Resurrecting the dead.  [An editorial by Wesley Fager.]  I think the President is doing a good job in the "War on Terror", but that doesn't mean I agree with everything he does. Take his novel contribution to the "War on Drugs"--his "faith-based initiative." Back when George W. Bush was the governor of Texas, representatives from Roloff Schools (an affiliation with Roloff Ministries) came to him complaining that the school was having a problem getting a state license to operate. The school was having a problem because the state had accused it of abuse. That's when Governor Bush came up with an amazing solution. He backed legislation that would exempt religious-backed social programs from government licensing standards. After all, if you are a man of God, doesn't that guarantee that you automatically have standards higher than any possible state sanctioned standards. Which brings us to Ariel Ben Sherman, pastor of New Life Tabernacle Church near Knoxville, Tennessee. Pastor Sherman was the "spiritual father" of Jessica Lynn Crank, a 15 year old teenager who, in June, was taken by her mother to a walk-in clinic because of a growth on her shoulder. The growth was the size of a basketball and clinic personnel told the mother to take Jessica to the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville. But the mother, daughter and the minister (all lived in the same house) decided to use prayer instead. Jessica died last week due to her cancer and her mother and "spiritual father" have been charged by prosecutors with aggravated child abuse and neglect. The charges could be changed to murder. Pastor Sherman conducted the funeral services for Jessica and during the ceremony  he tried to raise Jessica from the dead. Jessica was not raised. But had she been, that would have caused all sorts of problems for the prosecution. How do you prosecute someone for murder if the deceased has been resurrected?    I just have issues with our President's notion of exempting churches, carte blanche, from licensing requirements. I have problems giving my tax dollars to some churches to run some social programs for our kids. I think the French are on the right track. They are trying to establish guidelines to determine what should or should not constitute a bona fide religion. If any good has come from the "War on Terror" it is that our national attention has been shifted away from this phony war on drugs and now concentrates on a real war.  Jessica's story.     Related story.