September 25, 2008

Palestinian Christians share Ramadan spirit
By Michele Chabin

JERUSALEM -- Hala Jahshan, a resident of the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, isn't a Muslim, but like many Holy Land Christians, she feels enriched by the Ramadan traditions of her Muslim neighbors and co-workers. "Palestinian Muslims and Christians live together, we share the same destiny and we join in each other's celebrations," says Jahshan, who greets tourists at the Melia Center, an embroidery cooperative for Palestinian women run by the Arab Orthodox Society. While holiday celebrations can underscore the differences and exacerbate tensions between various religious groups, Palestinians say holidays like Ramadan, which ends here next Tuesday (Sept. 30), tend to bring Christians and Muslims closer together.

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India temple stampede kills 90

Story Highlights
* NEW: Death toll rises
* Official: Stampede took place on temple pathway's sharp slope in Rajasthan state
* Not immediately clear what had sparked the stampede
* Incident follows another stampede that occurred in August, killing 130 people

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police in India revised the death toll in a stampede at a Hindu temple, saying 90 people had died by midday Tuesday.

K.S. Bains, the police chief of Rajasthan where the stampede occurred, said another 50 people were hurt.

Authorities do not yet know what prompted the rush early Tuesday morning, but Bains rejected as "baseless" reports that it was triggered by bomb rumors.

"But one thing is clear, that a cascading effect did take place, as it was a slope where it happened," he said.

A large crowd had gathered at the temple to celebrate a Hindu festival, according to CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN.

The deadly incident comes on the heels of another stampede that occurred in August, when more than 130 people were killed as panicked worshippers tried to flee a crowded mountaintop Hindu temple in northern India.

That stampede, which occurred on the second day of a nine-day religious festival at the Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh state, apparently was triggered by a false rumor of a landslide on the hill above the crowd, authorities said at the time.

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Worshippers crushed 3:25
CNN-IBN's Swati Vashistha talks about the circumstances leading up to the deadly stampede at a Hindu temple in India.

Kid's Jesus sign creates stir 1:37
A religious poster is at the center of a campaign controversy in an elementary school. WJXT's Dan Levitan reports.

50 years on, wartime pope overshadows Catholic-Jewish talks
By Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY -- Next Thursday (Oct. 9), Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII.

The fact that Oct. 9 this year coincides with Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is ironic, since debate over Pius' record is one of the most divisive issues in the relationship between Jews and the Catholic Church.

As the Vatican's Secretary of State during Hitler's rise to power, and then as pope during World War II, Pius guided his church's response to the Nazis' persecution and genocide of the Jews.

Pius' critics say that he failed to do or say all he could to stop the atrocities. The late pope's defenders counter that he heroically condemned anti-Semitism throughout Hitler's reign, and both directly and indirectly saved thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust, especially during the 1943-44 German occupation of Rome.

Many students of the debate trace its origin to Rolf Hochhuth's play "The Deputy" (1963), which portrays the wartime pontiff as prompt to abandon the Jews for the sake of the Vatican's financial and geopolitical interests. The subject has since spawned a vast array of literature, including John Cornwell's controversial 1999 bestseller, "Hitler's Pope."..

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Pope begins Bible-reading marathon

Story Highlights
* Marathon will feature more than 1,200 people reading the Old and New Testament
* Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jews, members of other religions participate
* Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to end marathon by reading Apocalypse's last chapter

ROME, Italy (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI's "In the beginning" started off a weeklong Bible-reading marathon on Italian television Sunday...

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Bible-reading marathon begins 0:30
A week-long Bible-reading marathon is under way on Italian RAI state TV on its program called "The Bible Day and Night."

Study suggests Zen meditation can ease a turbulent mind
By Daniel Burke

Zen Buddhist meditation may help treat depression, attention deficit disorder and anxiety, among other maladies, according to a recent study by Emory University neuroscientists.

Mental illnesses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression are characterized in part by "excessive rumination" or runaway thoughts, said Giuseppe Pagnoni, a neuroscientist at Emory in Atlanta.

Zen meditators show an enhanced ability to control their mind's focus, and disentangle it from distracting or harmful preoccupations, Pagnoni argues. His paper, "Thinking about Not-Thinking: Neural Correlates of Conceptual Processing during Zen Meditation," was published by the online journal PLoS ONE in September.

Unlike other forms of meditation -- for example, imagining yourself on a tropical beach -- Zen discourages mental vacations and "prescribes a vigilant attitude" toward one's present surroundings, as Pagnoni says. By focusing on the here and now, practitioners are less likely to get carried away, according to Buddhist teaching...

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Stephen Hawking's fears for mankind - watch video

The Court’s arguments resemble those which Ayaan Hirsi Ali used last year when she proposed to abolish article 23 of the Dutch Constitution, which guarantees freedom of education. She said that all children should be sent to state schools because “freedom of education hinders integration.” The former Dutch politician, who has meanwhile emigrated to the United States where she now works for the American Enterprise Institute, proposed to close down confessional schools because, apart from religious Christians, Muslim immigrants, too, had begun to establish their own confessional schools. According to Hirsi Ali the state should educate children “in order to ensure that they learn tolerance.”

October 12, 2008 -- Updated 1643 GMT (0043 HKT)

India's Christians celebrate first woman saint

Story Highlights
* Pope Benedict XVI names four new saints
* Sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception is 1st Indian woman saint
* Canonization comes as India's Christians increasingly object of attacks

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India's first woman saint 1:23
Indian Christians celebrate the country's first female Christian saint

Jewish author says year with Jesus restored his faith
By Kristen Campbell

Jesus, many Christians might tell you, saved their lives.

Benyamin Cohen, founder and editor of American Jewish Life and Jewsweek, credits the carpenter with helping to save his faith.

At first glance, you might think Cohen's story would be markedly different from most (unless, of course, you too are the son of an Orthodox rabbi who attached a 1,000-square-foot synagogue to your family's home)...

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This is not your grandfather’s Bible
By Ashley Gipson

The Bible is getting a makeover as publishers try to catch every type of customer's attention and draw in new readers who would be unlikely to pick up the holy tome in its traditional form.

With different packaging, the Green Bible, the Bible Illuminated and Zondervan's Bible Across America try to reach specific audiences who otherwise might overlook the ancient text.

"The Bible is America's favorite book of all time," said Maureen Girkins, president and CEO of Zondervan. The publishers of these Bibles, she said, are just trying to make it more relevant to today's audience.


The Green Bible

(HarperOne) 1,408 pages, $29.95

As environmental concerns continue to grow, people are wondering if God has anything to say about it. The publishers of the new Green Bible say God is the ultimate environmentalist.

Like the "red-letter" editions that feature the words of Jesus in red text, the Green Bible highlights more than 1,000 verses about the earth in soy-based green ink. Essays by religious leaders and other resources on eco-justice are bound within the its 100 percent cotton/linen cover.

The environmental movement is "a big part of the Christian agenda today, especially among the youth," said Michael Maudlin, the Green Bible's editor. "And those who thought the Bible had nothing to say about it will find there is quite a bit there."

Matthew Sleeth, a doctor who's been pushing fellow evangelicals to go green in recent years, writes in his introduction to the Green Bible that the biggest problem in the world is that the planet is dying.

"Its purpose is to highlight what the Bible has to say about God revealing himself through creation and commanding us to take care of it," Sleeth said.

The Green Bible only contains 10 percent recycled paper -- the highest percentage possible for Bible paper without it getting too big. Curiously, Psalm 23 and its references to still waters and verdant pastures, isn't printed in green. Sleeth said future revisions will correct some important verses that might have been overlooked.


The Bible Illuminated (New Testament)

(American Bible Society) 264 pages, $35

The Bible Illuminated, with its high-gloss cover and celebrity photos, looks more like a gossip rag you'd find in a dentist's office than a Bible. There are no chapters or verses, but important quotes are highlighted or bolded for emphasis. Originally published for a Swedish audience, the Bible Illuminated (New Testament), set to release this fall, has been revamped for American readers.

This "gateway Bible" features intense pictures of violence and death around the world along with the people who are working to find solutions for many of today's problems.

U2 frontman Bono, actress Angelina Jolie and former Vice President Al Gore are all figures that Americans can easily recognize as activists, and they all get their own page in the Bible Illuminated.

"It's a conversation piece," said Autumn Black, a spokeswoman for the American Bible Society, which is developing the project in the United States. "It will open doors."

It targets young, urban professionals who want to know the Bible as a piece of culture. The American Bible Society licensed its Good News Translation for the project because it is easier for mainstream audience to understand.

"Getting the Bible to the Western world is not the problem," Black said. "Getting the youth of the Western world to engage the Bible and experience its life-changing message is our mission."

The images found in the Bible Illuminated are "arresting," Black said, and will inevitably be controversial to some strands of evangelicalism. But the mission of the American Bible Society is to serve the entire church. "None of our projects has satisfied everyone," she said.


Bible Across America

(Zondervan)

Zondervan's handwritten Bible will enlist more than 31,000 Americans to write in one verse at a time on actual thin-stock Bible paper to be published and sold nationwide. The Smithsonian Institution will receive the original copy of the Bible.

"The Bible Across America is a symbol of Zondervan's commitment to make the word of God more accessible and more relevant to more people," Girkins said.

The tour will hit 90 cities, stopping at universities, churches and other venues to allow people "of all ages and walks of life" to contribute to the Bible. Having people write the Bible in their own hand will help America "rediscover the Bible in a fresh, new way," she said.

The Bible Across America tour will end in San Diego on Feb. 12, 2009. The Bible will be released in the spring of 2009. Price and page counts will be released when the Bible is completed.

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October 16, 2008

Churches push fair-trade chocolates for Halloween
By Brittney Bain

WASHINGTON -- Halloween's a time for pumpkins, costumes, and -- if some faith-based groups have anything to do with it this year -- global market awareness and fair-trade chocolates in those trick-or-treat bags.

Abuse survivors struggle with loss of faith, confidence
By Michelle Roberts

ST. HELENS, Ore. -- It's been 23 years since Diane Bach left the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries compound in Arkansas, but she still struggles to make decisions for herself.

As a waitress hands Bach a menu during a recent lunch meeting, she swallows hard. Her hands begin to tremble; she shifts uncomfortably in her chair. Soon, she's sweating and red blotches pool on her chest like spilled wine.

"I'm sorry," she says. "I have a lot of trouble ordering from a simple menu because, to this day, I have trouble making my own choices."

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Thursday, October 23, 2008
Pass the plate, please

Within this Episcopal News Service piece we learn that the Episcopal Church will have a $2.5 million deficit in 2009.

"Projections for the 2009 budget anticipate $54.6 million in revenues compared to $57.1 million in expenses. Treasurer Kurt Barnes said that, given the triennial nature of the budget and the previous surpluses, the 2009 budget could suffer a deficit of $2.8 million and still be balanced," says ENS.
There were surpluses of $1.2 million in 2007 and $2 million in 2008, Barnes said

The value of the church's endowment funds have plummeted 30 percent this year with the stock market freefall. That basically bites $522,000 out of the 2009 budget, Barnes said.

Also of note: The church budgeted $450,000 for legal expenses in 2008; they spent nearly $2 million. Barnes said he can't estimate 2009 legal expenses yet.

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Pastor creates interfaith church where ‘Christians are not in charge’
By Nicole Neroulias

NEW YORK -- A Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist and an atheist walk into a prayer meeting.

Any number of punch lines could follow, but the members of Faith House Manhattan have serious business in mind: creating a spiritual community for people from any -- or no -- religious tradition.

The fledgling group of about three dozen regular participants is overseen by Samir Selmanovic, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor for whom interfaith ideals come naturally: He describes himself as an "atheist Muslim" who converted to Christianity during his military service in the former Yugoslavia.

"I wanted to build a church where Christians are not in charge," he explained after a Saturday afternoon gathering of Jewish prayers and Beatles music. "We wanted to include all the people who have a right to belong and be partners in the discussion, not as outsiders that need to be converted, but as insiders that we need to be interdependent with."

Similar interfaith centers are on the rise across the country, according to the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, which reported a surge in the years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There are now more than 550 such groups in America, with the largest numbers in New York, California, Massachusetts and Illinois.

In addition to easing religious tensions and encouraging joint philanthropic and community activities, Pluralism Project spokeswoman Kathryn Lohre said, these groups create new roles for women, which has been the case for Faith House.

"Interfaith organizations provide opportunities for women's leadership in a way that oftentimes the religious traditions themselves do not, simply because those positions do not need to be sanctioned by any religious head or body," she explained.

At Faith House, all three "co-leaders" (of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim programs) are women. That's a coincidence, Selmanovic said, but one he is happy about, even if it prompts traditionalists to underestimate their efforts for the time being.

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Has anyone else seen this? Apparently `In God We Trust` on the newly released George Washington silver dollars has been moved from the face of the coin to the side.

You can read more about it here.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Vote for Obama, go to hell

Conservative Christian columnist Katharine Porter says "you cannot be a Christian and vote for Obama."

Says she: "To all those who name the name of Christ who plan to willfully disobey Him by voting for Obama, take warning. Not only is our nation in grave danger, according to the Word of God, so are you."

I don't know what "those who name the name of Christ" means, but it sounds serious.

Of course, this is on the heels of Focus on the Family's own get-out-the-vote tactics.

You know, once upon a time the spectre of Hell might've been pretty scary. But after these last few years, I'm not so sure.

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Paranormal beliefs aren’t always treated equally
By Kristen Campbell

(UNDATED) On Friday (Oct. 31), no one will be surprised to see ghosts and goblins on the loose.

But for some Americans, ghosts -- along with extraterrestrials, Bigfoot and UFOs -- aren't the stuff of seasonal sightings or tabloid teasers. They're real -- as real as a resurrected Jesus and a devious Satan are to millions.

In the United States, though, not all supernatural beliefs are accepted equally. How people seem to parse the paranormal depends in part on religious belief and practice, a survey from Baylor University shows.

"If you are a strong Christian who goes to church a lot, you will wholeheartedly endorse the Christian supernatural beliefs but you will stay away from the psychics, the Bigfoots," explained Baylor sociology professor Carson Mencken.

"But if you are someone who reports pretty high levels of conventional Christian belief but doesn't practice that faith, doesn't go to church very often, if at all, you're also very likely to hold other types of paranormal or supernatural beliefs. You're going to believe in a little bit of everything."

Denomination and an individual's self-identification as spiritual versus religious can play a role in such thinking as well, according to Baylor's research.

"Catholics actually score pretty high on paranormal beliefs, which if you look at Catholic theology, that kind of makes sense," said Mencken, citing the role of apparitions, such as those of the Virgin Mary in places like Lourdes or Fatima.

"Most religion, traditionally, approaches faith or approaches God and the divine as something which is a realm that is greater than what we understand or can deal with and is filled with surprises," said the Rev. Christopher J. Viscardi, chairman of the division of philosophy and theology at the Jesuit Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. "There is a broad range, including the paranormal, including the supernatural."

Evangelicals, meanwhile, are much more likely to be in line with conventional supernatural thought and much less likely to believe in traditional paranormal ideas, said Mencken, who noted that conservative Christian congregations tend to be at odds with secular culture and "keep a pretty tight rein on their members."

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I stumbled across this photo and quote from Madonna on "People" Magazine.