Monthly Archives: January 2012
The long spiritual journey of singer Paul Simon
By Tracy Gordon — January 13, 2012
(RNS) Paul Simon says there's always been a spiritual dimension to his music. But the overt religious references in his most recent album, “So Beautiful or So What,” surprised even him. There are songs about God, angels, creation, pilgrimage, prayer and the afterlife. Simon says the religious themes were not intentional — he does not […]
Judge rules against prayer banner in R.I. school
By Tracy Gordon — January 13, 2012
(RNS) A federal judge ruled Wednesday (Jan. 11) in favor of a teenage atheist who sought the removal of a prayer banner from her Rhode Island high school. Attorneys for Jessica Ahlquist, 16, argued that a banner on display in Providence’s Cranston High School West’s auditorium titled “School Prayer” and addressing “Our Heavenly Father” is […]
Gingrich winning SC?
By Mark Silk — January 13, 2012
Not quite, according to the latest ARG poll. But he’s running only four points behind Romney, 25 percent to 29 percent. And here’s the thing. According to ARG, Gingrich enjoys the support of 40 percent of the GOP evangelical vote. Now if evangelicals turn out at the rate they did in 2008–60 percent of GOP […]
Mormons and Evangelicals
By Mark Silk — January 13, 2012
According to the fascinating new Pew survey of American Mormons, Mormons are a lot like evangelicals, only more so. They’re more religious, more hostile to homosexuality, more opposed to sex between unmarried adults, more likely to favor smaller government, more politically conservative, and more Republican than evangelicals. (They are, at the same time, equally opposed […]
Religious leaders: Same-sex marriage threatens religious freedom
By Tracy Gordon — January 13, 2012
(RNS) A coalition of nearly 40 religious leaders has published an open letter that seeks to recast the battle against same-sex marriage as a fight on behalf of religious freedom. The religious leaders, predominantly from conservative Christian churches and Orthodox Judaism, say their concern is not that legalizing gay marriage will force their ministers to […]
String of synagogue attacks stirs concern in New Jersey
By Tracy Gordon — January 13, 2012
RUTHERFORD, N.J. (RNS) An attack early Wednesday (Jan. 11) on a New Jersey synagogue — the fourth such incident in a month — is being investigated as an attempted murder and a bias crime, leading to increased concern and security measures from Jewish leaders and law enforcement officials. Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said […]
Judge refuses to free leader of Amish beard-cutting sect
By Tracy Gordon — January 13, 2012
CLEVELAND (RNS) A federal judge Wednesday (Jan. 11) refused to release the leader of an Amish splinter sect from jail on charges he orchestrated the cutting of beards of Amish men over longstanding religious disagreements. Samuel Mullet Sr. and 11 others pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Cleveland to five attacks last fall […]
Unconventional statue of John Paul II gets a makeover
By Tracy Gordon — January 13, 2012
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Just eight months after being unveiled, a controversial statue of Pope John Paul II in Rome is receiving a major makeover. The 16-foot statue stands just outside the city’s main railway station but, since last May, it has been met by harsh criticism by locals and art experts alike. The Vatican newspaper, […]
Thursday Godbytes: Occult New York City; Holy Punches
By Jack Jenkins — January 13, 2012
Have you ever noticed how many gargoyles there are in New York City? (Probably not, because looking up would make look like a tourist) Does riding the subway make you hear voices? (That’s probably the guy next to you on his cellphone.) Has Grand Central Station ever felt kind of…mystical? (That clock is pretty cool…) […]
10 minutes with … Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2012
(RNS) Celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, spiritual counselor to Michael Jackson and author of the best-selling “Kosher Sex,” is about to publish “Kosher Jesus.” The Orthodox Boteach deems it “the true story of Jesus of Nazareth … a man who lived, taught and died as a Jew.” It is also, he says, a book that can […]
ThursdayâÂ?Â?s Religion Roundup: Mainstream Mormons, Benedict’s crocs, compassionate conservatives
By David Gibson — January 12, 2012
Mitt Romney is getting hammered by his Republican rivals in South Carolina, and Mormons overall still worry about being accepted. But a new Pew survey of Mormons also indicates they are generally feeling pretty good about their place in American society. Social conservatives are feeling good about Rick Santorum, even if they don’t always realize […]
Study portrays Mormons as outsiders looking in
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2012
(RNS) In some ways, Mormonism is the ultimate American religion. Born in America, it was unveiled by an American prophet who believed God inspired the Constitution and the Garden of Eden bloomed in Independence, Mo. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has grown from six members gathered around a charismatic New Yorker named […]
Hosanna-Tabor v. Smith
By Mark Silk — January 12, 2012
What’s the big deal with Hosanna-Tabor, yesterday’s unanimous Supreme Court decision supporting a religious school’s right to fire a teacher with ministerial responsibilities regardless of her health disability? Although the Court had never recognized a “ministerial exception” to federal anti-discrimination law before, lower federal courts have habitually done so. Most people would agree that religious […]
Supreme Court sides with churches in employment fights
By Tracy Gordon — January 12, 2012
WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday (Jan. 11) unanimously threw its support behind a church school that fired a teacher, using a widely watched church-state case to bolster a legal doctrine that exempts religious institutions from some civil rights laws. Religious groups heralded the ruling as a firm assertion of religious freedom that […]
Beloved hymns carried King through troubled times
By Adelle M. Banks — January 12, 2012
(RNS) At 87, the Rev. C.T. Vivian can still recall the moment, decades after the height of the civil rights movement. As he stood to conclude a meeting in his Atlanta home, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. joined his activist colleagues in song, his eyes closed, rocking back and forth on his heels. “There […]
