education
GUEST COMMENTARY: The graduation speech I wish I could give
(RNS) For now, forget about your career and what you will become. Don’t worry that your grade in bio-statistics or geology won’t land you that great job. It’s probably not that great anyway. Now is the time to focus on who you are going to become. By Will Berkovitz.
William Peter Blatty, ‘Exorcist’ author, to sue Georgetown University in Catholic court
(RNS) The author who turned Georgetown University into a horror scene in "The Exorcist" plans to sue the school in church courts, saying his alma mater has strayed too far from the church to call itself Catholic. By Daniel Burke.
Supreme Court decision on religion upends campus religious groups
(RNS) A Supreme Court decision almost two years ago denying official recognition to a Christian student group that did not accept non-Christians and gays as potential leaders has had unexpected consequences -- from challenges to other religious campus groups to state legislation designed to protect the groups. By Adelle M. Banks.
Conservative Catholics blast upcoming appearance by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at Georgetown University
(RNS) Can a Catholic politician speak at a Catholic university without drawing protesters? Not if it's House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan or, soon, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. By David Gibson.
Pope Benedict XVI wants Catholic colleges to ensure that faculty are faithful to church doctrine
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI told U.S. bishops that Catholic colleges must ensure the doctrinal fidelity of their faculty, after some high-profile theologians teaching at Catholic universities have come under scrutiny from doctrinal watchdogs in the U.S. By Alessandro Speciale.
Historians race clock to collect Holocaust survivor stories
(RNS) Israel's Yad Vashem memorial contains the largest archive in the world of historic material related to the Holocaust and it has been intensifying its campaign to record the accounts of survivors. By Meredith Mandell.
Alumni don’t want Desmond Tutu to speak at Gonzaga
SPOKANE, Wash. (RNS) A group of alumni at Gonzaga University is pressing the school to rescind an invitation to Archbishop Desmond Tutu as commencement speaker, saying the anti-apartheid activist supports abortion and homosexuality. By Tracy Simmons.
Catholic group leaves Vanderbilt over membership rules
NASHVILLE (RNS) One of the largest student religious groups at Vanderbilt University is leaving campus in a dispute over the school's non-discrimination policy that bars student groups from requiring their leaders to hold specific beliefs. By Bob Smietana.
Pastor says hospitality staff can’t live by bread alone
SPOKANE, Wash. (RNS) Kevin Finch may be a minister, but he doesn't proselytize through Big Table, a nonprofit organization that serves the city's restaurant and hospitality industry. The only goal of the Big Table dinners, he says, is to befriend local food industry workers. "God is big enough to show up when he wants to show up," he said. By Tracy Simmons.
Atheists’ slavery billboard raises tempers in Pa.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (RNS) The billboard is down, but the issue's not gone. The billboard featuring an African slave with the biblical quote "Slaves, obey your masters" was intended as a critique of state lawmakers, but some say it was a racially charged insult. By Diana Fishlock.
COMMENTARY: In praise of workarounds
(RNS) Workarounds aren't a sad sagging of the spirit. They are the bold, can-do wisdom that that sees challenges not as betrayals but as obstacles to be surmounted. By Tom Ehrich.
Mass. alumni don’t want Liberty to get free campus
(RNS) Alumni of a scenic boarding school in western Massachusetts say they don't want a wealthy Christian family to give the campus to Liberty University, calling Liberty's values "hateful" and "divisive." By G. Jeffrey MacDonald.
Muslims launch campaign to explain Shariah
(RNS) "If you are looking for problematic texts in the Quran, yes, they exist. They also exist in the Bible and Torah and other books," said Emory University's Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im. "But Christians aren't judged based on what the Bible said 2,000 years ago, but on how they behave today. Why are Muslims judged according to these literalist interpretations, and not according to how the vast majority of good Muslims behave today?" By Omar Sacirbey.
Court says Quebec parents can’t pull students out of religion class
TORONTO (RNS) Canada's highest court has ruled that children in Quebec schools cannot opt out of a course on ethics and world religions. By Ron Csillag.
After C.S. Lewis College flops, a free campus for the taking
NORTHFIELD, Mass. (RNS) The billionaire Oklahoma family that owns the 217-acre college campus here aims to give it away to a Christian institution for free. All the winner needs is an orthodox Christian vision and the financial wherewithal to pull it off. By G. Jeffrey MacDonald.