Opinion
COMMENTARY: Jews and the New Testament: Never an easy encounter
By James Rudin — June 6, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Last month in Israel, a group of Christian missionaries distributed copies of the New Testament to Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in the city of Or Yehuda, a center of Orthodox Judaism near Tel Aviv. In response, some enraged Jewish seminary students burned copies of the New Testament. The Israeli government […]
COMMENTARY: Jews and the New Testament: Never an easy encounter
By Tracy Gordon — June 6, 2008
A group of Christian missionaries last month distributed copies of the New Testament to Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in Or Yehuda, a city near Tel Aviv and a center of Orthodox Judaism. In response, some enraged Jewish seminary students burned copies of the New Testament. The Or Yehuda incident highlights a sad recurring feature of history: […]
New Religious Baseline
By Mark Silk — June 5, 2008
OK, Gallup has a road map poll for the general election (conducted through May, which is to say prior to Obama sewing up the nomination) that gives us a good baseline going forward. Yes, Virginia, there’s still a big religion gap–19 percentage points among those who say they attend worship services at least weekly. That’s […]
One Jerusalem, Indivisible
By Mark Silk — June 5, 2008
The big story out of Obama’s speech to AIPAC yesterday was the following sentence: “And Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.” It is, among other things, the headline in Haaretz’s prominently featured story. The comment should be seen in the context of a statement made three weeks ago by […]
COMMENTARY: A crime to ordain women? Or a crime not to?
By Phyllis Zagano — June 5, 2008
The Vatican is still trying to convince Catholics that women cannot be ordained. This time it may have convinced the world that they should be. The Vatican recently decreed that anyone participating in woman’s ordination is automatically excommunicated. The edict was prompted by two converging phenomena: increasing realization among bishops of their own powers, and […]
COMMENTARY: A crime to ordain women? Or a crime not to?
By Phyllis Zagano — June 5, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Vatican is still trying to convince Catholics that women cannot be ordained. This time it may have convinced the world that they should be. Recently, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, decreed that anyone participating in the “delict” (crime) of […]
Jejune?
By Mark Silk — June 4, 2008
Jeff Sharlet has a long response to my unsolicited slap at him–a friendly, thoughtful response, which deserves the same. Here’s the money quote: Those are my sour grapes, yes, but they grow along a fence dividing two very broad camps of journalists: bomb throwers and hall monitors. Both camps contain all kinds of good and […]
Voters as Votaries
By Mark Silk — June 4, 2008
In her non-concession speech last night, Hillary Clinton said: I often felt that each of your votes was a prayer for our nation, a declaration of your dreams for your children, a reflection of your desire to chart a new course in this new century. And, in the end, while this primary was long, I […]
COMMENTARY: It’s not all about you
By Tom Ehrich — June 4, 2008
I wish I had recorded the moment when my son’s middle-school soccer coach told parents to zip it. Don’t coach your child from the sidelines, she said in a pre-season meeting, don’t berate the referees. If you can’t behave, you’ll be asked to leave. I wish I could play that recording at next May’s drivers […]
COMMENTARY: It’s not all about you
By Tom Ehrich — June 4, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) I wish I had recorded the moment when my son’s middle-school soccer coach told parents to zip it. Don’t coach your child from the sidelines, she said in a pre-season meeting. Don’t berate the referees. If you can’t behave, you’ll be asked to leave. Sound advice. And not exactly […]
Montana Dems and the None Factor
By Mark Silk — June 3, 2008
The first-take exit polls show Obama winning all attendance categories except weekly (more-than-weekly not large enough to register)–which is to say, he got the less religiously observant. He lost the Protestants sans Other Christians by a few points, but when combined, won them. He did much better among Catholics and Other Christians than among Protestants […]
South Dakota Dems
By Mark Silk — June 3, 2008
The early version of the S.D. exit polls show Clinton with moderately large margins in all religion categories, doing slightly better among Catholics than Protestants. Obama won only the non-religious, by 54 percent to 46 percent–exactly the same figures by which Clinton won Protestants.
The horror, the horror
By Mark Silk — June 3, 2008
Jeff Sharlet is guest-blogging on Beliefnet, and at the end of his most recent post writes: The new media narrative, in which the Wright controversy will go down as a speed bump on the path to power, is evidence that they believe they have rid the candidate of his demons. But all they really did […]
The Nominee
By Mark Silk — June 3, 2008
A couple of rather poignant passages from Chicago Sun-Times religion writer Cathleen Falsani’s 2004 interview with Barack Obama. OBAMA: … It’s interesting, the most powerful political moments for me come when I feel like my actions are aligned with a certain truth. I can feel it. When I’m talking to a group and I’m saying […]
