Monthly Archives: November 2009
Tumultuous times fuel end-times preparations
By Tracy Gordon — November 18, 2009
(RNS) For years, Ken Uptegrove believed another Great Depression was at hand. A computer professional in Springdale, Ark., Uptegrove started a garden and researched ways to live more simply. He studied the lives of early Christians and launched a ministry and Web site (http://www.arkhaven.org) where he and his wife now share their beliefs with some […]
10 minutes with … Shepard Fairey
By Tracy Gordon — November 18, 2009
(RNS) Shepard Fairey was a thriving underground artist when his iconic “Hope” image of President Obama catapulted him into the national spotlight last year. His first solo exhibit, at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, shattered museum attendance records, and has since moved to Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum, before heading to Cincinnati’s Lois and Richard Rosenthal […]
COMMENTARY: The upside-down economics of health care reform
By Phyllis Zagano — November 18, 2009
(RNS) We’ve watched Congress debate, position, and confuse the nation with various proposals for national health care reform. What we haven’t seen is lawmakers focusing on lobbyists and drug companies. It’s time to connect some dots. Let’s start with a few facts at the outset: 1. I think most people agree that access to quality […]
Wednesday’s religion roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — November 18, 2009
Gay marriage seems to be all over the news, especially here in WDC, where a bill to legalize gay marriage seems all but inevitable (vote is set for Dec. 1). WaPo profiles Bishops Harry Jackson, a black megachurch pastor who is intent on stopping gay marriage in the District, even though he actually lives in […]
Priesthood as Prison
By Mark Silk — November 18, 2009
Gibson reports on latest from the clergy sex abuse study by the folks at John Jay, presented to the USCCB yesterday: “What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse,” said Margaret Smith, a researcher from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New […]
Marriage-olatry
By Mark Silk — November 18, 2009
Before he became Pope Innocent III in 1198, Lotario dei Conti of Segni wrote De quadripartita specie nuptiarum, a treatise defining marriage as a four-part thing according to the four ways that Parisian scholastics of the day interpreted Scripture: historical, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical. According to Lotario, the “historical” was the carnal marriage of man […]
British judge rules in favor of spiritualist officer
By Tracy Gordon — November 18, 2009
LONDON (RNS) A British judge has ruled that a psychic fired by police for practicing his beliefs in spiritualism must have his views respected as a legitimate religion that should be tolerated in the workplace. Police trainer Alan Power claimed he was forced out of his job in Manchester, England, because of his conviction that […]
Report: 14.6 million American households at risk of `food insecurity’
By Tracy Gordon — November 18, 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) More than one in seven American households found it hard to put enough food on the table last year, according to figures released Monday (Nov. 16) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “The recession has made the problem of hunger worse, and it has also made it more visible,” said David Beckmann, president […]
Intel denies reports about closing Jerusalem facility
By Tracy Gordon — November 18, 2009
JERUSALEM (RNS) Computer chip giant Intel has denied Israeli media reports that it will close its Jerusalem facility unless ultra-Orthodox Jews ease demands that the company shutter its facility during the Jewish Sabbath. “This is not true, we are not threatening anything like that,” Koby Bahar, spokesman for Intel Israel, told Religion News Service on […]
At 100, pastor slows down but keeps on preaching
By Tracy Gordon — November 18, 2009
THOMAS, Ala. (RNS) The Rev. J.W. Archie stepped into the pulpit and did his usual duties as associate pastor for Mt. Hebron Missionary Baptist Church. He introduced the walk-in song. He led the Scripture reading and the responsive reading, prayed, took up the benevolence offering and presided at the altar call. Sunlight streamed through a […]
COMMENTARY: Like it never happened
By Tom Ehrich — November 17, 2009
NEW YORK (RNS) Never mind the homeless lining up for food at East 51st Street and Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Never mind high vacancy rates at nearby office towers caused by companies folding and jobs evaporating. Never mind abandoned shops and shuttered restaurants. Never mind a 17.5 percent functional unemployment rate, or a rising […]
Will flu epidemic slow the Hajj?
By Tracy Gordon — November 17, 2009
(RNS) Almost every pilgrim who makes the Hajj, Islam’s holy pilgrimage to Mecca, brings home an unwelcome souvenir: the common cold. That, however, has never deterred tour operator Emad Elseidy, who has led Hajj pilgrimage groups for about 10 years. The 42-year-old Egyptian immigrant accepts — almost embraces — the possibility of getting sick during […]
Catholic bishops claim moral authority amidst widespread `confusion’
By Tracy Gordon — November 17, 2009
BALTIMORE (RNS) Responding to scientific advances and widespread “confusion” among their flocks, U.S. Catholic bishops on Tuesday (Nov. 17) issued detailed guidelines on marriage, reproductive technologies, and health care for severely brain-damaged patients. The bishops gathered here for their semi-annual meeting also heard a preliminary report on the “causes and contexts” of the clergy sexual […]
Tuesday’s religion roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — November 17, 2009
The USDA reports that the number of American families at risk of “food insecurity” (better known as hunger) reached a 14-year high. They might be the same families who told AP pollsters that the best way to pay for health care reform is to tax the rich. As Catholic bishops assemble in Baltimore to mull […]
Wallisite Common Ground
By Mark Silk — November 17, 2009
Jim Wallis’ endless apologia pro Stupakia sua on Huffpost is an awe-inspiring exercise in injured innocence. According to him, the collapse of a compromise on abortion in the House health care bill was all the fault of the House leadership (which disrespected pro-life moderates) and pro-choice activists (who just couldn’t see past their zealotry). Were […]
