Monthly Archives: July 2006
Catholic Bishops `Fishing’ for New Priests
By RNS Blog Editor — July 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In this era of Eminem and Britney Spears, of sexy sitcoms and sexier commercials, of high-speed Internet and instant gratification, a life of celibacy devoted to God can be a hard sell to a teenager. So as the nation’s Roman Catholic leaders gathered recently and watched a video called […]
Baptist Leader Pledges Continued Focus on New Orleans’ Needs
By Bruce Nolan — July 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The new leader of the 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention toured New Orleans’ vast flood zone this week and, astonished at what he saw, promised to point more volunteers toward the region where tens of thousands of Baptist church members have toiled since the second day after Hurricane Katrina. […]
COMMENTARY: Contemporary Events Collide With Ancient History
By James Rudin — July 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) On July 12, Hezbollah, a terrorist group as defined by the United States and other Western democracies, defied a U.N. Security Council resolution by crossing the internationally recognized border between Lebanon and Israel where it captured two Israeli soldiers and killed others. That reckless but carefully planned attack compelled […]
U.S. Jews moving to Israel; SBC in N.O.; Israeli Arabs in the middle; Fishing for priests
By RNS Blog Editor — July 21, 2006
Jeff Diamant writes in Thursday’s RNS report about American Jews who are keeping their plans to move to Israel despite the increased violence in the Middle East since last week: Ideally, they said, they would have picked another week for the biggest move of their lives. Still, 220 Jews with one-way tickets to Israel boarded […]
Congress and Marriage
By RNS Blog Editor — July 20, 2006
House Marriage Amendment Falls Short A vote in the House of Representatives failed to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have constitutionally defined marriage as a heterosexual union, as Peter Sachs reports in this week’s full-text RNS article, linked above. The Senate had previously rejected the measure. Interesting quote: A co-sponsor of the amendment, […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service President Vetoes Expansion of Stem Cell Research (RNS) President Bush exercised the first veto of his presidency Wednesday (July 19) to reject a bill that would have expanded federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Speaking at a White House event that included young children from the embryo program of […]
Katrina `Mercy’ Killings Cross Line, Ethicists Say
By Bruce Nolan — July 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ Conditions were hellish: Electrical power knocked out by Hurricane Katrina. The hospital isolated; its medical staff exhausted, anxious and largely helpless. Profoundly sick patients deteriorating in unbearable heat. But if a doctor and two nurses at Memorial Medical Center purposely injected patients with a lethal dose of […]
Billboard Campaign Urges Drivers to `Use Your Common Saints’
By Benedicta Cipolla — July 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Monday morning. You’re crawling along at 20 mph, slurping coffee and avoiding calls from the office. You drive by the usual billboards hawking beer and condo developments, when suddenly there appears a message from St. Jude. Yes, St. Jude. No, it’s not a vision. On Chicago’s Kennedy Expressway, the […]
COMMENTARY: Shuttle Trumps `Left Behind’ for True Religious Mystery
By Frances Kennedy — July 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Television topped itself this past weekend with an exposition of self-conscious and superficial religious mystery on Sunday (July 16) night and a report of unself-conscious and profound religious mystery on Monday morning. The National Geographic Society, famous for its yellow-bordered magazine, veered perilously close to yellow journalism with its […]
Adventist Conference Aims to Stamp Out Smoking
By Peter Sachs — July 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Following a groundbreaking conference, some Seventh-day Adventist doctors are talking about upending their now antiquated approach to helping smokers quit their habit. DeWitt Williams, the director of health for the North American division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, said that while Adventists have been known for their anti-tobacco […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 19, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Vatican Calls African Cleric’s Comments `Deplorable’ VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican chastised an African cleric on Thursday (July 13), calling his recent denunciation of the church’s clergy celibacy requirement “deplorable.” The comments came in a statement from the Holy See a day after former Zambian archbishop Emmanuel Milingo turned up […]
Senate Approves Three Stem Cell Bills
By Daniel Burke — July 19, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ After a complex medical and ethical debate, the Senate passed three bills related to embryonic stem-cell research Tuesday (July 18), including one that would expand federal funding in the controversial field of scientific study. Though the House of Representatives and President Bush are expected to quickly approve two […]
House Marriage Amendment Falls Short
By RNS Blog Editor — July 19, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The House of Representatives rejected Tuesday (July 18) an attempt to amend the Constitution to outlaw gay marriage, falling short of the required two-thirds majority. While 236 House members supported the amendment, 187 voted against it. Still the amendment gained votes from 2004, when 227 representatives voted for […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 19, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service World Vision President Emeritus Ted Engstrom Dead at 90 (RNS) Ted Engstrom, the president emeritus of the evangelical relief agency World Vision International, died Friday (July 14) at age 90, the agency announced. The author of more than 50 books, Engstrom also was known for his influence among evangelicals through […]
Helping the Next Generation of Ministers
By Patrick O'Donnell — July 19, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When Amanda Adams was growing up, she considered a number of professions: doctor, nurse, writer, teacher, psychologist and bareback rider. She eventually became a Presbyterian minister because it includes all the things she wants. “Ministry,” said Adams, 26, “is an extraordinary balancing act between what we do every day […]
