Monthly Archives: April 1996
COMMENTARY: A pastor attacked for advocating pluralism
By James Rudin — April 17, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-A bitter dispute currently unfolding in a small Michigan town has profound implications for Christian-Jewish relations everywhere. Richard Rhem, the 61-year-old pastor of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, may be expelled from his denomination, the Reformed […]
NEWS STORY: Catholic prelates rip `shameful’ Clinton abortion-bill veto
By Adelle M. Banks — April 17, 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. […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — April 17, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Report charges China with suppressing Tibetan Buddhism (RNS)-A new report released Monday (April 15) by the International Campaign for Tibet says Tibetan Buddhists are undergoing the worst wave of religious repression since martial law was imposed in 1989. The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet was formed in 1988 to promote […]
NEWS ANALYSIS: The pendulum of Islam swings anew in Turkey
By RNS Blog Editor — April 17, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service ANKARA, Turkey (RNS)-In Turkey, it’s nearly impossible to escape the steely glare of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938), the father of the modern Turkish republic. His grainy black-and-white portrait adorns schools, shopping centers, post offices and bath houses. Every Turkish village, no matter how small, has at least one street bearing […]
TOP STORY: WOMEN RELIGIOUS: Nuns break away from silly image with serious works
By Karen Long — April 17, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-The nuns are annoyed. The satire in “Nunsense” seems a generation outdated. The insipidness of Sally Field in “The Flying Nun” still makes them cringe. And the hapless convent dwellers in “Sister Act” may be great as foils for Whoopi Goldberg, but they insult a cadre of women who rank […]
COMMENTARY: People for the Ethical Treatment of Fish
By Ashbel S. (Tony) Green — April 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Frederica Mathewes-Green is a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church. She is the author of the recent book”Real Choices”and is a frequent contributor to Christianity Today magazine.) (RNS)-The latest animal-rights action spreads beyond usual bounds: Members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plan to disrupt a sport-fishing tournament […]
NEWS FEATURE: Former allies pressure Kuwait on apostasy case
By Kim Lawton — April 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-Five years after the Gulf War, politicians and human-rights groups from the United States and other Western-allied nations are urging the government of Kuwait to intervene in an unprecedented apostasy case against a Kuwaiti convert from Islam to Christianity. On Wednesday (April 17), a legal hearing is scheduled in […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — April 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Southern Baptists, largest Protestant denomination, keep growing (RNS)-The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, continues to grow, with a slight increase in membership and a 4 percent increase in baptisms last year. Newly released statistics show that church membership reached 15,668,077 in 1995, an increase […]
NEWS STORY: Post-apartheid hearings elicit tearful tales of abuse
By RNS Blog Editor — April 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service EAST LONDON, South Africa (RNS)-Dramatic first-day testimony during South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings was interrupted today (April 15) when security police cleared the main hearing room because of a bomb threat. When the hearings proceeded about 30 minutes later, an angry Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chairman of the […]
TOP STORY: ISLAM IN EUROPE: In France, terrorist attacks cast shadow over Arabs’ future
By RNS Blog Editor — April 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service PARIS (RNS)-Like thousands of other immigrants, Slimane Lahiane is never caught without his French residency permit. But the document is not foolproof insurance against trouble.”I get asked for my papers all the time, and once I was beaten by a cop for no apparent reason,”said the 21-year-old, who like many […]
National security adviser makes late-night visits to protesting nun
By Julia Lieblich — April 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion New Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-National Security Adviser Anthony Lake left the White House at about 10:30 last Wednesday night (April 10) and walked across the street to Lafayette Square, where a handful of homeless men were weathering the cold. For the third time that week, he stopped at an encampment of umbrellas covered […]
COMMENTARY: A president’s veto could unite GOP on abortion
By RNS Blog Editor — April 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Charles W. Colson, former special counsel to Richard Nixon, served a prison term for his role in the Watergate scandal. He now heads Prison Fellowship International, an evangelical Christian ministry to the imprisoned and their families. Contact Colson via e-mail at 71421.1551(AT)compuserve.com.) (RNS)-President Clinton’s veto of a bill outlawing abortions […]
TOP STORY: RELIGION AND POLITICS: Religious Left aims to reinvigorate its moral voice
By Karen Long — April 13, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (WASHINGTON) Determined not to relinquish the moral high ground to the Christian Coalition, a who’s-who of leftist intellectuals, community activists and religious leaders are gathering this weekend to foment a Religious Left. “The Summit on Ethics and Meaning” in Washington, D.C., is a rally for activists appalled by the political […]
COMMENTARY: A good media week for Jesus
By RNS Blog Editor — April 13, 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 contact him at his e-mail address: agreel(at sign)aol.com.) (RNS)-Media-wise, Jesus is doing pretty well these days. He […]
Evangelist Palau promotes racial reconciliation
By RNS Blog Editor — April 13, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service CHICAGO (RNS)-Doug Hansen first realized that he contributed to, and must repent of, racism at a prayer meeting for evangelist Luis Palau’s “Say Yes, Chicago” crusade. To prepare for the crusade, which began last week, about 75 pastors-half of them black, the rest white-gathered late last year at a church […]
