Monthly Archives: November 2011
Monday Godbytes
By Jack Jenkins — November 29, 2011
Godbytes is back! The Pope is calling for a “credible” international deal on climate change. The Washington Post has a video piece on how the new translation of the Catholic mass is playing out in different parishes. The Washington Post also reports that religious lobbying groups are getting larger and more influential on Capitol Hill. […]
Pope Benedict XVI slapped with charges for not wearing seat belt
By Tiffany McCallen — November 28, 2011
BERLIN (RNS) Just because the pope gets to ride in the popemobile doesn’t give him license not to wear a seat belt. So says an unnamed German man who filed charges against Pope Benedict XVI for allegedly failing to use a seat belt while touring Germany on an official visit in September. Attorney Christian Sundermann […]
Tunisia a test for what ‘moderate’ Islam looks like
By Tiffany McCallen — November 28, 2011
TUNIS, Tunisia (RNS) Nearly a year after Tunisia set off the Arab Spring of popular revolt, the face of political Islam in this fledgling democracy is a 47-year-old pharmaceutical executive who favors tailored suits and stiletto heels. Souad Abderrahim’s main political experience was as a student union leader more than two decades ago, but the […]
MondayâÂ?Â?s Religion Roundup: Cyber Monday, Black Atheists, New Mass
By David Gibson — November 28, 2011
Welcome to Cyber Monday! Hey, it’s got to be safer than Black Friday: less chance of pepper spray, Tasers, fisticuffs. At least in my house. Mostly. Diana Butler Bass cautions we preachers and elitists from savoring the low-hanging fruit of consumer bashing: “[T]he oddest thing about the folks in lines at those discount stores: They […]
Pope v. Capitalism
By Mark Silk — November 28, 2011
Over at Chiesa, Vaticanista Sandro Magister has walked way back his scoop that Vatican Secretary of State Tarciso Bertone was so appalled by last month’s statement on financial reform from the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace that he ordered that “any new Vatican text will have to be authorized in advance” by himself. Not: […]
White evangelicals don’t hate Romney
By Mark Silk — November 25, 2011
If I were on Team Romney, I’d be fairly heartened by the latest Pew survey on religion and politics. It’s true that white evangelicals are disproportionately less likely to prefer our guy, but not by a very large margin–17 percent of them as opposed to 23 percent of the GOP primary electorate as a whole. […]
Thanks, Folks!
By Mark Silk — November 24, 2011
It’s been four years since I locked myself into this enterprise, and as forms of bondage go, there’s a lot to be thankful for. You’re made to watch the world go by and write down your thoughts about it, while people come around to check on your reactions and occasionally favor you with their own. […]
Was the first Thanksgiving a religious celebration?
By Tracy Gordon — November 24, 2011
(RNS) If you want to prepare for Thanksgiving like a real Pilgrim this year, here’s what you should do: Cancel the plane reservations. Stop jotting down recipes. Leave the libations alone. For the Pilgrims and Puritans, “thanksgiving” days were spontaneous and sober affairs. When friends arrived from overseas, European Protestants defeated Catholics in battle, or […]
Wednesday’s Religion News Roundup: Thanksgiving, religious lobbying, ugly churches
By Daniel Burke — November 23, 2011
Thanksgiving plans got you stressed out? The Rev. James Martin has some advice for dealing with turkeys – of the human persuasion. The antidote, says Father Martin, is laughter. J.J. Goldberg of The Forward says Thanksgiving is not a time to celebrate if others are getting rich at our expense. Give thanks to God, “when […]
Poll: Mitt Romney’s Mormonism could be a primary problem
By Tracy Gordon — November 23, 2011
(RNS) If Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney can secure the nomination, his Mormon faith shouldn’t be an obstacle for voters in the general election, according to a survey released Wednesday (Nov. 23). That may be a big “if.” The survey from the Pew Research Center shows that white evangelical Protestants — the heart of the […]
Clergy, too, battle porn addiction—often alone
By Tracy Gordon — November 23, 2011
(RNS) For years, the Rev. Bernie Anderson carried a shameful secret — one he feared would destroy his marriage, his career, his standing in the community, even his spiritual identity. He was addicted to pornography. Like many others facing a similar struggle, the pastor, now at Wasatch Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church in Salt Lake City, […]
Workplace religious complaints double in last decade
By Tracy Gordon — November 23, 2011
CLEVELAND (RNS) Northeast Ohio native Suhad Hasan says neither her Muslim faith nor her headscarf should be an issue where she works. But she said they were while she was a sales associate at the Old Navy clothing store in Santa Clara, Calif., three years ago. Hasan said she was assigned to work in the […]
Michele Bachmann church timeline UPDATED
By Daniel Burke — November 23, 2011
Because the timing of Michele Bachmann’s departure from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod came so close to the official launch of her presidential campaign, many minds have drawn a link between the two, especially since WELS holds anti-papal beliefs that, while they are centuries old, could potentially alienate Catholic voters. Since the story of Bachmann’s […]
Bachmann’s new new church
By Mark Silk — November 23, 2011
Last July, when Michele Bachmann was riding high in the polls and grabbing general media attention, a question arose about where she and her husband Marcus go to church. The story was that they had given up their longtime affiliation with Salem Lutheran Church and joined an evangelical megachurch called Eagle Brook because they had […]
Angry churches pull money from big banks
By Tracy Gordon — November 23, 2011
(RNS) A small but growing number of religious communities across the country are removing their money from Wall Street banks to protest what they see as unfair mortgage foreclosures and unwillingness to lend to small businesses. The New Bottom Line (NBL) coalition of congregations, community organizations, labor unions and individuals is promoting a “Move Our […]
