Monthly Archives: February 2010
The miracle worker
By Francis X. Rocca — February 25, 2010
Most barbers are happy with a nice big tip, but the man who used to trim Pope John Paul II says the late pontiff miraculously cured him of a hernia. But as the Times of London notes, even if the Vatican were to recognize the cure as miraculous, it would still not count toward John […]
COMMENTARY: And the first shall be last …
By Tracy Gordon — February 25, 2010
(RNS) Ever since I moved to an island in the middle of Puget Sound two years ago and no longer travel frequently, the friendly skies have grown less friendly. Alas, I slid from Premier Executive status to Premier. Yesterday, I learned I am no longer even Premier. How low can you go, I wondered? I […]
Off to Oxon.
By Mark Silk — February 25, 2010
Health care summit or no health care summit, I’m heading to England today, to give a talk at Oxford entitled, “From Christian to Judeo-Christian to Abrahamic: the Shibboleths of American Civil Religion.” Theology Faculty Seminar Room, 31 St Giles. Tuesday, March 2. 5 pm. Research Seminar on the Abrahamic Religions: Contemporary Perspectives. Be there or […]
SIDEBAR: Once-a-decade Passion play is lifeblood for Bavarian village
By Tracy Gordon — February 25, 2010
OBERAMMERGAU, Germany (RNS) Taking just a quick look at this picturesque Bavarian town, it would be easy to lump it in with a whole host of other nearby villages. Skiing? Check. Local sought-after souvenirs? Check (in this case, wood carving). Quaint inns with generous helpings of beer, schnitzel and sausage? Check, check and check. But […]
ACLU files suit over USAID’s abstinence programs
By Tracy Gordon — February 25, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against the U.S. Agency for International Development for not providing information about “religiously infused” abstinence programs the agency has funded. The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday (Feb. 18), follows a report last July from USAID’s inspector general that found “some USAID funds were used for […]
Jewish groups agree to civility despite differences
By Tracy Gordon — February 25, 2010
(RNS) Jewish agencies have resolved to handle internal disagreements over Middle East policy, health care reform and other polarizing issues calmly and respectfully, while banding together to confront what one leader called “a growing, global campaign to delegitimize Israel.” About 300 delegates representing 14 national and 47 community groups gathered in Dallas for the annual […]
Top German bishop steps down after drunk-driving arrest
By Tracy Gordon — February 25, 2010
BERLIN (RNS) Bishop Margot Kaessmann, the first female head of Germany’s Protestant church, stepped down from her position Wednesday (Feb. 24) amid controversy surrounding her arrest on Saturday for drunk driving. Kaessmann, 51, said she had made a “serious mistake” which she “deeply” regretted, reported the EPD, the official news service of the Evangelical (Lutheran) […]
Muslims finally get someone to root for
By Tracy Gordon — February 25, 2010
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (RNS) The 100 or so young couples, college students, middle-aged parents and grandmothers in headscarves that packed a movie theater could have been mistaken for an audience in Mumbai, Lahore or other South Asian city. They had come to see “My Name is Khan,” a new Bollywood film that has shattered box office […]
COMMENTARY: A `sincere, humble and brave’ apology
By Cathleen Falsani — February 25, 2010
(RNS) Apart from the Dalai Lama — who reportedly had never heard of him until earlier this week — Tiger Woods is the probably the most famous Buddhist on the planet. But until Woods invoked his Buddhist identity during a televised mea culpa for cheating on his wife and a spectacular fall from grace, like […]
When journalists attack
By Daniel Burke — February 25, 2010
Every day, we ink-stained wretches shove our noses all into church’s business, reporting frequently on their failures, and occasionally on their successes. Is it only fair, then, when a church hires journalists to investigate a newspaper? The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz reported on Monday that the Church of Scientology has hired three prize-winning journalist to […]
Wednesday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 24, 2010
A report issued Wednesday says the U.S. needs to pay greater attention to religion in foreign affairs. WaPo’s David Waters boils it down: American foreign policy is handicapped by a narrow, ill-informed and uncompromising Western secularism that feeds religious extremism, threatens traditional cultures and fails to encourage religious groups that promote peace and human rights, […]
Cruise companies navigate choppy religious waters
By Tracy Gordon — February 24, 2010
(RNS) Before stepping aboard her first cruise back in December 2008, Pam Biedenbender and her husband attended Mass at a Catholic church in Miami; later, onboard the Carnival Valor, she learned she’d have to miss Christmas Mass because the ship had no priest. “When I booked the cruise, I specifically asked, and they said there […]
Germany’s mega Passion play is back, and Jews are watching carefully
By Tracy Gordon — February 24, 2010
OBERAMMERGAU, Germany (RNS) With its focus on the last days of Jesus’ life, a Passion play should, by its nature, arouse passions. But here, the world’s most famous Passion play keeps stirring the wrong kind. As it has almost every 10 years since 1634, this Bavarian town is putting the final touches on the Oberammergau […]
10 minutes with … Stephanie Sinclair
By Tracy Gordon — February 24, 2010
(RNS) This month’s National Geographic magazine cover story “The Polygamists” offers a rare look inside the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous off-shoot of the mainstream Mormon Church. The story wouldn’t have been the same without the access that photographer Stephanie Sinclair was granted after federal raids on an FLDS compound […]
Arianna Does Religion
By Mark Silk — February 24, 2010
With Steve Waldman gone to the FCC and Sally Quinn trying to sort out her family wedding schedule, comes Huffington Post with a new religion section. Despite the central role religion plays in American life, all too often, when talking about it, we end up talking at each other instead of with each other….The conversation […]
