Monthly Archives: July 2010
COMMENTARY: For better or worse, by the power vested in me …
By Tracy Gordon — July 28, 2010
Wednesday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — July 28, 2010
Rich Cizik, the former DC lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals who lost his job after telling NPR that he supports same-sex civil unions, returned to the same NPR show to reflect on the fall-out. The change, he says, has been good for him. And he still supports civil unions: “While I haven’t come […]
Jeffs got what he deserved from Utah Supremes
By Mark Silk — July 28, 2010
The prosecutors overreached…sez I.
N.J. Supreme Court declines to take gay marriage case
By Tracy Gordon — July 28, 2010
TRENTON, N.J. (RNS) Supporters of gay marriage said they would press on with their fight despite the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a case in which six same-sex couples asked for the right to marry. “We … will never give up — not until our dying breath,” said Steven Goldstein, chairman of […]
Report: Anti-Jewish incidents remain `sustained and troubling’
By Tracy Gordon — July 28, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) A Jewish group that tracks anti-Semitism has published its annual report of more than 1,200 incidents of assaults, vandalism and harassment against Jews in 2009, saying the level of incidents remained “sustained and troubling.” “America is not immune to anti-Semitism, and 2009 was no different in this regard than in any other year,” […]
Anglicans reject move to `separate’ U.S. church
By Tracy Gordon — July 28, 2010
(RNS) Anglican leaders meeting in London have rejected a move to “separate” the Episcopal Church from the wider Anglican Communion, a proposal that officials called premature and “unhelpful.” The proposal was offered Saturday (July 24) by Dato Stanley Isaacs, a member of the Anglican Communion’s Standing Committee from the Province of South East Asia, according […]
Michael Jackson and Jesus
By Alfredo Garcia — July 28, 2010
David LaChapelle is the photographer and director widely known in the fashion world for his pictures of such figures as Naomi Campbell, Whitney Houston, Uma Thurman, and recently Lady Gaga. On display in the Paul Kasmin Gallery in NYC is his latest installation, “American Jesus“. LaChapelle has taken pictures that display Jesus interacting in modern-day […]
Tuesday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — July 27, 2010
A judge sentenced a Tennessee mother of three to 42 months in the clink for taking money and services for five years to battle breast cancer — which she never had. Filmmaker Oliver Stone angered Jewish groups by seeming to defend Hitler, and also digging up the old Jews-control-the-media trope (he later says he’s sorry). […]
Eating disorders a hidden problem for Orthodox Jews
By Tracy Gordon — July 27, 2010
(RNS) When Faryn Hart settled into her seat at the weekly Shabbat table set for 20 at her home in Johannesburg, South Africa, she also settled into the role her grandmother expected her to play. Yes, she would study medicine. Yes, she would marry an engineer. Yes, she got an A on her exam. And […]
COMMENTARY: Expecting the unexpected
By Tom Ehrich — July 27, 2010
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (RNS) As about 300 nervous freshmen listened at orientation, the dean of arts and sciences at Binghamton University made a stirring case for the liberal arts. “Liberal,” as in “liberating,” he said, setting the mind free, claiming human freedom. In a complex and volatile world, knowing how to think and to address the […]
Getting the Vatican story straight
By Mark Silk — July 27, 2010
In the indispensable Commonweal, Nicholas Cafardi, dean emeritus of Duquesne Law School and eminent canon lawyer, does a yeoman’s job of trying to sort out the Vatican’s sexual abuse story. The basic problem is this: In his 2001 letter clarifying John Paul II’s motu proprio establishing the authority of the Congregation for the Doctrine of […]
Constitution Party’s anti-Constitutional Attitude
By Mark Silk — July 27, 2010
On the country’s religious founding.
Are Catholics losing Latin America?
By Alfredo Garcia — July 27, 2010
Lots has been brewing in the Western Hemisphere _ Chile, Argentina and Cuba have all been wrestling with teh Catholic Church in recent weeks. A quick recap of what’s been happening in Latin America: Argentina decided to legalize same-sex marriage, an act that went against Catholic Church lobbying (picture, lop left). After debates that kept […]
Anti-abortion `Pro-Life Freedom Ride’ turned away from King’s tomb
By Tracy Gordon — July 26, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Invoking the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, anti-abortion clergy members and their supporters on Saturday (July 24) embarked on a “Pro-Life Freedom Ride” but were turned away from King’s tomb in Atlanta. The group, organized by New York-based Priests For Life, held a prayer […]
First Arab tapped to lead global Lutheran body
By Tracy Gordon — July 26, 2010
STUTTGART, Germany (RNS/ENInews) The Lutheran World Federation has chosen Palestinian Bishop Munib A. Younan as its next president, the first Arab to lead the Geneva-based umbrella group for 70 million Lutherans. Younan, 59, was elected on Saturday (July 24) at the LWF’s 11th assembly in Stuttgart. He succeeds the Rev. Mark Hanson, the presiding bishop […]
