Monthly Archives: November 2006
Sobering HIV/AIDS Report Presents Challenge for Religious Groups
By Carl Anderson — November 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Ten years ago, the World Council of Churches said the AIDS pandemic “exposes the complicity and complacency of churches, challenging them to be better involved, more active, and more faithful.” On the eve of World AIDS Day on Friday (Dec. 1), religious leaders, citing a new report by the […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Pope, Williams Acknowledge `Serious Obstacles’ to Unity VATICAN CITY (RNS) Doctrinal differences between the Anglican Church and the Vatican loomed large as the archbishop of Canterbury paid a visit to Pope Benedict XVI. As Archbishop Rowan Williams met with Benedict in the Vatican on Thursday (Nov. 23), recent decisions by […]
Jews Debate Whether Aid Money Should Assist Non-Jewish Israelis
By Michele Chabin — November 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service JERUSALEM _ American Jewry’s largest fundraising organization is under fire for using some of the money raised to aid Israeli war victims to help non-Jewish Israeli citizens. Some center-right Jewish organizations have criticized the United Jewish Communities (UJC), the umbrella organization of local Jewish federations and communities in North America, […]
`Born-Again Heathen’ Bikers Run Full-Throttle for Jesus
By Kristen Campbell — November 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ The cruisers rumble into the parking lot in quick pairs. The riders dismount, shaking ponytails out of their helmets. They’ve got patches on their leather jackets, tattoos on their arms, and eyes that have seen everything. Move over, Satan, and heads-up, heathens: These bikers have Jesus in […]
Heavy Security Planned for Pope’s Trip to Turkey
By RNS Blog Editor — November 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service ANKARA, Turkey _ Turkey’s government is rolling out heavy security measures in preparation for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday (Nov. 28) for the first leg of the pope’s four-day visit to this predominantly Muslim country. Rooftop snipers, bomb squads and more than 3,000 police will be deployed […]
COMMENTARY: HIV/AIDS Is America’s Problem, too
By Dale Hanson Bourke — November 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) For the last several years, while Americans have blissfully believed it was someone else’s problem, HIV has been doing what it does best: hiding in plain sight. Taking advantage of shame, stigma and bigotry, the HIV virus has infected not only bodies but minds, luring many Americans into a […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Israeli Supreme Court Approves Overseas Gay Marriages (RNS) An Israeli Supreme Court ruling requiring the government to recognize gay marriages performed abroad has many American Jews rejoicing. “It’s a great day for marriage. It’s a great day for Israel. And it’s a great day for Jews,” said Alan Dershowitz, the […]
COMMENTARY: Can You Hear Me Now?
By Frances Kennedy — November 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) America’s ambivalence, once directed mostly toward in-laws, is now focused on cell phones. Like pets that aren’t housebroken, cell phones ignore the rules, break in where they don’t belong and distract us. But just as people don’t want to put down their pets, they don’t want to get rid […]
Muslim Women Organize for Change, Influence
By Omar Sacirbey — November 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ Feisal Abdul Rauf, the latest in a family line of imams, weaved through the crowd of chattering women, balancing four cups of coffee on a cardboard tray. Arriving at his table, where he was the only man, he passed the coffees around, wearing a sly grin. The […]
COMMENTARY: Happy Birthday, Justice Brandeis
By James Rudin — November 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Louis D. Brandeis, one of America’s greatest Supreme Court justices, was born 150 years ago in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 13, 1856. Today, a prestigious university in Waltham, Mass., bears his name as does the University of Louisville Law School and an Israeli kibbutz. Brandeis graduated from Harvard Law […]
Protestants Use Christmas Movie to Talk About Mary
By Christa Brown — November 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ Scot McKnight, a religious studies professor, was teaching a number of years ago when he had an “aha” moment. McKnight had just read aloud the Magnificat, the Virgin Mary’s hymn of praise from the Gospel of Luke. “What kind of woman would have said this?” McKnight asked […]
10 Minutes With … Justin Cannon
By Timothy Isaiah Cho — November 23, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) At just 22 years old, Justin Cannon is the founder of RainbowChristians.com, perhaps the first and only gay Christian dating Web site. As a college student, Cannon struggled with self-hate as he tried to reconcile his homosexuality with his Christian beliefs. In 2005, he launched TruthSetsFree.net, an informational site […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 22, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Charges Dismissed Against Presbyterian Minister in Gay Wedding Case (RNS) Charges have been dropped against a Presbyterian pastor accused of officiating at a lesbian wedding after a church court found church prosecutors failed to file their paperwork on time. The Rev. Janet Edwards of Pittsburgh faced possible expulsion if convicted. […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 22, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service California Bishop Ordered to Counseling to Avoid Charges (RNS) A California Catholic bishop who failed to immediately report allegations of child sex abuse will avoid criminal charges if he undergoes counseling, the Sonoma County district attorney said Monday (Nov. 20). Bishop Daniel Walsh of Santa Rosa admitted wrongdoing in deciding […]
California Diocese Lays Groundwork to Secede from Episcopal Church
By Daniel Burke — November 22, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A battle is brewing in the Episcopal Church over the Diocese of San Joaquin, Calif., which is poised to be the first diocese to secede and position itself as the home of a new U.S. branch of Anglicanism. Home to an estimated 10,000 Episcopalians, the diocese will vote on […]
