Monthly Archives: August 2011
Monday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — August 15, 2011
My trusty religion calendar tells me that today is the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, when Eastern Orthodox Christians commemorate the Virgin Mary’s slipping into the big sleep before her bodily resurrection into heaven. Over in Iowa, another Christian mother jolted her presidential campaign by winning a straw poll on Saturday; then Rep. […]
The conversion is complete
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 15, 2011
Andrew Sullivan argues that the “Christianist” conversion of the GOP is now complete in the form of: Texas Gov. Rick Perry: who “launched his campaign in a revival meeting calling for God to solve our economic problems (having previously led mass prayers for the end of the Texas drought)” and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann: who […]
Got questions about Islam? Hotline has answers
By Tracy Gordon — August 15, 2011
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) Like many American Muslims, Asim Khan is tired of the prejudice against his religion. The president of the New Jersey chapter of the Islamic Circle of North America welcomes the curiosity. But he wishes those with questions about Islam would ask him or other Muslims before jumping to conclusions. “Rather than absorb […]
Getting Bachmann right
By Mark Silk — August 14, 2011
In his story on the results of the Iowa straw poll, the AP’s Thomas Beaumont gets it right in describing victor Michele Bachmann as “the tea party favorite with a following among evangelicals who make up the GOP base in Iowa and elsewhere.” The question, now, is what kind of juice Bachmann really has with […]
Judge rules for atheist bus ads
By Tracy Gordon — August 12, 2011
(RNS) A federal judge ruled Thursday (Aug. 11) that the public transit system in Little Rock, Ark., violated the free speech of local atheists by refusing to run their advertisements on city buses. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled that the Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) and its advertising agency were wrong to […]
Friday’s Godbytes
By Jack Jenkins — August 12, 2011
In I-Totally-Didn’t-See-That-Coming news, The National has an interview with one of rapper Tupac‘s former crew members, Napoleon, who apparently converted to Islam, changed his name, gave up rap and now lives in Saudi Arabia. In “Is-That-A-Thing?” news, Killing the Buddha offers some commentary on whether video games – especially games like Chain World – can […]
Friday’s Religion Roundup
By Jack Jenkins — August 12, 2011
As the presidential race heats up in Iowa, candidates like Michele Bachmann are starting to step up their public church attendance in hopes of winning a few votes in the pews. Meanwhile, it looks like Texas governor and probably-almost-maybe presidential candidate Rick Perry is supposedly gearing up to finally announce his intention to run. In […]
Jedis and Pastafarians: Real religion or joke?
By Jack Jenkins — August 12, 2011
(RNS) When congregants of West Side Church and the Christian Life Center in Bend, Ore., awoke in June to news that their churches had been vandalized, they expected to be frustrated. What they didn’t expect was to be confused. In addition to the anti-Christian slogans scrawled on the walls of the two buildings, the words […]
Romney’s national marriage posture
By Mark Silk — August 12, 2011
In last evening’s GOP presidential debate, Mitt Romney was asked by Byron York of the Washington Examiner whether he thought state legislators (as in New York) had the right to make same-sex marriage legal in their states. Romney answered: I’d far prefer having the [representatives of the] people make that decision than justices. But I […]
Thursday Godbytes
By Jack Jenkins — August 12, 2011
As riots continue to ravage the U.K., Forbes (and the Daily Mail) offers a report on how Sikhs and Muslims are protecting their houses of worship from looters: “A number of people have suggested that the Tottenham riots are the fault of ‘multiculturalism’ (read: brown-skinned people). The facts on the ground tell a much different […]
Left, right face off on Facebook to elect online pope
By Tracy Gordon — August 11, 2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Italians have an expression, “every death of a pope,” to describe rare events. And with Pope Benedict XVI in good health and scheduled to take three foreign trips in the next three months, few are talking about his replacement. But as with almost everything else, the digital revolution has thrown papal successions […]
A `Christian’ Europe without Christianity
By Tracy Gordon — August 11, 2011
(RNS) Does European Christendom need Christianity to survive? It may seen an odd question for a religious culture that once stretched from Britain to the Bosphorus, born of a deep and diffuse faith that inspired great cathedrals and monasteries and filled them with believers for centuries. But when right-wing extremist Anders Breivik killed 77 people […]
Quran-burning pastor plans 9/11 visit to Ground Zero
By Tracy Gordon — August 11, 2011
(RNS) Controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones, who sparked international outrage for plans to burn a pile of Qurans, will visit Ground Zero on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Jones told MLive.com he will hold a rally Sept. 10 at a yet-to-be announced location in the middle of the city, where he will […]
Thursday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — August 11, 2011
President Obama hosted an Iftar dinner at the White House Wednesday night, using the occasion to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks, including Muslims, and U.S. service members. Among the guests invited to the fast-breaking Ramadan dinner were Muslim families whose relatives died in the Twin Towers and professional football players. Speaking of Muslim […]
The Scandal of SSM
By Mark Silk — August 11, 2011
With same-sex marriage imminent in New York a couple of months ago, Timothy Dolan compared the Empire State to China and North Korea. In ascending to the See of Philadelphia a month ago, Charles Chaput pronounced SSM to be “the issue of our time.” Subsequently, Baltimore’s Edwin F. O’Brien wrote Gov. Martin O’Malley pleading that […]
