Politics
NEWS ANALYSIS: Bishops thread narrow needle in defining women’s role in the church
By Carl Anderson — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ In two separate statements released by two different committees, the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops this past week sought to thread the narrow needle of promoting an increased role for women in the church while remaining loyal to the Vatican’s insistence that a key church position _ the ordained […]
NEWS STORY: House panel approves `religious expression’ constitutional amendment
By Carl Anderson — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The House Judiciary Committee, giving religious conservatives a long-sought victory, has approved a proposal to amend the Constitution to protect”the people’s right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, or traditions on public property.” The amendment would also, for the first time, put the word God […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service New anti-missionary bill gains initial approval in Israel (RNS) Another bill designed to limit Christian missionary activities in Israel has received preliminary approval in that nation’s parliament. But like past attempts, the bill is given little chance of becoming law even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among those who […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service Baptist seminary chairman quits in sex scandal (RNS) The board chairman of Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, has resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct involving two female members of the church he pastors. Ollin Collins, the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church, resigned his post at the Southern […]
NEWS STORY: Muslim activists blast proposed terrorism commission
By Ira Rifkin — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Leading American-Muslim activists have bitterly attacked a congressional plan to establish a National Commission on Terrorism, questioning the objectivity of both the panel and its chief House sponsor. The proposal, introduced by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has been approved by the House of Representatives as an amendment to […]
NEWS STORY: Senate passes religious freedom abroad bill
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The Senate Friday (Oct. 9) concluded months of negotiations by backing compromise legislation making the encouragement of religious freedom abroad a focal point of U.S. foreign policy _ an initiative first advanced by religious conservatives. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 requires the White House to consider […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service Poll: Clinton scandals lift voter concerns over morals (RNS) White House scandals have propelled moral issues to the top of the agenda of American voters and could help Republicans win big in the November election, according to two leading pollsters. A late-August survey _”Battleground `98″_ conducted by pollsters Ed Goeas, […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service Baptist World Alliance General Council affirms reconciliation efforts (RNS) The Baptist World Alliance, which recently concluded its General Council meeting in South Africa, has passed a resolution praising that country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its Baptist groups for efforts to improve race relations since the end of apartheid. The […]
NEWS STORY: House passes bill aimed at curbing religious persecution abroad
By Ira Rifkin — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Legislation designed to ease the plight of persecuted religious minorities abroad Thursday (May 14) passed the House with broad bipartisan support, despite the Clinton administration’s continued opposition to the measure. The bill, the Freedom from Religious Persecution Act, passed on a 375-41 vote with 169 Democrats joining 206 […]
NEWS STORY: Rights panel ponders religion in public schools
By Jacqui Lewis — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has waded into the roiling waters of religion in the public schools, holding the first of a series of hearings on the volatile topic.”This commission has a responsibility to ensure that the nation’s civil rights laws with respect to schools and religion […]
COMMENTARY: New victims for the national addiction to meanness
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service (Andrew M. Greeley is a Roman Catholic priest, best-selling novelist and a sociologist at the University of Chicago National Opinion Research Center. Check out his home page at http://www.agreeley.com or contact him via e-mail at agreel(at)aol.com.) UNDATED _ Meanness continues to run rampant in American society. Consider the grim determination […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service Bioethicist: world not equipped to deal with pace of genetic discoveries (RNS) Dr. Donald Bruce, the Church of Scotland’s adviser on the ethical issues of technology, says the world is not equipped to cope with the speed of genetic engineering discoveries. Because of that, Bruce said, the world needs to […]
NEWS FEATURE: Religious official sees signs of hope, distress in North Korea
By Carl Anderson — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Like North Korea, the country in which he finds himself now living, Erich Weingartner finds himself tugged between hope and distress. Despite a food crisis that has plagued North Korea and its 23 million people for three years of crop-destroying floods, a severely damaged agricultural and transportation infrastructure […]
NEWS STORY: Amnesty seeks faith communities’ aid in anti-death penalty effort
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ They come together to receive the Eucharist, confess their sins and to pray. But this weekend, parishioners at St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church will also gather to ponder the death penalty. “In this predominantly African-American congregation, I don’t think people will be too surprised to learn that the […]
Religion editors’ calendar for June and July
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service June 2-5 Catholic Press Association, annual meeting, New Orleans. Contact: 516-471-4730. June 2-6 International Union of Gospel Missions, annual convention, Grand Rapids, Mich. Contact: Phil Rydman, 816-471-8020. June 4-6 The Center for Progressive Christianity, national forum, Seattle. Contact: Jim Adams, 617-441-0928. June 5-7 Union of American Hebrew Congregations, board of […]
