Monthly Archives: October 2006
Amish School Where Five Girls Died Demolished
By RNS Blog Editor — October 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NICKEL MINES, Pa. _ The one-room schoolhouse where 10 Amish girls were shot on Oct. 2 stood along White Oak Road for 30 years. It came down in less than 30 minutes. Working in pre-dawn darkness _ a move intended at least in part to thwart media coverage _ workers […]
President Bush on Abu Ghraib
By Tracy Gordon — October 14, 2006
Quote of the Day: President Bush (RNS) “Abu Ghraib: I believe that really hurt us. It hurt us internationally. It kind of eased us off the moral high ground; we weren’t a country that was capable of, on the one hand, promoting democracy and then treating people decently.” -President Bush, responding to a reporter’s question […]
“Fast” Food
By RNS Blog Editor — October 13, 2006
Online Guide Helps Muslims On-the-Go Find Ramadan Fare RNS’ Omar Sacirbey profiles Zabihah.com, a website that helps observant Muslims find appropriate restaurants for breaking their daytime fast during Ramadan. The full text article is linked above. Quote: At the same time, the Web site is helping to foster a burgeoning eat-out culture among Muslims, one […]
Movie Offers a Chilling Glimpse of an Abusive Priest
By Daniel Burke — October 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A new documentary about a Roman Catholic priest who sexually abused dozens of children during the 1970s and 1980s in Northern California points a damning finger at the church officials who failed to stop him. Responsibility for defrocked priest Oliver O’Grady’s crimes, according to filmmaker Amy Berg, rises from […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service SNAP Calls for Outside Review of Page Program WASHINGTON (RNS) The head of a support group for those sexually abused by clergy called Thursday (Oct. 12) for strict measures to help prevent abuse of teenage congressional pages, saying members of Congress should not be responsible for abuse investigations. The Survivors […]
Black Voices Bring the Bible to Life
By Adelle M. Banks — October 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In a new audio Bible, the Holy Trinity has some familiar voices: actor Samuel L. Jackson plays God; actor Blair Underwood performs the role of Jesus and Dallas megachurch pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes renders the Holy Spirit. The New Testament portion of “Inspired By … The Bible Experience” arrived […]
Scientologists Move In, and Not Everyone’s Happy
By Ashbel S. (Tony) Green — October 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service CLEARWATER, Fla. _ Scientology is perhaps best-known for its most famous practitioner, Tom Cruise. But here in this beachy suburb of Tampa, Scientologists are neighbors, business owners, real estate investors _ and a growing force that makes some uncomfortable. The Church of Scientology, despite its official status as a tax-exempt […]
COMMENTARY: Walking Through History
By James Rudin — October 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Each time I visit Athens, Rome and Jerusalem, I experience an extraordinary sense of history. In the Greek capital, I make the long walk up the hill to view the Parthenon, dedicated to the goddess Athena. Built around 447 B.C., the Parthenon represented the peak in Doric architecture, but […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 12, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Davenport Becomes Fourth Diocese to Declare Bankruptcy (RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday (Oct. 10), becoming the fourth U.S. diocese to pursue the financial shelter because of costly sexual abuse litigation. “I and the leadership of the diocese believe that, as difficult […]
Lessons From One Abuse Scandal for Another
By Frances Kennedy — October 12, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) L’affaire Foley _ and the who-knew-what-when about his messages of adolescent longing to congressional pages _ has ignited a firestorm of righteous indignation. This comes mostly from politicians and pundits for whom this reaction is more a weapon than an expression of true moral concern. Ethical concern inside Washington’s […]
Report: Pope Set to Allow Wider Use of Latin Mass
By RNS Blog Editor — October 12, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Pope Benedict XVI is set to revive the Latin version of the Roman Catholic Mass, issuing a papal decree that could restore traditional forms of worship that fell out of favor 40 years ago, according to an Italian news report. Rome’s Il Giornale newspaper reported on Wednesday […]
Evangelicals, Catholics Decry Abortion as `Murder’
By Adelle M. Banks — October 12, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A network of evangelical and Catholic leaders, reaffirming its call to build up a “culture of life,” has issued a new statement that links the biblical principle of loving one’s neighbor to care for the unborn, the frail and the dying. “The direct and intentional taking of innocent human […]
Ordination of Woman for Baptist Church Raises Eyebrows
By Kristen Campbell — October 12, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service MOBILE, Ala. _ Growing up, Ellen Guice Sims said it never crossed her mind to think a woman could be a pastor. “It was even farther away than feeling shut out,” she said. “It was not even a question.” That was then. Last May, Sims was ordained in the American […]
Women Clergy Across the Years
By Adelle M. Banks — October 12, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Following are statistics showing the percentage of women clergy across seven denominations: Assemblies of God ** 1988: 15 percent 1996: 15.6 percent 2006: 18.2 percent Church of the Nazarene 1908: 20 percent 1973: 6 percent 2006: 8.5 percent Episcopal Church*** 1986: 8 percent* 1996: 19 percent* 2006: 30 percent* […]
Vignettes of Women Clergy
By RNS Blog Editor — October 12, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As the United Methodist Church marks 50 years of women’s ordination, here are the stories of five women who became ordained after initially thinking they would never land a job in a pulpit. XXX (RNS) The Rev. Betsye Mowry, pastor of Oneida (N.Y) First United Methodist Church, first felt […]
