RNS Updated Budget — Monday, November 30, 2020

A Democratic group dedicated to representing secular values unveiled a slate of recommendations for President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration on Monday (Nov. 30), outlining a sweeping agenda designed to roll back many of President Trump’s actions involving […]

NEWS STORY
RNS-Secular-Democrats: Citing rise of ‘Christian nationalism,’ Secular Democrats unveil sweeping recommendations for Biden
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A Democratic group dedicated to representing secular values unveiled a slate of recommendations for President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration on Monday (Nov. 30), outlining a sweeping agenda designed to roll back many of President Trump’s actions involving religion and to “restore a vision of constitutional secularism.” By Jack Jenkins. 939 words. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS- Metaxas-Trump: Eric Metaxas, Christian radio host, offers to lay down his life for Trump election triumph
(RNS)—  Christian author and radio host Eric Metaxas, author of a best-selling biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, told President Trump he would be “happy to die” in the fight to have Trump declared victor of the 2020 presidential election. Metaxas, who claimed Jesus is on Trump’s side, has used his social media to promote allegations of fraud during the election, despite the fact that such claims have been repeatedly rejected by courts. By Bob Smietana. 550 words. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Methodist-Denomination: Progressive United Methodists announce new denomination: Liberation Methodist Connexion
(RNS) — A group of progressive United Methodists announced Sunday (Nov. 29) they are forming a new Methodist denomination, the Liberation Methodist Connexion — and you don’t need to be Methodist to join. The Liberation Methodist Connexion describes itself on its website as “a grassroots denomination of former, current, and non-Methodist faith leaders working on the unfolding of the kin-dom of God.” By Emily McFarlan Miller. 700 words. (category: a)


NEWS STORY
RNS-Consistory-Pope: After proving a red hat isn’t forever, Pope Francis elects new cardinals for new church
(RNS) – Pope Francis changed the face of the Catholic Church with the appointment of 13 new cardinals this weekend, while issuing a stern reminder not to stray “from the road.” While Francis has now appointed the majority of cardinals, he also holds the record for the number of cardinals to whom he’s given the boot. By Claire Giangravè. 1,370 words. (category: i)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Maradona-Faith: Maradona’s death boosts ‘Hand of God’ goal’s author to sainted status
(RNS) —  The passionate reaction to the death of soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona, echoed throughout Latin American and in Italy, where he played for seven years for the club Napoli, was a sign of his transcendence and quasi-religious appeal. By Eduardo Campos-Lima. 1.046 words. (category: i)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Feucht-LosAngeles: Sean Feucht protest worries Los Angeles homeless advocates
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Christian musician Sean Feucht has plans to bring his outdoor “worship protest” tour to downtown Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, at a site near the local homeless community of Skid Row, according to his website. By Alejandra Molina. 698 words.  (category: a)

COMMENTARY
RNS-Singh-Oped: Farmers’ protests against India’s new agriculture laws follow long Sikh tradition
(RNS) — The protests have been largely led and organized by Sikh farmers from the Indian state of Punjab, the country’s breadbasket. Tensions between Punjabi Sikhs and the Indian government have been high for decades, including decades-long violence that ravaged the state and left tens of thousands of civilians dead. By Simran Jeet Singh. 581 words. (category: k)

COMMENTARY
RNS-Camosy-Oped: Who should get COVID-19 vaccine first?
(RNS) — How we distribute the limited first doses of vaccine will involve painful and frustrating cultural discernment. The time is now for Christians and others committed to prioritizing the world’s worst off to let our state legislatures and municipal governments understand that the most vulnerable, not the most visible, deserve our protection.

COMMENTARY
RNS-GranbergMichaelson-Oped: In a year of waiting and hoping, Advent reminds us that patience can be healthy
(RNS) — Advent, the three to four weeks of the liturgical calendar in which we anticipate Christmas, arrives this year into a strange mix of cultural impatience and fear. Advent is designed to act as a psychological and spiritual pause button. It teaches the wisdom of waiting and offers us a countercultural choice to embrace persistent, expectant patience. By Wes Granberg-Michaelson. 656 words. (category: k)


COMMENTARY
RNS-Silk-Oped: Biden, second Catholic president, exacerbates U.S. bishops’ divisions
(RNS) — The president-elect is a Vatican II Catholic who sees his faith as all about working for social and economic justice in concert with those of other religious traditions. In the civil war raging within American Catholicism, that puts him into the Party of Francis in the ongoing culture war inside the Catholic Church. By Mark Silk. 743 words. (category: k)