Monthly Archives: January 2008
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 30, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service Holy Land church leaders appeal for Gaza JERUSALEM (RNS) Christian leaders from the Holy Land are demanding that Israel, President Bush and the world community “put an end to this suffering” of Gaza residents caught in the crossfire between Israel and the Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip. “There […]
Hillary and the Duke
By Mark Silk — January 30, 2008
For anyone interested in the author’s secular reflections on the social construction of candidates’ biographies.
Mitt’s Last Chance
By Mark Silk — January 30, 2008
Hugh Hewitt, fighting for Romney till the last dog dies, puts the best face he can on the Florida results and argues that a stop McCain effort will require Huckabee’s people to look down the road and switch to the Mittster. The shadow of the ’96 Dole campaign will fall on McCain now, and the […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 30, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service Cincinnati archbishop bans trips to `Bodies’ exhibit (RNS) The Roman Catholic archbishop of Cincinnati has barred Catholic schools from visiting a controversial science exhibit on the human body, saying that it “fails to respect the persons involved.” “Bodies … The Exhibition,” which displays preserved human cadavers and organs posed to […]
News of the Weird
By Kevin Eckstrom — January 30, 2008
I suppose a reputable news shop like ours should be concerned with winning Pulitzers and A1 real estate, but every once in a while, we find professional satisfaction in the little things-like making it into News of the Weird. Frank Rocca’s story about the hunt for Jesus’ lost foreskin was picked up by the Minneapolis […]
New `Manga’ Bible casts Jesus as ultimate superhero
By Lilly Fowler — January 30, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Superman may have been able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but for Christians, Jesus has always been the ultimate superhero. After all, they say, only Jesus was able to bring salvation to the world through, of all things, his demise. So maybe it’s no surprise that […]
Calling All Scientists
By Daniel Burke — January 30, 2008
The United Church of Christ is launching a web-based ad campaign directed at scientists “with hopes of mending a millenniums-old feud between religion and science.” “Our hope is to begin to move the church to the place where its public image, public witness and public identity is one of a community of faith that is […]
COMMENTARY: A failure to plan is a plan for failure
By Tom Ehrich — January 30, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It might be that church is the last thing financially challenged Americans jettison as they grapple with $10-a-gallon gasoline. But church leaders would be unwise to count on it. Even among loyal churchgoers, the looming recession could test their willingness to support church as they know it. As times […]
Monson poised _ and ready _ to lead Mormons
By Peggy Fletcher Stack — January 30, 2008
c. 2008 Salt Lake Tribune SALT LAKE CITY _ Long before he became a counselor to Gordon B. Hinckley, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who died on Sunday (Jan. 27), Thomas S. Monson was well-schooled in the way of Mormon prophets and well-known to the Mormon faithful. Monson has […]
Feeling A Little Alone in Fresno
By Daniel Burke — January 29, 2008
Sounds like a country song, don’t it? The Fresno Bee has a story about Episcopalians there who are re-organizing the diocese of San Joaquin after the bishop and standing committee voted to leave the Episcopal Church and hook up with the Argentina-based Anglican Church of the Southern Cone. About 250 attended the meeting this past […]
Bill and Melinda who?
By Francis X. Rocca — January 29, 2008
Pope Benedict’s message for Lent this year stresses the spiritual benefits (to the donor) of charitable giving. Insisting that all good works “must be done for God’s glory and not our own,” Benedict reserves special praise for those who give “silently, far from the gaze of the media world.”
Huckabust
By Mark Silk — January 29, 2008
OK, according to the Florida exit poll, Huckabee got 32 percent of the white born-again/evangelical vote, Romney 31 percent, McCain 26 percent, and Giuliani 6 percent. In a word, Huck did worse among white evangelicals than he’s done in any state thus far; and white evangelicals showed that they are increasingly prepared to vote for […]
Mitt and Ralph
By Mark Silk — January 29, 2008
That’s Reed. Bottom line: Religious Right bigs prefer Romney to McCain.
Sunshine Christian Soldiers
By Mark Silk — January 29, 2008
Here’s a Florida pastor’s cri de coeur for Huckabee: Where have all the evangelicals gone? The polls show Huck struggling in fourth place. If there are as many evangelicals in Florida as John Green thinks there is, then a smaller proportion of them are voting for Huckabee than elsewhere. Of course, there are various possible […]
Faith in our Union
By rvineis — January 29, 2008
David Kuo and John J. DiIulio Jr, former directors of the White House office of Faith Based Initiatives, criticized the Bush administration’s leadership of their department in today’s NYT. Kuo and Dilulio defended the positive effects of religious giving like providing social services to low income citizens, daycare, and assistance for the homeless. Yet, they […]
