Defining Thanksgiving; Gay Episcoal bishop’s remarks on Catholic Church; An alliance between l

Tuesday’s RNS report looks at different attempts to define the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday in terms of the nation’s divine destiny. G. Jeffrey MacDonald writes: Ever since John Winthrop proclaimed in 1630 a mission to establish “a shining city on a hill” to inspire the world, America has grappled with notions of a national […]

Tuesday’s RNS report looks at different attempts to define the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday in terms of the nation’s divine destiny. G. Jeffrey MacDonald writes: Ever since John Winthrop proclaimed in 1630 a mission to establish “a shining city on a hill” to inspire the world, America has grappled with notions of a national destiny led by the hand of God. Now questions of divine national purpose are playing out in a new setting: the Thanksgiving table. Several agenda-driven groups are equipping gatherings nationwide with reflections on the holiday’s meaning. Like the particular snippets of American history invoked in each, the reflections vary according to each group’s answer to the divine destiny question.

Associate Editor Kevin Eckstrom talks to Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson about his recent remarks about the Catholic Church. Robinson, who is openly gay and whose 2003 election now threatens to split the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion, had criticized Pope Benedict XVI and suggested that frustrated Catholics could find a new home in the badly divided Episcopal Church. Eckstrom writes that Robinson denied accusations that he was trying to lure Catholics out of their churches. Still, Robinson said many Catholics who could no longer “hang in there” have joined the Episcopal Church after they “threw up their hands” when the conservative new pope was elected last spring. Reached on Monday during a layover at the Philadelphia airport, Robinson stood by his comments but insisted his critique was directed not at the church but at conservatives who say homosexuals were the cause of the Catholics’ sexual abuse scandal.

Nicole LaRosa reports on the uneasy alliance being forged between liberals and evangelicals: When evangelicals took center stage at an interfaith “Make Poverty History” rally, the Rev. Chloe Breyer was uneasy at first. A progressive Episcopal priest and a staunch defender of abortion rights, she worried how evangelicals might upset a left-leaning coalition of religious activists lobbying the United Nations World Summit. She became impressed, however, with evangelicals’ stories of relief work in Sierra Leone, their quick response to Hurricane Katrina and even their willingness to criticize President Bush on some issues, like foreign aid. “It was eye-opening for me,” said Breyer. On a spectrum of topics ranging from genocide in Sudan to global warming around the world, liberal religious groups are beginning to see evangelical Christians as their unlikely allies. As evangelicals exert increasing political influence, particularly with the Bush White House, progressive religious activists are seeking ways to collaborate without compromising their principles.


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