RNS Blog Editor
RNS Blog Editor is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by RNS Blog Editor
Pope urges Czechs to reclaim Christian heritage
By RNS Blog Editor — September 28, 2009
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Visiting the Czech Republic 20 years after a Velvet Revolution overthrew the nation’s communist regime, Pope Benedict XVI called on one of the world’s most secular societies to reclaim its Christian heritage as the basis for “true freedom.” “True freedom presupposes the search for truth — for the true good — and […]
SIDEBAR: The 14 ‘Coenmandments’
By RNS Blog Editor — September 28, 2009
(RNS) In her new book, “The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers,” columnist and author Cathleen Falsani lists 14 “Coenmandments,” or moral lessons derived from each of Joel and Ethan Coen’s films. They are: 1. What goes around comes around. 2. Every action has a reaction. 3. Don’t mistreat women. 4. Whatever […]
SIDEBAR: Coens’ acolytes worship at Church of the Latter-Day Dude
By RNS Blog Editor — September 28, 2009
(RNS) Cathleen Falsani isn’t alone in finding a spiritual role model in the Dude, the slacker anti-hero of the 1998 film “The Big Lebowski.” In fact, the character has spawned a new religion, the Church of the Latter-Day Dude, which says it has ordained more than 60,000 members. — Key tenets of Dudeism are explained […]
The Coen brothers’ complicated gospel
By RNS Blog Editor — September 28, 2009
(RNS) In the beginning was the Dude. And the Dude was with God, and the Dude himself was kind of godly, if you’re into that sort of thing. In his right hand the Dude carried a cocktail, and in his left, a bowling ball, and all of his ways were righteous and mellow altogether. And […]
Cleveland Catholics ask Vatican to oversee their bishop
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
CLEVELAND (RNS) Catholics protesting Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon’s plan to close 50 churches are asking the Vatican to oversee Lennon’s actions. Separately, at least three Cleveland churches received letters from the Vatican this week (Sept. 20-26), saying their appeals of Lennon’s orders to close are being reviewed. Some parishioners from the three churches are members […]
Religious leaders press for binding pact on climate change
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
NEW YORK (RNS) Representatives from various faith traditions, gathered this week in conjunction with United Nations meetings on climate change, urged political leaders to adopt “strong, binding targets” for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The Sept. 21 statement by religious leaders called upon industrialized nations “to act responsibly in mitigation efforts, by making the largest […]
Pope to visit Portugal and maybe England in 2010
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Portugal next May to visit the world-famous shrine to the Virgin Mary at Fatima, the Vatican confirmed on Thursday (Sept. 24), amid semi-official reports of a papal trip to England later in the year. The pope will preside over observances at Fatima on May 13, marking […]
Court dismisses $5 million judgment against anti-gay protestors
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
(RNS) Members of Westboro Baptist Church, the anti-gay church that protests military funerals, won a court victory Thursday (Sept. 24) when a federal appeals court overturned a $5 million judgment against them. The father of a Marine who was killed in Iraq in 2006 sued Westboro pastor Fred Phelps and members of his Topeka, Kan., […]
Study: One in 5 Americans may be secular by 2030
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
(UNDATED) The number of American adults who do not identify with a particular religion is growing and may comprise more than 20 percent of the population in two decades, according to a new study. Conducted by researchers at Trinity College, the study, entitled “American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population,” showed that people […]
Muslims pray for ‘soul of America’ at Capitol
By RNS Blog Editor — September 25, 2009
WASHINGTON — Swapping prayer rugs for massive plastic rain tarps, an estimated 3,500 Muslims gathered at the foot of the U.S. Capitol on Friday (Sept. 25) to pray for “the soul of America” in a grassroots demonstration of religious and national pride. The rally, organized by the Dar-Ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, N.J., was billed as […]
COMMENTARY: Life after Nazism
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
(UNDATED) Albert Einstein (Time magazine’s “Person of the 20th Century”), Sigmund Freud (the founder of psychoanalysis) Henry Kissinger (the former secretary of state), Billy Wilder (the film director/screen writer), Kurt Weill (the composer of “The Three Penny Opera”) and Hannah Arendt (the political philosopher) … What story do these six people share? They were all […]
Orthodox patriarch to advocate for Mississippi River
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s 250 million Orthodox Christians, will convene dozens of experts here next month to discuss environmental challenges facing people in the Mississippi River Valley. Bartholomew, known in some quarters as the “green patriarch” for his environmental activism, has convened seven prior environmental gatherings […]
Diverse faith groups agree on disaster-relief ethics
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
(RNS) More than 20 faith-based organizations, from Scientologists to Buddhists to Catholics, have come together to produce a guide on addressing the spiritual and emotional needs of disaster victims. The document was released by the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, an organization made up of 49 U.S. non-profit groups whose missions includes disaster response. […]
Canadian judge dismisses polygamy charges
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
TORONTO (RNS) A judge on British Columbia’s Supreme Court has dismissed criminal charges against two alleged polygamists who say Canadian law protects their right to have more than one wife. Supreme Court Justice Sunni S. Stromberg-Stein on Wednesday (Sept. 23) threw out polygamy charges against Winston Blackmore, 53, and James Oler, 45, leaders of rival […]
Muslim march organizers find an unlikely ally
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
ELIZABETH, N.J. — Plans to attract thousands of Muslims to Capitol Hill on Friday (Sept. 25) for prayer have drawn anxiety, praise, enthusiasm and criticism, but they’ve also made unlikely allies of the New Jersey mosque where the idea was born and a conservative Christian group. Organizers at the Dar-Ul-Islam mosque would seem to have […]
