Monthly Archives: January 1997
NEWS FEATURE: Scientists being won over in the spirit-health debate
By B. Denise Hawkins — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ When 70 of the nation’s leading medical and social science researchers set out to study how spirituality and health intersect, the panel’s coordinator decided to open its first meeting with prayer. Many _ but not all _ of his colleagues bristled at the imposition of group prayer, and […]
NEWS STORY: High Court hears arguments in landmark religious freedom case
By Kim Lawton — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday (Feb. 19) in a landmark church-state case that religious groups across the theological spectrum believe could have far-reaching implications for freedom of religion. At issue is the constitutionality of the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which mandates that governments […]
NEWS STORY: Supreme Court rejects Religious Freedom Restoration Act
By Adelle M. Banks — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ To the dismay of many of the country’s religious leaders, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) Wednesday (June 25), saying Congress unconstitutionally usurped power belonging to federal courts and the states when it passed the measure. The 4-year-old law _ supported by a […]
NEWS STORY: Promise Keepers puts finishing touches on preps for Stand in the Gap
By Adelle M. Banks — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _”This is church,”the Rev. Dale Schlafer said Friday (Oct. 3).”This is a big prayer meeting … of men who love Christ who are saying to him, `Forgive us for having failed you, Lord Jesus.'” Schlafer, director of Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly, made his comments as thousands […]
NEWS FEATURE: A channeler’s quest for credibility yields few answers
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service YELM, Wash. – The road to the abode of New Age spiritualist JZ Knight snakes up the foothills above Olympia _ through a semi-rural tangle of horse pastures, house trailers and gas stations _ criss-crossed with the tracks of military tanks bound for war games at nearby Fort Lewis. From […]
The lonely, lucrative journey of JZ Knight
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service YELM, Wash. _ Whether she’s channeling the spirit of the ancient warrior Ramtha or whether she’s not, JZ Knight is a nonstop talker, given to the occasional malapropism. She is a whip-smart woman who takes a particular pride that her lack of formal education has made her a suitable vehicle […]
NEWS FEATURE: In the giving game, the rich give but the poor come out losers
By Shaun Casey — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Wealthy Americans tend to give to wealthy institutions, most often the college that upped their earning potential and the hospital keeping them healthy. They don’t give much to the poor. It’s their business where they decide to give their money, but the fact that wealth flows to wealth […]
NEWS STORY:
By Carl Anderson — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ With an anxious but by no means unified religious community standing in the wings, the Supreme Court Wednesday (Jan. 8) heard arguments on whether laws barring doctor-assisted suicide are legal, setting the stage for a possible landmark ruling involving the most profound issues of life and death. For […]
NEWS FEATURE: Common Ground: In song, racial ethnic divide is overcome
By William Bole — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WESTMINSTER, Md. _ Kim Nichols recalls when she and her younger sisters, Kellie and Krissy, ventured into a black church one fall Sunday in 1994.”It was a life-changing experience,”said Nichols, 23.”It was joyful. It was overwhelming.” It was the hand-clapping, foot-stomping sounds of gospel music that inspired the Nichols Sisters, […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service Clinton asks Yeltsin to veto proposed religion law (RNS) President Clinton has asked Russian President Boris Yeltsin to veto a proposed law that would slap severe restrictions on the activities of foreign missionaries and religious groups not”traditional”to Russia. Clinton asked Yeltsin to reject the measure when the two leaders met […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service Orthodox patriarch leads first Serbian religious march in 50 years (RNS) In a show of solidarity with pro-democracy demonstrators, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church led more than 100,000 marchers through Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Monday (Jan. 27), in the city’s largest religious procession since World War II. Patriarch Pavle, head […]
NEWS STORY: Nobel winner encouraged by shift in U.S. stance on East Timor
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service BERKELEY, Calif. _ Jose Ramos-Horta, co-winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his work as an East Timor independence activist, says he is encouraged after recent high-level meetings with Clinton administration officials that U.S. policy toward East Timor may be shifting. Ramos-Horta, who shared the coveted prize with Timorese […]
NEWS FEATURE: Conservative Christians split on China trade status
By Kim Lawton — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Their goal is the same: ending the religious repression suffered by millions of evangelical Protestants and Catholics in China. But as Congress gears up for its annual debate over granting trade privileges to China, conservative Christians are discovering that moving from principle to policy remedies can be a […]
NEWS FEATURE: Making radical changes to keep the unchurched interested
By Kristen Campbell — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service FAIRHOPE, Ala. _ So. You’ve got the family, the job, the house, the cat, the dog, the two-car garage and … what’s the meaning of life again? You’re not quite sure, but you remember, when you were little you sat inside hallowed halls where stained glass filtered the sunlight, and […]
American Buddhist activist blends spirituality, social concern
By Ira Rifkin — January 1, 1997
c. 1997 Religion News Service YONKERS, N.Y. _ In a neighborhood whose commanding view of the Hudson River adds natural beauty to an otherwise glum array of boarded buildings and littered streets, a new, American-style Buddhism is blossoming, fed by the bitterness of inner-city grit and the sweetness of chocolate brownies. It’s a Buddhism based […]
