Monthly Archives: May 2005

Religious Conservatives Threaten Brokers of Filibuster Compromise

By Kein Eckstrom — May 25, 2005

c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Richard Land, James Dobson and Paul Weyrich are angry _ angry at “activist” judges who they say are legislating from the bench, angry at Democrats who try to derail judicial nominations and angry at Republicans who are allowing the filibuster to survive. But these leaders of the Christian […]

Religious Progressives, Outpaced by Conservatives, See Hope in Judicial Fight

By Kein Eckstrom — May 25, 2005

c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Six months after the November elections left them defeated and demoralized, progressive religious groups by most measures continue to be outpaced and drowned out by well-organized conservative groups. Yet progressive leaders say the fight over judicial nominations has shown they are making measured progress in moderating the influence […]

COMMENTARY: Common-Sense Center Must Assert Itself

By Tom Ehrich — May 25, 2005

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In 1919, after a pointless war had decimated Europe’s youth, Irish poet W.B. Yeats wrote an epitaph for the center, where common sense, compromise and reason join hands to sustain civilization. “Things fall apart,” he wrote; “the centre cannot hold.” He blamed the “blood-dimmed tide” on too little “conviction” […]

RNS Daily Digest

By RNS Blog Editor — May 25, 2005

c. 2005 Religion News Service Bush Affirms Position on Embryonic Stem Cell Research WASHINGTON (RNS) As Congress debated legislation that would lift some restrictions on stem cell research, President Bush affirmed his position Tuesday (May 24) by welcoming to the White House families with children who had been “adopted” as frozen embryos. “Rather than discard […]

Jewish Community Centers Give Preschoolers `Ethical Start’

By RNS Blog Editor — May 24, 2005

c. 2005 Religion News Story (UNDATED) The children could pick any one of three boxes lined up before them. One was an old, plain, beat-up white box. Another was newer and black. The third box was brightly decorated, almost like a present. The 4- and 5-year-olds were told only that they would receive something from […]

COMMENTARY: To Engage Moderate Muslims, We Must Understand Radical Islam

By RNS Blog Editor — May 24, 2005

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The United States is not faring well in the war of ideas with radical Islam. Earlier proposals for “rebranding” America were shallow, current proposals for “public diplomacy” lack focus, and many U.S. policies are unpopular, a situation aggravated by the Muslim world’s media portrayal of them in a distorted […]

RNS Daily Digest

By RNS Blog Editor — May 24, 2005

c. 2005 Religion News Service Pope Chides Spain for Liberal Policies, Says Family Threatened VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI told Spanish bishops that he prays the traditional family will survive attempts to “degrade its dignity and attack its freedom” in Spain, once one of Europe’s most Catholic countries. In a letter to the bishops […]

Citing Morality, Bush Takes Risky Stand on Embryonic Stem Cells

By RNS Blog Editor — May 24, 2005

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) President Bush’s announcement that he would veto any effort to expand embryonic stem cell research puts his Republican Party between a rock and a hard place politically, making the GOP appear morally and ethically out of touch with the majority of Americans. The hard line Bush and his conservative […]

RNS Daily Digest