Monthly Archives: February 2008
Jewish congregations renew interest in retreats
By RNS Blog Editor — February 22, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ The fourth- and fifth-graders can barely control their excitement, talking and smiling and moving in place as they reach to touch the Torah scroll carried by one of their own, Brandon Shaw. In this Saturday morning Shabbat service, they could dress in sweatshirts and jeans and sneakers, and […]
Jewish congregations renew interest in retreats
By Dick Staub — February 22, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) If “art is the language of the soul,” as Robert Redford said at the Sundance Film Festival this year, I look at the “souls” of most of the Academy Award nominees for best picture and see dead people. Since the 1960s, film has increasingly been the place where we […]
Jewish congregations renew interest in retreats
By Kim Lawton — February 22, 2008
c. 2008 Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly LOS ANGELES _ At the Academy Awards this weekend (February 24), the nominees for Best Picture portray some complex moral dilemmas: A pregnant teen figuring out what to do; a lawyer in an ethical crisis; a Western saga overwhelmed by evil; a romance doomed by lies; a clash between […]
Selective Protection?
By RNS Blog Editor — February 21, 2008
Does God ‘protect’ some disaster victims but not others? RNS’ Brittani Hamm and Adelle M. Banks examine the theological issues surrounding disasters, in this week’s full text article, linked above. Quote: Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of the best-selling book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” said he does not believe the tornado was an […]
Can’t We Just…
By Mark Silk — February 21, 2008
David Brody has posted an email being circulated by progressive faith leaders (whatever exactly that means). I challenge you to read to the end without nodding off. Dear friends, fellow clergy and people of faith: We are people of faith from all traditions and backgrounds, all genders and races and all regions across our great […]
Much Ado About Nothing
By rvineis — February 21, 2008
Today’s NYT piece on John McCain’s alleged unethical behavior has caused quite a stir. Conservative talking heads like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham have rushed to McCain’s side. Yet, it is unclear how evangelicals will react to the controversy. CBN’s David Brody predicts much of nothing. Brody: “But my hunch is that for the most […]
The IAF Connection
By Mark Silk — February 21, 2008
As the Democratic race moves into the two-ring circus of Texas and Ohio, the poll numbers show a healthy lead for Clinton in the Buckeye State but not much of one in Lone Star country. You’d think she would be doing better there, given that Latinos, who have been among her strongest supporters in the […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 21, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service Evangelist Billy Graham returns home from the hospital (RNS) Evangelist Billy Graham returned home Tuesday (Feb. 19) after undergoing a procedure to relieve pressure in his brain. Graham, 89, underwent the elective procedure on Feb. 13 at Missions Hospitals in Asheville, N.C. Physicians said he was progressing well after they […]
On Film: First Jesus, Now Mary Magdalene
By Adelle M. Banks — February 21, 2008
The people who brought the “Jesus” film to screens across the world in hundreds of languages have now begun a project about a woman of the Bible: Mary Magdalene. “Magdalena: Released from Shame” is a new movie created by The Jesus Film Project, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. In an announcement, the film […]
COMMENTARY: Liberal evangelicals: from a misnomer to a movement
By Cathleen Falsani — February 21, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) There was a time, not so many election cycles ago, when popular wisdom said it wasn’t possible, in good conscience, to be a born-again Christian and a Democrat. God was a Republican. Jesus was a member of the religious right. And all liberals were godless, anti-religious, baby-killing heathens. Well, […]
10 Minutes With … Laura Ingraham
By David Finnigan — February 21, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Listeners throughout the country hear conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham hold up faith and flag in her daily national radio show. And her latest book, a collection of essays called “Power to the People,” has sold more than 100,000 copies since its debut last September. Ingraham, 45, converted […]
Muslim leader decries American `bigotry’ against Islam
By Bruce Nolan — February 21, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ American culture’s view of American Muslims and Islam is steadily deteriorating under an onslaught of “bigotry” on cable news shows, newspaper op-ed pages and in the blogosphere, an Arab-American activist told an audience at Tulane University here Tuesday. That’s a significant shift, said Hussein Ibish, founder of […]
Muslim leader decries American `bigotry’ against Islam
By Benedicta Cipolla — February 21, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Don’t ask Anne Rice about “The Da Vinci Code” unless you want an earful. Rice, who returned to the Catholic Church in 1998 and abandoned vampires, her former stock in trade, soon after, calls it a “load of nonsense.” Her latest novel, “Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,” […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 20, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service Presbyterian high court bars noncelibate gay clergy (RNS) The high court of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has issued a landmark decision that unequivocally bars noncelibate gay and lesbian clergy and halts recent attempts to compromise on ordination standards. Ministerial candidates in the PCUSA are required to be in faithful heterosexual […]
The Vessel
By Mark Silk — February 20, 2008
Sam Stein of Huffington Post noted what he thought was a new line in Barack Obama’s victory speech in Houston last night that seemed to designed to tamp down suspicions that he views himself as some kind of messianic political figure. It went: And I would not be running, as aware as I am of […]
