Monthly Archives: April 2009
COMMENTARY: Israel attracts endless opinions
By Tracy Gordon — April 23, 2009
(UNDATED)Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, and ever since it has attracted an astonishing number of critics who are obsessed with providing the world’s only Jewish state with an endless stream of unwanted advice, ominous warnings, angry reprimands, or gloomy predictions. Both its friends and enemies have never been shy about telling Israel […]
Nones, NE and NW
By Mark Silk — April 23, 2009
Yesterday, the Connecticut legislature set its good housekeeping seal of approval on the state Supreme Court’s decision allowing same-sex marriage, adjusting state law to bring it into line with the ruling. A probably unnecessary provision, borrowed from Vermont, was written in to give religious organizations–but not individuals–the right to refuse gay couples facilities and services. […]
N.Y. judge refuses to halt installation of Riverside pastor
By Tracy Gordon — April 23, 2009
NEW YORK (RNS) A New York judge has denied a request by a group of parishioners at the landmark Riverside Church to postpone the installation of the church’s new senior pastor because of anger over the minister’s compensation package, reported to be more than $600,000. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lewis Bart Stone on Tuesday (April […]
Blair names 30 interfaith fellows to tackle malaria
By Tracy Gordon — April 23, 2009
(RNS) The foundation started by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has named 30 interfaith fellows, including 12 Americans, to raise awareness about efforts to fight malaria in Africa. The fellows are expected to receive training in London and Chicago, to travel to Mali, Malawi and Tanzania in Africa to view humanitarian efforts against malaria, […]
Study: Evangelicals trail other faiths on global warming
By Tracy Gordon — April 23, 2009
(RNS) While a majority of white evangelicals believe there is solid evidence that the earth is warming, only one in three says human activity is the cause, according to a recent survey. As the world celebrates Earth Day, a survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life shows significant disagreement among U.S. […]
Soul music
By Daniel Burke — April 23, 2009
Bono had a sermon.., I mean column in Saturday’s New York Times. Like a lot of U2 songs it sounds purty but don’t mean much, I suspect. Read for yourself. Here’s a quote: “I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my […]
Green day
By Daniel Burke — April 22, 2009
The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank that’s seen a lot of staff move to the White House recently, has a list of “21 ways faith groups are combating global warming.” Nothing too surprising here, a lot of talk of “carbon fasts” and “sustainable sanctuaries,” but it’s a comprehensive round up.
Onward, Christian Soldiers
By Kevin Eckstrom — April 22, 2009
You may remember Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., from last year, when he warned Catholics that a vote for then-candidate Barack Obama put their eternal salvation in question, if not outright peril. The man sure does know how to get attention. Finn keynoted a pro-life dinner last Saturday in which he depicted […]
Ron Howard: I’m not anti-Catholic. And neither is my film.
By Kevin Eckstrom — April 22, 2009
Actor/director Ron Howard, who’s set to release his latest Dan Brown conspiracy chaser film next month, learned something from all the hubbub over “The DaVinci Code”: nip it in the bud. In an open letter of sorts to Catholic League president Bill Donohue, Howard says neither he, nor his “Angels & Demons” film, are anti-Catholic. […]
10 minutes with … Robert Short
By Tracy Gordon — April 22, 2009
(UNDATED) What do the Good Samaritan and “Green Eggs and Ham” have in common? They’re both parables that explain divine truth, according to Robert Short, a retired Presbyterian minister in Little Rock, Ark., and author of “The Parables of Dr. Seuss.” “In this book I tend to argue that Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was a […]
Some preachers, long gone, keep preaching from beyond the grave
By Tracy Gordon — April 22, 2009
(UNDATED) On the Sunday after Easter, famed Southern Baptist preacher Adrian Rogers appeared on Trinity Broadcasting Network, asking his congregation in suburban Memphis to turn to a passage of the Gospel of John. “A Christian with a witness in his heart is never at the mercy of a man with an argument in his mouth,” […]
COMMENTARY: Terror on the high seas
By Phyllis Zagano — April 22, 2009
(UNDATED) I can’t get it out of my head. Some Somali mother’s son thought he could negotiate with the United States of America, and three of his thug-buddies got killed. You remember. The Somali pirates boarded the U.S. merchant ship Maersk Alabama on its way to deliver a shipment of food aid to Kenya. The […]
Bishop: Church knew of Lugo’s affairs with women
By Kevin Eckstrom — April 22, 2009
ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) – A Roman Catholic bishop alleged Tuesday that Paraguay’s president resigned from his church leadership position in 2004 after at least two women in his parish wrote to a Vatican official that he had fathered their children.
Studies: Kids in gay homes emerge unscathed
By Kevin Eckstrom — April 22, 2009
In wide swaths of America, a child being raised by gay parents is considered profoundly disturbing. The November election — with defeats in California, Florida and Arizona for same-sex marriage and approval of a ban on gay foster-parenting in Arkansas — left little doubt that many voters disapprove of nontraditional families. Along with abortion, it […]
Pope to discuss divorce with Charles and Camilla
By Kevin Eckstrom — April 22, 2009
When Prince Charles presents the Duchess of Cornwall to Benedict XVI as his wife for the first time, he will receive a gift that may strike an unwelcome chord: a “luxury facsimile” of the 1530 appeal by English peers to Pope Clement VII asking for the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
