Monthly Archives: August 2010
Happy…and not religious
By Alfredo Garcia — August 13, 2010
Yahoo travel produced a piece on the world’s happiest countries citing data from a Gallup poll that looked at responses from 155 countries between 2005 and 2009. “First they asked subjects to reflect on their overall satisfaction with their lives, and ranked their answers using a ‘life evaluation’ score between 1 and 10. Then they […]
Muslim men try to mark Ramadan in 30 states in 30 days
By Tracy Gordon — August 12, 2010
NEW YORK (RNS) Two young Muslims are hitting the road for Ramadan, determined to acquire a broad — and speedy — picture of American Islam by breaking the holy month’s daily fast in a different state each evening. Aman Ali, 25, and Bassam Tariq, 23, are extending their Ramadan experience from last year, when they […]
Russians pray for rain as churches collect aid
By Tracy Gordon — August 12, 2010
MOSCOW (RNS/ENInews) The Russian Orthodox Church is praying for relief from the heat and drought that has gripped Russia for two months, as one archbishop condemned some retailers for profiteering from the extreme weather conditions. “That air conditioners sell for 50,000 rubles ($1,650) instead of 10,000, when people are dying of the heat is immoral […]
Christian-Muslim Relations Turn Bitter in India
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 12, 2010
Ethics Daily (RNS): Tensions between Christians and Muslims in India’s Kerala state have reached the boiling point over allegations of widespread coerced conversions to Islam. Read more.
RNS: SNAP blasts Episcopalians on reinstated bishop
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 12, 2010
Pew Forum (RNS): Advocates for victims of clergy sex abuse have blasted the Episcopal Church for reinstating the bishop of Philadelphia who had been charged with not investigating sex abuse allegations about his brother. Full story.
Thursday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 12, 2010
Officials behind the so-called Ground Zero mosque said thanks-but-no-thanks to NY Gov. David Paterson‘s offer to help relocate to a less controversial site; a new poll out Wednesday says 70 percent of Americans oppose the project. The Daily Beast ranks the country’s largest Muslim populations (Detroit, not surprisingly, comes in at No. 1). Marketing firms, […]
Churches come up short as delegates’ visas denied
By Tracy Gordon — August 12, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) When the Baptist World Alliance held its global conference in Hawaii earlier this month, it was missing about 1,000 attendees from around the world. In June, the inaugural meeting of the World Communion of Reformed Churches in Grand Rapids, Mich., was missing 74, and the Seventh-day Adventists’ General Conference in Atlanta was missing […]
Embattled Episcopal bishop seeks allies overseas
By Tracy Gordon — August 12, 2010
(RNS) Contrary to what they say about Las Vegas, what happens in one branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion rarely stays there. And no one knows this more than the former Episcopal bishop of Sin City, Katharine Jefferts Schori, who is now presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Jefferts Schori recently wrapped up a whirlwind […]
COMMENTARY: Gagging on Gaga
By Tracy Gordon — August 12, 2010
(RNS) A video shot at Lollapalooza in Chicago captures the raunchy scene. Lady Gaga, wearing a see-through outfit and high heels, threw herself into the frenzied crowd twice. Rather than surfing through the crowd, she stayed fixed in one spot while half-crazed men grabbed at her breasts and groped at her crotch. “If you’re a […]
Way to go, Vatican!
By Mark Silk — August 12, 2010
It could be argued that the sins of Dublin auxiliary bishops Raymond Field and Eamonn Walsh, as laid out in the Murphy Report, didn’t amount to much. Both, it seemed, failed in their duty to pursue and/or adequately report an allegation of sexual abuse by a priest. But, under pressure from their superior, Archbishop Diarmuid […]
Single black women: Alone in the pew?
By Adelle M. Banks — August 12, 2010
CNN has asked the provocative question “Does the black church keep black women single?” It’s not a new issue, as single black women have filled many a black church pew for years. Before Valentine’s Day 1999, Religion News Service did its own take on a related topic with a story headlined “The perfect Valentine? A […]
Churches come up short as delegatesâÂ?Â? visas denied
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 12, 2010
Of Prophets and Pancakes
By Alfredo Garcia — August 12, 2010
I had the pleasure of speaking last week with Mark Jacob, co-author of What the Great Ate: A Curious History of Food & Fame. The piece was written up as a “10 minutes with …” that we have here at RNS. Looking through the book, in specific the “Soul Food” chapter that covers religious figures […]
Study finds prayer aids relationships
By Tracy Gordon — August 11, 2010
(RNS) The old adage “couples who pray together stay together” may be true, especially for African-Americans, a new study shows. The survey of religion, race and relationships found that African-Americans attend church more as couples compared to members of other racial and ethnic groups. Four in 10 African-American respondents said they attended services regularly as […]
Religious leaders blast Gingrich, Palin on New York mosque
By Tracy Gordon — August 11, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) More than 40 Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders say they are “deeply troubled” by the opposition to a proposed Islamic community center and mosque located two blocks from ground zero in lower Manhattan. The statement singles out remarks made by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin […]
