Monthly Archives: December 2011
Christmas symbols are in the eye of the beholder
By Tracy Gordon — December 14, 2011
(RNS) When is a candy cane not just a candy cane? For some people, its red and white stripes might signify the sacrifice and purity of Jesus, or maybe just a 19th-century candy-maker’s twist intended to dazzle his grandchildren. Both stories are alive and well on the Internet. Is Santa Claus the imagined incarnation of […]
Tuesday Godbytes: Salvation for Cyborgs; Sharia and the Simpsons; “untrustworthy” atheis
By Jack Jenkins — December 13, 2011
I know it’s the question that’s been keeping you up at night, keeping you from counting electric sheep: is there salvation for cyborgs? Techie blog iO9 highlights a recent interview with a Christian seminary professor on this very topic (i.e. – transhumanism, which I’m sure you’ve heard of), and also notes the existence of a […]
Buying the Crystal Cathedral: Great deal or big gamble?
By Tracy Gordon — December 13, 2011
(RNS) Even by the depressed metrics of Southern California’s real estate market, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange negotiated a pretty sweet deal when it purchased the iconic Crystal Cathedral, the longtime pulpit of the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and backdrop to his popular “Hour of Power” television broadcasts. Not only did Catholics get a […]
COMMENTARY: Christianity 2.0
By Tracy Gordon — December 13, 2011
(RNS) What will a fresh Christianity look like in America? First, it will have multiple faces, not just a few bearing denominational labels like Presbyterian and Baptist or styles like Pentecostal. Some faces will be familiar, some not. Yes, we will see Sunday worship, with people sitting in pews facing a preacher and singing hymns. […]
TuesdayâÂ?Â?s Religion Roundup: God particles, Mormon bets, Newt’s ‘War on Shariah’
By David Gibson — December 13, 2011
Just in from Switzerland: No proof for the existence of God, or at least his Particle. Dang. Only hints, scientists say, of the existence of the Higgs boson subatomic particle, a.k.a. the God particle (that’s not it, at left), so-called because it would explain a lot of things, like how the universe could exist. Actually, […]
Hayek’s challenge
By Mark Silk — December 13, 2011
The 2012 election boils down to John Maynard Keynes v. F.A. Hayek, according to Nicholas Wapshott over at Politico. Responding, Michael Sean Winters shakes a Keynesian finger at the “profoundly unchristian ideas” of Hayek’s Austrian school of economics. But what I’ve been thinking about is Hayek’s shrewd libertarian swipe at what today we’d call social […]
Pope Benedict XVI to visit Cuba, Mexico next year
By Tracy Gordon — December 13, 2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI confirmed on Monday (Dec. 12) that he will travel to Cuba and Mexico next year. “Supported by divine Providence, I have the intention to make an apostolic trip to Mexico and Cuba before Easter,” he said at the end of his homily during a special Mass in St. Peter’s […]
St. Louis church channels anger over Pujols for good
By Tracy Gordon — December 13, 2011
ST. LOUIS (RNS) As members of The Gathering began to hear of the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments after Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols had signed a $254 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, they decided to act. “We heard people were burning their Pujols jerseys, and someone said, ‘Why […]
American Cardinal John Foley dies at 76
By Tracy Gordon — December 13, 2011
(RNS) Cardinal John P. Foley, the longtime chief of communications for the Vatican who brought Christmas midnight Mass from St. Peter’s Basilica to millions of Americans, died on Sunday (Dec. 11) just outside of his native Philadelphia. He was 76. Although the Archdiocese of Philadelphia did not provide the cause of his death, The Associated […]
Monday Godbytes: Lowe’s blows; Jon Stewart in hell; holiday books
By Jack Jenkins — December 13, 2011
The department store chain Lowe’s recently pulled advertisements they were running during TLC’s new “All-American Muslim” reality TV show, reacting to protests from conservative Christian advocacy groups. The move, however, sparked a blacklash from several groups. The Crescent Post was not happy, and Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, a state senator from Southern California, is calling for […]
Monday’s Religion News Roundup: Lowe’s boycott, invented Palestians; Mitt Romney’s
By Daniel Burke — December 12, 2011
The introduction of the new Roman Missal was the top religion story of the year, according to a survey of Catholic News Service editors and reporters. Unsurprisingly, Pope Benedict XVI was voted the top newsmaker, as he has been every year since 2006. The late JP2, somehow, snuck in at number four, preceding Sister Elizabeth […]
How much ‘Tebowing’ is too much?
By Tracy Gordon — December 12, 2011
(RNS) Along with politics, it is one of two things we don't talk about at parties: sports and religion. Football has always been a religion to some. But now, thanks to Denver quarterback Tim Tebow, sports and religion have become the topic du jour. Arguments over Tebow's path to the Hall of Fame can be […]
Invented Peoples
By Mark Silk — December 12, 2011
Doubling down on his remark that that Palestinians are “an invented people” at Saturday’s ABC-Yahoo debate, Newt Gingrich declared (as is his wont), “I spoke as a historian who’s looked at the world stage for a very long time.” Ah, that good old world stage. I presume it comprises the Congolese, a people invented by […]
How it’s supposed to be done
By Mark Silk — December 11, 2011
Here’s what happened to Fr. Bartley Sorenson, pastor of St. John Fisher Church in Churchill, Pennsylvania, in the Roman Catholic diocese of Pittsburgh. Sorensen was arrested after a church employee walked into the rectory on Friday and saw Sorensen viewing a computer image of a young boy naked from the waist down, with the words […]
Companies pull ads from Muslim reality TV show
By Tracy Gordon — December 10, 2011
(RNS) Lowe’s, the national hardware chain, has pulled commercials from future episodes of “All-American Muslim,” a TLC reality-TV show, after protests by Christian groups. The Florida Family Association, a Tampa Bay group, has led a campaign urging companies to pull ads on “All-American Muslim.” The FFA contends that 65 of 67 companies it has targeted […]
