RNS Updated Budget — Friday, September 24, 2021

The Inclusive Athletic Attire Act, which took effect this school year, allows all Illinois student athletes to modify their uniforms in keeping with their religion, culture or personal preferences for modesty without special permission. By Emily McFarlan […]

NEWS STORY
RNS-Hijabi-Athlete: Illinois passes legislation to allow student athletes to wear hijab without waivers
CHICAGO (RNS) — The Inclusive Athletic Attire Act, which took effect this school year, allows all Illinois student athletes to modify their uniforms in keeping with their religion, culture or personal preferences for modesty without special permission. By Emily McFarlan Miller. 800 words. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Hindu-Chaplaincy: How Hindu chaplains went from anomaly to necessity
(RNS) — When Vineet Chander accepted his job as Hindu chaplain at Princeton University in 2008, he became the first full-time Hindu chaplain of higher learning in the United States. Now, the field of Hindu chaplaincy is growing — the North American Hindu Chaplains Association will hold its second annual conference this weekend, with about 50 attendees. By Kathryn Post. 1,200 words. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Raboteau-Obit: Albert Raboteau, expert on African American religious history, dead at 78
(RNS) — Albert Raboteau, an American religious historian who worked to help students and journalists enhance their understanding of African American religion, has died. A Princeton faculty member since the 1980s, Raboteau reached emeritus status in 2013. By Adelle M. Banks. 950 words. (category: a)


NEWS STORY
RNS-Assembly-PostCovid: The Sunday Assembly hopes to organize a godless future. It’s not easy
(RNS)  — Founders of the Sunday Assembly hoped to build a global network of congregations for the godless. About half have foundered, due to COVID or running out of steam. Still, a group of volunteers has faith in the assembly’s future. By Bob Smietana. 1,000 words. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Bears-Ears: Some local Indigenous groups worry Bears Ears Monument will limit access to ritual space
 (RNS) —While the Bears Ears National Monument received broad support from a coalition of Native American groups across the nation, some Native Americans in the immediate area actually oppose the monument, with religious freedom issues being a primary concern. The Biden administration is set to announce an expansion of the monument in the near future. By Joseph Hammond. 800 words. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Woelki-Break: Pope Francis suspends German cardinal for failures in handling sex abuse cases
(RNS) – Pope Francis accepted the request by German Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki to take a six-month pause from his duties as Archbishop of the Dioceses of Cologne, wrought by sexual abuse scandals, due to his “grave mistakes” in handling the crisis. By Claire Giangravè. 900 words. (category i)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Trent-Podcast: J. Dana Trent turns her drug-dealing childhood into a podcast about poverty and faith
(RNS) — J. Dana Trent is best known for a series of books in which she has expounded on faith, love and grief from the perspective of a Southern minister eager to win over readers with inspired messages about finding meaning, slowing down and mourning loss. But in a new podcast, this ordained Baptist minister and instructor in world religions strips away the polished facade to reveal a childhood growing up in small-town Indiana to parents who sold and used drugs. By Yonat Shimron. 900 words. (category: a)

COMMENTARY
RNS-Patel-Oped: Muhammad Ali was cocky, cruel and obstinate, until Islam changed him
(RNS) — The epic eight-hour documentary on Muhammad Ali, by Ken Burns, his daughter Sarah Burns and her husband, David McMahon, airing now on PBS, is worthy of the man. Don’t miss a minute of it. The pacing, the photos, the music, the fight scenes, the expert interviews amount to a work of art; the raw, brutal and beautiful honesty in which it deals with a raw, brutal and beautiful human being. By Eboo Patel. 850 words. (category: k)

COMMENTARY
RNS-Bloomstrom-Oped: Suicide prevention for our youth is doable: We must act now
(RNS) — One of life’s most frightening experiences is to sense danger, have a desire for safety, but not know what to do. And this is exactly what young people face who struggle with suicidal thoughts and ideations. September is National Suicide Prevention Month. And there is no better time for parents, youth leaders, community leaders and clergy to take the step to be trained in suicide prevention measures. By Glen Bloomstrom. 1,300 words. (category: k)