Monthly Archives: March 2007
Controversy Over Suspensions Grabs National Attention
By RNS Blog Editor — March 13, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, Wash. _ They formed a circle and held hands, praying for the welfare of their school, the nation and the president. Some prayed silently. Others spoke English or Russian. Administrators at Heritage High School repeatedly asked the students not to pray in the busy commons area and offered them […]
DallasNews Religion: Mohler suggests fetus intervention to stop homosexuality
By Kevin Eckstrom — March 12, 2007
Adelle Banks’ story about Al Mohler’s suggestion that gay fetuses should be turned straight has attracted quite a bit of chatter over at the Dallas Morning News blog … If you’re joining the conversation a little late, Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptists’ flagship seminary in Louisville, Ky., floated the idea that if a […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 10, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Gay Lutheran Pastor Appeals Ruling (RNS) An openly gay Lutheran pastor has appealed a recent church court ruling that removed him from his Atlanta pulpit for being in an open, committed homosexual relationship. The Rev. Bradley Schmeling, the pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church, told Southern Voice, an Atlanta-based gay […]
Jews Re-create Purim’s Ancient City, One Lego at a Time
By RNS Blog Editor — March 10, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service BOUND BROOK, N.J. _ Great cities in history are usually made of brick, mortar and stone. But at Congregation Knesseth Israel, the biblical city of Shushan was reincarnated in a 21st-century form _ a scale reconstruction made from about 20,000 multicolored Lego blocks. In a project at the temple’s Hebrew […]
Gospels Returned to Vatican by Way of Christie’s and Alabama
By Greg Garrison — March 10, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service BIRMINGHAM, Ala. _ It wasn’t exactly “The Da Vinci Code,” but a Birmingham Catholic priest recently jetted around the world and helped deliver one of the most important documents in Christian history to the pope. “It contains the oldest copy of the Lord’s Prayer in the world,” said the Rev. […]
Zagano Dukes It Out with O’Reilly
By Kevin Eckstrom — March 10, 2007
Our intrepid new columnist, Phyllis Zagano, raised the hackles of Fox pundit Bill O’Reilly with a column that faulted O’Reilly for stooping to the same level of gutter-talk that he found so objectionable in John Edwards’ ill-fated bloggers. Here’s a sample: O’REILLY: When people-religious people see their religion attacked,they’re going to get angry. And some […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 9, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Baptist Pastor Cleared on Sex Soliciting Charges OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (RNS) A former member of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee was found not guilty on Wednesday (March 7) of offering to engage in a lewd act. Lonnie Latham, then 60 and pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church, was arrested […]
Mohler Says Gay Gene Should Be Manipulated, if Possible
By Adelle M. Banks — March 9, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The president of a prominent Southern Baptist seminary says he would support medical treatment, if it were available, to change the sexual orientation of a fetus inside its mother’s womb from homosexual to heterosexual. The idea was floated by the Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist […]
COMMENTARY: An Exercise in Spineless Christian Diplomacy
By James Rudin — March 9, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) “Well, there you go again.” With those words hurled at Jimmy Carter during a presidential debate, Ronald Reagan probably won the White House in 1980. With a single stinging barb, Reagan defined Carter’s views and policies as worn-out and wrong-headed, out of step with the majority of the American […]
Religious Groups Push Health Coverage for Children
By John Boyle — March 9, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ An unusually broad coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders descended on Capitol Hill this week to push Congress to increase funds for health care coverage for American’s 9 million uninsured children. “Although we come from diverse backgrounds and religious beliefs, we all agree” that children in need […]
People of Action
By Tracy Gordon — March 9, 2007
Quote of the Day: Eastern Mennonite University President Loren Swartzendruber “We’re a people who don’t always talk a lot about our faith. But we do put it into action.” –Eastern Mennonite University President Loren Swartzendruber, in response to the Mennonite churches who offered their homes and prayers to mourning families at Bluffton University after a […]
It’s Been 17 years Since My Last Confession…
By RNS Blog Editor — March 8, 2007
Church Tries to Lure Catholics Back to the Confessional RNS’ Daniel Burke writes on Washington Archibishop Donald Wuerl’s efforts to bring Catholics back to the confessional during Lent, in this week’s full-text article, linked above. Quote: …in his first major enterprise in the nation’s capital, the archbishop unleashed a media blitz on Ash Wednesday-papering the […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 8, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Compromise Allows Return of Cross to William and Mary Chapel (RNS) The bronze cross in the chapel at the College of William and Mary, whose removal caused controversy last fall, has been returned to the campus chapel in Williamsburg, Va., under a compromise announced Tuesday (March 6). The Committee on […]
Battle Over Episcopal Bishop Looms in South Carolina
By Daniel Burke — March 8, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A large number of Episcopal dioceses are refusing to approve South Carolina’s conservative choice for bishop, throwing his consecration into doubt and aggravating tensions in the bitterly divided Episcopal Church. Gaining the required “consents” for a new bishop from a majority of the church’s dioceses is usually a formality. […]
Churches Often the First Stage for `Idol’ Contestants
By Adelle M. Banks — March 8, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When LaKisha Jones belted out a song from the movie “Dreamgirls” in her debut on this season of “American Idol,” the Michigan church that helped nurture her soulful sound was rooting her on. The musical careers of Jones and some other “Idol” contestants _ past and present _ were […]
