Monthly Archives: August 2011
American politics more religious than American voters
By Tracy Gordon — August 22, 2011
(RNS) Has America gotten more religious, or just American politics? The country has grown less religious since the 1970s, while frequent churchgoers are now much more likely to vote Republican or support the Tea Party, according to recent studies. As a result, faith-filled rhetoric and campaign stops make Americans appear more Christian than they really […]
Monday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — August 22, 2011
Pope Benedict XVI concluded a “glitch-marred” World Youth Day in Spain on Sunday, after searing heat and thunderstorms played havoc with the weekend’s schedule, according to the AP. The next WYD will be in Brazil in 2013, the Vatican announced. Church attendance among white Americans who did not go to college has fallen more than […]
Interfaith understanding remains elusive 10 years after 9/11
By Tracy Gordon — August 22, 2011
(RNS) In a post-9/11 bid to better relations with local Muslims, pastor Bob Roberts invited Muslims to his NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas, for Q-and-A sessions, a cooking club and to help on a few home remodeling projects. The result: Roberts lost “a bunch of church members,” he said. In Denver, pastor Max Frost asked […]
Illinois Catholics lose fight over adoptions, foster care
By Tracy Gordon — August 19, 2011
(RNS) An Illinois judge has ruled that the state can terminate adoption and foster care services with Catholic Charities, saying the church-run agency has no “recognized legal right” to a state contract. Circuit Judge John Schmidt ruled Thursday (Aug. 18) that state officials can cancel contracts with Catholic Charities after church officials said they could […]
Religious leaders battle Alabama immigration law
By Tracy Gordon — August 19, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Alabama religious leaders have filed statements in federal court expressing their concern that a new immigration law would interfere with the practice of their religion and Christian mandates to minister to all people. Bishops in the Episcopal, United Methodist and Roman Catholic churches and 17 other church ministry leaders on Wednesday (Aug. […]
Religious leaders battle Alabama immigration law
By Tracy Gordon — August 19, 2011
Congregations go for `Creation Care,’ one barrel at a time
By Tracy Gordon — August 19, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) It was the time in pre-marriage counseling when the groom has to leave so the priest and the bride can talk alone. So Jamal Kadri stepped outside Holy Name Catholic Church that rainy day in Washington, D.C., and watched water pour from the church gutters and seep into the sanctuary. The idea hit […]
Friday’s Religion News Roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — August 19, 2011
Texas Gov. Rick Perry says the earth is “pretty old,” but isn’t sure just how old, and thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution, because Darwin’s theory “got some gaps in it.” And news flash: there’s now a Jewish candidate for president, at least according to Vogue, which calls Jon Huntsman closer to a Reform […]
The Dominionist Challenge
By Mark Silk — August 19, 2011
What to make of Dominionism, Christian Reconstruction, and other variants of the theocratic project the derive from the singular mind of Rousas John Rushdoony, the Calvinist theologian who died ten years ago? As Michelle Goldberg scolded recently over at the Daily Beast, both Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have connections to dominionists, and for that […]
Pope, in Spain, laments hedonism, greedy economy
By Tracy Gordon — August 18, 2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI lamented the “superficiality, consumerism and hedonism” of contemporary society on Thursday (Aug. 18), while offering a message of Christian hope to young Catholic pilgrims gathered in Madrid. Benedict made his remarks upon landing at the Madrid airport for the start of a four-day visit, during which he will take […]
Thursday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — August 18, 2011
On his way to Madrid for World Youth Day, Pope Benedict XVI said God “sows silently,” and the spiritual harvest from events like WYD often isn’t immediately apparent. More apparent, judging by these Reuters photos, is the vitriol WYD’s high price tag has stirred among Spaniards, many of whom seem to be graduates of the […]
Civil rights veterans say MLK monument long overdue
By Tracy Gordon — August 18, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) At age 93, the Rev. Gardner Taylor never thought he’d live to see the day when his friend Martin Luther King Jr. would be honored with a national memorial. “I think it is singularly appropriate and long overdue,” said Taylor, who helped found the Progressive National Baptist Convention 50 years ago to support […]
COMMENTARY: The new missionary position
By Tracy Gordon — August 18, 2011
(RNS) “Missionary” is one of those words where the meaning depends entirely on who’s saying it — and who’s hearing it. For Christians, it’s a word that conjures up images of selfless believers carrying life-saving religion to faraway places. Yet for many Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Native Americans and others, it recalls overzealous Christians who […]
Senators probe politics and piety in new books
By Jack Jenkins — August 18, 2011
“Big government is a religious issue,” said South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, a Presbyterian.
Priests in Madrid allowed to lift excommunication for abortion
By Tracy Gordon — August 18, 2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Catholic priests at this week’s World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations in Madrid will be specially empowered to lift the excommunication of anyone who seeks forgiveness for having undergone or assisted in an abortion. The special authorization from Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco of Madrid applies to “all priests lawfully approved to hear sacramental […]
