Monthly Archives: November 2004
Analysis: Gains Among Black Christians Crucial Factor in Bush Victory
By Jonathan Tilove — November 9, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ In winning a second term, President Bush made great progress with Hispanic voters nationally, and very little with blacks. But beneath that story lies an intriguing and surprising development: Bush’s new success with Hispanics was concentrated in the overwhelmingly Republican South _ especially in Texas _ where it […]
COMMENTARY: Voters Had a Spiritual and Psychological Connection With Bush
By Frances Kennedy — November 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The great explainers are now busy telling Americans why they voted as they did. While they point to votes and strategies and hint at dark motivations on the part of the victors, none of them has yet discussed the unseen and difficult-to-measure factors, part psychological and part spiritual, that […]
COMMENTARY: Pro-Bush Jewish Writer Finds Herself a Journalistic Minority
By RNS Blog Editor — November 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) I should have known better than to peek at the discussion on an Internet-based writers’ group the day after the election. From past experience as a member of this and other writers’ forums, it was clear that most journalists blithely assume that everyone else shares their liberal political values. […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Pope Lists Formidable Challenges Facing Bishops of the Americas VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II told the Catholic bishops of the Americas on Friday (Nov. 5) that they face formidable challenges in their efforts to “consolidate the Christian identity of the continent.” The 84-year-old pope addressed a committee of […]
NEWS STORY: Religious and Political Debate Rages Over Arafat’s Chosen Burial Site
By Michele Chabin — November 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service JERUSALEM _ Before recently lapsing into a coma, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat reportedly said he wanted to be laid to rest in Jerusalem, atop the Harem al-Sharif, or Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest site in Islam. But just like many sites in the Holy […]
COMMENTARY: Let’s Be Careful With What We Mean by `Moral Values’
By RNS Blog Editor — November 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Margaret Marshall, it seems, was the Elian Gonzalez of the 2004 election. Elian, you may recall, came floating out of nowhere _ actually, out of the Florida Straits _ and landed in the 2000 campaign. His forcible return to his father in Cuba cost Al Gore more than enough […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Reuters subscribers: Check the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for a photo to accompany this first item. Pope Urges Iraqi Leader to Respect Ethnic and Religious Diversity VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope John Paul II urged Iraq’s interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, Thursday (Nov. 4) to establish democratic institutions that […]
NEWS STORY: Election Analysis Reveals Pronounced `God Gap’ Between Parties
By RNS Blog Editor — November 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion & Ethics Newsweekly WASHINGTON _ Despite efforts by Democrats to reach out to faith-based voters, a detailed exit poll analysis of Tuesday’s election shows a “God gap” between the parties, with Republicans building support in almost every major religious group, including black Protestants. According to exit polls conducted for the PBS television […]
NEWS STORY: New Book Counters `Sexophobic’ Image of Catholic Church
By RNS Blog Editor — November 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service ROME _ A provocative new book written by two Italian Catholics in good standing argues that it is a mistake to consider the church “sexophobic.” After all, the book says, “God invented sex.” Despite its racy title, “It’s a Sin Not to Do It: Everything You Wanted to Know About […]
NEWS STORY: Democrats Try to Rethink Religion After Bush Dominates on Values
By Kein Eckstrom — November 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ When it comes to the Democratic Party’s on-again, off-again search for a message that would appeal to religious voters, any metaphor will do: asleep at the wheel, stumbling in a darkened room, a code-blue emergency. The Rev. Bob Edgar prefers the Israelites wandering the Sinai Desert. “Look, it […]
COMMENTARY: Faith-Based Election Requires Soul-Searching From All
By RNS Blog Editor — November 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (David P. Gushee is the Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.) (UNDATED) The role played by religious faith and moral values in this election is the biggest story to emerge in the wake of George W. Bush’s victory. It is staggering but true that in […]
NEWS STORY: Europe Wanted a Lawyer in Kerry and Got a Preacher in Bush
By RNS Blog Editor — November 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service PARIS _ George Bush got the mandate he wanted from the American people. What Europeans fear is that he will interpret it as a message from God. “He’s convinced he’s right, and he’s almost got this feeling he has a quasi-divine mission to fill as the president of the United […]
COMMENTARY: Election Signals Escalating Religion War
By RNS Blog Editor — November 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.) (UNDATED) My Oct. 1 Religion News Service commentary asked: “Will the `Three Gs’ of God, guns, and gays trump jobs, health care and education? We’ll all know on the night of Nov. […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 4, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Baptist Seminary Approves Charter Change But Will Still Fight It NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Bowing to the wishes of the Southern Baptist Convention, trustees of its New Orleans seminary have agreed to amend the terms of the convention’s ownership of the school but not without misgivings they want to share with […]
NEWS STORY: Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage Gain Momentum, Eye Federal Amendment
By RNS Blog Editor — November 4, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Riding high on President Bush’s re-election and on decisive victories to ban gay marriage in 11 states, activists in the traditional marriage movement said Wednesday (Nov. 3) they now have a mandate to claim their ultimate prize: an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “The American people are now trying […]
