death and dying
Small-town cop tracks struggle in spiritual journal
By Judy Valente — July 29, 2008
c. 2008 Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly LEXINGTON, Ill. _ Spencer Johansen has been the popular police chief of this rural Illinois town (population 1,900) for 18 years and always thought he’d retire here as the police chief. But then some seemingly inexplicable things started happening. “I missed a couple of court dates, nothing major, they […]
Petition seeks assisted suicide in Washington state
By Kevin Eckstrom — June 17, 2008
Initiative 1000 mirrors the Oregon law, which took effect in 1997 after a lengthy court fight, and would allow terminally ill people to obtain lethal prescription drugs for ending their own lives.
Why does sex play such a large role for fringe sects?
By Kimberly Winston — June 6, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) What is it with sects and sex? The Texas probe into alleged child abuse at a polygamous compound started with an anonymous phone call about underage girls having sex with adult men. Reports circulated of rumpled bed linens inside the sect’s glistening temple. Its imprisoned leader, Warren Jeffs, reportedly […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 12, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service Christian school gives all freshmen iPod or iPhone (RNS) Abilene Christian University will be the first university in the nation to provide all incoming freshmen with an Apple iPhone or an iPod touch, according to school officials. “We are not merely providing cutting-edge technology tools to our incoming students,” said […]
Book chronicles sect’s troubled past
By Andrea Useem — December 28, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Like the circumstances of his birth, nothing about Ricky Rodriguez’s life was normal. His death, in 2005 at the age of 29, would be no different. He was born to an American woman, Maria Zerby, who embraced the gospel of “flirty fishing” that used sex as a tool to […]
10 minutes with … Keith and Molly Moore
By Lilly Fowler — December 6, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Zachary Moore, though born prematurely in July 2002, seemed normal at first. Slowly, however, his parents began to notice alarming changes in their son. “We never could overcome issues with lack of weight gain (and) over about a two-week period his skin became tight and seemed to not be […]
GUEST COMMENTARY: Suicide Bombers are Murderers, Not Martyrs
By Hesham Hassaballa — July 26, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As terrorists seem to be competing in the barbarity of their vicious attacks across the globe, the question of why people would do such a thing _ although frequently asked _ fails to lose relevance. To this day, Americans continue to ask “why do they hate us?” when it […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — June 2, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Graham Partners Gather One Last Time at Library Dedication CHARLOTTE, N.C. (RNS) The glory days of Billy Graham returned Thursday (May 31) in his old hometown. Graham, 88 and barely able to see, hear or walk, came down the mountain from Montreat, N.C., to dedicate the Billy Graham Library, a […]
COMMENTARY: And The Truth Shall Set You Free …
By Tom Ehrich — April 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Let’s call this new group “Deceivers Anonymous.” (The name “Cheaters Anonymous” is already taken, by a group focusing on adultery.) Impetus for another addiction-recovery group comes from a steady stream of hearings, memos, e-mails and news reports that reveal a systemic disease of deception. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, […]
Relatives Say Gunman in Amish Shootings Did Not Abuse Them
By RNS Blog Editor — October 6, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NICKEL MINES, Pa. _ The two relatives whom killer Charles Carl Roberts IV said he molested 20 years ago told police on Wednesday (Oct. 4) no such abuse occurred, throwing a new layer of mystery over the gunman’s motive and mental state in the attack on 10 Amish schoolgirls. Roberts, […]
Picture Emerges of Disturbed Gunman in Amish Shootings
By Carrie Cassidy — October 5, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NICKEL MINES, Pa. _ While Marie Roberts prayed for her kids and other children at her weekly prayer meeting in this Lancaster County village, she had no idea her husband was preparing to destroy their community. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, apparently planned to molest and murder the Amish […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — September 7, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Oregon Senator Says He’ll Fight to Keep State’s Assisted Suicide Law WASHINGTON _ Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has said he will try to block a federal bill that would override Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide law. Wyden said Tuesday (Sept. 5) he has placed a hold on the Assisted Suicide Prevention Act, […]
Assisted Suicide May Become Newest GOP Campaign Issue
By RNS Blog Editor — June 17, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Congress was trying to pass a war funding bill and members were heading for a weekend recess when Sen. Sam Brownback held a rushed subcommittee hearing. The Kansas Republican, one of the Senate’s most socially conservative members, scheduled the session to explore “the consequences of legalized assisted suicide […]
Muslim-on-muslim violence; lessons learned from a son’s suicide
By RNS Blog Editor — April 25, 2006
In Monday’s RNS report Omar Sacirbey writes about Muslim-on-Muslim violence, in which extremists are targeting moderate Muslims: Muslim-on-Muslim violence has existed since Islam’s Prophet Muhammad died in 632. But now, some observers say, Islamic extremists are expanding their campaign of violence from non-Muslim targets to include moderate Muslims whom they view as obstacles to the […]
Nuns’ resolve; and what the assisted suicide ruling means for states and for one particular se
By RNS Blog Editor — January 25, 2006
In Tuesday’s RNS report David Briggs reports on a solution to the issue of dwindling numbers of nuns: The Sisters of St. Joseph of Cleveland, becoming part of a national trend finding strength in numbers amid rapidly declining and aging populations, have voted to join with six other congregations of St. Joseph from Louisiana to […]
