Monthly Archives: January 2011
Wednesday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — January 12, 2011
Nearly 500 worshipers gathered at St. Odilia Catholic Church in Tucson on Tuesday night to honor the victims of Saturday’s shooting rampage and pray for an end to senseless violence. “God wills that we resist evil,” said Tucson’s Roman Catholic Bishop Gerald Kicanas, who led the service. “That we live with integrity. That we speak […]
Scientists probe brief brushes with the afterlife
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2011
(RNS) Wanda Colie vividly remembers what she saw in 1984 when, at age 28, a condition that produced blood in her lungs nearly killed her. The pain vanished and a crowd of familiar faces came to welcome her in a light-drenched valley. For more than two decades, Colie kept her experience secret. But she’s recently […]
COMMENTARY: The coming Gay Awakening
By Cathleen Falsani — January 12, 2011
(RNS) Some of my dearest friends are gay. Most of my dearest friends are Christians. And more than a few of my dearest friends are gay Christians. As an evangelical, that last part is not something that, traditionally and culturally, I’m supposed to say out loud. For most of my life, I’ve been taught that […]
Palin, blood-libeled?
By Mark Silk — January 12, 2011
With her usual flair for dramatic self-victimization, Sarah Palin has taken to her Facebook page to charge her critics in the media with one of the most odious accusations in Western culture: If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re […]
Egypt, angry over pope’s remarks, recalls ambassador
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The government of Egypt recalled its ambassador to the Vatican on Tuesday (Jan. 11) to protest a demand by Pope Benedict XVI that it better protect the country’s embattled Christian minority. The Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement that its ambassador, Lamia Aly Hamada Mekhemar, had been recalled because the pope’s […]
Liberty leads ranks of would-be chaplains, but concerns persist
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2011
(RNS) According to Air Force data, no training program is more popular among prospective chaplains than Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, part of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. One out of every five Air Force chaplain candidates studying at an evangelical seminary is enrolled at Liberty. Critics say that high rate […]
Civility Project disbands after low interest in Congress
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Civility Project, a two-year bipartisan attempt to get politicians and others to respect one another, is closing down after just three members of Congress agreed to the project’s pledge. “You three were alone in pledging to be civil,” Christian publicist Mark DeMoss wrote in a Jan. 3 letter announcing an end to […]
Lawmaker asks clergy to foster tolerance in wake of shootings
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2011
PATERSON, N.J. (RNS) In the wake of Saturday’s (Jan. 8) shooting that left six people dead and an Arizona congresswoman critically injured, a New Jersey congressman is calling upon clergy to help people put aside their ideological differences during a “week of solidarity.” “I’m looking for some of the churches and the synagogues and the […]
U.S. allies keep close watch on Sudan independence vote
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2011
ST. LOUIS (RNS) The people of south Sudan are voting this week on whether to split Africa’s largest country in two and form the world’s newest nation, or to reunite with their neighbors in the north. The seven-day referendum, which started Sunday (Jan. 9), was part of the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended […]
Tuesday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — January 11, 2011
The House announced plans for a bipartisan congressional prayer service on Wednesday for victims of Saturday’s shooting in Arizona and President Obama will participate a memorial service in Tucson Wednesday night. A Mass for all the victims of St. Odilia Parish, including a 9-year-old girl who received First Communion last year, will be held tonight. […]
Liberal UCC steps in to boost ranks of chaplains
By Tracy Gordon — January 11, 2011
ST. LOUIS (RNS) A military chaplains serves as both a religious leader and a listener — ideally one who can assist military personnel of all faiths. A frequent refrain among chaplains is “chaplain to all, pastor to some.” But according to Department of Defense data, the nation’s corps of chaplains leans heavily toward evangelical Christianity, […]
COMMENTARY: Listening amid the noise
By Tom Ehrich — January 11, 2011
(RNS) Being active on Facebook and Twitter, I find, is like standing in the middle of Times Square and actually hearing what the crowds are saying. Or at least trying to hear. It isn’t exactly voyeuristic — who expects public venues like Facebook and Twitter to be private? — but it certainly means hearing comments, […]
Shooting words
By Mark Silk — January 11, 2011
Pace Sarah Palin’s spokeswoman, but of course the lady’s map featured crosshairs–just another example of the recourse to firearms imagery in contemporary Republican political rhetoric. Is it accurate to trace it to Pat Buchanan’s famous “Lock and Load!” summons to (metaphorical) arms in his insurgent 1996 campaign for the GOP presidential nomination? Whatever, it’s what […]
State Department to leave `mother’ and `father’ on documents
By Tracy Gordon — January 11, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) Facing a backlash from conservative groups, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered changes to a proposal to remove the terms “mother” and “father” from records of overseas births. “With Secretary Clinton’s input, we will be revising the form to retain the existing designation of mother and father, in addition to the designation […]
