Hinduism
NEWS FEATURE: Book gives an irreverent look at Hasidic Jews
By RNS Blog Editor — February 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Robert Eisenberg urges you to imagine an America in which the only Jews will be Hasidim and other Orthodox. It’s not merely possible, he says. By the year 2075, it’s likely. The vision shapes Eisenberg’s new book,”Boychiks In The Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground”(Harper San Francisco), an irreverent, detail-packed […]
TOP STORY: UNIFICATION CHURCH: Moon church takes a low profile in India
By Tim Murphy — February 15, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service MOOLAVATTOM, India (RNS)-It is a small, obscure town in India’s southern state of Kerala, in the heart of one of the nation’s largest, most conservative Christian communities. Yet Moolavattom is where the Unification Church, founded in Korea in 1954 by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, has set up its southern […]
COMMENTARY: A beginner’s guide to meditation
By RNS Blog Editor — February 14, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Aaron Zerah is an interfaith minister in Santa Cruz, Calif.) Blessed is the one who does not walk In the counsel of the unrighteous … But delights in the teaching of the Divine. And on this teaching meditates day and night. Such a one is like a tree planted by […]
Finding Buddha’s birthplace, faith and fact converge
By RNS Blog Editor — February 12, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-For a religion that asserts belief in a process of spiritual perfection over multiple lifetimes, the birthplace of a Buddhist might be considered an unremarkable thing. But an international team of archaeologists announced in Nepal this week that it had uncovered the site where the Buddha himself was born. It […]
Discovery of Buddha’s birthplace reveals more mysteries
By RNS Blog Editor — February 9, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service UNDATED (RNS)-For a religion that asserts belief in a process of spiritual perfection achieved over multiple lifetimes, the birthplace of a Buddhist might be considered an unremarkable thing. But an international team of archaeologists announced in Nepal this week that it had uncovered the site where the Buddha himself was […]
National Religion Report
By Carl Anderson — February 8, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Following is a collection of domestic religion stories compiled from RNS staff, wire and denominational reports.) Metzenbaum quits Reform board over stricter school policy (RNS)-Former Sen. Howard Metzenbaum has resigned from the board of Reform Judaism’s main governing body over its recommendation that children who also receive formal training in […]
NEWS FEATURE: Former `Sanford and Son’ star trades studio for pulpit
By Cecile Holmes — February 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service MOBILE, Ala. _ When former television star Demond Wilson stands behind the pulpit, as he did recently at a small church here, he preaches the Gospel like any other fiery, charismatic evangelist. “I love the Word,” he shouted. “If you got your sword, hold it up.” The worshipers lifted their […]
COMMENTARY: David, Deborah or Isaiah for president? What would the political gurus say?
By James Rudin — February 2, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-The presidential primary season is upon us, and the political consultants, spin doctors, handlers and pollsters are covering the countryside like a plague of locusts. But no serious White House hopeful can afford to be without these […]
Denominational Report
By RNS Blog Editor — January 27, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Following is a collection of news stories compiled from RNS staff, wire and denominational reports). Colorado’s Catholic bishops distance church from Christian Coalition (RNS)-Colorado’s three Roman Catholic bishops have sent a letter to the 200 Catholic priests in the state saying that the Christian Coalition’s Catholic Alliance does not represent”the […]
Global Religion Report
By RNS Blog Editor — January 26, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Following is a collection of international religion stories compiled by RNS staff, wire and denominational reports.) Pope urges sacrifices to combat world hunger (RNS)-Pope John Paul II said Thursday (Jan. 25) that hunger is a”great tragedy afflicting humanity”and he urged Roman Catholics to make sacrifices to combat the suffering. The […]
TOP STORY: JUDAISM IN AMERICA: Synagogues reward Jewish families willing to relocate
By Chris Smith — January 25, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service LOWELL, Mass.-“WANTED,”said the ad, published in a regional Jewish newspaper.”$2,500 reward. Pioneering families to revitalize the Jewish community in Lowell.” With car-dealer flair and Wild West drama, a rabbi here is beckoning Jews to a new frontier, urging them to settle in a city that he said is a worthy, […]
NEWS STORY: Christian leaders urge new mobilization against religious persecution
By Kim Lawton — January 25, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-Leaders of more than 40 evangelical and Catholic organizations Tuesday (Jan. 23) urged the federal government to take up the cause of persecuted Christians around the world. At the same time, the leaders, representing churches, mission agencies and political advocacy groups, conceded that the Christian community itself has not […]
Denomination Report
By RNS Blog Editor — January 20, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Following is a collection of news stories compiled from RNS staff, wire and denominational reports). Lutheran world body will not ease support for ordaining women (RNS)-The Lutheran World Federation will not drop its support of women’s ordination despite problems it creates for relations with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches […]
TOP STORY: SPIRITUALITY: In search of inspiring stories, couple finds everyday heroics
By RNS Blog Editor — January 20, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service CLEVELAND (RNS)-The difference in Bruce and Julie Madsen is undeniable. It’s discernible in their faces, which are relaxed and lapse into easy smiles. Gone is the tension so apparent in those same faces nine months ago, along with the defensiveness. Back then, the couple spent a lot of time explaining […]
Murder victims’ families live with agonies that never heal
By Bruce Nolan — January 17, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS (RNS)-The death penalty debate yields a bitter side effect-the fresh agonies it inflicts on victims’ families, who are trying to heal the most fearful emotional wounds. Moral arguments over the basic dignity even of killers, doubts about judicial competence, and the years of public attention a killer receives […]
