Monthly Archives: October 2006
COMMENTARY: Kristallnacht: The World’s First State-Sponsored Terrorism:
By James Rudin — October 27, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Weapons of mass destruction. Axis of evil. 9-11. Islamic fascism. These grim phrases are part of everyday life and it is likely others will be added to that list. However, as we accumulate new vocabulary to describe the pathology of terrorism, one horrific term must never be forgotten: Kristallnacht. […]
Next Step on N.J. Gay Marriage Is Up to Lawmakers
By Brian Donohue — October 27, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NEWARK, N.J. _ Should New Jersey be the next Massachusetts? Or the next Vermont? State legislators now have 180 days to decide. The state’s top court on Wednesday (Oct. 25) took the thorny question of whether gay unions should be recognized as marriages and placed it squarely in the hands […]
Experts Doubt N.J. Ruling Will Revive Federal Gay Marriage Ban
By Rachel Cohen — October 27, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The New Jersey Supreme Court ruling protecting the rights of same-sex couples is likely to energize the religious right, but not enough to have a significant impact on the national debate over a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, experts said. “The ruling puts some wind back in the […]
Questions and Answers on N.J. Gay Marriage Decision
By RNS Blog Editor — October 27, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Q: What did the New Jersey Supreme Court rule? A: The majority said that while there is no “fundamental right to same sex-marriage” in New Jersey, it is unconstitutional to deny gay couples the same rights as married couples. Q: Does that mean gays can marry? A: No. The court […]
US Catholic Bishops to Meet
By RNS Blog Editor — October 26, 2006
Catholic Bishops to Consider New Guidelines for Ministry to Homosexuals RNS’ Daniel Burke looks at the upcoming meeting of US Catholic Bishops, which will consider new pastoral guidelines for minstering to gays and lesbians, in this week’s full-text article, linked above. Quote: With one eye on those domestic controversies and another on Rome, the new […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 26, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Poll Shows Unease With Both Parties on Religion, Values (RNS) An increasing percentage of Americans believe that neither Democrats nor Republicans share their attitudes about the role of religion in politics, according to a new poll released Tuesday (Oct. 24). The poll also showed a drop in the portion of […]
COMMENTARY: The Myth of the (Fundamentalist) Barbarians at the Gate
By Frances Kennedy — October 26, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Father Andrew Greeley has a gift for seeing past the surfaces of the great “accepted truths” of our times _ those popular shorthand interpretations of the pundit class that are repeated so often that they are taken for granted even by people who should know better. Greeley’s latest project […]
Odds Are Against Online Gambling Under New Law
By RNS Blog Editor — October 26, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The party’s over at PartyPoker, but PokerStars is still open for action. Dozens of online casinos and millions of American gamblers, confronting a new federal law that makes what they do illegal for the first time, are angry, sad and reassessing their options. President Bush turned what had […]
Deliver Us From a One-Sided Film About Clergy Sex Abuse
By RNS Blog Editor — October 26, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A scene near the end of “Deliver Us From Evil,” Amy Berg’s disturbing new documentary on clergy sexual abuse, should be burned into the mind of every Catholic bishop: Bob Jyono sits on a sofa beside his daughter Ann, 39, who was regularly raped between the ages of 5 […]
10 Minutes With … Pastor Becky Fischer
By Christa Brown — October 26, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Reaction to the new documentary “Jesus Camp” has been heated, to say the least. The film, which profiles evangelical Pastor Becky Fischer and her “Kids on Fire” summer camp in Devil’s Lake, N.D., shows children wailing in prayer, protesting abortion and praying in front of a cardboard cut-out of […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Evangelicals Urge More Aggressive Action on Darfur WASHINGTON (RNS) President Bush should adopt an aggressive policy _ guided by faith, not politics _ to end the violence in Sudan’s western Darfur region, prominent evangelical leaders said Wednesday (Oct. 17). International and domestic politics have deterred Bush and other world leaders […]
Other Issues Facing the Annual Catholic Bishops’ Meeting
By Daniel Burke — October 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In addition to adopting new guidelines on ministry to gay and lesbian Roman Catholics, the U.S. bishops will take up several other items at their semiannual meeting in Baltimore, Nov. 13-16: _ Consider asking Catholics who “knowingly and obstinately” reject church doctrines to refrain from receiving the sacrament of […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Poll Finds Muslims Lean Democratic, See War on Terror as War on Islam WASHINGTON (RNS) A new survey by an Islamic advocacy group suggests that America’s Muslim voters lean Democratic, and just over half fear that the war on terror has become a war on Islam. Pollsters asked 1,000 Muslims […]
Boycott of eBay Targets Online Sale of Relics
By Bridget MacDonald — October 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A coalition of Christians, angered by the marketing of deceased saints’ body parts over the Internet, is calling for a boycott of eBay until the company gets more vigilant about ending the practice. The Los Angeles-based International Crusade for Holy Relics (ICHR), an independent group with about 200 members, […]
Catholic Bishops to Consider New Guidelines for Ministry to Homosexuals: By DANIEL BURKE
By Daniel Burke — October 25, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The nation’s Catholic bishops will consider new pastoral guidelines in November for ministering to gays and lesbians that affirm traditional church teachings on sexuality in the face of a quickly changing culture. Issues like same-sex marriage and civil unions, gay adoption and the clergy sexual abuse scandal were barely […]
