocalyptic New York City, the Antichrist is personified by fictional Romanian Nicolae Carpathia, secretary-general of the United Nations and a People magazine "Sexiest Man Alive."

Players can choose to join the Antichrist's team, but of course they can never win on Carpathia's side. The enemy team includes fictional rock stars and folks with Muslim-sounding names, while the righteous include gospel singers, missionaries, healers and medics. Every character comes with a life story.

When asked about the Arab and Muslim-sounding names, Frichner said the game does not endorse prejudice. But "Muslims are not believers in Jesus Christ" -- and thus can't be on Christ's side in the game.

"That is so obvious," he said.

Left Behind is a real-time strategy and adventure game. Players don't role-play like in Grand Theft Auto -- it's more like the board game Risk than Clue.

Frichner said more than 10,000 retailers -- including Sam's Club, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, GameStop, EB Games and various Christian stores -- offer the game. He said sales are terrific, though he wouldn't reveal figures.

Protesters are targeting Wal-Mart, where the game retails for $39.96, because it is one of the biggest video game sellers in the United States.

More than 60 million copies of books in the series have sold since the first volume came out in 1996.

Jeff Gerstmann, senior editor at Gamespot.com, an online publication, said the game sn't popular. The game itself, which Gamespot rated 3.4 out of a possible 10, has lots of glitches.

"And it's kind of crazy," Gerstmann said. "One of the evil characters is a rock musician. ... If you get too close to him your spirit is lowered."

But Plugged In, a publication of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, gave the game a "thumbs-up." The reviewer called it "the kind of game that Mom and Dad can actually play with Junior -- and use to raise some interesting questions along the way."

Frichner said that is precisely his company's ultimate goal in offering the game: to bring parents and kids together to talk about the Bible. He said most teens are playing video games, so it was natural to turn the books into one.

His business partner, Troy Lyndon, created Madden Football, one of the top-selling sports video games. Left Behind Games Inc. is based in Murrieta (Riverside County).

I have nothing against an occasional soy snack. Soy is nutritious and contains lots of good things. Unfortunately, when you eat or drink a lot of soy stuff, you're also getting substantial quantities of estrogens.

Estrogens are female hormones. If you're a woman, you're flooding your system with a substance it can't handle in surplus. If you're a man, you're suppressing your masculinity and stimulating your "female side," physically and mentally.

In fetal development, the default is being female. All humans (even in old age) tend toward femininity. The main thing that keeps men from diverging into the female pattern is testosterone, and testosterone is suppressed by an excess of estrogen.

If you're a grownup, you're already developed, and you're able to fight off some of the damaging effects of soy. Babies aren't so fortunate. Research is now showing that when you feed your baby soy formula, you're giving him or her the equivalent of five birth control pills a day. A baby's endocrine system just can't cope with that kind of massive assault, so some damage is inevitable. At the extreme, the damage can be fatal.

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because "I can't remember a time when I wasn't homosexual." No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them.

Doctors used to hope soy would reduce hot flashes, prevent cancer and heart disease, and save millions in the Third World from starvation. That was before they knew much about long-term soy use. Now we know it's a classic example of a cure that's worse than the disease. For example, if your baby gets colic from cow's milk, do you switch him to soy milk? Don't even think about it. His phytoestrogen level will jump to 20 times normal. If he is a she, brace yourself for watching her reach menarche as young as seven, robbing her of years of childhood. If he is a boy, it's far worse: He may not reach puberty till much later than normal.

Research in 2000 showed that a soy-based diet at any age can lead to a weak thyroid, which commonly produces heart problems and excess fat. Could this explain the dramatic increase in obesity today?

Recent research on rats shows testicular atrophy, infertility and uterus hypertrophy (enlargement). This helps explain the infertility epidemic and the sudden growth in fertility clinics. But alas, by the time a soy-damaged infant has grown to adulthood and wants to marry, it's too late to get fixed by a fertility clinic.

Worse, there's now scientific evidence that estrogen ingredients in soy products may be boosting the rapidly rising incidence of leukemia in children. In the latest year we have numbers for, new cases in the U.S. jumped 27 percent. In one year!

There's also a serious connection between soy and cancer in adults - especially breast cancer. That's why the governments of Israel, the UK, France and New Zealand are already cracking down hard on soy.

In sad contrast, 60 percent of the refined foods in U.S. supermarkets now contain soy. Worse, soy use may double in the next few years because (last I heard) the out-of-touch medicrats in the FDA hierarchy are considering allowing manufacturers of cereal, energy bars, fake milk, fake yogurt, etc., to claim that "soy prevents cancer." It doesn't.

P.S.: Soy sauce is fine. Unlike soy milk, it's perfectly safe because it's fermented, which changes its molecular structure. Miso, natto and tempeh are also OK, but avoid tofu.

He was acquitted on lesser counts of complicity to commit genocide and incitement to commit genocide, the court said.

Seromba, a 43-year-old Hutu, had pleaded not guilty to the charges that stemmed notably from the destruction of his parish church in the western town of Nyange where some 2,000 Tutsi faithful had sought shelter in April 1994.

He was accused of ordering the church levelled by bulldozers, which led to the deaths of all inside, and instructing radical Hutu militia to shoot Tutsis who tried to flee the carnage.

Seromba had claimed he was a simple parish priest and powerless to stop the killing but prosecutors had called for the priest to be given the court's maximum sentence of life in prison.

The judges found that while Seromba had not personally ordered the church destroyed, he had approved a decision by local authorities to do so.

"By his proven gestures, he contributed in a substantial way," the judges said.

The defense had complained that Seromba was prosecuted only because he is a priest and had noted he voluntarily surrendered in 2002 after fighting a lengthy battle against extradition, so that justice could be done.

The trial, which began in September 2004, has been dogged by delays and controversy, including an unsuccessful defense challenge to remove the judges hearing the case for alleged bias in May.

Seromba was the first Catholic priest to face genocide charges before the ICTR, although the trial of a second, Father Emmanuel Rukundo, a former army chaplain in northern Rwanda, began in mid-November.

A third has yet to begin.

Several other clergymen and women have been tried by the ICTR and in Rwandan and foreign courts in connection with the genocide.

Last week, another cleric, Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, who was convicted by the ICTR and sentenced to 10 years in prison, became the first court's first convict to be released after serving his time.

Formed in late 1994, the Arusha-based tribunal has so far has tried 32 people, including Seromba, accused of orchestrating or carrying out the genocide, convicting 27 and acquitting five.