(RNS) A new survey shows that more than a quarter of Americans think God will help decide the winner of Sunday’s Super Bowl. But that doesn’t help the Almighty’s football-loving followers, especially Christians who may need divine wisdom to separate the saints from the sinners in the matchup between the Ravens and the 49ers.
(RNS) Whether to avoid the raunch, or simply to capture part of the Super Bowl’s supersized audience, some religion-oriented programmers are producing their own halftime shows.
WASHINGTON (RNS) Half of Americans worry that religious freedom in the U.S. is at risk, and about a third say “the gay and lesbian community” is to blame.
(RNS) A presidential inauguration is by tradition the grandest ritual of America’s civil religion, but President Obama took the oath of office on Monday (Jan. 21) in a ceremony that was explicit in joining theology to the nation’s destiny and setting out a biblical vision of equality that includes race, gender, class, and, most controversially, sexual orientation.
(RNS) Four decades after the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, little has changed, and what’s really going on is a case study in the psychology of movement politics. By David Gibson.
(RNS) The evangelical pastor that President Obama picked to deliver the benediction at his inauguration ceremonies withdrew from the high-profile assignment on Thursday following a furor over a sermon from the mid-1990s in which he denounced the gay rights movement and advocated efforts to turn gays straight. By David Gibson.
(RNS) The Harvard Theological Review is postponing publication of a major article on the papyrus fragment in which Jesus seems to refer to his wife, raising further doubts about a discovery that was set to turn Christian history on its head when it was announced last September. By David Gibson.
(RNS) Christian institutions hoping to win a free campus in western Massachusetts might soon face competition from others who are willing to pay for it, according to terms of a year-end donation from the property’s billionaire owners. By G. Jeffrey MacDonald.
2012 might be dubbed the Year of YouTube – and that’s especially true on the religion beat. Religious videos sparked international riots, stirred up the U.S. presidential campaign and called young believers to the front lines in battles over homosexuality and church culture. Here are seven religious videos that made news in 2012.
WASHINGTON (RNS) From the nuns to the nones, religion dominated the headlines throughout 2012. Questions of religious faith took center stage in the presidential race, and deep questions of morality and ethics played out in budget debates, mass killings and an unexpected focus on “religious freedom.” Here are 10 ways religion played out in the news in 2012. By Kevin Eckstrom.
