Monthly Archives: August 2007
Amish Say Animal ID System Goes Against the Bible
By RNS Blog Editor — August 22, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service BLANCHARD, Mich. _ Amish farmers complain that the state Department of Agriculture is insisting they tag their cattle with electronic chips in violation of their religious beliefs. State agriculture officials say the radio frequency chips are necessary to track animal diseases and protect public health. But the Amish farmers say […]
COMMENTARY: Doing Church the Jesus Way
By Tom Ehrich — August 22, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Jesus moved about. Most churches stay stubbornly in place. Jesus talked about wealth and power. We talk about sex and ordination. Jesus formed radically open circles of friends. We erect intricate and inflexible institutional barriers that admit only those whom we deem worthy. Jesus dodged calls for laws and […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 21, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Update: Woman Who Sought Sanctuary in Church Deported (RNS) U.S. officials deported illegal Mexican immigrant and activist Elvira Arellano Sunday (Aug. 19) in Los Angeles, days after she left her refuge at a Chicago church to launch a national immigration-reform campaign. Arellano, 32, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs […]
Fans of Latin Mass Anxious for Wider Availability
By RNS Blog Editor — August 21, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service MIDDLETOWN, N.J. _ Emily Blonski is on her knees, praying in a language she does not understand, holding a missal that is older than she is. But for 17-year-old Blonski, who travels 30 minutes every Sunday to attend the only Latin Mass around, what’s old is what’s new. “I don’t […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service South African Church Lauded for AIDS Work (RNS) A predominantly white congregation in South Africa has been awarded top honors for its fight against AIDS among blacks by two U.S.-based religious groups. Fish Hoek Baptist Church received the Courageous Leadership Award, a joint project by the Willow Creek Association (an […]
Group Scraps `Left Behind’ Video Games for U.S. Troops
By RNS Blog Editor — August 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ An evangelical entertainment troupe has abandoned plans to send a controversial video game in care packages to U.S. troops in Iraq. As a member of the Pentagon’s “America Supports You” program, Dallas-based Operation Straight Up planned to include copies of the apocalyptic video game “Left Behind: Eternal Forces” […]
CNN Documentary Probes Impact of `God’s Warriors’
By Ansley Roan — August 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A three-part CNN documentary, which begins airing Tuesday (Aug. 21) at 9 p.m. EDT, explores the beliefs and influence of what it calls “God’s Warriors.” “Whether Muslim, Christian or Jew, millions of people view the world through a religious prism,” correspondent Christiane Amanpour says in the opening segment from […]
Quakers at a Glance
By RNS Blog Editor — August 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) QUAKERS AT A GLANCE ORIGINS: The Religious Society of Friends was founded by George Fox in England in the 1640s. NAME: They were called “Quakers” for the way their bodies moved, or quaked, under divine inspiration. BELIEFS: Early Quakers were Christians who thought their hierarchical churches were corrupt and […]
Quakers Ask an Essential Question: What Do We Believe, and Why?
By Daniel Burke — August 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) About 300 years ago in the Delaware River valley, a group of Christian idealists banded together to create a family-based agricultural society that valued individuals equally, regardless of race, gender or religion. In doing so, the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, essentially created America, according to syndicated columnist […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Christians Report Progress on Proselytizing Code (RNS) Efforts to establish a code of conduct to govern Christian churches’ missionary and evangelism efforts _ especially those aimed at other Christians _ took a major step forward when the World Evangelical Alliance said it would support such a pact. “We see this […]
COMMENTARY: Boycotts Run Counter to University Values
By James Rudin — August 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In late May, Britain’s University and College Union (UCU), which calls itself the country’s largest academic association, voted “to consider” a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. A similar resolution was adopted in June by UNISON, the British public service trade union. It urged “concerted and sustained pressure upon Israel […]
Religion News Service: Products
By RNS Blog Editor — August 16, 2007
Mormon Pitcher’s Game Improved After Time Spent in a Different Uniform RNS’ Daniel Burke profiles Baltimore Orioles rookie pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, a Mormon who gave up baseball to do missionary work in Spain, and is now back, and better than ever, in this week’s full-text article, linked above. Quote: Guthrie didn’t work out and lost […]
How Many Bishops Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?
By Phyllis Zagano — August 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Vatican is putting 1,000 solar panels atop its huge Paul VI Audience Hall, where Pope Benedict meets and greets thousands of pilgrims each Wednesday. The massive building costs a fortune to heat and cool, and the solar panels, once in place, will provide all the electricity necessary to […]
`September Dawn’ Explore Mormons’ Darkest Hour
By Bridget MacDonald — August 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) One hundred fifty years ago, a glorious September morning in the Utah mountains morphed into Mormonism’s darkest hour when a skittish militia opened fire on a wagon train, leaving more than 120 men, women and children dead in a flowery field. Now the “Mountain Meadows Massacre” is becoming more […]
Liberal Protestant Icons Post `Help Wanted’ Signs
By Christ Herlinger — August 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ When the Rev. Bob Edgar announced that he was stepping down as head of the National Council of Churches, someone suggested that he might apply for the soon-to-be-vacant pulpit across the street at the historic Riverside Church. “But Bob,” his wife told him, “you only have one […]
