Monthly Archives: September 2010
Most Americans OK student religious speech
By Kevin Eckstrom — September 22, 2010
Pew Forum (RNS): A majority of Americans — including those who do not practice a particular faith — think students should be able to express their religion in public schools, according to a new poll by the First Amendment Center. Read more.
Tuesday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — September 21, 2010
Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell, who raised eyebrows when she confessed she once dabbled in witchcraft, has now angered the witches, but not all of them. Southern Baptist Seminary prez Al Mohler sees danger in increased cultural acceptance of yoga. (Some) Montana Republicans are fit to be tied over a plank in the state party platform that […]
COMMENTARY: A test of faith for Jesus, and for us
By Tracy Gordon — September 21, 2010
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (RNS) It’s a long journey from The Sagamore, the one-time clubhouse to the fabulously wealthy who summered here in the Adirondacks, to next Sunday’s stint in the pulpit of a middle-class congregation in New Mexico. It is more than a journey along the westward migration, railroads and mineral riches that built the […]
Maldives rehabs extremists with `true spirit of Islam’
By Tracy Gordon — September 21, 2010
MALE, Maldives (RNS) Despite its small population (about 400,000 residents) and small size (about twice as large as Washington, D.C.), this overwhelmingly Muslim nation is claiming success in rehabilitating hard-core Islamic terrorists. The string of more than 1,100 islands off India’s southern tip is now offering to export its success to nations seeking to combat […]
Tea Party Prospects
By Mark Silk — September 21, 2010
My take…over at Winters’ “Distinctly Catholic” blog at NCR.
Russia’s prisons look to faiths to bring moral guidance
By Tracy Gordon — September 21, 2010
MOSCOW (RNS/ENInews) Russian prisons, struggling with a growing crime rate, overcrowding and shortfalls in funding, are turning to religion to bring moral guidance to inmates. The move marks a dramatic change from the Soviet system, when clergy and believers were often imprisoned for their faith. “We have signed agreements with all of the leading confessions […]
Poll: Most Americans OK student religious speech
By Tracy Gordon — September 21, 2010
(RNS) A majority of Americans — including those who do not practice a particular faith — think students should be able to express their religion in public schools, according to a new poll by the First Amendment Center. Three-quarters of Americans support student religious speech at public school events. A slight majority of those who […]
Monday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — September 20, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI is back home in Rome after a four-day trip to Scotland and England. Yesterday he beatified Cardinal Henry Newman, one of the church’s most celebrated converts (supposedly they’re already investigating the second miracle he’ll need for sainthood). My favorite headline from the trip: “The pope has routed his enemies and brought joy […]
Indiana Rep. Mike Pence wins Values Voter straw poll
By Tracy Gordon — September 20, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) Rep. Mike Pence, a fast-rising conservative firebrand from Indiana, was the surprise winner of a straw poll on Saturday (Sept. 18) among 17 possible Republican presidential candidates at the 2010 Values Voter Summit. Pence beat out better known conservative leaders, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, to win with 24 percent in a […]
Self-taught iconographer writes `God’s story in pictures’
By Tracy Gordon — September 20, 2010
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (RNS) For artist Jody Cole, painting is an act of prayer. Under her brush, the faces of Jesus and the saints emerge with each layer of acrylic gouache, their flesh tones framed by rich reds, greens and blues. A bit of rubbed-on gold leaf halo adds a holy sheen. Cole is a professional […]
Benedict does Britain
By Mark Silk — September 20, 2010
Pace Douthat, but this wasn’t more than a modest success for the pontiff. After all, JPII never ran into opposition rallies, and 20k in London is a lot more than a handful of disgruntled picketers. Of course, had Benedict rowed his coracle across the Irish Sea, it would have been a lot worse. The business […]
Pope ends British visit, beatifies 19th century convert
By Kevin Eckstrom — September 20, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, England (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI put one of the church’s most celebrated converts one step closer to sainthood on Sunday (Sept. 19) and reiterated his support for a plan to make it easier for Britain’s Anglicans to join the Catholic Church. Wrapping up his four-day state visit to Britain, the pope ended the trip […]
Pope meets with victims, laments `shame and humiliationâÂ?Â?
By Kevin Eckstrom — September 19, 2010
LONDON (RNS) Following two days of meetings with religious and government leaders, Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday (Sept. 18) turned his attention to his own flock as met with victims of sexual abuse and warned of the dangers of legalized assisted suicide. As on previous occasions, controversy _ this time, in the form of thousands […]
Romania church leaders condemn Roma deportations
By Tiffany McCallen — September 18, 2010
WARSAW (RNS/ENInews) A Catholic bishop in Romania has deplored the mass expulsion of Roma from France, and he urged European governments to do more to integrate the continent’s Gypsy minorities. “There are substantial Roma communities in all European countries, not just Romania and Bulgaria,” said Virgil Bercea, the Greek Catholic bishop of Oradea. “When the […]
Skateboarder an overnight sensation after rescuing Quran
By Tiffany McCallen — September 18, 2010
(RNS) At the end of a summer characterized by unprecedented levels of Islamophobia, Muslim Americans and their allies have found an expected reason to smile: Jake Isom, a skateboarder with a rat-tail from Amarillo, Texas. Last Saturday (Sept. 18), Isom, 23, snatched a kerosene-soaked Koran from a grill in a city park before David Grisham, […]
