Monthly Archives: October 2011
Report says tithing, church spending hit record low
By Tracy Gordon — October 13, 2011
(RNS) Tithing to U.S. Protestant churches as a percentage of income is at its lowest level in at least 41 years, according to a new report, and churches are keeping a greater share of those donations for their own needs. Parishioners gave about 2.38 percent of their income to their church, according to “The State […]
Thursday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — October 13, 2011
As he gears up for re-election, President Obama invited the executive committee of the National Association of Evangelicals to the White House, where “he did a lot of listening,” according to one participant. An administration official said Obama is the first Democratic prez to meet with the NAE, which represents 40 denominations across some 45,000 […]
Mich. lawmakers say funeral protest law too broad
By Tracy Gordon — October 13, 2011
LANSING, Mich. (RNS) There’s a difference between a boisterous protest near a veteran’s funeral and an anti-war bumper sticker on a car parked near a funeral home — but not in the eyes of Michigan state law. A state Senate committee is considering a bill that would narrow the state’s existing funeral protest bill, which […]
No preferential option need apply
By Mark Silk — October 13, 2011
It has been noticed, most recently by Amy Sullivan, that former senator and wannabe president Rick Santorum hasn’t got the foggiest idea what “preferential option for the poor” means. And given that he’s kind of a professional Catholic, and that the preferential option in question has been basic Catholic social teaching for several decades, that […]
Where’s religion in the GOP race?
By Mark Silk — October 13, 2011
Now that religion has been put back on the table as a potential wedge issue in the Republican presidential sweepstakes, you’d think that the pollsters would take note. But no. In the latest national polls from Ipsos, PPP, and NBC/WSJ, there’s nary a cross-tab indicating the preferences of likely GOP primary voters by religious affiliation. […]
Obama hosts first evangelical summit at White House
By Tracy Gordon — October 13, 2011
(RNS) President Obama formally extended his ear to evangelicals ahead of the 2012 election, meeting with top leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals in the White House for about 30 minutes on Wednesday (Oct. 12). International religious freedom was a top priority for the group as they thanked Obama for condemning the charges against […]
Epitaph for Steve Jobs: Too great to be good?
By Tracy Gordon — October 13, 2011
NEW YORK (RNS) The death of Apple founder and creative genius Steve Jobs has prompted the kind of veneration usually reserved for saints, inspired by his almost religious idealism and the lofty goals he had for technology and himself. Not to mention the flat-out awesomeness of his products. Everything about Apple and Jobs seemed to […]
Vatican treads carefully on Egyptian violence
By Tracy Gordon — October 13, 2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Treading carefully on a subject that has proved diplomatically volatile for the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI lamented Sunday’s (Oct. 9) killing of two dozen Christian protesters in Egypt. “I am profoundly saddened by the episodes of violence that took place in Cairo last Sunday,” Benedict said on Wednesday (Oct. 12), referring to […]
Williams confronts Mugabe with dossier of abuse
By Tracy Gordon — October 13, 2011
HARARE, Zimbabwe (RNS/ENInews) Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has asked Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to intervene to stop attacks on Anglicans by allies of an excommunicated bishop who has seized church property and intimidated clergy and worshippers. The leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion on Monday (Oct. 10) handed Mugabe a dossier with descriptions of […]
Wednesday Godbytes
By Jack Jenkins — October 12, 2011
Faith and Leadership‘s Call and Response blog has an interesting look at “Steve Jobs, patron saint of entrepreneurial church leaders.” Insert your favorite saint and/or iPod joke here. Emi Kolawole looks at how religious institutions are grappling with “new media” (that’s buzzword talk for “twitter and Facebook stuff”) over at the Ideas and Innovations blog. […]
Wednesday’s Religion News Roundup
By Lauren Markoe — October 12, 2011
Another Jewish holiday! Tonight begins the seven-day Festival of Sukkot, where Jews give thanks for the harvest. So get yourself an etrog (it’s like a lemon) and, as the Torah instructs, shake your lulav. (Don’t get too excited – it’s the closed frond of a date palm tree.) Israel and Hamas struck a deal to […]
‘PopUp Sukkah’ helps Jews on the go celebrate Sukkot
By Tracy Gordon — October 12, 2011
(RNS) If you’re wondering why your Jewish neighbors built a hut in their yard, it’s because the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot began Wednesday night (Oct. 12), a sort of Jewish Thanksgiving that lasts through Oct. 21. The temporary hut is a “sukkah,” a place to eat and even sleep during the weeklong holiday, and […]
10 minutes with … Robert Lupton
By Tracy Gordon — October 12, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) Food pantries, clothes closets and mission trips have become unquestioned bastions of America’s charitable landscape. But do these well-intended services — many of them run by religious organizations — really help the poor? According to Robert Lupton, not really. His new book, “Toxic Charity,” draws on his 40 years’ experience as an urban […]
One Cheer for the Catholic League
By Mark Silk — October 12, 2011
Credit where credit is due. The Catholic League has gone after Rev. Robert Jeffress, noting that hostility to Catholicism (along with hostility to Mormonism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism) is part of his stock in trade. Taking Jeffress to task for (literally) demonizing theological differences, Pres. Bill Donohue calls Jeffress “a poster boy for hatred, not […]
Religious liberty hypocrisy
By Mark Silk — October 12, 2011
A new organization claiming to represent 2,000 evangelical chaplains in the U.S. military calls itself the Military Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. What threat to religious liberty does it discern? That would be Pentagon’s recent memo declaring that military chaplains can participate in private marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples in jurisdictions that recognize SSM. To […]
