Monthly Archives: September 2011
COMMENTARY: Advice for the next generation
By Tracy Gordon — September 19, 2011
(RNS) Dear American seminarians: I know you’re busy starting this semester’s numerous classes in Scripture, theology, liturgy, homiletics, history, pastoral counseling, music, religious education, Hebrew and Greek. To be sure, you’ll need those courses to be an effective and knowledgeable member of the clergy. Enjoy your time in seminary because it’s unlikely that you will […]
Dolan pipes up on poverty
By Mark Silk — September 19, 2011
Michael Sean Winters has scored a copy of a letter from USCCB president Timothy Dolan to his fellow bishops on the latest disturbing statistics on poverty in the U.S., and MSW can be forgiven for putting the best possible interpretation on it; to wit: It is heartening to see the USCCB recognize that the Church’s […]
RNA Journal II
By Mark Silk — September 18, 2011
Day 2 of the Religion Newswriters Association conference featured the presentation of some new survey research by three of the leading institutional players in the field: Pew, Baylor, and the Hartford Seminary’s Hartford Institute for Religious Research (HIRR). Actually, what Pew offered had been around for a couple of weeks: its latest survey of the […]
RNA Journal I
By Mark Silk — September 17, 2011
What strikes a newbie at the Religion Newswriters Association conference is the relatively small number of actual religion newswriters. Generously including freelancers, bloggers, retirees, and academic refugees, maybe one-third of the participants count as journalists, with the balance made up of publishers, functionaries of religious bodies, publicists, presenters, etc. It’s a commentary, of course, on […]
Christian bookstores try to gain off Borders’ loss
By Tracy Gordon — September 17, 2011
(RNS) The saying goes that when God closes a door, he opens a window. So when the Borders bookstore chain — the nation’s second-largest — finishes closing all of its stores this month, Christian retailers see a window of opportunity in the death of a mega-competitor that once threatened to put them out of business. […]
Friday Godbytes
By Jack Jenkins — September 17, 2011
CNN reports about the spiritual journey of Yuri Foreman, a world-class boxer who also happens to be training to be a Jewish Rabbi. No word on whether they’ve sold to rights for “Rocky: the Rabbinical School Years”: “Thirty-one-year-old Yuri Foreman has a tight schedule today. He kissed his wife and son goodbye early and then […]
Bishop says anti-abortion activist not facing charges
By Tracy Gordon — September 16, 2011
(RNS) Just days after prominent anti-abortion activist Rev. Frank Pavone was ordered to suspend his work as head of Priests for Life, Pavone and his bishop, Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo, Texas, are seeking a way out of the tense standoff. Pavone told reporters in Amarillo that he was seeking to be “incardinated,” or authorized […]
Friday’s Religion News Roundup
By Lauren Markoe — September 16, 2011
You can’t pray in the streets of Paris anymore, says the French government, which is trying to keep public places secular. The ban goes into effect today, and could be extended to include other French cities. Moscow has destroyed its famed Cathedral Mosque. But many Muscovites, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, aren’t buying the official line […]
Among the Religion Newswriters
By Mark Silk — September 16, 2011
I’m in Durham attending the Religion Newswriters Association annual confab, and expect to have various things to report over the next couple of days, so stay tuned.
Thursday Godbytes
By Jack Jenkins — September 16, 2011
Apparently televangelist Pat Robertson said something that offended folks yesterday, and a lot of folks aren’t all that surprised. Media watchdog Get Religion also wasn’t all that surprised, but thinks the media should cover such comments with more regularity: “I generally share RNS’ resignation about whether to quote Robertson. But it’s good to see that […]
Religious broadcasters complain of viewpoint censorship
By Tracy Gordon — September 15, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious content faces a “clear and present danger of censorship” from Facebook, iTunes and other new media platforms, according to a report released Thursday (Sept. 15) by National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). “With the single exception of Twitter, all the new media platforms and services that we examined have issued written policies governing citizen […]
Lawyers say faith-healing parents unfairly targeted
By Tracy Gordon — September 15, 2011
OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) Attorneys for two parents vowed to show that prosecutors engaged in “meddling, interference and questionable conduct” in charging the couple in the 2009 faith-healing death of their newborn son. Dale and Shannon Hickman are charged with second-degree manslaughter. Their son David Hickman, was born prematurely with under-developed lungs and a deadly […]
Thursday’s Religion News Roundup
By Lauren Markoe — September 15, 2011
China may not officially love religion, but Chinese construction firms are doing a brisk business constructing churches in Africa. The Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland is backing an influential retired bishop’s call for an end to celibacy in the priesthood, in hopes of easing the church’s recruitment crisis. Major Jewish groups are sitting out […]
Do atheists have a sexism problem?
By Tracy Gordon — September 15, 2011
(RNS) Rebecca Watson meant it as a funny story, almost an aside. In a video blog, the popular skeptic blogger recalled a man following her into an empty elevator and inviting her up to his room after she spoke about feminism at a European atheist conference last June. “Guys,” she said with a bit of […]
More Americans desiging make-your-own religion
By Tracy Gordon — September 15, 2011
(RNS) If World War II-era warbler Kate Smith sang today, her anthem could be “Gods Bless America.” That’s one of the key findings in newly released research that reveals America’s drift from clearly defined religious denominations to faiths cut to fit personal preferences. The folks who make up God as they go are side by […]
