Monthly Archives: April 1996
TOP STORY: RELIGION AND POLITICS—ANALYSIS: Myth of `Catholic vote’ survives all reason
By RNS Blog Editor — April 22, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-They now are often identified with religious conservatives, but once they were a key segment of the liberal New Deal coalition. They were well represented among the Reagan Democrats 10 years ago, yet many still count themselves among social activists battling to preserve programs for the poor. And they […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — April 20, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Vatican, other religious groups condemn Israeli attacks in Lebanon (RNS)-The Vatican on Friday (April 19) joined other religious groups condemning Israel’s missile assault on a United Nations peacekeeping compound in southern Lebanon Thursday in which at least 75 were killed, and urged the warring parties to seek a political solution […]
NEWS STORY: Report: Women prime target of anti-Muslim bias
By Ira Rifkin — April 20, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-On the first anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, an Islamic watchdog group reported an”alarming”pattern of anti-Muslim incidents-many involving women-in the year since initial speculation blamed Muslim militants for the blast. Almost 300 incidents of anti-Muslim bias, harassment, violence and threats of violence were noted in the report released […]
NEWS STORY: Vatican enters fray over late-term abortions
By RNS Blog Editor — April 20, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS)-The Vatican stepped into the politically charged debate over late-term abortions Friday (April 19), saying President Clinton’s veto last week of a bill that would have barred the rare procedure was”shameful”and a”brutal act of aggression against innocent life.” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls denied that the Roman Catholic Church […]
NEWS STORY: Methodist bishops break ranks on ordaining gays
By Carl Anderson — April 20, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Declaring that it is”time to break the silence,”15 United Methodist bishops have called on their 8.6 million-member denomination to allow the church to ordain homosexuals to the ministry. But the dissenting bishops pledged they would not commit ecclesiastical disobedience by ordaining gays to the clergy and affirmed they would uphold […]
COMMENTARY: Ordinary people, extraordinary hatred
By RNS Blog Editor — April 19, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Andrew M. Greeley is a Roman Catholic priest, best-selling novelist and sociologist at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center. His home page on the World Wide Web is at http://www.greeley.com. Or send him e-mail at agreel(AT)aol.com.) (RNS)-Is nativism-hatred of immigrants-taking America where hatred of the Jews took the […]
NEWS STORY: Methodist meeting takes up agenda of conscience
By Steve Rabey — April 19, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service DENVER (RNS)-Delegates and visitors to a 10-day meeting of the United Methodist Church’s top decision-making body held a two-hour worship service Thursday (April 18) that promoted greater openness to people of diverse backgrounds and denounced sexism and racism. The service was aimed at uniting the church, which is seeking to […]
TOP STORY: DEATH IN LEBANON: Measuring the morality of the Israeli-Arab conflict
By RNS Blog Editor — April 19, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-On Thursday at least 75 Lebanese refugees were killed when Israeli gunfire hit a U.N. peacekeepers’ base manned by a battalion of soldiers from Fiji. In February and March, more than 60 Israelis died in Palestinian suicide attacks. Do the actions equally violate accepted moral norms? Like everything else about […]
NEWS FEATURE: Timothy Leary may be planning public suicide on the Internet
By RNS Blog Editor — April 19, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Timothy Leary may be about to kill himself-live on the Internet-and his old friend Ken Kesey, for one, says he’s planning to watch. “It will be stimulating,” says Kesey, the author whose association with Leary goes back 30 years to his days as leader of the footloose Merry Pranksters. “It […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — April 19, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Maine’s Episcopal bishop takes leave after admitting extra-marital affair (RNS)-Bishop Edward C. Chalfant of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine will take a voluntary year’s leave of absence in the wake of the revelation that he was involved in an extra-marital relationship.”I have made grievous errors in judgment and behavior,”Chalfant said […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — April 18, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service American Jewish Committee finds little anti-Semitism in Russia (RNS)-Anti-Semitism in Russia is relatively low compared to hostility toward other groups, according to a survey released Tuesday (April 16) by the American Jewish Committee. The study, entitled”Current Russian Attitudes Toward Jews and the Holocaust,”measured respondents’ attitudes toward Jews and knowledge and […]
NEWS FEATURE: Christian music industry sounds note of disappointment
By Steve Rabey — April 18, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Three years ago, leaders in the growing Christian music industry boldly predicted that gospel would follow in the bootsteps of country, emerging from the shadows to become a major pop genre. But today, gospel still accounts for only 3 percent of America’s $12 billion music industry, just slightly ahead of […]
TOP STORY: RELIGION AND POLITICS: Liberals look to spirit to invigorate their movement
By Ira Rifkin — April 18, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-Torie Osborn, former executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Janet Winter, a member of the Bruderhof sect, a theologically conservative communal Christian group, lead lives that appear galaxies apart. Yet there they both were, Osborn in jeans and Winter wearing an ankle-length skirt and […]
COMMENTARY: Wisdom means learning to number our days
By RNS Blog Editor — April 18, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Samuel K. Atchison is an ordained minister and has worked as a policy analyst and social worker to the homeless. He currently is a prison chaplain in Trenton, N.J.) (RNS)-They buried my friend Andrea the other day, and part of my youth went with her. Hers is the first death […]
NEWS STORY: Catholic prelates rip `shameful’ Clinton abortion-bill veto
By Adelle M. Banks — April 18, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-In a strongly worded letter, American cardinals and the president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops have condemned President Clinton’s recent veto of a proposed law banning a controversial late-term abortion procedure. “Your veto of this bill is beyond comprehension for those who hold human life sacred,” they said. […]
