Monthly Archives: May 1996
TOP STORY: RELIGION AND POLITICS: Christian Coalition head calls for a shift in rhetoric
By Adelle M. Banks — May 7, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Sounding a call for moral persuasion rather than political coercion, Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed has proposed a wording change in the Republican Party’s anti-abortion plank and urged religious conservatives to cool their rhetoric against President Clinton and homosexuals. In his new book”Active Faith”(Free Press), Reed suggests rewording the […]
TOP STORY: RELIGION AND POLITICS: A reader’s guide to the Religious Right
By Steve Rabey — May 7, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Just in time for the upcoming election season, a number of new books by conservative religious leaders-and some of their critics-raise intriguing questions about the power of the Religious Right and the popular appeal of its agenda.”Active Faith”by Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed is the most eagerly awaited book […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 7, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Wallenberg helped U.S. espionage efforts, magazine says (RNS)-Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency documents and other files indicate that Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved 20,000 Hungarian Jews from Nazi persecution, was also active in U.S. espionage efforts, according to U.S. News and World Report. An investigative report published in the […]
COMMENTARY: Replacing `We the People’ with `We the Judges’
By RNS Blog Editor — May 7, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Charles W. Colson, former special counsel to Richard Nixon, served a prison term for his role in the Watergate scandal. He now heads Prison Fellowship International, an evangelical Christian ministry to the imprisoned and their families. Contact Colson via e-mail at 71421.1551(AT)compuserve.com.) (RNS)-Those who worry that this year’s presidential campaign […]
COMMENTARY: Nirvana is here, right now
By Byron Kaye — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Les Kaye is abbot of the Kannon-do Zen Center in Mountain View, Calif.) (RNS)-A student once asked Zen master Shunryu Suzuki,”What is Nirvana?”He replied,”Seeing one thing through to the end.” Suzuki-roshi, as he was known, (roshi means teacher) came to this country from Japan in the mid-1950s and established Zen […]
As Graham warns of violence, hostages taken at Focus on the Family
By RNS Blog Editor — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-Minutes after conservative Christian activist James Dobson heard evangelist Billy Graham warn of the dangers of a violent world Thursday (May 2), Dobson’s own Focus on the Family ministry in Colorado Springs, Colo., itself became a target of violence. A gunman, armed with a small handgun and what he […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Anti-smoking forces claim victory in billboard campaign (RNS)-Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company said Thursday (May 2) its 3M Media subsidiary will no longer accept billboard advertising for tobacco contracts. Anti-smoking advocates, including the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a coalition of 275 Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish investors, hailed […]
TOP STORY: BILLY GRAHAM: Clinton, others praise Graham at Washington dinner
By Adelle M. Banks — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-Celebrities ranging from radio commentator Paul Harvey to President Bill Clinton spoke at a dinner Thursday (May 2) of how Billy Graham had touched their lives, capping a momentous day honoring the evangelist and his wife. The evening event followed a ceremony in which Billy and Ruth Graham were […]
Graham ministry spans half a century
By Adelle M. Banks — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-The Rev. Billy Graham, long known as a technological innovator, used television in the 1950s to spread the Gospel. As recently as last month, his image appeared on television screens across the globe in an MTV-style production called”The Billy Graham World Television Series.” A former tent-revival preacher, he has […]
TOP STORY: RELIGION IN AMERICA: Billy, Ruth Graham receive Congressional Gold Medal
By Adelle M. Banks — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-Surrounded by statues of historic American leaders, the Rev. Billy Graham, 77, and his wife, Ruth, 75, were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal today (May 2) in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The Grahams were the guests of honor at a ceremony attended by more than 600 people-a veritable […]
NEWS STORY: Fears mount that Moscow is halting Jewish emigration
By RNS Blog Editor — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-The head of Israel’s Jewish Agency conferred with American Jewish officials Thursday (May 2) about the possibility of rallying diplomatic pressure against Russia following mounting concerns that Moscow may be about to limit the emigration of Russian Jews to Israel. The concerns were prompted by the unexpected cancellation last month […]
NEWS FEATURE: In India, Gandhi is out, Michael Jackson is in
By Tim Murphy — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service AHMEDABAD, India (RNS)-On the eve of national elections in India, someone hurled mud over a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, the storied advocate of non-violent disobedience who led his country to independence from Great Britain. It was not the first time that Gandhi monuments, found throughout India, have been treated with […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Eds: The last name of both the judge and defense attorney in the following story is How.) Singapore court upholds arrests of Jehovah’s Witnesses (RNS)-A Singapore judge ruled Thursday (May 2) that the government acted legally when it jailed and fined seven Jehovah’s Witnesses for threatening national security by belonging […]
TOP STORY: RELIGION IN AMERICA: To music and sermons, Capitol Hill marks National Day of Prayer
By Carl Anderson — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-More than 700 people, some in business suits and dresses, others in jeans and T-shirts, and many bearing well-worn Bibles, Thursday (May 2) filled an ornate caucus room in a House of Representatives office building on Capitol Hill to mark the 45th National Day of Prayer. Blending piety and […]
COMMENTARY: The birth of a nation
By James Rudin — May 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-Etched in America’s collective memory is the image of Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock and the other founding fathers signing the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Our newborn nation was at war against Britain, but we […]
