Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Gallup: Most Religious Americans Have High Levels of Well-being
(RNS) The most religious Americans also have the highest rates of well-being, according to a new Gallup survey. The finding is based on a survey of more than 550,000 people about their physical and emotional health and...
Obama to Visit Largest Mosque in Indonesia
(RNS) President Obama plans to visit one of the world’s largest mosques during his trip to Indonesia in November, the White House announced Thursday (Oct. 28). The visit to Istiqlal Mosque on Nov. 10 will precede a...
Is the American Dream Worth Reviving?
As the U.S. economy fights to improve, things simply aren't as comfortable as they once were. Americans aren't accustomed to our current economic situation, and we can't seem to get comfortable with being...
Tea Party Movement: Patriotism or White Supremacy?
Editor's note: This column is a response to the recent report, "Tea Party Nationalism: A Critical Examination of the Tea Party Movement and the Size, Scope, and Focus of Its National Factions." Tea Party leaders often...
Dueling D.C. Rallies Pitch Religion and Reason As Adversaries
Reacting to Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally in August, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert sponsored the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on Saturday at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Beck's...
Now That I Believe: The Spirit Is Upon Me To ¦
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga, on October 24, 2010. Luke 4:14-21 Morning Prayer: O God and Father of us all, in this week just passed, some of us have encountered new...
Last Will and Testament
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 24, 2010. Psalm 65:5-8; 2 Timothy 4:6-8 The Apostle Paul has two people on his mind. First of all,...
Reflections on Justice, Mercy, and Trust
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock Ark., on October 24, 2010. 2 Timothy 4:6-18 As far as we know, humans are the only creatures on earth that ponder the meaning of their...
Southern Baptist Pastor Appeals Suit over Obama’s Birth
(RNS) Southern Baptist gadfly Wiley Drake will appeal a court’s dismissal of his suit claiming President Obama was not born in the U.S. and is ineligible for the presidency. Obama has a Hawaiian birth certificate but...
White House Denies Rumors About Obama and Sikh Temple
(RNS) The White House has denied reports that President Obama will avoid a Sikh shrine while visiting India next week because the required head covering might have fanned false rumors about his faith. “The decision we...
Pope Says Science Can Unite Humans with God
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI told scientists that their research can lead to knowledge of God by revealing the natural order of the universe. The pope made his remarks on Thursday (Oct. 28) before a plenary...
In Middle East, Religion Has Added to the Conflict
No situation in our world today has proven more contentious and seemingly unsolvable than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The insistence by Israel that the Holy Land is theirs by virtue of a gift from God, and the...
Are Midterm Elections Merely a Game to Win?
As the current act of our political drama moves toward its curtain call on Nov. 2, we are likely to be treated to an increasing display of political theater at its best. There are leading actors, clowns, villains, even...
“Hereafter”
"When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be." Three stories coming to a crossroads is the basis of Clint Eastwood's latest movie, "Hereafter." Death is their common thread. The first story is...
Young Men’s Lives Cut Short By Intolerance
This year, as children are playfully dressing up as ghosts and goblins for All Hallows Eve and Catholic churches prepare for All Saints Day, I am haunted by the memory of Zack Harrington. Zack is the young man who...
What happened to fall?
I don’t know what the weather is like in your part of the world, but around here we’ve been having a heat wave. On Oct. 27, the high (87 degrees) was 20 or more degrees above normal, and the low (75) was well above the normal high.
After a record number of 90 degree days in 2010 and a couple of record-setting power bills at my house — despite keeping the thermostat on 78 — I’m beginning to wonder if global warming isn’t making its impact felt sooner rather than later.
Fortunately, a cool front should have come through by the time this blog posts. It’s hard to get in the mood for sitting on the porch and greeting trick-or-treaters when the most appropriate attire for the weather might be a bathing suit and flip-flops. The cool-down could be too late for my chrysanthemums, which are already wilting. Soon, my pumpkin will be growing soft and caving in.
Morning news for two
They didn’t ask for it. But they are getting it from me every morning now. As my daughters prepare for another school day, they find a scribbled sheet in my handwriting on the kitchen island where the morning’s final...
Hoping to Avert Disaster, Democrats Turn to Black Churches
WASHINGTON (RNS) Facing an electoral bloodbath at the voting booth next Tuesday, Democrats are turning to a key part of their base—African-Americans—and are using the black church to help get voters to the polls. In an...
Vatican Appeals for Former Iraqi Leader’s Life
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Tuesday (Oct. 26) called for former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz to be spared the death penalty, and suggested it might intervene diplomatically on his behalf. “The position...
La. Parish Bans Halloween on Sunday
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Some families may be debating whether to send kids out to trick-or-treat on Sunday night, but there’s no debate in Louisiana’s Livingston Parish, where local laws forbid the observance of Halloween on...
Why Are Christians Silent on a Just Tax Policy?
Height-challenged Zacchaeus gets high marks from Jesus, not just for climbing that sycamore tree, and not just for taking up the itinerant rabbi's wish to dine and stay at his house, but most of all for agreeing to...