Monthly Archives: June 2010
Caner sacked as seminary dean after probe into background
By Tracy Gordon — June 29, 2010
(RNS) After a seven-week probe into whether seminary dean Ergun Caner exaggerated his dramatic conversion from militant Islam to evangelical Christianity, Liberty University announced Caner will remain on faculty, but no longer as dean. The investigation, prompted by a growing coalition of skeptical Muslim and Christian bloggers, concluded Caner, 43, had converted from Islam as […]
Beliefnet sold to Virginia media company
By Tracy Gordon — June 29, 2010
(RNS) A small Virginia-based media company that specializes in channeling a small portion of consumer spending to charity has acquired Beliefnet, a leading online website devoted to multi-faith news, commentary and content. BN Media LLC focuses on the “vast online market for spirituality and inspiration” by “bringing audio-visual and written content to the masses while […]
A church-backed committee charged with investigating sexual abuse allegations in Belgium
By Tracy Gordon — June 28, 2010
Warnings about sex, violence come to Christian movies
By Tracy Gordon — June 28, 2010
ST. LOUIS (RNS) To get to the movie section at Lifeway Christian Store in Bridgeton, Mo., customers pass by shelves of books, CDs and greeting cards. The rack of Christian DVDs isn’t huge, but it’s twice as big as it was a year ago and “growing all the time,” said manager Francine Evans. Some of […]
Supreme Court rules against Christian legal group
By Tracy Gordon — June 28, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday (June 28) that a Christian student group must accept gays and non-Christians as members if it wants to be officially recognized by a public university. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the court’s 5-4 majority, said the “all-comers” policy at the University of California’s Hastings College of […]
Monday’s roundup
By Daniel Burke — June 28, 2010
Klansman-turned-Senator-for life Robert Byrd died early Monday at age 92. SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan begins her Senate hearings today. Not in attendance will be Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin, who was scheduled to testify against Kagan’s attempts to bar military recruiters from Harvard as dean of the law school. Boykin, you may remember, got into […]
Americans getting more religious!
By Mark Silk — June 28, 2010
Well, maybe a little bit. Gallup shows an increase in self-reported “at least once a week” or “almost every week” church attendance over the past two-and-a-half years–from 42.1 percent in 2008 to 42.8 percent in 2009 to 43.1 in the first half of 2010. Meanwhile, the Labor Department’s annual American Time Use Survey (ATUS) shows […]
Gulf Coast governors declare Sunday day of prayer for spill
By Tracy Gordon — June 26, 2010
BATON ROUGE, La. (RNS) Gov. Bobby Jindal called on all Louisiana citizens to unite in a day of prayer for perseverance on Sunday (June 27) as the battle continues to control the BP oil spill disaster. Jindal’s proclamation follows one adopted by the Senate last week at the request of state Sen. Robert Adley, who […]
Bishops say nun was wrong to allow abortion at Catholic hospital
By Tracy Gordon — June 26, 2010
(RNS) Citing “confusion among the faithful” after a controversial abortion at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix, Catholic bishops issued a statement explaining when it is morally permissible to terminate a pregnancy. In May, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix declared Sister Margaret McBride, an ethicist at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, automatically excommunicated because she […]
Ore. psychiatrist to open assisted suicide clinic
By Tracy Gordon — June 26, 2010
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) A psychiatrist who the state has reprimanded for wrongly prescribing drugs says he plans to open a facility in Portland and charge fees to help patients end their lives under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. Stuart G. Weisberg has mailed invitations to local doctors and politicians inviting them to a July 21 […]
An open letter to Madonna, from one mom to another
By Tracy Gordon — June 25, 2010
(RNS) Dear Madonna, Thank you. My family arrived home in California this week with our newly adopted son, Vasco Fitzmaurice Mark David Possley. His adoption would not have been possible without the bold actions you took in Malawi last year when its High Court denied the adoption of your daughter, Chifundo “Mercy” James. You didn’t […]
Friday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — June 25, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court made it much tougher for prosecutors to chase corporate executives accused of fraud; House and Senate negotiators reached a deal on a bill to increase regulation of Wall Street. Alaska officials decided a legal defense fund set up for former Gov. Sarah Palin was illegal; she’ll have to return about $390,000. […]
The Apostate Temptation
By Mark Silk — June 25, 2010
On June 29, 1106, a Jewish intellectual named Moses Sephardi had himself baptized into the Catholic church in Huesca, Spain. Taking the name Peter Alfonsi, he went on to achieve fame throughout Christian Europe as an astronomer and author. In his Dialogues against the Jews, he presents his present self arguing against his former self […]
Evangelical survey shows 40 percent drink socially
By Tracy Gordon — June 24, 2010
(RNS) A survey of evangelical leaders shows that 40 percent said they “socially drink alcohol.” Some leaders, in a survey conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals, noted that they imbibe “in moderation,” “on special occasions,” “occasionally” and “never in excess.” The other 60 percent said they did not drink. Among the reasons they cited […]
