Monthly Archives: November 2006
COMMENTARY: The Corruption of Power, Absolute and Otherwise
By James Rudin — November 17, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Most people limit seduction’s meaning to sexual matters, but seduction takes many forms. The recent election was a corrective for conservative Christian leaders seduced by the aura of political power and easy access to Congress and the White House. For the past six years, such leaders abandoned spiritual integrity […]
RELIGION BEST-SELLERS
By RNS Blog Editor — November 17, 2006
(Editor’s note: This October list is compiled by Publishers Weekly magazine from data received from general independent bookstores, chain stores and wholesalers within the month of September. Copyright 2006 Publishers Weekly. Distributed by Religion News Service.) HARDCOVER 1. The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins. (Houghton Mifflin, $27) 2. Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam […]
Abstinence and AIDS in Africa
By RNS Blog Editor — November 16, 2006
Africans Chafe Under U.S. Abstinence Provisions RNS’s Jason Kane examines the impact of American abstinence restrictions on HIV/AIDS funding in Africa, in this week’s full-text article, linked above. Quote: A growing number of relief workers, activists and scholars agree, saying the abstinence approach that was pushed into law by U.S. religious conservatives has translated poorly […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 16, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Charges Dismissed Against Presbyterian Minister in Gay Wedding Case (RNS) Charges were dismissed Wednesday (Nov. 15) against a Presbyterian pastor accused of officiating at a lesbian wedding after a church court found church prosecutors failed to file their paperwork on time. The Rev. Janet Edwards of Pittsburgh faced possible expulsion […]
Marines Reverse Course and Will Accept Talking Jesus Doll Donations
By RNS Blog Editor — November 16, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A 12-inch talking Jesus doll may find its way to needy children this Christmas after the Marines’ Toys for Tots Christmas toy drive reversed course Wednesday (Nov. 15) and decided to accept the dolls. The Toys for Tots Foundation had initially declined a donation of 4,000 Jesus dolls from […]
GUEST COMMENTARY: A Kinship That Transcends Party Lines
By Hesham Hassaballa — November 16, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A political earthquake struck America on Nov. 7, one felt across the country and even around the world. In a clean sweep, Democrats took control of both the House and Senate, regaining the majority after more than a decade of being in the minority. One of those new Democrats […]
Fans Say Pressure Has Eased NBC Edits of `VeggieTales’
By RNS Blog Editor — November 16, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Fans of VeggieTales, those lovable animated singing and talking vegetables, may notice a change in the episodes aired on NBC’s Saturday morning cartoon lineup: There’s less editing than originally feared. “The last batch of episodes are airing with very little editing,” VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer wrote in an e-mail […]
Book Explores Why _ and How _ the World Prays
By Timothy Isaiah Cho — November 16, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Gandhi swore by it, saying he could do without food for days _ but not a single moment without prayer. Prayer can lead us to confuse God with Santa Claus, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote. Or it can make one feel foolish and artificial, 19th century philosopher William James once […]
10 Minutes With … David Neff
By Adelle M. Banks — November 16, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Christianity Today, the pre-eminent evangelical Christian magazine, marked its 50th anniversary with a special issue in October. Evangelist Billy Graham founded CT to be a rallying point for the nation’s evangelical Protestants, says David Neff, the magazine’s editor. Having worked for the magazine for 21 of its 50 years […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 15, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Letters Rescued From Bay Now Saved From eBay NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) A fisherman who found a bag of 300 letters to God floating in the ocean off Atlantic City will give most of them to the daughter of the dead minister for whom they were intended. Bill Lacovara, an insurance […]
Catholic Bishops Approve New Guidelines on Ministry to Gays
By Daniel Burke — November 15, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service BALTIMORE _ The nation’s Catholic bishops approved new statements Tuesday (Nov. 14) on controversial sexual subjects amid a culture that several bishops noted was not always receptive to traditional church teachings. In taking up homosexuality, contraception and natural family planning at their national conference here this week, the 300 U.S. […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 15, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Vietnam Dropped, Uzbekistan Added to Religious Freedom Watch List WASHINGTON (RNS) The State Department has sent Congress its list of countries that are the worst violators of religious freedom, adding Uzbekistan but dropping Vietnam. Seven countries “of particular concern” from last year’s list returned this year: Burma, China, North Korea, […]
Author Probes Thanksgiving’s `Deep Religious Impulses’
By Christ Herlinger — November 15, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) With its celebration of bounty and goodwill, not to mention its endearing lack of commercialization, Thanksgiving may be the most beloved of American holidays. But is the Thanksgiving Americans celebrate today mere myth-making, resting on ahistorical stereotypes? Take the fabled turkey, for example. Did it even inhabit eastern Massachusetts […]
COMMENTARY: State Capitols Hold Visions of American Greatness
By Tom Ehrich — November 15, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service HELENA, Mont. _ On the Election Day that ended the smallest-minded campaign in recent memory, I took a self-guided tour of Montana’s handsome State Capitol, set on a slight rise in a valley surrounded by mountains. By no means the largest state capitol _ Texas claims that honor _ this […]
Philanthropy Expert Says Conservatives Are More Generous
By RNS Blog Editor — November 15, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service SYRACUSE, N.Y. _ Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks is about to become the darling of the religious right in America _ and it’s making him nervous. The child of academics, raised in a liberal household and educated in the liberal arts, Brooks has written a book that concludes religious […]
