Monthly Archives: August 2010
10 minutes with … Thomas Blackshear
By Tracy Gordon — August 25, 2010
(RNS) Thirteen years after her death and just days after what would have been her 100th birthday, the U.S. Postal Service will issue a special stamp on Sept. 5 to commemorate the remarkable life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The stamp, like Mother Teresa herself, hasn’t been without controversy. Atheist groups, including the Freedom from […]
COMMENTARY: The mirror has two faces
By Cathleen Falsani — August 25, 2010
(RNS) Six years ago, I sat down with a young Illinois state senator for a lengthy interview about his faith. At the time, the fresh-faced politician with an unusual name was still toiling in relative obscurity in Chicago. When my “spiritual profile” of Barack Obama ran in the Chicago Sun-Times, it was greeted with modest […]
Conservatives claim victory as judge halts stem cell funding
By Tracy Gordon — August 25, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) Conservative Christian groups won a major victory Monday (Aug. 23) when a Washington judge halted federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to allow a suit challenging the practice as illegal to go forward. The suit, by a group of doctors and Nightlight Christian Adoptions, says federal funding of embryonic stem cells limits […]
… and I’m an (ex-) Mormon
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 25, 2010
You may have seen those “…and I’m a Mormon” ads from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, trying to knock down stereotypes about clean-cut blond-hair blue-eyed Mormons. Now Chad Hardy, the guy behind those “Men on a Mission” and “Mormon Muffins” calendars, has a video of his own, and it’s not exactly what […]
WCC to meet in Cleveland to tackle racism
By Tracy Gordon — August 25, 2010
CLEVELAND (RNS) Members of the World Council of Churches, representing more than 560 million Christians in 110 countries, will gather in Cleveland to discuss how to expose and combat racism around the globe. The four-day seminar, which starts Thursday (Aug. 26) and will include about 30 people from churches around the world, will be hosted […]
World Vision wins right to hire, fire based on religion
By Tracy Gordon — August 25, 2010
(RNS) World Vision, the Christian humanitarian organization, can fire employees who disagree with its theological tenets, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday (Aug. 23). In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that World Vision is a “religious corporation” and therefore exempt from a federal law that bars faith-based discrimination. […]
COMMENTARY: Laying it all out on the table
By Tom Ehrich — August 24, 2010
(RNS) Political discourse reached a new low after evangelist Franklin Graham insinuated that President Obama is a closet Muslim because his father had once been a Muslim. Religious identity is genetic, he seemed to say. Forget the conversion of Saul, the impact of Peter’s preaching after Pentecost, or the souls who knelt before Franklin’s father, […]
Nation’s first Muslim college opens in California
By Tracy Gordon — August 24, 2010
BERKELEY, Calif. (RNS) Faatimah Knight’s college decision came down to eight schools where she would have majored in English, or Zaytuna College, where she could study Islamic classical teachings in an environment that embraces all aspects of her Muslim faith. The Brooklyn native is part of the inaugural class of what Zaytuna’s founders hope will […]
Tuesday’s roundup
By Daniel Burke — August 24, 2010
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, on the first stop of his 15-nation goodwill tour though Muslim nations, spoke expansively about religious law and Islam, but had little to say about the controversy surrounding his plans to build an Islamic center and mosque two blocks north of Ground Zero in NYC. A Bahraini man asked Rauf, “Why […]
Pope chides France after Gypsies are deported
By Tracy Gordon — August 24, 2010
VATICAN CITY (RNS) In an apparent criticism of France’s mass deportation of Roma (Gypsy) immigrants, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday (Aug. 22) urged French-speaking Catholics to “accept legitimate human diversity” and practice “universal fraternity.” The pope made his remarks, which did not explicitly refer to the French policy, following his weekly Angelus prayer at the […]
Another couple faces charges in child’s faith-healing death
By Tracy Gordon — August 24, 2010
OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) Another couple will face charges of second-degree manslaughter in the death of their newborn son, the third such fatality in two years involving the Followers of Christ church, which shuns modern medicine. Dale R. Hickman and Shannon M. Hickman, both 25, are scheduled to be formally charged on Aug. 30 after […]
Boston archdiocese blocks employee access to critical blog
By Tracy Gordon — August 24, 2010
(RNS) The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has blocked a conservative website from employees’ computers, saying the anonymous bloggers, who have sharply criticized archdiocesan leaders, were causing a distraction. Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence C. Donilon told the Boston Globe that bloggers from “Boston Catholic Insider” had been “spamming” employees by sending links to the website and […]
Monday’s roundup
By Daniel Burke — August 23, 2010
About 500 opponents and 200 supporters of the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” protested in NYC on Sunday. Though the rhetoric was heated, the biggest problem was the rain, said a police spokesman. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is on a 15-national State Department-sponsored tour of the Middle East to promote religious tolerance, said all the […]
Future of destroyed Ground Zero Orthodox church in doubt
By Tracy Gordon — August 23, 2010
NEW YORK (RNS) Buried by falling rubble from the World Trade Center towers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, all that remained of the tiny St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church were some candles, two icons and a bell clapper. These salvaged artifacts are being kept at the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America while […]
Legal group: Ruling could prompt more suits against highway crosses
By Tracy Gordon — August 21, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) An appeals court ruling that said highway crosses erected to honor fallen Utah state troopers are unconstitutional could prompt additional challenges in other states, legal experts said. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday (Aug. 18) that the 12-foot crosses violate the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits government endorsement of religion. […]
