(RNS) Firing gay Catholic teachers has morphed into firing gay Catholic food pantry workers. And we finally know who wrote the Serenity Prayer. All that and more in today's Roundup. The post Cartoon popes * Satanic broccoli * Serenity solved : Friday’s Roundup appeared first on Religion News Service . ...
(RNS) A doctor who is eight months pregnant and currently in detention with her 20-month-old son, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim was charged with adultery last year. Recently, the court added an apostasy charge when she declared her Christian faith in court. The post Christians condemn death penalty for Sudanese doctor accused of apostasy appeared first on Religion News Service . ...
LAHORE, Pakistan (RNS) In March, the Council of Islamic Ideology ruled that laws related to the minimum age of marriage were against the teachings of the Quran and that children of any age could get married if they had reached puberty. The post Muslim clerics resist Pakistan’s efforts to end child marriage appeared first on Religion News Service . ...
(RNS) Although Florida’s foreign law ban bucks the trend of overexpansive bans in other states, the motivation to pass such a law is rooted in the same xenophobic sentiment. The post COMMENTARY: Anti-Muslim bigotry taints Florida ban on foreign laws appeared first on Religion News Service . ...
WASHINGTON (RNS) Every time we submit a sacred act to a civic body, and seek a ruling on its appropriateness in a diverse public, we allow others who are not thinking theologically to compromise the most sacred aspects of our religious practices. The post COMMENTARY: There’s little to celebrate in Greece v. Galloway prayer decision appeared first on Religion News Service . ...
“I knew this was a losing engagement. I was just hoping for a longer engagement.” – Colleen Simon, who was forced out of her job as director of a food pantry at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church because she is a lesbian and married to another woman. She was quoted by the Kansas City Star. The post Quote of the Day: Colleen Simon of Kansas City, Mo. appeared first on Religion News Service...
CHATSWORTH, Calif. (RNS) A spiritual touch practice based on the notion that human hands can redirect one’s “life force energy” to heal, Reiki is the hottest new Eastern healing practice making its way into the Western health industry. The post Reiki goes mainstream: Spiritual touch practice now commonplace in hospitals appeared first on Religion News Service . ...
Michael Lipka ("Pew Research Center," April 15, 2014) A majority of American Catholics see Pope Francis as a major change for the Catholic Church....
From Reyhaneh Jabbari, to Balal, famous cases are shifting the discourse on human rights in the Islamic republic Earlier this spring, film director Asghar Farhadi wrote an emotional open letter on behalf of a woman who faced execution for fatally stabbing a man who had tried to rape her. Twenty-six-year-old Reyhaneh Jabbari has been behind bars for seven years after the man's relatives demanded capital...
Nicole Winfield ("Yahoo! News," May 15, 2014) Vatican City — A rabbi and a Muslim leader will join Pope Francis on his upcoming trip to the Holy Land, the first time an official papal delegation has included members of other faiths, the Vatican said Thursday....
Yasmine Hafiz ("The Huffington Post," May 15, 2014) A senior bishop in the Catholic Church made a strong statement in favor of reform on Tuesday, telling the Florence-based La Nazione newspaper that leaders should be more open-minded about the hotly debated issues of priest celibacy, communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, and policy towards the gay community....
Helms amendment has been misinterpreted as a total ban on abortion funding, say Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups More than 30 US faith-based groups are calling on Barack Obama to clarify then repeal a law that restricts aid funding for abortion services. Continue reading... ...
Email emerges in which Brent Ukip candidate Heino Vockrodt says Islam is against everything modern Britain stands for The UK Independence party has become embroiled in a fresh race row after it emerged that one of its local election candidates has described Islam as a "totalitarian ideology" that is "against everything modern Britain stands for". Labour said the "deeply offensive"...
Foreign Office minister addresses desecration of cemetery where members of persecuted religious minority are buried Britain has expressed serious concerns about the ongoing destruction of a historic cemetery in southern Iran, where members of the country's most persecuted religious minority are buried. Iran's elite revolutionary guards have begun demolishing the Bahá'í cemetery in Shiraz,...
The great irony of Park View, the academy at the heart of the 'Trojan horse' row, is that it ought to be a poster boy for Mr Gove Michael Gove has been heard to refer to Tony Blair as "the master", and reviewing the Gove education programme the influence is only too plain. Through academisation, schools are proclaimed islands of educational autonomy, and encouraged to develop their own ethos;...
Candidate John Kearney says on blog dedicated to his Catholic beliefs that 'anyone who does not fear Islam is a fool' Ukip has become embroiled in yet another Islamophobia row after it emerged that one of its candidates has urged Catholics that they "must be ready to die" for their faith which is "the only countermeasure" to the "world domination" of Islam. The candidate...
Amnesty International joins condemnation of death penalty for Sudanese doctor found guilty of 'apostasy' for marrying Christian A Sudanese doctor who married a Christian man and who was convicted earlier this week on charges of apostasy was sentenced to death on Thursday, judicial officials said. According to the Sudanese officials, 26-year-old Meriam Ibrahim, whose father was Muslim, was convicted...
Antonio Banderas may be cast as Pope Francis in a new biopic. A celebrity rabbi has some racy thoughts on sex. A new museum dedicated to 9/11 opens at the World Trade Center. The post Pope Banderas? * Kosher lust * 9/11 Museum: Thursday’s Roundup appeared first on Religion News Service . ...
(RNS) I now am able to report that I have uncovered new evidence establishing to a high degree of confidence that Reinhold Niebuhr did originate the Serenity Prayer. The post COMMENTARY: How I discovered I was wrong about the origin of the Serenity Prayer appeared first on Religion News Service . ...
(RNS) The third annual Women in Secularism conference has made some progress in battling sexism within the ranks of the secular community -- but there is more to be done. The post Women in secularism: Got a problem with that? appeared first on Religion News Service . ...