Tiffany McCallen
Tiffany McCallen rejoins the RNS team in 2014 as the Interactive and Engagement Editor. Prior to that she was the National Community Manager for the Faith & Values (FAVS) community website project.
All Stories by Tiffany McCallen
RNS EXCLUSIVE: 10 minutes with … Miss USA Rima Fakih
By Tiffany McCallen — May 26, 2010
(RNS) Rima Fakih’s path from Lebanon to Las Vegas, where she was crowned Miss USA on May 16, is not unlike other immigrant success stories, but she stands out because of one notable first: she is very likely the first Miss USA who is Muslim. At a time when many Americans view Muslims with suspicion […]
Update: Mother in starving case released from prison
By Tiffany McCallen — May 26, 2010
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) A New York woman convicted earlier this year of starving her four children was released from prison because of “substantial issues” related to her pending appeal, one of her attorneys said Monday (May 24). Estelle Walker, was released from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, N.J., on May 7 […]
Arizona tax-tuition program goes to Supreme Court
By Tiffany McCallen — May 26, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court will review the constitutionality of an Arizona program that provides state tax breaks for donations to private school scholarship programs. As part of the 13-year-old tax-tuition program, taxpayers receive a dollar-for-dollar reduction in state income taxes for their donations to not-for-profit school-tuition organizations. Last year, 91.5 percent of the […]
Preacher, mistress charged in forcing teens to tape sex sessions
By Tiffany McCallen — May 26, 2010
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) A Newark pastor who authorities said was meeting a female congregant for sex has been arrested and charged with numerous offenses, including endangering the welfare of a minor, after he allegedly forced two teenage girls to videotape the sessions. Authorities say Moises Cotto, 55, had been meeting for the past two years […]
Churches tread carefully on Arizona boycott
By Tiffany McCallen — May 25, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) The push for immigration reform has united many faith groups in a fervor not seen since the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s, much of it directed at Arizona’s new get-tough immigration law. Yet a central feature of the apartheid fight — a church-led boycott against South Africa — hasn’t been fully embraced by […]
Kibbutz-style living fills a void for young Jews
By Tiffany McCallen — May 25, 2010
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio (RNS) Raychel Bone, Sam Selker, Naima Cohn and Taliesin Haugh sat on their front porch and mulled the surprising successes of the venture that teaches young Jews how to live together, laugh together, split the rent and, above all, share the faith. Movie night in the backyard brought over the neighbors. The […]
Ga. removes Orthodox dominance on kosher labeling
By Tiffany McCallen — May 25, 2010
(RNS) Prompted by an ACLU lawsuit, Georgia has repealed its religious food labeling law and replaced it with legislation that doesn’t define kosher by solely Orthodox standards. The state’s previous Kosher Food Labeling Act had prevented non-Orthodox rabbis from certifying food. Similar laws have been amended in other states, most recently in New York after […]
Unitarians move investments over Sudan conflict
By Tiffany McCallen — May 25, 2010
(RNS) The Unitarian Universalist Association is moving its retirement plan from Fidelity Investments to TIAA-CREF because of differing views on the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region. The church’s estimated 2,800 retirement accounts — totaling $173 million in investments — will be moved to TIAA-CREF, a company with similar business values to the Boston-based UUA, said […]
German Protestant churches investigate abuse claims
By Tiffany McCallen — May 24, 2010
GENEVA (RNS/ENInews) In the wake of sexual abuse allegations in Germany’s Catholic Church, two regional Protestant churches say they are investigating abuse allegations filed against pastors or church workers. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover reported five new cases of the sexual abuse of minors dating back several decades, the German Protestant news agency EPD […]
Gallup: Opposition to gay marriage shows slight decrease
By Tiffany McCallen — May 24, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) A slight majority of Americans continue to oppose same-sex marriage, but their opposition has decreased slightly in recent years, according to a new Gallup Poll. Fifty-three percent of Americans polled oppose legalizing same-sex marriage, compared to 44 percent who favor it. But the opposition tied with the lowest rate ever measured by Gallup, […]
Blacks, mirroring larger U.S. trend, `come out’ as nonbelievers
By Tiffany McCallen — May 24, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) Standing before a room full of fellow African-Americans, Jamila Bey took a deep breath and announced she’s come out of the closet. Her soul-bearing declaration is nearly taboo, she says. “It’s the A-word,” said Bey, 33, feigning a whisper. “You commit social suicide as a black person when you say you’re an atheist.” […]
Firing squad sparks talk of Mormon `blood atonement’
By Tiffany McCallen — May 24, 2010
SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) After convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner announced his intention to be executed by firing squad, national and international reporters suggested it was a throwback to the wild, wild West. Some Utahns, though, had a different explanation for why such an anachronistic execution technique remained an option in the 21st century: “blood […]
Malawi church welcomes sentence for gay couple
By Tiffany McCallen — May 22, 2010
BLANTYRE, Malawi (RNS/ENInews) A Presbyterian church in Malawi has welcomed a 14-year jail sentence for two Malawian men who held a traditional engagement ceremony in a country where same-sex relationships are a crime. “As a church we don’t support homosexuality or same-sex marriages. That is both un-African and un-Christian,” the Rev. Levi Nyondo, general secretary […]
Bishops defend opposition to health care reform, urge changes
By Tiffany McCallen — May 21, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) Saying their opposition to health care reform was “misinterpreted, misunderstood and misused,” U.S. Catholic bishops want Congress to address the law’s “defects” but signaled they do not favor total repeal. In a lengthy statement hoping to “set the record straight,” leading members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday (May 21) […]
Jews for Jesus founder dies at 78
By Tiffany McCallen — May 21, 2010
(RNS) Moishe Rosen, a controversial Baptist minister, writer and founder of the group Jews for Jesus, died in San Francisco Wednesday (May 19) at the age of 78. He had prostate cancer. Rosen was born in Kansas City, Mo., to a family of Orthodox Jews. At the age of 21, Rosen met his wife Ceil […]