Monthly Archives: August 2005
Vatican Ruling on Boston Assets Could Have Ripple Effect
By Calvin Woodward — August 19, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service PORTLAND, Ore. _ In a preliminary decision with overtones for the bankrupt Archdiocese of Portland and other U.S. dioceses, the Vatican has told the Archdiocese of Boston that it erred in seizing and selling hundreds of millions of dollars in parish assets. The decision, acknowledged by Boston church leaders on […]
COMMENTARY: New York Is Again Haunted by Voices of Sept. 11
By Frances Kennedy — August 19, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Instead of climbing to a mountaintop to find God or religious experiences, come to noisy Manhattan where the mystical is more accessible than in most monasteries. The voices of the living, the dead and the dying now speak to us out of the fiery whirlwind of Sept. 11 on […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 19, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Boycott Over, Southern Baptists Offers Tips on Disney Movies (RNS) In a sign that its boycott against the Walt Disney Co. is history, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention has published a review of Disney movies that Baptists might have missed during their eight-year separation from the entertainment […]
Program Trains Christians to Become Hollywood Moguls
By Christa Brown — August 19, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ It’s hip to be spiritual in Hollywood these days, as long as you’re not religious. The way the fashionable set see it: Scientology and Kabbalah are in, Christianity is out. But a new program to train Christians to be film and television executives is trying to reverse […]
The difficulty of closing a church
By RNS Blog Editor — August 18, 2005
The Rev. J. Bryan Hehir of the Archdiocese of Boston “Closing a military base is a piece of cake compared to closing a parish. Nobody gets buried in a military base.” -The Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, cabinet secretary for social services for Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley of Boston. Hehir was quoted by The Washington Post […]
Christianity and the ‘New Urbanism’
By RNS Blog Editor — August 18, 2005
Churches Embrace ‘New Urbanism’ as Antidote to Isolation Marshall Allen’s RNS piece (lkinked above) features Christian leaders who see the architectural movement known as ‘new urbanism’ as “a possible antidote to the isolation experienced by many churches and Christians. Across the country, influential Christians are thinking theologically about urban design and applying its principles to […]
This Ain’t Your Father’s Sin … Or Maybe It Is
By RNS Blog Editor — August 18, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Struggling with alcoholism? A failing marriage? An abusive personality? Psychologists might say you can blame dad, grandpa or someone even further back for your personal problems. Familial patterns of behavioral or emotional issues are a key component of modern psychology, but one counselor and author now says the theory […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 18, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Founder of Taize Ecumenical Community Stabbed to Death (RNS) Brother Roger, the 90-year-old leader of the Taize community that fostered relations among Christians, was stabbed to death by a woman during a prayer service Tuesday (Aug. 16) at the community he founded in eastern France. Authorities said a 36-year-old Romanian […]
History of the Pledge of Allegiance Holds a Lot More Than `Under God’
By RNS Blog Editor — August 18, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) After recent court cases, many Americans know that the phrase “under God” was added to “The Pledge of Allegiance” in the 1950s. But do you know who wrote the Pledge, when and _ perhaps more important _ why? Richard J. Ellis didn’t. So the politics professor at Willamette University […]
COMMENTARY: The Unholy Logic of Backlash
By Hesham Hassaballa — August 18, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Almost without fail, whenever a terrorist strikes _ especially one of the Muslim flavor _ a backlash against innocent Arab and Muslim citizens follows. It happened after the Oklahoma City bombing, and it resulted in a miscarriage by a pregnant Muslim woman whose home was attacked. It happened after […]
Generational sin; and the history of the Pledge
By RNS Blog Editor — August 18, 2005
In Wednesday’s RNS report, Shawna Gamache examines the idea of “generational sin”-the belief that the “sins of the father” are passed down to future generations-by looking at Beverly Hubble Tauke’s recent book, “Overcoming the Sins of the Family: Becoming the Redemptive Generation.” And Nancy Haught probes into the history of the Pledge of Allegiance with […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Update: Georgia Priest Who Criticized A-bombs Will Lose His Pulpit (RNS) A Catholic priest who caused a local stir by traveling to Japan to apologize for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is being removed from his church, according to an independent Catholic newspaper. The Rev. Robert Cushing, associate […]
Opponent to begging limits in Atlanta
By Tracy Gordon — August 17, 2005
Quote of the Day: Clarence Davis, Homeless Atlanta Man “All through the Bible, they were begging. Begging was way back there in the Bible days.” -Clarence Davis, an opponent to a proposal, adopted Monday (Aug. 15), that limits begging in parts of downtown Atlanta. He was quoted by USA Today.
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Pope Causes Stir by Urging Crucifixes in Public Buildings ROME (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI touched off a vocal debate among Italian political leaders and in the media by saying Monday (Aug. 15) that crucifixes should be displayed in public buildings. During a homily to mark the Assumption of the Blessed […]
Churches Embrace `New Urbanism’ as Antidote to Isolation
By Richard Allen — August 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service PASADENA, Calif. _ Eric Jacobsen speaks passionately about things like sidewalks and storefronts. But he’s not an architect or developer. He’s a Presbyterian pastor. As Jacobsen sees it, city planning has an important influence on religious experience. He is an advocate for New Urbanism, the architecture movement that calls for […]
