Monthly Archives: August 2013
The spiritual danger of doing good: An interview with Peter Greer
By Jonathan Merritt — August 26, 2013
Peter Greer talks about the dark side of doing good.
Monday’s Religion News Roundup: King’s March * Night Thievery * Miley’s Moment
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey — August 26, 2013
Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the "March on Washington." The filmmaker who made evangelical movies like "A Thief in the Night" has died. Miley Cyrus's performance managed to horrify the VMAs.
Latest measles outbreak tied to Texas megachurch
By Liz Szabo — August 26, 2013
(RNS) An infectious disease expert says a measles outbreak at a Texas megachurch -- with low vaccination rates and a pastor who's been critical of vaccines -- is a "classic example of how measles is being reintroduced."
Quote of the Day: Evangelist Billy Graham
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 26, 2013
“I felt like slashing their throats. But anyway, God be with you.” — Evangelist Billy Graham, in a recently released 1973 phone call with President Nixon, about CBS News’ coverage of Nixon’s speech on the Watergate scandal. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association issued a statement that said Graham at the time “wholeheartedly believed in the […]
The Prophetic March on Washington
By Mark Silk — August 26, 2013
The March on Washington, whose 50th anniversary we're celebrating this week, was not only the climactic public event of the civil rights movement. It instilled in American religious leaders a prophetic preoccupation from which they have still not recovered.
New book promises to reveal the “secret of the savior” in Mark
By Religion News LLC — August 25, 2013
TULSA, Okla. – Secret of the Savior: The Myth of the Messiah in Mark by Sid Martin claims to solve the “greatest mystery of all time: where did the story of Jesus really come from?” Martin maintains that the story of Jesus is not based, even loosely, on the life of Jesus but on the […]
Why I Am a Mormon
By Jana Riess — August 24, 2013
Why did I choose to become a Mormon? And why, twenty years later, do I continue to choose, every day, to remain a Latter-day Saint?
Quote of the Day: New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Bosson
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 23, 2013
“That compromise is part of the glue that holds us together as a nation, the tolerance that lubricates the varied moving parts of us as a people. That sense of respect we owe others, whether or not we believe as they do, illuminates this country, setting it apart from the discord that afflicts much of […]
Photo Slideshow: Medicine Buddha sand mandala
By Sally Morrow — August 23, 2013
Buddhist monks from Drepung Gomang Monastery in India construct a Medicine Buddha sand mandala for mental (inner) and physical health.
Will the Catholic Right target Archbishop Chaput as ‘gay-friendly’?
By David Gibson — August 23, 2013
The Philadelphia archdiocese is accepting donated school supplies for Catholic students from Office Depot, one of the most gay-friendly businesses in the U.S. Will that open Chaput up to the same kind of criticism that other Catholic groups have endured?
Quebec moves to ban religious headgear for public employees
By Ron Csillag — August 23, 2013
(RNS) The measure would prohibit doctors, nurses, police officers, civil servants, public school teachers and public day care workers from wearing hijabs, turbans, yarmulkes and visible crucifixes or crosses.
Atheist group can sue IRS over enforcement of pulpit politicking
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey — August 23, 2013
(RNS) U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman ruled that the Freedom from Religion Foundation “has standing to seek an order requiring the IRS to treat religious organizations no more favorably than it treats the Foundation.”
Beauty and pain take center stage in Holocaust pageant
By Michele Chabin — August 23, 2013
(RNS) Supporters of the pageants say the event, which featured live performances and even a comedian, is an affirmation of life and a boost to the contestants' self-esteem. Detractors call the concept "distasteful," saying it capitalizes on the victims' vulnerability.
ANALYSIS: Celebrations of ‘I Have a Dream’ speech obscure its critique
By Yonat Shimron and Adelle M. Banks — August 23, 2013
(RNS) On the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, scholars say it would be a mistake to celebrate King’s “I Have a Dream” speech without also acknowledging its profound criticism of American values.
The Greatest of These Is Love
By Jana Riess — August 23, 2013
I learned from Tracy Kidder's book that a Burundian refugee was an undergraduate at Columbia at precisely the same time I was doing my graduate work there, though we never met. What if we had, I wonder? Would I have gone the extra mile?
