Monthly Archives: December 2005
COMMENTARY: Iranian President Sounds a Lot Like Hitler
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Americans have a split personality about the importance of learning from history. In 1905, philosopher George Santayana warned: “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” But in a 1916 Chicago Tribune interview, automaker Henry Ford declared: “History is more or less bunk.” Surveys continually indicate […]
Pope’s Santa-Like Hat Another Fashion Statement
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ A crimson cap, trimmed with snow-white fur and worn by a rosy-cheeked elderly man as he glides past thousands of onlookers days before Christmas, may come across as typical holiday kitsch in many parts of the world. Here, however, the Santa-like accessory is an undeniable fashion statement. […]
COMMENTARY: Christmas, a Time to Put Down Our Opinions to Sing and Listen
By Tom Ehrich — December 23, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It was a day before Christmas. Our men’s ensemble rehearsed Franz Biebl’s ethereal “Ave Maria,” beloved anthem of Roman Catholicism. For a moment, we reached across the Protestant Reformation to embrace our shared origins in a girl who said yes to God. I sat in a coffee shop. A […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Moore’s Wife Seeks Funds for `Spokesperson for Christian Conservatism’ MONTGOMERY, Ala. (RNS) The wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Moore _ “the Ten Commandments judge” _ is asking supporters for a Christmas campaign gift to help her husband become a “national spokesperson for Christian conservatism.” Kayla Moore wrote in an […]
Kirtland, the Historic Place of Mormon Revelations
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service KIRTLAND, Ohio _ Anyone with a birthday close to Christmas will recognize the dilemma faced by leaders of two churches linked to the man they call the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. Smith, who is said to have discovered the Book of Mormon and while in northeast Ohio received revelations that […]
Judge Rules Intelligent Design Unconstitutional
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A federal judge dealt a setback to the teaching of intelligent design in public schools by ruling Tuesday (Dec. 20) that a Pennsylvania school district’s policy promoted an unconstitutional variation of creationism, a religious theory. U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones, who presided over a six-week trial in […]
Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks at funeral for “Tookie”
By Tracy Gordon — December 22, 2005
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Jesse Jackson “Tookie is dead. We’re not safer, we’re not more secure, we’re not more humane.” -The Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist, speaking at the funeral Tuesday (Dec. 20) of Stanley Tookie Williams, who was put to death by injection for the 1979 murders of a 7-Eleven clerk […]
The Year in Review
By RNS Blog Editor — December 22, 2005
RNS’s Kevin Eckstrom reviews the year 2005, in this week’s full-text article: “And come he slow, or come he fast,” Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott once wrote, in a passage that could be applied to 2005, “It is but death who comes at last.”
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 22, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Pope Laments Consumerism, Loss of Religious Traditions at Christmas VATICAN CITY (RNS) Consumerism has obscured the traditional meaning of Christmas, Pope Benedict XVI said on Wednesday (Nov. 21), renewing his call to keep the birth of Christ at the center of holiday celebrations. Donning a fur-trimmed crimson cap and cape, […]
Catholic Nun, 81, Employs Zen Buddhism to Stoke Fires Within
By RNS Blog Editor — December 22, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service TORONTO _ Few people can turn as many religious stereotypes on their head the way Elaine MacInnes does. No ordinary Roman Catholic nun, as she freely, even gleefully, concedes, the 81-year-old MacInnes is an accomplished classical musician and a prison activist in the mold of her American friend, Sister Helen […]
COMMENTARY: The Greatest Hanukkah Gift for Our Children
By RNS Blog Editor — December 22, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The great race to shop for holiday gifts is in high gear. But as Christmas and Hanukkah fast approach, will we also remember to give the greatest, most enduring gifts of all? There is nothing about the holiday of Hanukkah that demands gift-giving (though giving money to children is […]
COMMENTARY: `Christmas’ Flap Shows Secularism Needs New Vision, Ideas
By RNS Blog Editor — December 22, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) ‘Tis the season to get all worked up over religious imagery in public places. From the talking heads of cable news to local media across the country, the secularization of Christmas _ or should I say, “the Holidays” _ is receiving more attention than ever. We need not even […]
COMMENTARY: How, on a Two-Lane Highway, I Discovered the Christ in Christmas
By RNS Blog Editor — December 22, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It was one of those bitter-cold nights, when the snow crackles under your feet and the stars have to twinkle just to stay warm. We were driving on a two-lane highway, winding our way north out of southern Ohio. On our right, the Ohio River was threatening to make […]
Remembering the true meaning of Christmas
By Tracy Gordon — December 22, 2005
Quote of the Day: Pope Benedict XVI “In today’s consumer society, this time of year unfortunately suffers from a sort of commercial pollution that threatens to alter its true spirit.” -Pope Benedict XVI, speaking Dec. 11 about the meaning of Christmas. To help remember the religious meaning of Christmas, families should set up Nativity scenes, […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 21, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Religion Writers Rank Biggest Stories of 2005 (RNS) Religion writers deemed Pope John Paul II’s death and the naming of his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, the top two religion stories of 2005. An end-of-life dispute, faith-based disaster relief and the ordination of gay clergy also made the list, released by […]
