Monthly Archives: January 2006
Choice of actor concerns Baptist Press
By Tracy Gordon — January 24, 2006
Quote of the Day: Filmmakers of `End of the Spear’ “We cast Chad Allen because he had the best audition of anyone else by far. We know that the character in the film and the actor are not the same. If as a film company we could only work with people who were completely sanctified, […]
COMMENTARY: C.S. Lewis’ `Chronicles of Narnia’ Can Teach Needed Business Ethics
By RNS Blog Editor — January 24, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Ethics scandals at Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia and numerous other corporations challenge the effectiveness of traditional methods of business ethics education. Educators in search of new ways to discuss moral principles and reasoning may find an examination of literature, even children’s fiction, in order. While the newly popularized “Chronicles of […]
A Catholic’s tour of Rome; Love letters from a nun
By RNS Blog Editor — January 24, 2006
A Roman Catholic explores Rome, sweet Rome, the city of his religious roots. Frank Franzonia writes: As Jerusalem calls to a Jew and Mecca to a Muslim, the Eternal City bid me, a Roman Catholic, to explore my religious roots. St. Peter’s, Catholicism’s grandest basilica, was high on this pilgrim’s list and it induced goosebumps […]
A Catholic’s Rome, Sweet Rome
By RNS Blog Editor — January 24, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service ROME _ As Jerusalem calls to a Jew and Mecca to a Muslim, the Eternal City bid me, a Roman Catholic, to explore my religious roots. St. Peter’s, Catholicism’s grandest basilica, was high on this pilgrim’s list and it induced goosebumps even before entering, as I approached for the first […]
Did High-Born Nun Pen Bold Love Letters?: `Letters of a Portuguese Nun’ by Myriam Cyr (Miramax
By Karen Long — January 24, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Who can resist a gorgeous love letter, particularly the throbbing words of a nun whose soldier has returned to duty, leaving her distraught in her convent? Not many, it turns out, when the letters are this frank, intelligent and lush _ both back in 1669, when they first appeared, […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Turkish Court: Man Who Shot Pope John Paul II Must Go Back to Jail (RNS) Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman who shot John Paul II in 1981, was back in custody Friday after a Turkish appeals court ruled that his controversial release from prison for the murder of a journalist […]
COMMENTARY: Bush’s Torture Policy Threatens Our Democracy
By RNS Blog Editor — January 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Disturbing evidence in recent weeks gives every indication that the Bush administration is essentially planning to ignore the McCain amendment, approved overwhelmingly (90-9 in the Senate, 308-122 in the House) by the Republican-led Congress last month. This amendment banned all U.S. personnel from inflicting “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment […]
Is the Big Lie No Big Deal?
By RNS Blog Editor — January 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It’s official. Fibbing is OK if it serves a higher purpose. Oprah said so. The queen of all media tossed this ethical grenade recently when she called CNN’s Larry King to defend his guest, James Frey, author of mega-best-seller “A Million Little Pieces.” Frey’s memoir of addiction and recovery […]
Sharon Championed Values of Israel’s Pioneering Generation
By RNS Blog Editor — January 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service TEL AVIV, Israel _ On most afternoons, veterans from Israel’s War of Independence in 1948 can be found around a table at a cafe in central Tel Aviv. They are contemporaries of Ariel Sharon, the lionized Israeli prime minister who suffered a massive stroke Jan. 4. For them, the likely […]
Lying: no big deal?; Sharon’s generation
By RNS Blog Editor — January 21, 2006
In Friday’s RNS report Andrea Simakis questions if lying has become acceptable, judging by reactions to incidents such as author James Frey’s embellishments, Martha Stewart’s stock dumping and Bill Clinton’s activities with Monica Lewinsky: It’s official. Fibbing is OK if it serves a higher purpose. Oprah said so. The queen of all media tossed this […]
Boiling point taken
By Tracy Gordon — January 21, 2006
Quote of the Day: Ken Smitherman of Association of Christian Schools International “We’re not teaching that water boils at a different temperature.” -Ken Smitherman, president of the Association of Christian Schools International, who says the Constitution prevents state universities from denying applicants credit for courses that add a religious viewpoint to “standard material.” He was […]
Fast Growth of Germany’s Jewish Population Creates New Hope, Tensions
By RNS Blog Editor — January 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service BERLIN _ By almost any benchmark, Boris Rosenthal is a German success story. Fifteen years after arriving here with his family and a few suitcases, the native Ukrainian juggles a teaching job with a blossoming musical career, and speaks proudly in his adopted language of having a “German” mentality. But […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Human Rights Watch: `War on Terror’ Has Hampered Religious Freedom NEW YORK (RNS) The governments of a number of countries, including China and Uzbekistan, are branding political opponents as Islamic terrorists and using the “war on terror” as a way to stifle dissent, Human Rights Watch said in its annual […]
Vatican Newspaper Rejects Science Behind Intelligent Design
By RNS Blog Editor — January 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ The Vatican has moved to clarify its position in the intelligent design debate, publishing an article in its official newspaper that dismisses the theory on scientific grounds and embraces a recent court ruling in Pennsylvania keeping the theory out of classrooms. After months of mixed messages from […]
Albert Brooks’ Supposedly Edgy Film on Islamic Humor Plays It Safe
By RNS Blog Editor — January 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World” doesn’t. Albert Brooks’ new, supposedly edgy film begins with the government asking him to head up a fictitious mission to explore what makes people laugh. Perhaps if we really knew the people we were fighting, goes the theory, we’d find a way […]
