RNS Morning Report: Ebola Fighter Returns To Africa; Communion in Space; David Zahl on ‘Seculosity’

Dr. Kent Brantly was one of several Ebola fighters recognized by Time magazine as the 2014 Person of the Year. Photo courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse

Need to know: Thursday, July 18, 2019

Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly returning to Africa as medical missionary

Five years after contracting Ebola while fighting the epidemic in Liberia, the doctor is heading to Zambia.

5 faith facts about the moon landing: Space Communion and a prayer league of its own

From the beginning of NASA's Apollo program, those inspired by the wonder of space travel determined to make their faith part of the journey to the moon.

In ‘Seculosity,’ David Zahl traces society’s search for righteousness outside of the church

You may not follow a religion, David Zahl says. But chances are your life — from your phone to your dinner plate to the way you raise your kids — is still ruled by some sort of a religious impulse.

Brunson at religious freedom summit: ‘It’s wonderful that I can be here in person’

Brunson said his detention in Turkey made him value his religious liberty more deeply. 'I was isolated. I was the only Christian there, so to be back with other Christians is so important.'

Don’t write off the State Department’s new Commission on Unalienable Rights just yet

The commission chair's view of human rights is not cramped, writes Mark Silk.

The Crystal Cathedral was a monument to televangelism. It’s about to become a Catholic church.

For years, Christians, Southern Californians and design devotees alike have anticipated the resurrection of the Crystal Cathedral, the Orange County church designed by modernist architect Philip Johnson.

 

 


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Millennial Catholics go ‘biking for babies,’ raise funds for crisis pregnancy clinics

ST. LOUIS (RNS) — Wearing blue and yellow Biking for Babies cycling jerseys and traveling mostly through red states, the 23 riders, the majority of them Catholic and college-age, said they often encountered people who support their mission.

Religious freedom summit opens with stories of religious violence and resilience

Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said the Trump administration wants to ramp up attention to killings and persecution based on religious beliefs and reverse trends that show they are often on the increase in countries across the world.

New poll shows growing view that clergy are irrelevant

Doctors, teachers, members of the military — even scientists — are viewed more positively than clergy. The less frequently people attend church, the more negative their views of clergy.

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What it feels like to be told ‘Go back where you came from’

(RNS) — Divisive rhetoric is a serious threat to our dignity, but when people tell me to 'go back' to where I came from, my response is simple: I ask them what they have against Texans.

Remembering Jesse Miranda and the complicated history of Latinx Pentecostals

Jesse Miranda’s dream was to found a quasi-civil rights organization akin to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for Latinx. Such an organization would harness the political power of Latinx Pentecostals and evangelicals along a socially conservative track with exceptions being issues such as immigration, writes Arlene Sanchez-Walsh.

A swan song for Mormons’ Hill Cumorah Pageant

I enjoyed the experience of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, but more for the conversations and earnestness of the event than for the pageant itself, writes Jana Riess.