If you're not Episcopalian, the latest news from Nigeria makes little sense except as a broad view of the shift in Christianity to a stronghold in the global south. According to Reuters South Africa, the Anglican Church of Nigeria's move this month to delete from its constitution ties to the See of Canterbury and churches not holding the same "Historic Faith, Doctrine, Sacrament and Discipline of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church," further opens the rift between liberal and conservative theology.

What has been characterized in the press as an anti-gay move in the Anglican/Episcopal Church, is at its core a theological issue concerning the authority of scripture—something that was dismantled the same year U.S. Episcopals ordained an openly gay bishop.

Some conservative U.S. Episcopal churches have already sided with the orthodoxy of Africa and adopted leadership from the continent now representing traditional Christianity.

It isn't difficult to understand why disbelief in the authority of the Bible is not a popular new doctrine in countries such as Nigeria, where Christians may be killed for their faith. Why would you die for something that isn't necessarily relevant?

And in Katrina and compassion news, Christianity Today's interview with Jim Towey, assistant to the president and director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, is particularly enlightening in distinguishing the response of churches from that of other groups.

The response from Americans has been one of record-breaking generosity. But as Religion News Service reports, that compassion shows a trend of comfort being provided only for those supposed innocent and/or big agencies getting the best press.