Monthly Archives: August 2005
COMMENTARY: The Wrongness of Right-Opinion
By Tom Ehrich — August 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In coming weeks, I will meet with church leaders in two cities to think through their congregations’ futures. If they want to make a positive difference in a troubled world, what should they be doing? It’s easy enough to make a negative difference. Get on some high horse about […]
After Death of Garang, Sudan Faces Challenges in Avoiding War
By Carl Anderson — August 17, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The sudden death on July 31 of the charismatic John Garang, the southern Sudanese Christian and rebel leader who for 21 years fought the Muslim-dominated government in Khartoum and then became a peace-brokering icon of national unity, could have sent the oil-rich African nation into yet another round of […]
Rock and Religion
By Tracy Gordon — August 16, 2005
Quote of the Day: U2 Lead Singer Bono “It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma. … Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your […]
Sudan’s challenges; New Urbanism
By RNS Blog Editor — August 16, 2005
In Thursday’s RNS report David E. Anderson provides an analysis of the challenges facing Sudan after the death of its first vice president, John Garang: Whether Garang’s successor, Salva Kiir Mayarit-considered a brilliant soldier but an untested politician-can meet the challenges of implementing a peace accord and preserve the delicate unity of the Christian south […]
Pope’s New Watchdog of Doctrine Dogged by Old Lawsuit Citing Birth Control
By RNS Blog Editor — August 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In 1994, then-Archbishop of Portland William Levada offered a simple answer for why the Oregon archdiocese shouldn’t have been ordered to pay the costs of raising a child fathered by a church worker at a parish. In her relationship with Arturo Uribe, then a seminarian and now a priest […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Conservatives Blast `Arrogant’ Court at Justice Sunday II NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Conservative religious and political leaders on Sunday (Aug. 14) dismissed charges that they are trying to legislate their religious beliefs, arguing instead God commands them to speak out against a Supreme Court that they say is at odds with […]
Economic Growth Seen as Key to a Peaceful Gaza
By RNS Blog Editor — August 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service GAZA STRIP _ About 41/2 years ago, Israeli troops bulldozed Mosbah Shamalakh’s farmland near the Israeli settlement of Netzarim, which had been attacked by Palestinian militants. Shamalakh, 65, and his wife, Amina, live with several of their grown sons, one of their grown daughters and eight grandchildren in a large […]
COMMENTARY: U.S. Suffers From Africa Attention Deficit Disorder
By RNS Blog Editor — August 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Today’s pictures are from Niger, but they could be from lots of places in Africa, and from lots of times during recent decades. These children with the matchstick legs, and the eyes bigger than their fists, could have been from Biafra, a runaway province of Nigeria, in the 1970s, […]
Levada’s legal strategy; optimism in Gaza
By RNS Blog Editor — August 15, 2005
Monday RNS starts off with a story about events that took place in 1994, when Archbishop William Levada-who replaced Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith-was the Archbishop of Portland. William Lobdell reports that back then, Levada offered a simple answer for why the Oregon archdiocese shouldn’t […]
Billy Graham is “at total peace” according to daughter
By Tracy Gordon — August 15, 2005
Quote of the Day: Author and Speaker Anne Graham Lotz “He’s at total peace, which makes me think it’s really the right decision. There’s no second-guessing; there’s no struggling. In fact, he told me, `Anne, I have perfect peace.’ And you can look at his face and his demeanor, and you can see it.” –Anne […]
NEWS STORY: Lutherans Lambaste Israel on Separation Wall, Sidestep Divestment Issue
By Kein Eckstrom — August 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service ORLANDO, Fla. _ The nation’s largest Lutheran denomination on Saturday (Aug. 13) voted to increase advocacy on behalf of Palestinians, but sidestepped a growing movement to divest in Israel that has angered many Jewish groups. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which has deep ties with the dwindling Palestinian Christian […]
NEWS STORY: Lutherans Maintain Policies Frowning on Same-Sex Unions, Actively Gay Clergy
By Kein Eckstrom — August 13, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service ORLANDO, Fla. _ The nation’s largest Lutheran church on Friday (Aug. 12) rejected a move to allow actively gay clergy and upheld a 1993 policy that frowns on blessing same-sex unions. A proposal to allow clergy in “life-long, committed and faithful same-sex relationships” to serve in the Evangelical Lutheran Church […]
COMMENTARY: Boy Scouts Stand for God and Country, While Battling ACLU
By RNS Blog Editor — August 13, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) I recently made it up to Camp Hahobas in Washington state to join my old Boy Scout troop for the closing campfire after Scouts there spent a week earning merit badges, learning to cook and playing “kick the can.” There was the old lake, the old playing field, the […]
Gay Church Kicked Out of Catholic AIDS Facility; Other Churches Offer Help
By RNS Blog Editor — August 13, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ In the spring, the Rev. Dexter Brecht thought he had found a home for his 45-member congregation _ at least for the next 12 months, as the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans looked for a permanent home. Within the Catholic-owned Project Lazarus complex, the congregation’s […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 13, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Abortion Rights Group Pulls Controversial Ad on Roberts (RNS) An abortion rights group plans to replace an ad that drew criticism for its characterization of U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts’ record on abortion. “We … regret that many people have misconstrued our recent advertisement about Mr. Roberts’ record,” wrote […]
