Julia Lieblich
Julia Lieblich is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Julia Lieblich
NEWS FEATURE: Preparing for nuclear war in the name of God?
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service UNDATED _ As Indians and Pakistanis celebrate their capacity for destruction in the name of Hinduism and Islam, Western observers may find such sentiments odd if not blasphemous. But nuclear weapons have been equated with divine justice since the first nuclear tests more than a half-century ago. Sometimes religious references […]
NEWS FEATURE: Religion camps come in all varieties
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service CARMEL, N.Y. _ A nun in a long gray robe, her head shaved bare, leaned over a small girl clinging to her last moments of sleep. The nun rubbed the child’s shoulder in silence. And the girl opened her eyes and looked quizzically at the bald figure welcoming her to […]
NEWS FEATURE: Religious rumors remarkably enduring
By Julia Lieblich — February 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Some religious rumors are fly-by-night. Chances are if you missed the bogus”Associated Press”wire story on the Internet about Microsoft acquiring the Roman Catholic Church, you won’t be hearing any more about on-line absolution. But many religious rumors, from reports of satanic corporate symbols to devil worshipers who sacrifice […]
NEWS FEATURE: What ever happened to mea culpa?
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The political year so far has been long on mistakes and short on apologies. “Mistakes were made,”President Clinton told reporters of his party’s fund-raising tactics.”A mistake had been made,”House Speaker Newt Gingrich said about his ethics violations. About a decade ago, President Reagan inaugurated the passive refrain.”Serious mistakes […]
NEWS FEATURE: Starving kids images raise money _ and ethical questions
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED It’s a holiday season standard. An emaciated little girl in a tattered dress stares into the camera, and TV viewers are told they can either spend a few dollars a month to feed her or think of her on Christmas crying herself to sleep. Americans, among the world’s most […]
NEWS PROFILE: Progressive Muslim theologian challenges fundamentalism
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ South African Muslim theologian Farid Esack listened intently last month as his good friend retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu addressed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission responsible for investigating human rights abuses committed during apartheid. The archbishop apologized in the name of Christianity for the discrimination non-Christians suffered. But […]
NEWS FEATURE: Prenuptials are about more than money
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Batul Al-Saigh and her fiance, Mehmood Kazmi, trusted each other implicitly. But when Al-Saigh drew up her marriage contract as required by Islamic law, she put feelings aside. She stipulated that her husband would give her 5 percent of his income each month, and a settlement in the […]
NEWS FEATURE: Churches, labor unions renew old ties on behalf of poorest workers
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service GEORGETOWN, Del. _ The Rev. Jim Lewis was a mystery when he arrived here three years ago to minister to Latino poultry workers. Company management heard he was in bed with the unions, and union members didn’t know what to make of the charismatic, gray-haired priest who talked of higher […]
NEWS FEATURE: Memories of 1911 fire provide moral meaning for today
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ Rose Friedman, 104, marvels at her memory. A survivor of the March 25, 1911, Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire in New York City, she can still recall the panic when smoke engulfed the ninth floor. “People were running from one place to another screaming and crying,” she said. […]
NEWS FEATURE: Love thy neighbor _ and hope he takes a ten count
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ Catholic boxer Tommy Rodriguez prays to God to protect him and his opponent before a fight. Still, the boyish, 132-pound former Golden Gloves champion says he can get “really motivated” when the crowd yells for him to “take a guy out.” During his last fight, he threw […]
NEWS FEATURE: Did Dylan, the pope sell out in their joint appearance?
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Which is odder: Pope John Paul II’s choice of a middle-aged Jewish folkie to inspire Catholic youth? Or a counter-cultural icon’s decision to play for a culturally conservative cleric like the pope? Music critic Tim Riley, author of”Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary”(Knopf), saw Bob Dylan’s performance at a […]
NEWS FEATURE: Suicide prevention crusader now fights for right to die
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service SAN MATEO, Calif. _ For more than three decades, Charlotte Ross devoted her life to saving lives, first as executive director of a leading suicide-prevention facility, and later as head of the Youth Suicide National Center in Washington, D.C. So some colleagues were understandably distraught when she agreed to run […]
Traditional blessings get a new sound
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Here are some comparisons of traditional Jewish blessings and those offered by poet Marcia Falk in her”Book of Blessings”: THE TRADITIONAL BLESSING UPON AWAKENING I am grateful to You, living, enduring King, for restoring my soul to me in compassion. You are faithful beyond measure. FROM THE BOOK […]
FEATURE STORY: New Jewish blessings for an impersonal God
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ In the ground-breaking new”Book of Blessings,”feminist poet and Hebrew translator Marcia Falk has created new metaphors for God that transcend the personal and human form in which God is normally addressed. Gone, for example, is the traditional opening of Jewish prayers:”Praised are you, Lord Our God, King of […]
NEWS FEATURE: Learning to cope with an `unbelieving partner’
By Julia Lieblich — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service DICKERSON, Md. _ Yvonne Mulgrew, 40, rarely mentions God at home. She cannot discuss the subject she cares most about _ her evangelical Christian faith _ with the man she loves the most, her husband.”It becomes extremely lonely,” she said. “I long to be able to talk to my husband […]
