Monthly Archives: January 2012
Are Mormons Christian? It’s complicated
By Tracy Gordon — January 19, 2012
(RNS) Ask Mormons if they are Christian, and their answer often starts with a sigh. Look at our name, they'll say, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Read The Book of Mormon's subtitle, “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” Examine our Articles of Faith, “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind […]
Wednesday Godbytes: SOPA; Tea Party Jesus; Scholarship for Atheists
By Jack Jenkins — January 19, 2012
While sections of the internet have “gone dark” today in protest of SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act. Internet companies such as Google (which is has a special logo today) and Wikipedia (which has taken itself down for the day in protest) think the legislation goes too far, and are taking action against it. […]
Flood of ‘de-baptisms’ worries European church leaders
By Tracy Gordon — January 19, 2012
PARIS (RNS) A decade ago, Rene Lebouvier requested that his local Catholic church erase his name from the baptismal register. The church noted his demands on the margins of its records and the chapter was closed. But the clergy abuse scandals rocking Europe, coupled with Pope Benedict XVI’s conservative stances on contraception, hardened Lebouvier’s views. […]
Court orders occupiers out of St. Paul’s Cathedral
By Tracy Gordon — January 19, 2012
LONDON (RNS) Britain’s High Court on Wednesday (Jan. 18) ordered anti-corporate protesters evicted from a camp they have occupied for three months outside London’s iconic St. Paul’s Cathedral. The demonstrators, identifying themselves as the Occupy London Stock Exchange movement, set up their camp on Oct. 15 as part of a global “Occupy” campaign targeting corporate […]
Christians report lowest growth rate in Israel
By Tracy Gordon — January 19, 2012
JERUSALEM (RNS/ENInews) Christians have the lowest growth rate among the Israeli population, according to a recent report from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. According to the Jan. 6 report, the Christian growth rate of 0.9 percent lags behind the Jewish rate of 1.7 percent and the 2.7 percent growth rate among Muslims. Christian Arabs […]
At 27, new imam represents a homegrown American Islam
By Tracy Gordon — January 18, 2012
ST. LOUIS (RNS) At just 27 years old, Asif Umar is the new imam of Daar-ul-Islam mosque, the largest mosque in the metro area. The son of Indian immigrants is devoted to the city's sports teams, marking the end of Ramadan with a St. Louis Blues hockey game. He also represents the ascendance of a […]
WednesdayâÂ?Â?s Religion Roundup: Web woes, transplant ethics, prayer debates
By David Gibson — January 18, 2012
Big stretches of the Internet are going dark today in protest over efforts to stop people from stealing stuff that isn’t theirs. Got it? Somehow the Religion Roundup is still here – even if I have to make it up. Which is pretty much what the Internet is about anyway, no? One of the major […]
Will evangelical endorsement fuel Santorum surge?
By Tiffany McCallen — January 18, 2012
(RNS) The Iowa caucuses revived Rick Santorum’s underdog presidential campaign. Now an influential assortment of Christian conservatives has moved to consecrate it. On Saturday (Jan. 14), the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania sewed up the endorsement from a coalition of prominent national evangelical leaders. And he has basked in the glow of their affirmation. “Every […]
Tuesday Godbytes: I Have a Tweet; Tebowing Gets Violent; Revolutionary Music
By Jack Jenkins — January 18, 2012
Happy (belated) Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Seminary students: ever wondered how MLK put together his sermons? Well wonder no more — apparently he made up a lot of them on the fly. Yeah, he was that good. MLK was, of course, a Christian. But, as the Houston Chronicle points out, deeply impacted by Gandhi […]
COMMENTARY: Special treatment hurts both church and state
By Tiffany McCallen — January 17, 2012
(RNS) It’s time for religion to lose its special treatment in the Constitution and in tax codes. Not because religion has ceased to matter, but because it matters more than ever in our increasingly unethical society, and the special treatment ends up hurting both religion and state. Three examples: hiring practices, tax-exempt property, and tax-deductible […]
Muslims say Ron Paul is their kind of Republican
By Tiffany McCallen — January 17, 2012
(RNS) Growing up in rural parts of the American West, Nadja Adolf’s libertarian streak developed early on. “When you come from a countryside that can kill you,” said Adolf, a Muslim convert in her late 50s, “there is a strong emphasis on individual rights, a strong emphasis on self-reliance, and an emphasis on helping each […]
Tuesday’s Religion News Roundup: Stumping in black churches; hexing Tim Tebow; blinded by the
By Daniel Burke — January 17, 2012
As they have every year since moving to the White House, President Obama and the first family spent part of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day at a historically black church in D.C. Speaking of MLK, the Interior Department says they’ll fix the quote on his National Mall memorial. Maya Angelou says the current quote, […]
Santorum gets the evangelical pooh-bahs
By Mark Silk — January 14, 2012
That’s the word from the conclave in Texas. Will these guys have enough swot to move South Carolina evangelicals away from Gingrich? “Easy to command” was in the famous WaPo crack about the evangelical rank-and-file 20 years ago. As the next day’s correction declared, there was “no factual basis” for saying so then. Maybe there […]
Friday Godbytes: Matisyahu under fire; sexy evangelicals; a Tequila shot
By Jack Jenkins — January 14, 2012
Matisyahu, the onetime-Hasidic-but-still-Jewish reggae rapper, is in trouble. The artist made waves in the Jewish reggae community (yes, that exists) last month when he posted an image of himself to his twitter feed without his trademark beard. As a result, some commentators are wondering if Matisyahu is hurting his career and his faith. There’s a […]
Survey: Half of churchgoers’ lives not affected by time in pews
By Tracy Gordon — January 14, 2012
(RNS) Almost half of churchgoing Americans say their life has not changed a bit due to their time in the pews, a new survey shows. Barna Group, an evangelical company based in California, found that 46 percent reported no change. About a quarter of Americans said their life was greatly affected by church attendance and […]
