OPINION
Evangelical love for Palin family highlights dramatic switch in 'family values'
Slate Sep 5, 08 5:31 AM CDT
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The enthusiastic evangelical reaction to a working mother with an unwed pregnant teenage daughter on the GOP ticket highlights the dramatically changing face of conservative Christian America and could spell trouble for the Dems, Hanna Rosin writes in Slate . Evangelicals now actually score worse than the rest of America on the traditional values that preachers and conservative pundits laud, with families often failing to resemble the "oh-so-perfect" Obamas.
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Saving souls with sleight of hand
Mother Jones Aug 31, 08 5:52 AM CDT
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Though the Bible places strictures on the “magic arts,” a group of faithful tricksters are using sleight of hand to convert the wayward, Mother Jones reports. Weslyan University recently hosted the annual convention of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians, where performers were more likely to quote scripture and deliver Bible lessons than jokes.
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Official: India killings underscore spread of 'Christianophobia'
Reuters Aug 29, 08 5:09 PM CDT
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The Vatican warned against the spread of "Christianophobia" today following attacks in India that left 13 Christians dead, Reuters reports. Thousands fled their homes this week as mobs rioted in retaliation for the murder of a Hindu leader. The Pope condemned the violence, and Italy's foreign ministry will demand India take "incisive action" to stop the killing.
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Where? Where but Branson, Missouri?
Economist May 24, 08 8:48 AM CDT
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Hold on to your camels, folks: A full-blown Biblical gala is opening tonight in Branson, Mo., in the form of Noah—the Musical . The show will feature more than 40 actors and 150 animals, half live, half animatronic, the Economist reports.
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Reassures clergy
of his "spiritual closeness" in NYC
Associated Press Apr 19, 08 11:37 AM CDT
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Pope Benedict XVI spent the third anniversary of his election to the papacy trying to comfort clergy still weathering the fallout from the priest sex abuse scandal, the AP reports. “I simply wish to assure you of my spiritual closeness,” Benedict said. The pontiff, addressing 3,000 people at New York’s famed St. Patrick’s cathedral, also called for purification and healing.
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Benedict XVI demands end to conflicts in Tibet, Middle East
BBC Mar 23, 08 1:27 PM CDT
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Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Easter Mass today, hailing the miracle of conversion, "which renews itself even today" before a rain-soaked crowd in St. Peter's Square and calling for an end to hostilities in "Darfur and Somalia, the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon, and Tibet." His address followed the controversial baptism of a high-profile Muslim journalist, BBC reports.
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Some adopt previously shunned confession, communion, Lent
Washington Post Mar 8, 08 12:51 PM CST
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Evangelical Christians are increasingly turning to long-shunned traditions as a means of practicing their faith, reports the Washington Post . In a trend some call “worship renewal,” some are reviving Catholic customs such as fasting for Lent, going to confession, and weekly communion. “Evangelicalism is coming to point where the early church has become the newest staple of its diet,” says a theology professor.
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After murder, religious minority fearful under Hamas rule
Associated Press Dec 24, 07 7:16 AM CST
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It's a grim Christmas for Gaza's tiny Christian population of about 3,000, with celebrations muted in the Hamas-controlled territory, the AP says. Instead of decorating trees, many of the faithful are packing to leave the strip for good. After the murder of a prominent Baptist activist, many Christians say the area has become hostile to their faith.
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Was expelled from missionary school where he killed 2
Associated Press Dec 10, 07 8:15 PM CST
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The gunman at two Colorado church shootings yesterday had been expelled from the missionary school where killed two people, the AP reports. He also sent the school hate mail in recent weeks and may have "hated Christians," police said. The school admitted that it had kicked out the gunman, Michael Murray, a few years ago due to "issues with his health."
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Ex-boss of Oral Roberts U: 'He' told me to quit, but vowed 'something supernatural'
Associated Press Nov 29, 07 4:14 AM CST
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Oral Roberts University president Richard Roberts told the school's student body yesterday that he didn't want to resign, but God insisted on it. Roberts, son of school founder Oral Roberts, faces a lawsuit accusing him of spending extravagantly while the school was in financial straits. He said God spoke to him on Thanksgiving and ordered him to resign the next day.
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Pole-dancing Eve doesn't wash with critic
BBC Nov 21, 07 6:53 AM CST
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A Christian activist in Britain is battling in court to sue the men behind hit musical "Jerry Springer—The Opera" for blasphemy. The play, which depicts Eve as a pole dancer and Jesus as a diaper-wearing deviant, is a "spiteful, willful denigration of Christian belief," his attorney argued.
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Associated Press Oct 17, 07 10:44 PM CDT
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Richard Roberts, the Oral Roberts University president who is accused of misuse of university funds and illegal involvement in a political campaign, requested and received an indefinite leave of absence from the university's Board of Regents today. The board said a senior pastor will temporarily take over the president's duties, with help from 89-year-old Oral Roberts, who is technically still the school's chancellor but had left day-to-day operations to his 58-year-old son.
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She's flamed again, this time for calling 'dream' nation Christian
MSNBC Oct 12, 07 4:05 AM CDT
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After drawing fire last week for wishing women weren't allowed to vote, conservative provocateur Ann Coulter has struck a new nerve, saying that the nation should be Christian and Jews need to be "perfected." She made the comments on CNBC's "The Big Idea" with Donny Deutsch, who said he was a Jew and offended by her remarks, calling them "hateful" and "anti-semitic."
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Hostage crisis has Korean Christians pondering direction
BBC Aug 15, 07 3:39 PM CDT
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As 19 South Korean aid workers wallow in a Taliban prison camp, many in the world community are openly wondering why they were in Afghanistan in the first place. Even as they pray for the release of their fellow parishioners, members of a suburban Seoul church are dodging critics who say their charity mission ignored official warnings about traveling to—let alone proselytizing in—the war zone.
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