Monthly Archives: January 2005
Head of Christian Right Group Says It’s Payback Time for Bush, GOP Congress
By RNS Blog Editor — January 19, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Tony Perkins sits in a state-of-the art studio at the Family Research Council’s headquarters, firing questions at new Louisiana Sen. David Vitter for a weekly radio show broadcast over 150 stations nationwide. He praises Vitter for making history as the first Republican elected to the Senate from Louisiana […]
NEWS FEATURE: Bush Pastor Takes President’s Attendance in Stride
By Adelle M. Banks — January 19, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The Rev. Luis Leon said he treats President Bush just like any other parishioner at the historic St. John’s Church, which is just a short walk from the White House. “I’m not an adviser of any fashion,” he said in an interview. “My relationship is that of the […]
NEWS STORY: Federal Court Denies Atheist’s Motion to Halt Inaugural Prayer
By RNS Blog Editor — January 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ A federal court on Friday (Jan. 14) rejected an atheist’s attempt to block clergy-led prayer at President Bush’s inauguration next week. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a petition for a preliminary injunction brought by Michael Newdow, best known for his unsuccessful suit to […]
NEWS FEATURE: Is Condoleezza Rice the Person Judged by Character That MLK Dreamed Of?
By Jonathan Tilove — January 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In September 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the eulogy for three of the four girls killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. What King could not know was that, within earshot of the blast, just blocks away at her father’s church,was another […]
NEWS FEATURE: Lawmaker John Lewis, on the Spiritual Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
By Kim Lawton — January 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion & Ethics Newsweekly (Editors: To mark the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and the anniversary of the March 1965 Selma-Montgomery march, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly’s managing editor Kim Lawton sat down with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a Baptist preacher who first met King as a teenager and worked closely with the […]
COMMENTARY: How do you Explain the Unexplainable?
By Cathleen Falsani — January 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A few years ago, I met a sweet, earnest, kind man whose name,if I remember correctly, was John. John is a thirtysomething, born-again, church-going, Bible-believing, Jesus-loving Christian. Not too long before I met John, his young wife walked out of their suburban home, was struck by lightning, and died. […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Court Rules Government Must Stop Funding Faith-Based Mentoring Group (RNS) A U.S. district court judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to halt its funding of a faith-based organization in Phoenix that mentors children of prisoners. Judge John C. Shabaz of the U.S. District Court for […]
NEWS STORY: Christian Ethicists Advocate `Just Peacemaking’ as Corollary to Just War
By RNS Blog Editor — January 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly MIAMI _ Almost two years have passed since the start of the Iraq war, but on the eve of President Bush’s inaugural and elections in the still volatile Middle East nation, the issues of war, peace and nation-building still dominate much of the debate among Christian ethicists. In a […]
Inaugural Prayer Has a Long, Calm History Despite Recent Controversy
By Adelle M. Banks — January 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell won’t reveal exactly what words he’ll use in his second inaugural benediction after President Bush’s swearing-in on Jan. 20. “You’ll have to just tune in,” said the senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston. Four years ago, his prayer ending with […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 14, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Religious Leaders Urge Bush to Address Middle East Conflict (RNS) Representing 28 religious organizations, a diverse group of leaders appealed Thursday (Jan. 13) to President Bush to make every effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his second term. The National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East […]
Inaugural Prayer Has a Long, Calm History Despite Recent Controversy
By Adelle M. Banks — January 14, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell won’t reveal exactly what words he’ll use in his second inaugural benediction after President Bush’s swearing-in on Jan. 20. “You’ll have to just tune in,” said the senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston. Four years ago, his prayer ending with […]
COMMENTARY: It’s Almost Time to Celebrate Trees
By RNS Blog Editor — January 14, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Religious festivals usually celebrate the achievements of important spiritual leaders or significant past events including exodus, revelation, birth, death, deliverance, destruction or creation. But beginning on the evening of Jan. 24 and continuing until nightfall the next day, the Jewish people will mark a holiday that is surprisingly not […]
NEWS STORY: Episcopal Bishops Apologize for `Pain, Hurt’ of Gay Bishop’s Election
By Kein Eckstrom — January 14, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The bishops of the Episcopal Church formally apologized Thursday (Jan. 13) for the “pain, hurt and damage” caused by the consecration of an openly gay bishop but stopped short of saying the action was wrong. The bishops, after a two-day meeting in Salt Lake City, issued their first collective […]
COMMENTARY: And the Catholic Winner Is …
By RNS Blog Editor — January 14, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Like the famous backward flying bird that the late humorist Fred Allen describes as less interested in where he is going than in where he has been, the new year looks back over its shoulder at the best movies and performances of 2004, welcoming nominations for Golden Globe and […]
NEWS STORY: Historic Bible Nearby, If Bush Chooses It
By RNS Blog Editor — January 14, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Four years ago, a 234-year-old red goatskin-covered Bible sat inside the Capitol awaiting the moment George W. Bush would take the oath of office for his first term as president. If Bush had used that Bible, he would have joined Presidents George Washington, Warren Harding, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy […]
