Monthly Archives: February 2006
Supreme Court Allows Sect to Use Hallucinogenic Tea
By Kein Eckstrom — February 22, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday (Feb. 21) unanimously sided with members of a small New Mexico sect’s bid to use hallucinogenic tea in religious rituals. Chief Justice John Roberts, in his first religious freedom case, said the sect’s right to religious expression and practice superseded federal drug […]
COMMENTARY: No Room for Grace When Religious Extremism Takes Over
By Tom Ehrich — February 22, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) If we ever doubted the wisdom of keeping religion out of politics, ongoing protests over Danish cartoons deemed offensive to Islam should be our wake-up call. This is the face of religious extremism. When religion is on the line, no side understands any other side. Angry Muslims cannot imagine […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 18, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Faith-Based Relief Agencies Mobilize After Landslide in Philippines (RNS) U.S. religious relief agencies scrambled to respond to a Friday (Feb. 17) landslide in the Philippines that engulfed hundreds of homes and left an estimated 1,500 people missing and feared dead. Mudslides after heavy rains enveloped houses and an elementary school […]
Vatican Official Calls for Talks With Islam on Crusades, Muslim Conquests
By RNS Blog Editor — February 18, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Amid global anger over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, the Vatican’s top mediator with Islam is pushing to heal long-festering wounds of history _ the Christian Crusades and the Muslim conquests of medieval Europe. “It is a question that needs to be addressed. How do we read […]
Evangelical Leader Advocates `Creation Care’ to Fight Global Warming
By RNS Blog Editor — February 18, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ The Rev. Jim Ball has gotten 85 other Christian evangelical leaders to launch a national campaign against global warming, a feat that just might make him the most important environmentalist of 2006. The Evangelical Climate Initiative, which Ball organized with a handful of other like-minded Christians, declared […]
RELIGION BEST-SELLERS
By RNS Blog Editor — February 18, 2006
(Editor’s note: This February list is compiled by Publishers Weekly magazine from data received from general independent bookstores, chain stores and wholesalers within the month of January. Copyright 2006 Publishers Weekly. Distributed by Religion News Service.) HARDCOVER 1. The Purpose-Driven Life, by Rick Warren. (Zondervan, $19.99) 2. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the […]
Vatican calls for talks with Muslims on Crusades; Rev. Jim Ball and the environment
By RNS Blog Editor — February 18, 2006
In Friday’s RNS report Stacy Meichtry writes that the Vatican wants discussion with Islam on the Crusades: In the midst of global anger over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, the Vatican’s top mediator with Islam is pushing to heal long-festering historical wounds-the Christian Crusades and the Muslim conquests of medieval Europe. “It is a question […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 17, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Blair Promises British Crackdown on `Glorification’ of Terrorism LONDON (RNS) Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged that under a new law Britain’s police and courts will take tougher steps against demonstrators glorifying terrorism, including those carrying inflammatory placards like the ones waved during a protest of cartoons lampooning the Prophet […]
Southern Baptist Mission Board to Drop Plan Dumping Critical Member
By Adelle M. Banks — February 17, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board have decided to drop a plan seeking the ouster of a fellow board member who criticized a policy prohibiting speaking in tongues. Board Chairman Tom Hatley announced Thursday (Feb. 16) that he intends to ask trustees at their March meeting […]
COMMENTARY: In Darfur, We Must Again Proclaim `Never Again’
By RNS Blog Editor — February 17, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) “Never Again!” is a well-worn mantra invoked by many people when they remember the mass murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. The phrase is meant to indicate we have learned the disastrous effects of remaining silent or indifferent in the face of genocide, the systematic killing of […]
Ancient `Gospel of Judas’ to Be Published, Promoting Christ’s Betrayer
By RNS Blog Editor — February 17, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The first translation of an ancient, self-proclaimed “Gospel of Judas” will be published in late April, bringing to light what some scholars believe are the writings of an early Christian sect suppressed for supporting Jesus Christ’s infamous betrayer. If authentic, the manuscript could add to the understanding of Gnosticism, […]
Priest refuses to bless skis
By Tracy Gordon — February 17, 2006
Quote of the Day: Aldo Bernetti of Olympic Interfaith Committee “It’s like when you have two nation’s armies, each asking God to be on their side. How can God know which to choose?” -Aldo Bernetti, Catholic representative on the Olympic interfaith committee, on a priest who refused an Italian Olympic racer’s request to bless his […]
Gnostic Gospel of Judas; Baptist reversal
By RNS Blog Editor — February 17, 2006
RNS has a U.S. exclusive today about a soon-to-be-published ancient manuscript that argues Judas wasn’t such a bad guy after all. Our Vatican correspondent Stacy Meichtry reveals that the gnostic `Gospel of Judas’ will be published in April: The first translation of an ancient, self-proclaimed “Gospel of Judas” will be published in late April, bringing […]
Artists Work Around Muhammad
By RNS Blog Editor — February 16, 2006
Artists Find Creative Ways Around Muslim Ban on Muhammad Images RNS’s article of the week, linked above, looks at how artists work around depicting the prophet Muhammad. Of note, the article features a photo of a U.S. Supreme Court frieze which shows Muhammad among 17 other great lawgivers of history. Quotes: Global outrage and violence […]
COMMENTARY: Pope’s Latest Encyclical Helps Heal Wounds of Sex Abuse
By RNS Blog Editor — February 16, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Pope John XXIII once explained that he convened Vatican Council II in 1962 to open some windows and let fresh air into a Church long closed off from the world. Through his first encyclical, “God Is Love,” Pope Benedict XVI does virtually the same thing in 2006. Writing about […]
