Kevin Eckstrom
Kevin Eckstrom joined the Religion News Service staff in 2000 and became editor-in-chief in 2006.
All Stories by Kevin Eckstrom
A “Clear and Present Danger”
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 17, 2006
Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill., a heavyweight in the bishops’ conference (he’s an expert on canon law and helped craft the sex abuse reforms), says “adherents of one political party” are leading the nation towards moral oblivion. Doran never says which party he’s talking about, but it’s pretty clear it’s not the Republicans. The […]
Is Gambling a Sin? One Bishop Doesn’t Think So
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 17, 2006
Thomas Tobin, the Roman Catholic bishop of Providence, R.I., says he won’t take a position on whether to open a casino in the Ocean State because, well, he likes to roll the dice from time to time. “I buy raffle tickets to support a local parish or school. I participate in friendly football pools. I’ve […]
In the Battle Against AIDS, What’s Really Important?
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 16, 2006
Melinda Gates (the other half of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) has a question. The answers are likely to be provocative, depending on who you ask: Raised in Dallas, Ms. Gates attended high school at the private, Roman Catholic, all-girls Ursuline Academy, which stressed public service. Her remarks at the opening of the conference […]
RNS Clips: 28, Five Degrees and a 4,300-Member Flock
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 16, 2006
Greg Garrison’s recent story on a Birmingham pastor who is probably the youngest megachurch pastor in the country was picked up by Christianity Today and can be found here. “This is a very intimidating position to be in,” Platt said. “There are a lot of factors that only God can get credit for. It doesn’t […]
Taylor Touches a Nerve
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 15, 2006
Mark Lewis Taylor’s recent commentary on U.S. church positions on Israel has touched many a nerve. A sampling from the mailbox: Reverend Taylor is either an intellectual cretin or (more likely) a morally degenerate anti-Semite. Sylven Schaffer, San Antonio In the interest of intellectual honesty, I expect an immediate denunciation of Jesus Christ by Rev. […]
Put a Diaper on That Goat … Or Else
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 15, 2006
NPR’s John Hendren tells us that shepherds outside Baghdad have been killed by Islamic militants for failing to put diapers on their goats. The goats (or at least the thinking goes) present too much of a temptation for sexually frustrated men in the wartorn country. A similar fate has met grocers who placed celery stalks […]
RNS Clips: Talking Over The Din Of War
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 15, 2006
Omar Sacirbey’s insightful article on efforts by Jews and Muslims to keep relations open despite the war in the Middle East was featured in The Washington Post: An unprecedented swell of interfaith activities followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and American Muslims and Jews have found common ground as religious minorities with shared […]
RNS Clips: D.C. Interns Advocate for Faith-based Public Policy
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 15, 2006
Our recent story by J. Edward Mendez on D.C. interns who spend their summers advocating for faith-based public policy can be found in The Washington Post. Dozens of religious organizations seasonally turn the District into a training camp for scores of college students and recent graduates. The internship programs, crossing religious and denominational lines, teach […]
RNS Clips: Jim Martin on Torture
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 15, 2006
Jim Martin’s recent essay on U.S. torture policy can be found here: In a nation where the name of Jesus comes too easily to the lips of political leaders, his most essential teaching is proving easy to ignore. Jesus said that we should love and even pray for our enemies-not torture them. The degradations undergone […]
It’s Not Unusual … OK, Yes it Is.
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 14, 2006
Please, ladies, no throwing underwear at the pastor during services at the Church of Tom Jones. Pastor Jack Stahl said Jones’s “soulful, spiritual and supernatural” voice helps him contact God. The minister, based in Sacramento, California, uses his music in baptisms, marriages, funerals and exorcisms. “I’m using his voice to get in touch with God […]
RNS Clips: Pope to Discuss Creation, Evolution
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 14, 2006
Stacy Meichtry’s story about the pope’s upcoming roundtable on creation and evolution can be found here. “The seminar, ‘Creation and Evolution,’ is sure to renew the debate between Catholic supporters of ‘intelligent design’-the notion that the world is too complex to have come about through natural events alone-and scientists who don’t regard intelligent design as […]
Just Say No … to Hezbollah Hashish
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 11, 2006
Never mind, says Jerusalem resident and self-admitted hashish smoker Dan Sieradski, the calming effects of toking up during war time. Forget what he calls health benefits. “It’s probably one of the only things keeping folks here from freaking out,” he says. No, the real reason to put down the hashish, he says, is because Hezbollah […]
Are Churches Too Silent … Or the Media?
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 10, 2006
Mark Lewis Taylor, a professor of theology and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, blamed U.S. churches for not calling Israeli aggression what it is-in his terms, “slaughter.” In a guest commentary published Thursday by RNS, Taylor says: “With few exceptions (a statement from the United Church of Christ, and occasional notes about Israel’s “disproportionate” response […]
RNS Clip: Evangelicals Part Way With Bush Over North Korea
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 10, 2006
RNS senior editor David Anderson’s thoughtful piece about a White House-evangelical split over North Korea is now available here. Our partners over at Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly have a related story here, as well as an interview with evangelist Franklin Graham.
And I Shall Dwell in the House of the Lord Forever …
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 7, 2006
Famed evangelist Billy Graham, admittedly in the twilight of his amazing career, shares thoughts on living, aging and dying with Newsweek‘s Jon Meacham. “All my life I’ve been taught how to die, but no one ever taught me how to grow old,” Graham remarked one day to his daughter Anne Graham Lotz. “And I told […]
