James Rudin
James Rudin is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by James Rudin
COMMENTARY: McCain needs a refresher course in Constitution 101
By James Rudin — October 12, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Voters will soon decide whether Sen. John McCain will make history as the next president. But, it’s clear the Arizona Republican needs a refresher course on American constitutional history _ especially how and why our Republic was founded. In a recent interview with Beliefnet, McCain said he would “prefer […]
COMMENTARY: Sports’ Season in the Sun is Over
By James Rudin — September 28, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Like millions of other Americans, I am cynical about public leaders who “misspeak” and escape responsibility for their errors by invoking the infantile mantra that “mistakes were made.” Sometimes they use deceptive Orwellian language or shamelessly change their long-standing positions on important issues. But I always assumed there was […]
COMMENTARY: On the Record With Maimonides and Ben Franklin
By James Rudin — September 14, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It was quite a surprise when two famous people recently jumped out of the history books to join me in a fascinating conversation. Here’s the transcript of the encounter between Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) and Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Although they lived about 600 years apart, it’s clear they share many […]
COMMENTARY: A New Year, a New Prayer
By James Rudin — August 31, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A cynical seminary professor once told me that prayers said during the “dog days” of summer don’t really count; prayers only become serious in the autumn during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. He was joking, of course, but I often think about his remark as we approach the biblically […]
COMMENTARY: Boycotts Run Counter to University Values
By James Rudin — August 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In late May, Britain’s University and College Union (UCU), which calls itself the country’s largest academic association, voted “to consider” a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. A similar resolution was adopted in June by UNISON, the British public service trade union. It urged “concerted and sustained pressure upon Israel […]
COMMENTARY: The Dark Rooms of Ingmar Bergman’s Soul
By James Rudin — August 3, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It was fitting that Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish film director, died this week (July 30) at his home on bleak Faro Island in the harsh North Sea. The 89-year-old Bergman was personally and artistically obsessed with his cold lonely quest for God. Bergman, the son of a Lutheran minister, […]
COMMENTARY: Lessons Learned From Military Chaplaincy
By James Rudin — July 20, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Like everyone else, I remember significant dates in my life: family birthdays, graduations, weddings, the deaths of relatives and friends. But there’s an important date of another variety: 9 Aug. That is the unique “militaryspeak” the U.S. Air Force used when it ordered me to report for active duty […]
COMMENTARY: Good Luck, Tony Blair
By James Rudin — July 6, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Tony Blair, the British prime minister who gave up his office last week, led his Labor Party to three successive electoral victories beginning in 1997. In that same year, Blair helped save the bumbling royal House of Windsor from self-destruction with his astute crisis management following the death of […]
COMMENTARY: Finally, a Commencement Speech Worth Listening To
By James Rudin — June 8, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Having suffered through a series of commencement addresses, and having delivered a few such talks of my own, I well understand why most are considered boring and forgettable by restless graduates and their proud camera-clicking families. But last month there was a commencement address in New York City that […]
COMMENTARY: Vienna’s Anti-Semitism Provoked Two Very Different Jewish Responses
By James Rudin — May 25, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Vienna is always associated with frothy Strauss waltzes and excellent chocolates. But Austria’s capital also has a darker side: a history of anti-Semitism that was especially virulent in 1897, when Karl Lueger, running on an openly anti-Semitic platform, became Vienna’s mayor. It was a post he held until his […]
COMMENTARY: Reporting Live From Mt. Sinai …
By James Rudin — May 11, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Significant archeological discoveries continue to be made in the Middle East. Objects of copper, iron, and bronze; written scrolls, inscribed stones and ancient pottery _ all can be found in long-abandoned caves or under the soil of that history-saturated region of the world. I recently gained possession of two […]
COMMENTARY: Israel Is Real Because …
By James Rudin — April 27, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) There is a small crowded shop in Jerusalem that offers customers a wide assortment of lettered T-shirts. Some shirts display the faces of famous rock stars. Other brightly colored shirts feature comic-strip characters or witty bon mots. Yet the best selling T-shirt has only three words imprinted across its […]
COMMENTARY: Rudy Giuliani’s Dark Side
By James Rudin — April 13, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) On Sept. 10, 2001, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was at a low point in both his personal and professional lives. He was prohibited by law from seeking a third term, and Republican and Democratic primaries the next day would select candidates to succeed him. Giuliani was recovering from […]
COMMENTARY: For the Bible Tells Me So
By James Rudin — March 30, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) “American life would be so much better if we just obeyed the Bible.” That kind of sentiment is frequently invoked to cut off any meaningful religious discussion. It’s also used to shut off debate on contemporary issues or to buttress a specific political position. But we Americans, who pride […]
COMMENTARY: Passover 101
By James Rudin — March 23, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Even though America is saturated with religiosity, recent studies indicate many people lack accurate knowledge about the beliefs and rituals of world religions, including their own. Passover, Judaism’s eight-day festival of freedom, begins April 2. The following test will reveal how much you know about the holiday. If your […]
