Friday, November 20, 2009
Friday’s religion round-up
Ann Rodgers reads the tea leaves from the Catholic bishops' meeting this week and finds that "the majority of bishops favor tact and diplomacy over confrontation and condemnation when they address difficult issues." Speaking of confrontation, some 145 conservative religious types will release their "Manhattan Declaration" today pledging civil disobedience at laws aimed at abortion or same-sex marriage. AP says the bishops are on a "collision course" with the White House over health care reform.
Both sides in the DC/Catholic fight over gay marriage say they're looking for common ground, while Orthodox Jewish leaders have come rushing to the Catholics' defense. Still on the gay marriage front, New York's top court said the state is authorized to recognize gay marriages from other states, and pushed the lawmakers to make up their minds, one way or the other.
Immigration charges have been dropped against the owner of a notorious kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa, and an Episcopal priest who stole nearly $85,000 for plastic surgery has been ordered to repay the cash.
Hawaii officials danced a celebratory hula around the Capitol statue of the newly sainted Father Damien, and Jonah Goldberg says devotees and critics of Sarah Palin both have it wrong. Meanwhile, a woman left $40,000 in rare coins for safe-keeping at a Maryland shrine, and the money was still there when she returned.
Holy hip-hop is trying to go mainstream, and the Archbishop of Canterbury is Rome making a strong defense of women's ordination. A California city finds itself caught between evangelical churches and tolerance for the local gay community.
An Iraqi archbishop says local Christians' plight is due to the Quran, not the civil government, as Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for blasphemy laws.
Posted by Kevin Eckstrom at 8:57 am
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Window blessing
The Interdependence Project, a Buddhist-based eco-activism group, recently completed its 24-hour sit-a-thon in a New York City shop window. ID'ers meditated in shifts for 24 hours (one sat for the entire 24 hours) Nov. 6-7, and say they raised $30,000 in donations, which will be used for building a community center and developing a radio show, along with other projects.
It's kind of a new take on the hippies' old sit-ins, no?
ABC Home, which I don't know much about but looks to be a pretty cool store, hosted the "Sit Down, Rise Up Project." The store is on Broadway in the Flatiron District.
You can read/watch more about the meditation marathon here.
The photo, taken from IDP's Flckr page is title "Damaris, composed at dawn."
Posted by Daniel Burke at 3:25 pm
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Mass: The Video Game
Tired of dragging your family to Mass every Sunday and spending precious seconds deciding which pew to sit in? Well, Prayer Works Interactive has the solution for home-bound Catholics everywhere: Mass: We Pray-The Video Game.
Using a cruciform joystick, players can "participate in 24 unique and exhilarating rituals. Make the Sign of the Cross, sprinkle Holy Water, take Collection and even give Holy Communion. Every motion and nuance of a blessing or ritual is detected in three dimensions and replicated on-screen," according to a news release.
Players battle for pew positions and to collect Grace Points, which can be used to Unlock Holy Mysteries.
And though the Web site looks legit, this is probably a hoax. Shack News says: "digging provides little evidence that Prayer Works actually exists and reveals that masswepray.com was just registered by Portuguese company Domain Discreet on November 3, 2009."
I guess we'll know for sure tomorrow, when the company supposedly will start allowing pre-orders (it's scheduled to be released next Easter.)
Either way, you can still enjoy the trailer.
Posted by Daniel Burke at 12:15 pm
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday’s religion round-up
The Washington Times is disputing a former editor's complaint that he was forced to attend a mass wedding of the Unification Church (which owns the newspaper). And Catholic bishops are are rejecting charges (again) that their central anti-poverty initiative funds leftist and anti-church programs.
Disaffected Lutherans who can't abide a decision to allow openly gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America say they will form their own church body, not just an independent free-standing synod within the ELCA. Speaking of the disaffected, the Italian magazine L'Espresso details late-night conversations between the archbishop of Canterbury and a high-level Catholic cardinal over the pope's offer to shelter Anglican dissidents.
One of two copies of Zondervan's handwritten Bible is up for sale on eBay and those atheist bus signs have finally made their way to the North American center of godlessness: Portland, Ore. (just kidding, Portland).
A professor at Washington state's Gonzaga University is launching a new program in "hate studies" and a gay reparative therapy program in the once-progressive Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul is coming under fire. (Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt told our Dan Burke yesterday that preliminary findings that gay priests did not cause the sex abuse scandal are meaningless.) Catholic bishops, wrapping up their annual meeting in Baltimore, discussed ways to tighten the reins on wayward Catholic colleges.
South of the border, a battle over legalized abortion is heating up in Mexico (Mexico City allows it in the first trimester; other states are moving to ban it altogether). Overseas, the Vatican has unveiled a restored 6th-century reliquary that is said to hold bits of Jesus' cross. Also in Italy, the Dalai Lama predicts a setback in the Tibetan freedom cause after his death, but says progress will nonetheless continue.
Posted by Kevin Eckstrom at 9:30 am
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday’s religion roundup
Gay marriage seems to be all over the news, especially here in WDC, where a bill to legalize gay marriage seems all but inevitable (vote is set for Dec. 1). WaPo profiles Bishops Harry Jackson, a black megachurch pastor who is intent on stopping gay marriage in the District, even though he actually lives in Maryland. And while we're on the gay topic, Catholic bishops were told yesterday that there is no reliable link between gay priests and pedophilia.
Speaking of Washington, WaPo is also reporting that the famous (or infamous) "C Street House" that provided refuge for a number of conservative Christian politicians is no longer tax-exempt and is paying residential taxes, just like their neighbors. The Wall Street Journal says "restrictions on abortion coverage approved in the House version of the health-care bill likely will affect the affordability of the procedure for only a small minority of women."
Federal officials say the TSA violated the rights of Rastafarian employee who was told he would lose his job if he didn't cut his hair, and a former editor at the Washington Times filed a complaint after he said he was forced to attend a mass wedding of the Unification Church (which owns the newspaper).
On the international front, the US and others are criticizing Israel's decision to expand settlements in disputed territory, and a UN food summit ends with mere "crumbs" for the world's hungry. Afghans say poverty, not the Taliban, is the major source of woe in the troubled country.The Vatican, meanwhile, would like reforms in the veto power of the UN Security Council's five permanent members (including the U.S.). ABC is reporting that Pope John Paul II's possible sainthood is picking up steam.
The Yemeni cleric who advised alleged Ft. Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan apparently issued an online directive on July 15 to attack "government armies in the Muslim world." Law enforcement officials tell WaPo the statement didn't go far enough to get the cleric in legal trouble. An Illinois congressman said his remarks calling Islam a "savage religion" were misinterpreted.
President Obama says he and daughter Malia are reading "The Life of Pi," and he's intrigued by its "chapters that really have to do with Hinduism, Christianity..." Filmmaker David Lynch says he's headed to India to make a film about Beatles guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Posted by Kevin Eckstrom at 8:52 am
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday’s religion roundup
The USDA reports that the number of American families at risk of "food insecurity" (better known as hunger) reached a 14-year high. They might be the same families who told AP pollsters that the best way to pay for health care reform is to tax the rich.
As Catholic bishops assemble in Baltimore to mull ways to fight same-sex marriage, WaPo's Dana Milbank follows a group of conservative clergy outside the Justice Department in Washington who were trying -- desperately -- to get arrested, to no avail. Speaking of gay marriage, a male couple plan to wed in Buenos Aires (thought to be South America's first legal same-sex marriage), and in California advocates have begun the official fight to overturn the statewide ban on same-sex weddings.The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which agreed this summer to allow actively gay clergy, is starting the process to reinstate clergy who had been booted under the old policy for being gay.
At Harvard, researchers have found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies - and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell. Reform Jews are asking religious broadcaster Pat Robertson to withdraw his comments after the Ft. Hood shooting that Islam and Muslims should be dealt with "as we would (deal with) members of the communist party or members of some Fascist group."
In court news, a Washington man has filed suit against the Mormons and the Boy Scouts, alleging abuse in the 1970s. The Supremes declined to intervene in a high school student's religion-themed graduation speech, while Tennessee students filed suit over what they say is inappropriate religiosity in schools.
And in Italy, longtime Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi is hosting his version of Who Wants to Marry a Dictator, in which contestants for his affections are given a copy of the Quran and urged to embrace Islam. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary head Al Mohler, meanwhile, takes a dim view of "woof and worship" services for pets and their owners.
Posted by Kevin Eckstrom at 8:45 am
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday morning round-up
The Yemeni cleric with ties to alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hassan says he counseled the Army psychiatrist but never urged him to seek violence against fellow soldiers. In Mexico, researchers are probing the origins of religion as an evolution of human development. WaPo profiles a Muslim girl's first year at school wearing a hijab, or headscarf, and a gay Mormon filmmaker is probing the LDS Church's role in fighting against gay rights.
As U.S. Catholic bishops gather for their annual confab in Baltimore, proponents of married priests hope the pope's recent outreach to Anglican married priests will extend to his own employees. Speaking of Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the future of the Anglican Communion is "chaotic and uncertain," while one bishop compares the pope's offer to disaffected Anglicans to putting "the cat among the pigeons." Meanwhile, NPR profiles the U.S. bishops' successful lobbying efforts surrounding abortion in the health care bill on Capitol Hill.
The pope has appointed a new archbishop for Milwaukee -- watch this spot; the job has often been a springboard to higher-profile posts (Timothy Dolan is now archbishop of New York), and Jerome Listecki is an up-and-comer in the U.S. hierarchy. And, in a lesser-known but nonetheless important post, the pope has named a new bishop for South Bend, Ind., where Notre Dame has long been a thorn in the side of the local bishop.
In New York (this is actually a 10-year-old story), an entire 750-member congregation is made up of young people, from toddlers to collegians, and in nearby Brooklyn, Lubavitcher rabbis held their first big gathering since Lubavitcher emmisaries were killed in a terrorist attack on Mumbai a year ago. Speaking of Brookyn rabbis, an aspiring rabbi took home a surprising win at the World Boxing Association's middleweight championship in Las Vegas.
Posted by Kevin Eckstrom at 8:44 am
Friday, November 13, 2009
Friday’s religion round-up
Federal prosecutors sought to confiscate four U.S. mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim group in what is believed to be one of the largest counter-terrorism sieges in U.S. history. Self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad will be tried in a federal court in New York, not a military commission, a federal official said Friday. Accused killer Maj. Nidal M. Hasan was charged with 13 counts of murder and was reportedly coherent during his first meeting with his defense lawyer.
The White House is expected to name a new special envoy for combating global anti-Semitism.
The Washington D.C. District Council is calling the Archdiocese of Washington's bluff after it threatened to cancel its social service contracts with the district council-members approved gay marriage. Catholic bishops nationwide and their dioceses contributed tens of thousands of dollars to defeat gay marriage in Maine last week. The AP looks at the ongoing saga between the Bishop of Rhode Island and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., over abortion, health care, and the Catholic faith.
Several of Tony Alamo's child "wives" are expected to testify against the sect leader in Arkansas on Friday, and disgraced evangelical pastor Ted Haggard said people came to his prayer meeting because they believe in resurrection -- his and Jesus'. "People love a good comeback story," Haggard said. The former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa was found guilty of 86 counts of financial fraud and faces a second trial on 72 immigration charges.
Scott Roeder's lawyers are trying to move the court venue out of Wichita, and the ACLU and Planned Parenthood plan a legal challenged to a Nevada law that would define a person as "everyone possessing a human genome." What about people who share the same genome? Are they half a person?
Several months after forgetting to Google a Holocaust-denying bishop, the Vatican is getting Internet lessons from executives from Google, Wikipedia, and Facebook. French President Sarkozy said there's no place for full-face and -body burqas in France. "Becoming French means adhering to a form of civilization," he said. So get out your scarves and Gauloises, mes amies.
Australian animal rights groups are criticizing a decision to allow Jews and Muslims to ritually slaughter animals without stunning them. An Italian monk said the devil made him a celebrity, so he's giving up singing heavy-metal music.
Reuters photo of "Brother Metal," Cesare Bonizzi.
Posted by Daniel Burke at 10:22 am
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday’s religion round-up
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's increasingly zealous religious views raised red flags for doctors who oversaw his medical training, but they tried to channel it into something positive. Abortion rights supporters want a meeting with President Obama, presumably about the health-care reform bill passed by the House last Saturday.
As Obama prepares to visit Asia, Chinese officials compared their "liberation" of Tibet to Lincoln's freeing of the slaves. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom wants Obama to challenge China on its treatment of Tibetans and to put religious liberties on the upcoming meeting's agenda. The commission also issued a new policy blasting the United Nation's proposed resolution on blasphemy.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington threatened to pull out of social service programs if the district approves gay marriage. One note: the article says gay marriage advocates couldn't remember other places where a same-sex marriage had forced a major faith-based provider to cancel social services. I can think of at least two: Boston and San Francisco, though, admittedly, the latter is not an exact parallel.
Meanwhile, the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio says it will start blessing same-sex unions next Easter. After a 20-year-plus battle, a San Francisco lesbian has moved one step closer to ordination in the PCUSA.
A Connecticut town has postponed unveiling a memorial to a 9/11 victim because his father insists it say his son was murdered by "Muslim terrorists." The American Legion in Bloomington, Minn., refused to participate in Veterans' Day ceremonies at a local school because they were not allowed to lead the children in prayer. The legion is also withholding the $25,000-$30,000 in scholarships it traditionally awards.
An opening prayer at a N.C. county board meeting violates the Constitution, a federal magistrate ruled, and the city of Phoenix shut down a soup kitchen run by Methodists. The Diocese of St. Augustine, Fla., has a lot of old documents.
A top Japanese official said Christianity is "exclusive and self-righteous'' and Western nations who practice it are "stuck at an impasse." Welcome to Japan, Mr. Obama-son!
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church likes to jump out of airplanes. A Jewish-American was charged withmurder and incitement to racism for killing two Palestinians. "It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve my God," he said in court. Conservatives in Denmark don't want Muslims to build any more mosques. An Italian has invented a hands-free holy water dispenser.
Photo of the hands-free holy water dispenser is by Reuters.
Posted by Daniel Burke at 10:38 am
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Wednesday’s religion round-up
President Obama traveled to Fort Hood, Texas to memorialize the 13 victims of last week's shooting. Obama said "not faith justifies these murderous and craven acts," and promised that "the killer will be met with justice - in this world and the next."
The accused killer, Maj. Malik N. Hasan, was met with bureaucratic indifference while in the Army, Time reports, amid questions about whether his Muslim faith led military bureaucrats to handle him with kid gloves. Nearly a year before the shooting, terrorism investigators judged that he did not pose a threat, now they are looking in Yemen for the American imam who corresponded with Hasan and called him a hero.
Catholic bishops have emerged as a potent force in the health-care debate, a Connecticut judged ordered the Diocese of Bridgeport to turn over sex abuse documents by Dec. 1, and an FLDS child rapist was sentenced to 10 years in prison. U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (Teddy's son) said a bishop's questioning of his Catholic faith is "very disconcerting."
The Mormon church announced its unprecedented support for gay rights legislation in Salt Lake City, the Vatican has removed some controversial questions from the questionnaires it's sending to American women religious, and a Buddhist in New York doused himself with gasoline but was taken to the hospital before ignition.
Orthodox Jews decamped to South Dakota in a show of support for the former manager of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse. A Marine reservist who attacked a Greek Orthodox priest was defending himself after being sexually assaulted, the Marine's lawyer says.
Pope Benedict XVI urged Europeans to "rediscover" it's religious roots, the Vatican is looking for aliens, and Benedict's musical album is set to be released later this month (just in time for Christmas). SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson will fight his fine for denying the Holocaust in a German court. An investigative journalists who wrote a novel about Catholic sexual abuse won one of Canada's most prestigious literary prizes.
Photo of Obama at Fort Hood by Reuters.
Posted by Daniel Burke at 10:20 am