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Better than a government default
It's official: Congress passed a debt-ceiling deal, and the president signed it. While this is certainly preferable to the
country defaulting on its obligations, it's not an
inspiring piece of legislation.
All due respect: Honoring others
We should respect people with whom we disagree. Should we also respect their convictions, even when these comprise an overarching interpretation of life with which we fundamentally disagree?
Bishops in Kenya take new stance on genetically modified foods
Nairobi, Kenya, August 1 (ENInews)--Roman Catholic bishops in Kenya told people
to eat genetically modified foods to check starvation amid a serious drought in
the Horn of Africa....
`Debtpocalypse' and America's fascination with The End
(RNS) For many Americans, nothing is as exciting as an impending
apocalypse, except perhaps for the thrill of waking up the next day and...
Orthodox Patriarch calls for reconciliation of Russia and Georgia
Moscow, July 29 (ENINews)--Patriarch Ilia II of the Georgian Orthodox
Church has called on his Russian Orthodox counterpart to reconcile Russia and...
Head of Southern Christian Leadership Conference dies
(RNS) The Rev. Howard Creecy Jr., a Baptist preacher chosen early this
year as the new president of the Southern Christian Leadership...
The receding sea where Jesus walked
The lectionary reading from Matthew's Gospel is the story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a storm. In a couple of decades, anyone will be able to cross the Sea of Galilee on foot because of climate change.
Why is faith so difficult?
I am writing a sermon on Matthew 14: 22-33, the passage wherein Jesus invites Peter to get out of the boat and walk on the water with him…in the midst of a storm. Peter has always seemed to me to be the naïve, overeager, overachiever type.
Christians need a Ramadan
My last year at Duke Divinity I sat in on a panel discussion between Sam Wells, dean of Duke Chapel, and Abdullah Antepli,
Muslim chaplain to Duke University. (Imam Antepli also spoke at Wild
Goose this summer.) In the course of their discussion about Islam and
Christianity, Imam Antepli said something that disturbed me a great
deal about my faith.
Boom Boom Rock ’n’ Roll, by Freddy Cannon
With the recent resurgence in the Four Seasons' popularity thanks to Jersey Boys, it's an apt time to rediscover Cannon (born Frederick Picariello), another East Coast Italian-American who...
Reform that works: The community schools movement
Some education reformers are trying to shift
the focus from test scores to the broader circumstances of children's
lives. One idea emphasizes schools as places where children connect with
the broader society.
It's not the ceiling
It's not about the debt ceiling, right? I mean, we're talking about the debt ceiling, but it's not about the debt ceiling....
Will civil disobedience get attention?
As
political leaders fight about the federal budget and the debt ceiling, some
religious leaders are certain that the poor are in peril from funding cuts....
Catholic bishops urge House against steep budget cuts
(RNS) The nation's Roman Catholic bishops are urging the GOP-led House
to reject a cuts-only approach to the budget as Washington tries to...
Vatican's U.S. envoy, who helped shape U.S. church, dies
(RNS) The Vatican's highest-ranking official in the United States,
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, died Wednesday (July 27) night at Johns Hopkins...
Judge tosses out San Fran's circumcision referendum
(RNS) A proposed circumcision ban will not appear on San Francisco's
citywide ballot in November, a Superior Court judge tentatively ruled
Wednesday (July 27)....
Bearing testimony: Ministry in the 21st century
"People need to hear the good news," says Katherine Willis Pershey of First Congregational Church in Western Springs, Illinois. "If the church doesn't take on this mission, I'm afraid—well, that's where that sentence can end. I'm afraid."