Monthly Archives: November 2008
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 25, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News ServiceNew report says global hunger crisis worseningWASHINGTON (RNS) The number of people living in extreme poverty has grown by 100 million, and the number of hungry people has increased by 75 million in the last two years, according to a report issued Monday (Nov. 24) by the Bread for the World […]
Jews, Muslims seek better ties in `Twinning’ program
By Nicole Neroulias — November 25, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ The mistrust and misconceptions between North America’s Jews and Muslims may run thick and deep, but leaders of a new nationwide interfaith initiative say the two sides have more to learn than fear from each other. That was the message issued this weekend (Nov. 21-23) in more […]
Third Day scores high note at American Music Awards
By Adelle M. Banks — November 25, 2008
The Christian rock band Third Day, was named favorite artist in the contemporary inspirational category at the annual American Music Awards on Sunday (Nov. 23). The band is listed among the winners on the awards’ Web site, which also included more details about them here. Third Day is currently on tour so they missed being […]
Bob Jones U. apologizes for its racist past
By Adelle M. Banks — November 24, 2008
Bob Jones University, the conservative Christian school in Greenville, S.C., has apologized for its racist past, the Associated Press reported. Posted on the school’s Web site is a “Statement about Race at Bob Jones University,” which says its policies were shaped “for far too long” by “the segregationist ethos of American culture” rather than by […]
Mormon-Evangelical Entente?
By Mark Silk — November 24, 2008
Peggy Stack has, as usual, the best take on matters Mormon, this time (notwithstanding comments from me) concerning the fallout from Prop. 8. A possible silver lining for the LDS Church is enhanced street cred with evangelicals, as in the following quote from the Rev. Jim Garlow, one of its pro-Prop. 8 partners in California: […]
Piety at 1600 Pennsylvania
By Mark Silk — November 24, 2008
Uh-oh. Politico’s Martin and Lee have been tracking President-elect Obama’s post-election church attendance record and found it wanting. It seems that since the election, BO has been more attentive to his body than his soul Sunday mornings. Could it be that, like the majority of the people who voted for him, he is a bit, […]
Report suggests CIA covered up role in missionary death
By RNS Blog Editor — November 22, 2008
MUSKEGON, Mich. _ A top-ranking Republican said he will call for a new federal inquiry into an alleged CIA cover-up in the 2001 military attack on a small plane in Peru that killed an American missionary and her infant child. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., the ranking Republican on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — November 22, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service Nepal’s Supreme Court OKs same-sex marriage CHENNAI, India (RNS) Nepal’s Supreme Court has given its consent to same-sex marriages, ordering the country’s Maoist-led government to craft laws to guarantee full rights to gays and lesbians, including the right to marriage. “This is a landmark decision for the sexual minorities and […]
Court orders Arizona to allow `Choose Life’ license plates
By Tracy Gordon — November 22, 2008
WASHINGTON -A federal court has ruled that the Arizona License Plate Commission must approve an anti-abortion group’s “Choose Life” specialty license plate.
Muslim civil group blasts NYPD `terrorism’ report
By Tracy Gordon — November 22, 2008
NEW YORK-A New York City Police Department report that characterizes young Muslim men as susceptible to Islamic extremism and “jihadization” is biased and unfair, a Muslim civil rights group said Thursday (Nov. 20).
Nepal’s Supreme Court OKs same-sex marriage
By Tracy Gordon — November 22, 2008
CHENNAI, India -Nepal’s Supreme Court has given its consent to same-sex marriages, ordering the country’s Maoist-led government to craft laws to guarantee full rights to gays and lesbians, including the right to marriage.
Farewell to a mensch
By Kevin Eckstrom — November 22, 2008
As religion reporters, we get the chance to meet all sorts of interesting people on this beat-and occassionally, a few especially nice ones. Such was the case with Evan Silverstein, the reporter for Presbyterian News Service who was found dead at home on Nov. 9. He was just 42. The cause of death, apparently, was […]
Oral Roberts University: settlement, cutbacks
By Adelle M. Banks — November 21, 2008
It’s a continuing time of transition at Oral Roberts University since its president Richard Roberts resigned last November amid allegations of unchecked spending and illegal activities by him and members of his family. Last Friday (Nov. 14), the Tulsa, Okla., school announced it had finalized a separation agreement with Roberts, son of university founder and […]
Let it be
By Francis X. Rocca — November 21, 2008
Tomorrow’s edition of the official Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ “White Album” (released November 22, 1968) with this informal absolution: “‘The Beatles are more famous than Jesus Christ’: the sentence pronounced by John Lennon, which provoked profound indignation above all in the United States, after so many years sounds […]
Throwing a little gas on the holy fire
By Kevin Eckstrom — November 21, 2008
Well, I guess someone had to say it. Kathleen Parker over at The Washington Post says she’s bathing herself in holy water as she diagoses the problem ailing the GOP: G-O-D. Money quote: “Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth-as long as we’re setting ourselves free-is that if one were […]
