Monthly Archives: October 2006
Talk, Talk, Talk
By Kevin Eckstrom — October 21, 2006
We were wondering when Terry Mattingly over at Get Religion would weigh in on our profile of the 12 people who are shaping the Democrats’ approach to religion. TMatt has spoken. Actually, TMatt got Mark Stricherz to critique the piece, and he concludes that the story “never tells us how the dozen religious Democrats live […]
Archdiocese Bars Priest at Center of Foley Scandal From Active Ministry
By Daniel Burke — October 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Rev. Anthony Mercieca, the priest at the center of the Mark Foley abuse scandal, has been removed from active ministry by the Archdiocese of Miami. Two days after his name surfaced in media reports, church and law enforcement officials confirmed Friday (Oct. 20) that Mercieca is the priest […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Muslim Woman at Center of Veil Dispute Loses Case LONDON (RNS) A Muslim teaching assistant who was suspended from her job when she refused to stop wearing her full-face veil in the classroom has lost her claim that she was discriminated against because of her religion. An employment tribunal threw […]
Vatican Uses Islam Controversy for More Honest Dialogue
By RNS Blog Editor — October 21, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ A month after Pope Benedict XVI’s address at the University of Regensburg in Germany sparked violence from some Muslims that sent Muslim-Christian relations into a tailspin, Vatican officials are embracing the controversy for accomplishing what decades of conciliatory gestures from Pope John Paul II could not: an […]
Amish Newspaper Says `Thank You’
By RNS Blog Editor — October 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service HARRISBURG, Pa. _ Every Monday for more than 30 years, the Die Botschaft newspaper has gone into the mailboxes of Amish subscribers nationwide. Filled with letters from correspondents across the country, the weekly publication prints information from the Amish, for the Amish. This week’s (Oct. 16) issue, though, is an […]
Excerpts From the Amish Die Botschaft Newspaper
By RNS Blog Editor — October 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The following is an excerpt from the Oct. 16 edition of the Amish newspaper Die Botschaft (“The Message”). It was written by Enos K. Miller, whose grandchildren, 8-year-old Mary Liz Miller and her sister Lena, 7, were killed in a shooting at an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pa., […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Religious Leaders Push Documentary on Global Warming WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious leaders are promoting a new documentary about global warming to raise awareness about environmental concerns among houses of worship. “The scriptural teaching gives us direction to be responsible for God’s world,” said the Rev. Paul De Vries, president of the […]
COMMENTARY: A Story of Misplaced Faith
By RNS Blog Editor — October 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) I have long maintained that America was a better place back when the fundamentalist Christians flocked to the Democratic Party. David Kuo’s book offers evidence to support that belief. Kuo is the author of “Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction.” It tells the story not only of […]
Muslim Athletes Learn New Discipline During Ramadan
By RNS Blog Editor — October 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service TOMS RIVER, N.J. _ Their day begins in darkness shortly after 5 a.m. to make sure the meal is finished long before sunrise. For Nashwa Yosry, it is a bowl of Kix, a glass of milk and a small brownie. Tamir Dayya loads up with oatmeal, cereal, a peanut butter […]
Methodists Hire Rabbi for Spiritual Renewal
By Ira Rifkin — October 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service COLUMBIA, Md. _ Each Thursday, staff members of the United Methodist Church’s Baltimore-Washington Conference gather at their offices here for a lunch-hour Bible study class. Lately, those classes have taken on a distinctly different tone. That’s because they are now led by a Jewish rabbi, part of an unconventional effort […]
COMMENTARY: Saul Farber, A True Mensch
By James Rudin — October 20, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) You always know when you meet a living legend. That’s how I felt about Dr. Saul J. Farber, one of America’s greatest physicians and medical educators, who died on Oct. 12 at age 88 in New York. I first met Saul in 1985 when New York Gov. Mario Cuomo […]
Catholic Bishops to Tackle Gay Question
By Kevin Eckstrom — October 19, 2006
The always-on-top-of-things Michael Paulson at the Boston Globe has a preview of a proposed statement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the church’s attitude towards gays and lesbians. The bishops’ previous landmark statement, “Always Our Children,” was received in 1997 by some conservatives as too accommodating. Looks like those critics might be more […]
A Thaw Among the Frozen Chosen?
By Kevin Eckstrom — October 19, 2006
Our friend Diana Butler Bass has an interview in Newsweek about evidence she sees that America’s “Frozen Chosen” mainline Protestant churches are undergoing something of a thaw. We have Methodists who engage in Celtic spirituality, Episcopalians who walk the labyrinth and Presbyterians who do reiki. You find Protestant churches engaging in the Benedictine rule or […]
Dems “Get Religion”
By RNS Blog Editor — October 19, 2006
With the Help of a Dozen, Democrats Learn to ‘Get Religion’ Daniel Burke, Kevin Eckstrom and Peter Sachs profile 12 individuals who are helping shape the Democratic party’s approach to religion, in this week’s full-text RNS article, linked above. Quote: Party leaders have lamented that Democrats ceded the moral high ground to Republicans because they […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — October 19, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Miami Archdiocese Urges Foley to Name Alleged Abuser (RNS) Former Florida congressman Mark Foley should name the Roman Catholic cleric who allegedly abused him as soon as possible to spare others from potential harm, the archdiocese of Miami said Wednesday (Oct. 18). “We don’t care how he reports the name, […]
