Monthly Archives: July 2004
NEWS STORY: Tibetan Rights Group: China Seeking to Repress Buddhism
By Judilee King — July 20, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The Chinese government is waging an organized war on Buddhism in Tibet, says a U.S.-based Tibetan interest group. A report released earlier this month by the nonprofit International Campaign for Tibet contains translated documents the group said prove Chinese policy is aimed at undermining the free practice of […]
COMMENTARY: Leave Awe Unexplained
By Kimberly A.C. Wilson — July 20, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Marc Howard Wilson is a rabbi, columnist and organizational design consultant in Greenville, S.C. Collections of his essays may be found at http://www.marcmusing.com and http://www.eGullet.com. He may be reached at marcwilson1216(at)aol.com.) (UNDATED) Someplace between sainthood and damnation lies the legacy of Ronald Reagan. I have my own opinions. I am […]
Christian Comic: We Depend on God Because We Have No Idea What We’re Doing
By Bob Smietana — July 20, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When comedian and performer Bob Stromberg started out, he had two goals in mind. First, he wanted to make people laugh. And second, he says, “I was hoping to be able to pay the bills.” Since 1977, whether he’s been performing at elementary school assemblies, in church basements or […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 17, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Watchdog Group Charges Falwell With Politicking for Bush WASHINGTON (RNS) A church-state watchdog group has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service after the Rev. Jerry Falwell told supporters to “get serious about re-electing President Bush” and solicited funds for a political action committee that supports Bush. Falwell, in […]
NEWS STORY: A Papal Vacation: Mountain Views, Prayer, Books and Picnic Lunches
By RNS Blog Editor — July 17, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) He is the leader of the world’s more than 1 billion Catholics and lives in Renaissance splendor in a city-state of his own. But for his summer vacation, Pope John Paul II prefers a simple, two-story chalet in the Italian Alps. For the 10th summer, the 84-year-old Roman Catholic […]
GOP Leaders Court Clergy to Make Inroads With Black Voters
By RNS Blog Editor — July 17, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ The Rev. Marvin McMickle was among prominent black clergy taking notice of which party in a tumultuous campaign week went into the community to seek a dialogue with black leaders. On July 7, the new Democratic presidential ticket of John Kerry and John Edwards held a big rally […]
NEWS STORY: Controversial Ten Commandments Monument Hitting the Road
By RNS Blog Editor — July 17, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A controversial Ten Commandments monument will be moved out of Alabama’s judicial building Monday by a veterans group that plans to tour the country with it on a flatbed truck. Roy Moore, the owner of the 5,280-pound block of inscribed granite, agreed to let the American Veterans Standing for […]
NEWS STORY: Giving Church Rolls to Campaigns Raises `Red Flags,’ IRS Says
By Daniel Burke — July 16, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ On the same day the Bush-Cheney campaign had designated for churches to host a “coffee/pot luck dinner,” Internal Revenue Service officials said handing over a congregation’s membership list could violate federal regulations. In Thursday (July 15) interviews, IRS officials said if church lists are repeatedly given to only […]
NEWS FEATURE: Review: `Bishop’ Breslin’s Catechism Class
By RNS Blog Editor — July 16, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) God has been good to Jimmy Breslin. After a legendary tenure in journalism, this Pulitzer Prize-winning scribe was facing the latter stages of his career with hardly a target worthy of his inimitable ire. Sure, as Newsday’s longtime columnist he could count on any number of New York pols […]
COMMENTARY: The Pressure to Move On
By James Rudin — July 16, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin, American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.) (UNDATED) “It’s time to put it behind us and move on” is an overworked phrase in contemporary American life. Those words are increasingly being heard as we near the third anniversary of the Sept. […]
COMMENTARY: Structure Doesn’t Work but Church Still Does
By RNS Blog Editor — July 16, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Eugene Cullen Kennedy, a longtime observer of the Roman Catholic Church, is professor emeritus of psychology at Loyola University in Chicago and author of “Cardinal Bernardin’s Stations of the Cross,” published by St. Martin’s Press.) (UNDATED) Do not mistake the dire headline stories about the Catholic Church for an obituary: […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 16, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service NCC Head Arrested in Protest Outside Sudanese Embassy WASHINGTON (RNS) The Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, was arrested Wednesday (July 14) by the U.S. Secret Service outside the Embassy of Sudan while protesting alleged genocide in the African nation. “Getting arrested today for this […]
NEWS STORY: Senate Defeats Gay Marriage Amendment
By Kein Eckstrom — July 15, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The Senate defeated a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday (July 14) that would have banned gay marriage, killing _ at least for now _ attempts to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Senators defeated the amendment in a 50-48 procedural vote; 60 votes were needed to […]
NEWS FEATURE: A New Spirit Moves Once Feuding Biblical Scholars
By RNS Blog Editor — July 15, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Elie Wiesel heard the words “biblical criticism” uttered with disdain in the small Jewish village where he grew up in Romania. “Biblical criticism _ how dare you?” was the mantra. So when an elderly man discovered the 11-year-old reading a critical biblical commentary the boy had found hidden behind […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 15, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service `Godless Americans’ Endorse Kerry-Edwards Ticket (RNS) The Godless Americans Political Action Committee has endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president and Sen. John Edwards for vice president in the upcoming 2004 election. Ellen Johnson, executive director of the committee, called the Kerry-Edwards ticket “the clear choice over President Bush, who has […]
