Monthly Archives: November 2009
Window blessing
By Daniel Burke — November 20, 2009
The Interdependence Project, a Buddhist-based eco-activism group, recently completed its 24-hour sit-a-thon in a New York City shop window. ID’ers meditated in shifts for 24 hours (one sat for the entire 24 hours) Nov. 6-7, and say they raised $30,000 in donations, which will be used for building a community center and developing a radio […]
Paper denies editor’s complaint about attending Unification wedding
By Tracy Gordon — November 20, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) The acting publisher of the Washington Times denied a complaint filed by former editorial page editor Richard Miniter that he was forced to attend a mass wedding of the Unification Church, which owns the newspaper. In a complaint filed Tuesday (Nov. 17) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Miniter claimed he was forced […]
Hand-written Bible up for sale on eBay
By Tracy Gordon — November 20, 2009
CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (RNS) After nine months and 22,579 miles on the road, Zondervan’s handwritten Bible arrived back home with verses inscribed by 31,173 people. Now, one of only two copies of the three-volume, 2,200 page leather-bound Bible is on the eBay auction block, Zondervan announced Thursday (Nov. 19). Interested bidders can visit Zondervan’s eBay […]
Lutheran dissidents say new church body in the works
By Tracy Gordon — November 20, 2009
(RNS) In late September, Lutheran dissidents said they would hunker down for a year and study whether to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and create a new church body. Less than two months later, on Wednesday (Nov. 19) Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal) announced that indeed such a body “will likely be necessary.” […]
As Haggard returns, questions linger
By Tracy Gordon — November 20, 2009
(RNS) After disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard decided to start holding prayer meetings at his Colorado home, advisers and observers, perhaps not surprisingly, reacted with disappointment. But the fact that he’s chosen to host the meetings within a few miles of the Colorado Springs megachurch that dismissed him three years ago — because of a […]
Mass: The Video Game
By Daniel Burke — November 19, 2009
Tired of dragging your family to Mass every Sunday and spending precious seconds deciding which pew to sit in? Well, Prayer Works Interactive has the solution for home-bound Catholics everywhere: Mass: We Pray-The Video Game. Using a cruciform joystick, players can “participate in 24 unique and exhilarating rituals. Make the Sign of the Cross, sprinkle […]
Thursday’s religion round-up
By Kevin Eckstrom — November 19, 2009
The Washington Times is disputing a former editor’s complaint that he was forced to attend a mass wedding of the Unification Church (which owns the newspaper). And Catholic bishops are are rejecting charges (again) that their central anti-poverty initiative funds leftist and anti-church programs. Disaffected Lutherans who can’t abide a decision to allow openly gay […]
Does sexual frustration fuel Islamic violence?
By Tracy Gordon — November 19, 2009
(RNS) Did alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan lose control, at least in part, because he was sexually frustrated? That’s one of the questions being asked in the investigation into the Nov. 5 rampage that left 13 people dead and dozens more injured. According to reports, Hasan visited a nearby strip club in the […]
In Mo. schools, ancient calendar at center of debate
By Tracy Gordon — November 19, 2009
CLARKSON VALLEY, Mo. (RNS) Dean Mandis, insurance executive and father of two students, stood before the Rockwood School District’s superintendent and seven School Board members at Crestview Middle School. He had three minutes to broach an issue that had been bothering him for a month or so. His daughter, an eighth-grader, had come home from […]
COMMENTARY: Hitler’s dead. Let’s keep it that way.
By Tracy Gordon — November 19, 2009
(RNS) Holocaust. Hitler. Auschwitz. Opponents of health care reform have used each of these terms as hateful political weapons in the public arena, and as a result, America is infected with a dangerous social cancer that corrupts civil discourse and splinters our society. Since the end of World War II, such terms have been “off […]
Bishops react
By Mark Silk — November 19, 2009
In his RNS report yesterday, Dan Burke got a couple if bishops to comment on the John Jay study de-coupling clerical homosexuality from sexual abuse. Most notable was St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt’s “I wouldn’t put a lot of credence in it.” Nienstedt, as Burke notes, was the guy who led the Vatican’s post-scandal investigation […]
Americans take dim view of funding Muslim charities
By Tracy Gordon — November 19, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) Americans look less favorably on mosques applying for government funding than other religious charities, a new survey shows. While 27 percent of U.S. adults polled oppose religious charities applying for government funding to provide services to the needy, more than half — 52 percent — were against Muslim houses of worship being eligible […]
Atheist group crowns winner of blasphemy contest
By Tracy Gordon — November 19, 2009
(RNS) Blasphemy. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. And the T-shirt reads, “Faith is no reason.” The Center for Inquiry (CFI), an international advocacy group based in Amherst, N.Y., picked that brief phrase as the winner of its first-ever blasphemy contest. Contestants were invited to submit slogans of 20 words or fewer that were […]
N.J. student sues over abortion protest
By Tracy Gordon — November 19, 2009
BRIDGETON, N.J. (RNS) A Bridgeton High School student has filed suit against the local school board after officials did not allow her to participate in an October protest against abortion during school hours. The student, identified only as C.H. in the suit because she is a minor, said she had planned to hand out anti-abortion […]
Gay groups praise report on gay priests and sexual abuse
By Tracy Gordon — November 19, 2009
BALTIMORE (RNS) Gay Catholics and victims of clergy sexual abuse are hailing preliminary results of a study commissioned by U.S. Catholic bishops that says gay priests are no more likely than straight clergy to sexually abuse minors. Still, some bishops gathered here for the final day of their semi-annual meeting said it is premature to […]
