RNS Blog Editor
RNS Blog Editor is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by RNS Blog Editor
Next week, blasphemy gets its own holiday
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
TORONTO — You’ve never seen Jesus like this before: dripping red nail polish around the nails in his feet and hands, an irreverent riff on the crucifixion wounds. The provocative title of the painting: “Jesus Does His Nails.” Blasphemous? Absolutely. Deliberately provocative? You bet. It is part of an upcoming art exhibit in Washington that […]
Need a High Holy Day ticket? Have you tried Craigslist?
By RNS Blog Editor — September 24, 2009
(UNDATED) Alex Marmur wanted to go to synagogue on Yom Kippur, but didn’t want to pay temple membership dues to get tickets. So he turned to Craigslist. “I use it for buying and selling all types of concert tickets,” said Marmur, a 44-year-old business analyst from San Francisco. “So I figured Yom Kippur is not […]
Huckabee wins straw poll of ‘values voters’
By RNS Blog Editor — September 21, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was the clear favorite among attendees of the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in a straw poll of 10 possible Republican presidential candidates in 2012. Huckabee won 28 percent of the 597 votes cast in two days of balloting that ended Saturday (Sept. 19). Four candidates — […]
Jewish groups protest Iowa’s Saturday caucus scheduling
By RNS Blog Editor — September 21, 2009
(RNS) Moving Iowa’s mid-term caucuses to a Saturday disenfranchises Jewish voters who can’t participate in such events during their Sabbath, according to a letter signed by 18 national Jewish organizations on Friday (Sept. 18). The complaint about the Jan. 23, 2010 scheduling was sent to Iowa Republican Chairman Matt Strawn and Democratic Chairman Michael Kiernan, […]
Graham’s grandson will keep Fla. pulpit
By RNS Blog Editor — September 21, 2009
(RNS) The Rev. Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, will remain as pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after dissidents failed in their attempt to oust him. At a congregational meeting on Sunday (Sept. 20), members of the congregation rejected, 69 percent to 31 percent, a motion to end […]
For ‘values voters,’ health care reform holds little value
By RNS Blog Editor — September 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — Health care reform may be Priority No. 1 in Congress and at the White House, but for the 1,825 religious conservatives who gathered here for the annual Values Voter Summit over the weekend, the subject was barely on their radar screen. “To me, there are so many more important issues than health care […]
Presidential Medals of Freedom
By RNS Blog Editor — July 30, 2009
President Obama is awarding the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to a couple of notable religious leaders. The Rev. Joseph Lowery and Archbishop Desmond Tutu will receive America’s highest civilian honor, along with 14 others who worked as “agents of change.” “These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds,” President Obama said […]
Concubines and RNS
By RNS Blog Editor — July 30, 2009
What are the differences between a concubine and a wife? Well, if you attended the Religion News Service Roundtable with activists on both sides of the same-sex marriage dispute Thursday morning, you would know. This was just one piece of the wide-ranging discussion between the four panelists of varying religious backgrounds on the “Civil Rights […]
Etiquette for the host
By RNS Blog Editor — July 29, 2009
A Canadian newspaper has retracted its story that the prime minister pocketed a communion wafer during the funeral mass of a state official. The Saint John Telegraph-Journal issued a front-page apology for causing Wafergate, which broke as Prime Minister Stephen Harper was at the G8 summit and getting ready to meet–who else–the Pope.
Even MORE shirtless missionaries
By RNS Blog Editor — July 29, 2009
Q: Who doesn’t want to see scantily-clad Mormon missionaries? A: YouTube, apparently, which flagged the video above for content violations. Chad Hardy, creator of the calendar series “Men on a Mission,” has not backed down from the LDS church (which excommunicated him for his calendar work), and he’s certainly not going to let a little […]
Dancing Down the Aisle
By RNS Blog Editor — July 25, 2009
HAHAHAHA This has been made available so that you all could learn how to have a church wedding just like this one!!
Faith in Football?
By RNS Blog Editor — July 24, 2009
Looks like Florida Gators’ quarterback Tim Tebow is tackling prison inmates and other potential believers with his faith. Sports Illustrated profiled Tebow using his force off the field as a Christian missionary man. From the story: “Watching Tebow zip passes into the seams of opposing defenses, lower his shoulder in short yardage and exhort his […]
On hallowed ground
By RNS Blog Editor — July 24, 2009
Yesterday Jewish and Christian leaders reconsecrated the grounds of the now-infamous Chicago cemetery, where all those bodies were dug up and dumped in an apparent money-making scheme. “We need to rededicate this ground that has been desecrated,” said the Rev. Steve Jones, the sheriff’s office chaplain, according to the Associated Press. “When the gates do […]
No word yet
By RNS Blog Editor — July 23, 2009
Jurors have yet to reach a verdict, even after a week of deliberations, in the faith-healing trial of the Worthingtons, whose daughter died when they opted for prayer in place of medical treatment. Steve Mayes at The Oregonian has been following the story about the couple, whose Oregon City church, Followers of Christ, rejects modern […]
Tricky Baptists
By RNS Blog Editor — July 21, 2009
The people at the Baptist Messenger apparently have been using Photoshop for evil, superimposing Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry’s signature to a morality proclamation. The proclamation states the U.S. is forsaking its Christian heritage to become a world leader in various forms of debauchery. Their mistake: “In the July 16 Messenger, the graphic representation of the […]
