Monthly Archives: March 2011
Tuesday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — March 15, 2011
In the wake of disaster, even proudly secular Japan will be turning toward ancient traditions such as Buddhism and Shintoism, according to CNN and USA Today. Christians in Japan continue to look for survivors, as U.S.-based religious relief organizations began to send teams to the devastated nation. In other news, the Vatican kicked off its […]
COMMENTARY: Those atop the heap must feel the force of gravity
By Tracy Gordon — March 15, 2011
(RNS) It’s difficult to feel sympathy for professional football players, whose multimillion-dollar salaries for playing a game would feel like a life-changing lottery win to most Americans. It’s even more difficult, however, to feel the pain of National Football League team owners, a dapper cadre of mega-wealthy men who reap vast fortunes from the game […]
Philadelphia Story
By Mark Silk — March 15, 2011
Compared to what’s happening at the Fukushima Daiichi complex it may not amount to much, but the meltdown of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is still pretty toxic. Yesterday was the first court appearance of three priests and a schoolteacher charged with raping boys in the 1990s. Plus big fish Monsignor William Lynn, the secretary for […]
Religious groups mobilize to aid Japan
By Tracy Gordon — March 15, 2011
(RNS) As the extent of the death and destruction from the massive disaster in Japan comes into focus, religious relief organizations are sending and supporting teams to assess the damage. Groups such World Vision and Baptist World Aid have teams on the ground determining what kinds of experts and supplies will be needed in the […]
Churches in Japan devastated by earthquake
By Tracy Gordon — March 15, 2011
TOKYO (RNS/ENInews) Christians in Japan are looking for survivors and assessing damage to church buildings after Friday’s (March 11) devastating earthquake and tsunami. The National Police Agency announced that as of Monday about 1,800 people have died and 2,400 are missing. The death toll may eventually reach more than 10,000, according to police. Churches and […]
Monday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — March 14, 2011
A host of religious leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI, are praying and preparing aid for victims of Japan’s earthquake and tsunamis. Speaking of international aid, celebrity-driven campaigns like Save Darfur and Invisible Children somtimes do more harm than good, according to a Baptist expert. Looking back at last week’s congressional hearing, WaPo says it was […]
Christians question conventional wisdom on divorce stats
By Tracy Gordon — March 14, 2011
(RNS) It’s been proclaimed from pulpits and blogs for years — Christians divorce as much as everyone else in America. But some scholars and family activists are questioning the oft-cited statistics, saying Christians who attend church regularly are more likely to remain wed. “It’s a useful myth,” said Bradley Wright, a University of Connecticut sociologist […]
Sauce for Donohue’s gander
By Mark Silk — March 14, 2011
Some of you may recall that a week ago, the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue took umbrage at my daring to suggest that the canon law doctrine of Scandal be jettisoned. It wasn’t that he disagreed with what I had to say about the doctrine but that it was the likes of me who said it. […]
Former head of Pentecostal denomination dies
By Tracy Gordon — March 12, 2011
(RNS) Bishop Chandler David Owens, a former presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ known as an orator and international leader, died Sunday (March 6) at the age of 79. Owens served as leader of the nation’s largest black Pentecostal denomination from 1995 to 2000 and was a member of its general board […]
Westboro Church plans protest of funeral for Pa. children
By Tracy Gordon — March 12, 2011
HARRISBURG, Pa. (RNS) Westboro Baptist Church, the controversial group that just won a free speech Supreme Court case, said it plans to protest at a funeral for seven Pennsylvania children who died in a fire Tuesday (March 8) night. “I’m baffled that they would choose this,” said Perry County District Attorney Charles F. Chenot III. […]
Fed up with Hollywood, churches make their own films
By Tracy Gordon — March 12, 2011
YORBA LINDA, Calif. (RNS) This year’s Oscars may have been passed out, but for some churches across the country the major motion picture season is just getting started. Frustrated with the movies Hollywood has been releasing, more and more congregations are making their own feature films. One is Friends Church here in Yorba Linda, a […]
Friday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — March 11, 2011
It was real. It was on TV. But was it Reality TV? To Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York, Thursday’s hearing on the “radicalization” of American Muslims was nothing more than “the equivalent of reality TV.” For sure, the hearing broadcast all the tears, belligerence, navel gazing and banality we’ve come to expect from reality […]
`Grace Card’ wears its heart on its sleeve
By Tracy Gordon — March 11, 2011
(RNS) “The Grace Card” is part of what appears to be a growing trend of ministry movies, films made by churches and released into theaters in a novel attempt to spread the word to mainstream audiences. Almost by definition, though, the people who stand to benefit the most from the films’ positive messages are the […]
Outlying white evangelicals
By Mark Silk — March 11, 2011
Pew’s latest survey of views on Islam and violence demonstrates again the degree to which white evangelicals stand apart from the other large religious groupings in American society. The question is whether or not you think the “Islamic religion is more likely than others to encourage violence.” The overall numbers haven’t changed much since 2003, […]
Shepherds lead, but flocks diverge on death penalty
By Tracy Gordon — March 11, 2011
(RNS) On Ash Wednesday, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law abolishing the death penalty in his state, adding the Land of Lincoln to the growing list of 16 states where capital punishment is no longer an option. “It is impossible to create a perfect system, free of all mistakes,” Quinn said after signing the […]
