Monthly Archives: May 2005
Grammy Winner Sings About Redemption, Preaches About Second Chances
By Kim Lawton — May 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion & Ethics Newsweekly FREEPORT, N.Y _ Donnie McClurkin is a gospel music superstar whose voice is recognized around the world. But on Sunday mornings, as Pastor McClurkin, he has more local concerns _ like the parking problems in his church’s neighborhood. “You wanna be mindful of Zack’s Delicatessen across the street also,” […]
COMMENTARY: Israel, Where News Always Happens
By RNS Blog Editor — May 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Even though modern Israel will be 57 years old on May 14, many Jews still consider it a good day when there are no stories about that country in newspapers or on television. That’s because much of the coverage deals with terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, United Nations votes […]
Modern Wahhabism: A Mutation of Its Founder’s Islamic Principles
By RNS Blog Editor — May 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The words are chilling, especially to non-Muslim ears. “(We) will pursue this evil force to its own lands, invade its Western heartland and struggle to overcome it until all the world shouts by the name of the Prophet, and the teachings of Islam spread throughout the world.” This missive, […]
COMMENTARY: The New Pope Has Been More Gentle and Generous Than Critics Predicted
By RNS Blog Editor — May 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Everybody is making predictions about how Pope Benedict XVI will, in effect, refurbish the Vatican’s Men Only dining room in which career clerics watch to see what the pope is eating before ordering the same thing for themselves. At the same time, he will shut down the cafeteria in […]
Holocaust Center About More Than Just Counting the Victims
By RNS Blog Editor — May 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service JERUSALEM _ Within days of December’s tsunami tragedy, in which at least 200,000 people perished, it became clear that the bodies of tens of thousands of the victims would never be recovered. Entire villages were wiped out and with them the records of the people who lived there. In the […]
New Pope Putting Own Stamp on Process of Making Saints
By RNS Blog Editor — May 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Pope Benedict XVI is moving to put his own stamp on the process of making saints, designating a lower-ranking official to preside at the May 14 beatification ceremony for a nun from Syracuse, N.Y. Mother Marianne Cope and a Spanish nun will be beatified by Cardinal Jose […]
Bush Promotes Prayer in White House Ceremony
By RNS Blog Editor — May 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ With a purple-robed, 74-member choir as a backdrop, President Bush met with religious leaders at the White House on Thursday (May 5) to commemorate the 54th annual National Day of Prayer. “The National Day of Prayer was founded in 1952 by an act of Congress, yet this day […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service United Methodist Bishop Will Appeal Case of Reinstated Lesbian Minister (RNS) The United Methodist bishop of Philadelphia says he will appeal the case of a lesbian minister who was reinstated last week (April 29) after she was initially defrocked for violating a church ban on “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy. Bishop […]
COMMENTARY: Bill Would Restore Free Speech to Preachers
By RNS Blog Editor — May 5, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) For too long, the U.S. government has muzzled an entire category of its citizens because of their common occupation. This restriction is not part of the U.S. Constitution. It’s a tax law enacted through a legislative maneuver more than 50 years ago by Sen. Lyndon Johnson to silence his […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 5, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Air Force Assigns Task Force to Assess Religious Climate at Academy (RNS) The Air Force has asked a new task force to report to it by May 23 about the religious climate at the U.S. Air Force Academy after a church-state watchdog group released a detailed report of allegations of […]
Jesuit Colleges to Use Endowments to Push United Social Agenda
By RNS Blog Editor — May 5, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Jesuit educators, known for their dual emphasis on academics and social justice, are gearing up to set a new standard for the way colleges wield clout on Wall Street. Under a proposal rolled out for chief financial officers last week (April 28) in Cincinnati, the nation’s 28 Jesuit colleges […]
Millions Expected to Join Thursday’s National Day of Prayer
By RNS Blog Editor — May 5, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Guy Maxcy, a commissioner for Highlands County, Fla., says he can feel the difference when citizens are praying for him. “I can say it works, I know that,” said Maxcy, who is coordinating an “Adopt-a-Leader” luncheon in Sebring, Fla., as part of Thursday’s National Day of Prayer celebrations. The […]
Subject of New Book a Saintly Inmate
By Karen Long — May 5, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Twenty-eight years ago, a short, wealthy Californian pulled on a black dress and a black veil that she had stitched herself, trying to look “nunny.” She stood before her mirror and took the name Mother Antonia, chosen for the Catholic priest who had inspired her to stick with her […]
COMMENTARY: GOP Should Admonish Its Fringe Religious Elements
By RNS Blog Editor — May 5, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Conservatives often get slagged for speaking to religious organizations, as if they’ve thrown church and state in the blender and hit puree. Dominionist smoothies for all! Liberal politicians who speak in churches are presumably slathered with some sort of secular gel that insulates them from influence. (And criticism.) It’s […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 4, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Black Religious Leaders Announce October `Millions More Movement’ WASHINGTON (RNS) Dozens of black religious leaders gathered Monday (May 2) to announce plans to bring African-American men, women and children to the nation’s capital for a massive Oct. 15 rally on the National Mall. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the “Million […]
