Monthly Archives: February 2009
Rights remain under siege in the Middle East
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 26, 2009
Human rights in many Middle East countries remained under siege in 2008, according to the U.S. State Department’s annual survey released on Wednesday.
CREW files Brownback complaint
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 26, 2009
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan good-government group, filed a Senate ethics complaint against Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) over the use of faux Senate letterhead in a fundraising letter on behalf a conservative Catholic group.
Not so Pleasant
By Mark Silk — February 26, 2009
Yesterday’s unanimous Supreme Court decision, Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, was, strictly speaking, not about religion and yet was all about religion–weaving yet more potential tangles into the tangled web of Establishment Clause jurisprudence. The Summum religious sect does not get to place its principles as a monument in a Pleasant Grove park as a […]
Return to sender?
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 26, 2009
National Catholic Reporter has received a fundraising letter lambasting liberal Catholics and bearing Kansas Senator Sam Brownback’s signature. The letter’s from Catholic Advocate, a conservative Washington-based group. The undated Brownback letter names many prominent Catholic Democrats and accuses them of abandoning the Catholic faith in their support for The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Moneyquote: […]
10 Minutes with … David T. Olson
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2009
(UNDATED) Booming megachurches might grab headlines, but the bigger story of American congregations is one of accelerating decline, according to David T. Olson, director of the American Church Research Project. Based on data collected from more than 200,000 churches, he projects that by 2050, only 10 percent of Americans will be in church on any […]
After expulsion from Argentina, Catholic bishop lands in England
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2009
LONDON (RNS) A Holocaust denying Catholic bishop whose readmission by the Vatican has sparked international outrage arrived in Britain on Wednesday (Feb. 25) after his turbulent expulsion from Argentina. Four police officers hastily bundled Bishop Richard Williamson into a car and to a waiting contingent of fellow clergy from the ultra-conservative Society of St. Pius […]
Latino lawmakers to visit churches for immigration reform
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2009
(RNS) Latino lawmakers and advocates are traveling to churches in 17 cities to collect stories from families who have been hurt by current immigration policies. “We can no longer wait to take action that will help keep families in our communities together and ensure a safe and secure nation,” said Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., chair […]
Study: Compared to Christians, fewer Jews `switch’ faiths
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2009
(RNS) Jews are less likely than Catholics or Protestants to change faiths, though religious switching nationwide has increased since 1965, according to a study released this week by the American Jewish Committee. Most who leave Judaism become unaffiliated, rather than converting to another religion; Many continue to identify as Jewish in an ethnic or cultural […]
Supreme Court rules against religious monument
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2009
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday (Feb. 25) that a city park in Utah does not have to include a monument of a small religious sect even though it already features a Ten Commandments monument. Summum, a Salt Lake City-based group, had argued that officials in Pleasant Grove City, Utah, violated its free […]
A Passionate Church
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 26, 2009
Louie Giglio, founder of the Passion Conferences and record label sixstepsrecords, has teamed up with Christian worship leaders Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin to start a church. The Atlanta-based Passion City Church held its first service on February 15, 2009. Giglio, Tomlin, and Redman are three very prominent names in the evangelical Christian community. One […]
Presidential prayers
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 26, 2009
President Barack Obama seems to be starting a tradition that breaks away from his presidential predecessors. Apparently “the practice of commissioning and vetting prayers for presidential rallies is unprecedented in modern history, according to religion and policy experts,” writes Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News and World Report. You haven’t seem them? Don’t be surprised if […]
Out of blue, into the bank
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 25, 2009
A church struggling with declining membership and dwindling funds has met a blessing in the form of an antique weather vane. The weather vane, perched on top of the First Parish Church in Newbury since 1869, caught the eye of antiques collector Raymond Egan. After Egan and a weather vane specialist investigated the history of […]
Hallelujah
By Daniel Burke — February 25, 2009
Leonard Cohen, the novelist/poet/singer/songwriter, has emerged from his mountaintop Buddhist monastery for a world tour. The New York Times catches up to Cohen (whose Zen Buddhist appellation is “The Silent One”) for a rare interview. Some nuggets: “Even on the longest flights Mr. Cohen sits cross-legged and straight-backed in his seat, in a monk’s posture. […]
