Monthly Archives: May 2004
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 13, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Study: Vast Majority of Teens Believe Prayers Are Answered (RNS) The vast majority of U.S. teenagers who pray believe their prayers are answered, a new study by the American Bible Society has found. Ninety-one percent of teens said they believe their prayers are answered, the New York-based society said. But […]
NEWS STORY: Review Board Members Say Catholic Bishops Stalling on Abuse
By Kein Eckstrom — May 12, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Attempts by some Catholic bishops to delay a second round of oversight audits on sexual abuse runs the risk of returning the church to a dangerous era of “business as usual,” the head of a lay review board said. Justice Anne M. Burke, chairman of the church’s appointed […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 12, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Survey: Percentage of `Unchurched’ Adults Up Sharply Since 1991 (RNS) The portion of adults who generally do not attend church has risen sharply in the last 13 years, a Barna Group study shows. The percentage of Americans who are “unchurched” grew from 21 percent in 1991 to 34 percent in […]
NEWS FEATURE: Experts: U.S. Marriage Model is not Universal Norm
By Nancy Haught — May 12, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As the debate over same-sex unions rages, particularly in Oregon and Massachusetts, some central questions about the meaning and manner of marriage swirl through the air like a thrown handful of rice. Here’s what anthropologists, sociologists, legal scholars, historians and religious leaders have to say. Q: Is there a […]
NEWS STORY: For Some Justices of Peace, Conflict in Carrying Out Gay Weddings
By William Bole — May 12, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service FRANKLIN, Mass. _ Gay couples are set to walk down the aisle in Massachusetts on Monday (May 17), when a court decision legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect. And that creates a quandary for people like John Vozzella. Vozzella is a justice of the peace who took an oath to uphold […]
NEWS FEATURE: Churches Ready Themselves for Bay State Gay Wedding Day
By Bridget MacDonald — May 12, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service NEEDHAM, Mass. _ For the 15 pastors who came here on May 7 to learn “the nuts and bolts of planning a gay wedding,” the first lesson was clear: Expect wedding dynamics unlike any you’ve ever seen. The Rev. Heike Werder listed the novel but likely possibilities: You might have […]
COMMENTARY: Why Doesn’t the Sexuality Debate Run Out of Steam?
By Tom Ehrich — May 12, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Tom Ehrich is a writer and computer consultant, managing large-scale database implementations. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. Visit his Web site at http://www.onajourney.org) (UNDATED) Now that Methodists have joined other denominations in dancing close to schism over sexuality, two questions arise. Can the center possibly hold? When […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 11, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Leaders Urge Bush to Push Plight of Holy Land Christians (RNS) Fifty Catholic and Protestant leaders have appealed to President Bush on behalf of the dwindling Christian population in the Holy Land, who they say are under economic and physical assault from Israel. In a May 7 letter coordinated by […]
NEWS FEATURE: Televangelist Meyer _ A New Breed Preaching Healing, Prosperity
By Mary Warner — May 11, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service HERSHEY, Pa. _ Televangelist Joyce Meyer, down-home despite her trim purple corporate suit, talks about her listeners’ troubles with the intimacy of a sister sufferer. She knows they lose patience with their husbands and kids and feel bad about it; they worry all the time; they overeat. She knows they […]
NEWS FEATURE: Nigerian Feminists See Gradual Progress
By Elizabeth Bryant — May 11, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service KANO, Nigeria _ Nafisat Usmaan draws a thick line under the word “sexuality,” scrawled in felt-tipped marker on a pink flip chart. “Should you talk to your parents about this?” she asks some two dozen teenage students, slouched in plastic chairs before her. Dead silence. “What about your family doctor?” […]
NEWS STORY: Justice Department Warns About Muslim Extremism in Prisons
By Adelle M. Banks — May 11, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The Justice Department has issued a detailed report recommending the federal Bureau of Prisons make significant changes in its handling of providers of Muslim religious services to increase security and reduce possible extremism. “Our review found that while the BOP has not identified widespread problems with inmate radicalization […]
NEWS STORY: Divided Methodists End Meeting With Vows of Unity
By Kein Eckstrom — May 8, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service PITTSBURGH _ Conservative leaders on Friday (May 7) insisted there is no organized campaign to force a split in the United Methodist Church, but said the denomination can no longer ignore deep divisions over homosexuality and other issues. As delegates wrapped up their General Conference legislative meeting, evangelicals downplayed a […]
NEWS FEATURE: Brazilian Healer Edemir Rossi Connects People to God
By Rachel Cohen — May 8, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service PITTSBURGH _ Meeting with Brazilian healer Edemir Rossi is like entering an inner sanctum, peaceful and calm. New Age music plays softly in the background as he extends a warm hand. He speaks gently with each client before guiding him or her into meditation. Then he directs the person to […]
COMMENTARY: A Call for Repentance
By Dale Hanson Bourke — May 8, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Dale Hanson Bourke is a consultant to humanitarian organizations.) (UNDATED) And so the spinning begins. It wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t technically illegal, no one told me it was wrong. From Martha Stewart to teens downloading music to soldiers guarding prisoners in Iraq, we are a nation proficient at excuses […]
NEWS STORY: Bush, Religious Leaders Call Nation to Prayer
By Adelle M. Banks — May 7, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Religious and political leaders marked the annual National Day of Prayer on Thursday (May 6) with programs on Capitol Hill, at the White House and across the nation in settings such as government buildings, parks and shopping malls. President Bush observed the day at an East Room ceremony, […]
