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Creation groans: Evil should be mourned but not ascribed to any greater divine purpose
It is hard to speak theologically about the Indian Ocean tsunami without being banal or obscene....
Century Marks
Stories about home: When representatives of the native community met with British Columbia officials to discuss contested land, the natives expressed dismay that the government claimed right...
Taking exception: When torture becomes thinkable
Torture seems to have become a tool of state for the U.S. Why? If torture is not unplanned, what purpose does it serve?...
Churchgoers rush relief funds via Internet: Efficient emergency giving
Although tsunami recovery supplies destined for nations bordering the Indian Ocean were slowed at first by transportation bottlenecks and chaotic conditions, churchgoers were able to speed generous...
Tsunami now, climate change tomorrow, warn church officials: "A clear warning"
The killer tsunami that devastated islands and shorelines on the Indian Ocean within hours last month ought to alert political leaders to the perils of what some scientists call a much slower but e...
Liberal clergy group redesigns itself: Clergy and Laity Network
A struggling effort to organize progressive clergy around election-year issues as a political lobbying group in 2004 has undergone a new year’s transformation with a new name, a new tax status and ...
Lesbian minister to appeal her defrocking: Irene "Beth" Stroud
A United Methodist pastor who was defrocked because she is living in a lesbian relationship said she will appeal the verdict, in part to force the church to confront its deep divisions over homose...
Church-state changes loom in new Congress: Three major issues
As the 109th Congress goes to work this month, legislative battles over religious and moral issues are virtually certain to remain as prominent as they were last year, say two Washington observers ...
Brethren to revive alternative service plans: In case of a draft
Officials of the Church of the Brethren say they will follow through on a request from the Selective Service to have “alternative service” programs in place for conscientious objectors if a militar...
Israeli authorities indict ossuary owner: Antiquities forgery scheme
Criminal indictments brought in Jerusalem against four men, including the antiquities collector linked to the James ossuary, or bone box, have prompted museums and devotees of biblical archaeology ...
Misgivings about Sudan peace accord: Celebrations premature
When the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army signed a peace accord and power-sharing arrangement on New Year’s Eve at Lake Naivasha, Kenya, South African President Thabo Mbek...
Israel, Palestinians join in tourism push: Cooperation in marketing
Israel and the Palestinian Authority plan to jointly market their region as a pilgrimage destination, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has announced....
Baptist moderate Honeycutt dies at 78: Opposed conservative takeover of Southern Baptist Convention
Roy Honeycutt, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, from 1982 to 1993 during the height of the moderate-fundamentalist battle among Southern Baptists, died ...
Briefly noted
Dr. Michael Newdow, the California atheist who sued to get “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, says he refiled a suit regarding the pledge in the U.S....
The power of a picture: How Protestants imaged the gospel
In last year’s election campaign we were reminded that images can overpower words. The U.S....
Beyond disbelief: Free to change
I grew up in an apartment on the 12th floor of a World War II era red-brick apartment building in lower Manhattan, with my parents and a goldfinch....
Ten best films of '04: Hotel Rwanda tops the list
Paul Rusesabagina, a member of the Hutu majority tribe in Rwanda, is married to a member of the Tutsi, the minority tribe that colonial powers installed as the nation’s rulers in an interference ta...
Me, my church and I: "Spirituality" versus "religion"
"Spirituality” versus “religion” has become a defining conflict of our time....
Courting disaster: Gonzales as attorney general?
Is Alberto Gonzales qualified to be attorney general of the United States? By some measures, yes....
Be happy: Micah 6:1-8; Matthew 5:1-12
When Sister Mary Corita was asked to submit a piece of her artwork for consideration in the Vatican exhibit at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, she chose to do a piece on the Beatitudes....