Monthly Archives: March 2006
Kevin Eckstrom Named Editor of Religion News Service
By RNS Blog Editor — March 29, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Kevin R.E. Eckstrom has been promoted to the position of editor for Religion News Service (RNS), effective May 1. He succeeds Mark O’Keefe, who will join the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life as associate director, editorial. Eckstrom has been associate editor of RNS for the past […]
In This World View, the Sun Revolves Around the Earth
By RNS Blog Editor — March 29, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Earth is at the center of Robert Sungenis’ universe. Literally. Yours too, he says. Sungenis is a geocentrist. He contends the sun orbits the Earth instead of vice versa. He says physics and the Bible show that the vastness of space revolves around us; that we’re at the […]
Eckstrom new RNS editor; and geocentrism
By RNS Blog Editor — March 29, 2006
In Tuesday’s RNS report we announce that associate editor Kevin Eckstrom has been named editor of Religion News Service: Kevin R.E. Eckstrom has been promoted to the position of editor for Religion News Service, effective May 1. He succeeds Mark O’Keefe, who will join the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life as associate director, […]
Missionaries to Pass Out Solar-Powered `GodPods’ in Africa
By RNS Blog Editor — March 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Seventh-day Adventists have found a new use for personal digital audio players: bringing the Bible to remote parts of Africa. Adventist World Radio and the It Is Written television network have formed separate partnerships with MegaVoice, producers of an iPod-like device officially called the Ambassador but informally dubbed the […]
This is an updated version of an RNS story, RNS-TORAH-RETURN, that was first transmitted Thursday, M
By RNS Blog Editor — March 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ When Gavriel Wesel came safely home to Vienna, Austria, after World War I, his wife, Miriam, sewed a cover for a Torah scroll at their synagogue to give thanks to God. On Monday (March 27), 87 years later, the cover was returned to the New York grandchildren […]
COMMENTARY: Why I Didn’t Ask `Why Me?’ When Diagnosed With Cancer
By RNS Blog Editor — March 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Recently I was diagnosed with cancer. Between that day and the beginning of my treatment two weeks later, I was surprised by community and surprised by what it is not _ small groups, churches that “are there for me” or people calling to wish me well and add […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Fate of Afghan Convert to Christianity Remains in Doubt (RNS) The fate of an Afghan convert to Christianity who faced a criminal trial and possible death sentence remained uncertain Monday (March 27) after conflicting reports about his release. An Afghan court dismissed charges against Abdul Rahman on Sunday, citing lack […]
Catholic Trend Combines Beer, Bible for `Theology on Tap’
By RNS Blog Editor — March 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service MONTCLAIR, N.J. _ It was a regular Sunday night at Just Jakes, a downtown bar. Regulars were shooting eight-ball, downing drafts, and tilting their heads at 10 mounted screens showing the Oscars, college basketball and “Caddyshack.” Meanwhile, down a hallway in a comfortable back room, 25 young bar patrons and […]
NEWS STORY: Pope Installs New Cardinals and Raises Profile of U.S. Church
By RNS Blog Editor — March 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Pope Benedict XVI crowned his first batch of cardinals Friday (March 24) in a solemn ceremony that underscored the rising influence of American churchmen in the heart of Roman Catholicism. Two of the 15 men who knelt before Benedict to receive their blood-red skullcaps and three-point birettas […]
COMMENTARY: Would the World Be Better Without Religion?
By RNS Blog Editor — March 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Wouldn’t the world be better off without religion? This sentiment is perhaps most famously associated with ex-Beatle John Lennon (remember “Imagine”?), but it has also been suggested by more formidible intellectual figures. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, two celebrated popularizers of Darwinism have publicly asserted that the […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Pennsylvania Political Group’s Church Work Stirs Complaints HARRISBURG, Pa. (RNS) A conservative advocacy group is hiring 10 full-time organizers to rally churches across Pennsylvania to get out the vote for the November election. “Evangelical or Catholic background is helpful,” said an online job posting. The group, Let Freedom Ring, was […]
On Just War, Religious Groups Still Divided
By Kim Lawton — March 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly (UNDATED) At Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., students in professor Brian Stiltner’s class on faith and justice marked the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq still arguing about whether the war was morally justified. “I think we are there for a good purpose,” argued one student. […]
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks out
By Tracy Gordon — March 24, 2006
Quote of the Day: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton “It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures because this bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself.” -Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaking out against a House bill that would impose criminal penalties on those who assist undocumented […]
Torah cover being returned; church at the multiplex; drywall crucifix
By RNS Blog Editor — March 24, 2006
A Torah cover that survived the Nazis is being returned the family of the woman who sewed it, writes Marilyn Henry in Thursday’s RNS report: When Gavriel Wesel came safely home to Vienna, Austria, after World War I, his wife, Miriam, sewed a cover for a Torah scroll at their synagogue to give thanks to […]
Byassee addresses evangelicals
By Tracy Gordon — March 23, 2006
Quote of the Day: Christian Century Assistant Editor Jason Byassee (RNS) “When the powers that be are done with you, we mainline liberals will have a rocking chair for you at the retirement home of the formerly religiously important. Maybe then we can finally see each other as sisters and brothers.” -Jason Byassee, assistant editor […]
