Monthly Archives: December 2010
Pope calls lack of religious freedom a `threat to security and peace’
By Tracy Gordon — December 17, 2010
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday (Dec. 16) called limits on religious freedom a “threat to security and peace,” and said Christians are persecuted more than any other faith group. The pope, in his annual message for the World Day of Peace on Jan. 1, said the freedom to profess and express one’s […]
U.S. split on `Happy Holidays’ vs. `Merry Christmas’
By Tracy Gordon — December 16, 2010
(RNS) While more than nine out of 10 Americans say they plan to celebrate Christmas this year, they are divided on whether businesses should use messages like “Season’s Greetings” rather than “Merry Christmas,” according to a new poll. The latest PRRI/RNS Religion News Poll, released Thursday (Dec. 16), found Americans are split, 44 percent in […]
COMMENTARY: The uncensored, unsanitized real Christmas story
By Tracy Gordon — December 16, 2010
(RNS) There’s a Christmas pageant video circulating on YouTube this week that shows a camel named Lulu Bell walking down the aisle of First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, Fla. Lulu Bell, following the script, stops to kneel. And that’s when mayhem ensues. As Lulu Bell begins to rise from her knees, the trainer […]
Thursday’s Religion News Roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — December 16, 2010
The on-again, off-again repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell appears to be back on again after the House passed a stand-alone repeal yesterday; it now heads to the Senate, where advocates are more optimistic things might work out this time after last week’s defeat. Two men accused of torching two East Texas churches earlier this year […]
Henry Kissinger, weasel
By Mark Silk — December 16, 2010
Henry Kissinger’s attempt to weasel out of the appalling comments he is now revealed to have made regarding U.S. policy on Soviet Jewry is not, shall we say, convincing. Here, courtesy of Jim Besser’s good post on the subject, is what Kissinger said to Richard Nixon in the White House in 1973: The emigration of […]
DADT in the balance
By Mark Silk — December 16, 2010
Let’s hope Sens. Brown and Murkowski read Doonesbury. Update: OMG, maybe they do.
Disorder has haunted saints and, especially, sinners
By Tracy Gordon — December 16, 2010
(RNS) Chad’s bout with scrupulosity began earnestly enough. An Idaho health-care worker and devout Mormon, Chad (who asked that his real name not be used) began wondering if he was totally upfront with patients. Soon, he started scrutinizing his past, looking for times he might not have been completely honest. “It started to steamroll on […]
Republicans join FRC in ad countering hate group listing
By Tracy Gordon — December 16, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Family Research Council, joined by prominent Republican allies, is mounting an aggressive defense to a decision by the Southern Poverty Law Center to designate the powerful conservative lobby as a hate group. “The group, which was once known for combating racial bigotry, is now attacking several groups that uphold Judeo Christian moral […]
Swiss urged to continue to allow Mormon missionaries
By Tracy Gordon — December 16, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) Thirteen members of Congress are urging Swiss authorities to allow Mormon missionaries to continue serving beyond 2012, when a new rule would forbid non-European Union citizens from serving as missionaries. Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch, both Utah Republicans, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, joined other Mormon members of Congress in urging the […]
Update: British group withdraws invite to Fla. pastor
By Tracy Gordon — December 16, 2010
LONDON (RNS) A right-wing political group that had asked a controversial Florida pastor to appear at an anti-Islam demonstration next year now says it has withdrawn the invitation because “he is not the right candidate for us.” Terry Jones, who gained international notoriety for threatening to burn copies of the Quran at his Gainesville church […]
Bishop says Virgin Mary appeared in Wisconsin, but who can say for sure?
By Tracy Gordon — December 15, 2010
(RNS) In 1859, a Wisconsin farmwoman recounted three mystical meetings with the Virgin Mary, who told her to pray for the conversion of sinners and teach children the Catholic faith. Last Wednesday (Dec. 8), the Bishop of Green Bay finally sanctioned Adele Brise’s visions as both supernatural and “worthy of belief.” It was the first […]
10 minutes with … Danny Alpert
By Tracy Gordon — December 15, 2010
(RNS) “The Calling,” a four-hour documentary that airs Dec. 20-21 on PBS stations, looks at seven young Muslim, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish seminarians as they train for the ministry, grapple with their sense of calling and their new responsibilities. Director Danny Alpert talked about the $1.8 million project that followed some of its subjects for […]
COMMENTARY: When God calls, be sure to answer
By Cathleen Falsani — December 15, 2010
(RNS) Despite having largely lost his Calvinist religion by the time he reached adulthood, the 19th-century Scottish satirist Thomas Carlyle famously noted that the idea of “calling” was all pervasive in broader society. “The latest gospel in this world is, `Know thy work and do it,”‘ Caryle said. When we consider the idea of “calling,” […]
Wednesday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — December 15, 2010
More bad news on the fiscal front. A growing number of Protestant churches have seen their Sunday collections drop this year, according to a survey reported in the Tennessean. Megachurches, however, seem to be doing fine. The Roman Catholic bishop of Phoenix is threatening to strip a local hospital of its Catholic status if it […]
Faith-based theory and practice
By Mark Silk — December 15, 2010
Over at WaPo’s On Faith, Melissa Rogers, the key player on the first Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, offers an appreciative but not uncritical assessment of the Obama continuation of the Bush faith-based initiative–essential reading for anyone interested in the thing. Rogers bears witness to the ongoing ideological […]
