Monthly Archives: January 2008
Bart Simpson Donates $5 million to Scientologists
By Daniel Burke — January 31, 2008
Er, rather, the actor that plays Bart, Nancy Cartwright, did, according to London’s Daily Mirror. According to the tabloid: Cartwright, 60, donated twice as much as Tom Cruise, 45 – Scientology’s most high-profile member. The US actress, who is rumoured to earn £125,500 per episode of The Simpsons, gave the equivalent of almost two years’ […]
A Tortuous Debate
By Daniel Burke — January 31, 2008
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is at it again, criticizing Attorney General Mukasey for not saying that waterboarding is torture. “The Attorney General today essentially said that the definition of torture depends on the information being sought,” said Linda Gustitus, NRCAT’s president, adding that Mukasey’s position is “wrong spiritually, morally, and legally.”
You’ll Find that Under “C” for Controversy
By Kevin Eckstrom — January 31, 2008
It seems the Danes are going to preserve those incendiary Muhammad cartoons for posterity by housing them in the Royal Library. The cartoons, you’ll remember, ran in a Danish newspaper and sparked violent riots all over the world, but espeically among aggrieved European Muslims who thought they insulted Islam’s prophet. “We hope we can secure […]
Jesus for President
By RNS Blog Editor — January 31, 2008
Jesus wants your vote-and he needs a running mate RNS’ Matthew Streib looks at a new website which posits Jesus as a presidential candidate in 2008, and which attempts to infer what political positions the candidate might have, in this week’s full text article, linked above. Quote: “Would Jesus care about 30,000 children dying worldwide […]
Obama and the Jews
By Mark Silk — January 31, 2008
My colleague Ron Kiener has an excellent analysis on his blog of Obama’s “Jewish problem,” making use of the Florida exit polls. There does seem to be a widespread impression that Obama is soft on support for Israel, fueled in no small part by ugly emails circulating around the Internet. The organized Jewish community clearly […]
B.Y.O.B. to the Vatican
By Francis X. Rocca — January 31, 2008
It’s said that George W. Bush won the presidency because he was the candidate with whom most voters would have liked to share a beer (even though he’d been on the wagon since 1986). There’s no sign that the College of Cardinals elected Pope Benedict XVI for similar reasons, but the Bavarian-born pontiff is said […]
What Hinckley Begat
By rvineis — January 31, 2008
Time’s Dan van Biema has a piece on the significant legacy of LDS President Gordon Hinckley. The article relies on Spiritual Politics contributor Jan Shipps’ expertise and hypothesizes that without Hinckley a Mormon’s presidential campaign would not gain traction outside LDS locales. van Biema on Romney: "But were it not for Hinckley’s relentless 20-year publicity […]
Noo Yawk
By Mark Silk — January 31, 2008
New York City is an ethno-religious wonderland, and for a little look into what’s going on there in the run-up to Super Tuesday, take a look at this, from Daily News blogger Elizabeth Benjamin.
What Happened to Huck?
By Mark Silk — January 31, 2008
Vanity Fair‘s James Wolcott has this dispeptic assessment of the Huckabee failure: The zombie march of Giuliani’s and Fred Thompson’s maladroit campaigns will entrance political dissecters for seasons to come but less remarked is the misguided direction the Huckabee campaign took after its win in Iowa. Despite his financial disadvantages, Huckabee had a real opportunity […]
At the Reagan Library
By Mark Silk — January 31, 2008
God made one fleeting appearance at the Republican debate last night, when (surprise!) Mike Huckabee said, “[P]eople in this country I think are grateful to God they’re in a land that people are trying to break into and not one they’re trying to break out of.” Now that caucus and primary results have come in […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 31, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service Presbyterians test new rules on gay clergy (RNS) Minnesota Presbyterians have voted to restore the ordination of an openly gay man who has refused to pledge celibacy, the latest test of revamped pastoral guidelines in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Paul Capetz, a seminary professor, asked to be removed from ministry […]
Church suppers change to meet changing needs
By RNS Blog Editor — January 31, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service AKRON, Ohio _ Andrew Hamilton can still taste the homemade apple, cherry and peach pies that capped off the church suppers of his youth in Lakeville, Mass. Those were the days when children played on their own for hours while adults spent Sunday afternoons in conversation. The church seemed like […]
Church suppers change to meet changing needs
By Phyllis Zagano — January 31, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) This year, Easter is as early as it can be in Western churches; we’re barely over Christmas and Lent is already upon us. Just before the Lenten fasting begins, there’s one last chance to celebrate. The customs range from country to country, but whether Mardi Gras in New Orleans […]
Church suppers change to meet changing needs
By Omar Sacirbey — January 31, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Documentary filmmaker Alex Kronemer wants to help end the clash of civilizations, a battle he says he’s witnessed in one form or another since childhood. His Jewish father and Christian mother divorced and succumbed to religious mud-slinging. His mother’s Protestant ministers asserted most people were going to hell, souring […]
A pastor walks into a bar …
By T.W. Burger — January 31, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service CARLISLE, Pa. _ Perhaps the last person you want to see at the bar is your minister. Or maybe that’s just what you need. Chuck Kish, 44, a senior pastor at the Bethel Assembly of God here, is launching a program at a local pub next month to put chaplains […]
Page 1 of 19
