TODAY IN GOD:
RELIGION NEWS BITES FOR YOUR SNACKING PLEASURE
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Whaddyaknow? Not enough. You?

The Dallas Morning News has posted online a great religious literacy quiz taken from Stephen Prothero’s nifty new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – and Doesn’t

In its review of Prothero’s book, Publisher’s Weekly had this to say:

Prothero (American Jesus), chair of the religion department at Boston University, begins this valuable primer by noting that religious illiteracy is rampant in the United States, where most Americans, even Christians, cannot name even one of the four Gospels. Such ignorance is perilous because religion “is the most volatile constituent of culture” and, unfortunately, often “one of the greatest forces for evil” in the world, he writes. Prothero does more than diagnose the problem; he traces its surprising historic roots (“in one of the great ironies of…history, it was the nation’s most fervent people of faith who steered Americans down the road to religious illiteracy”) and prescribes concrete solutions that address religious education while preserving First Amendment boundaries about religion in the public square. Prothero also offers a dictionary of religious literacy and a quiz for readers to test their knowledge. This book is a must-read not only for educators, clergy and government officials, but for all adults in a culture where, as Prothero puts it, “faith without understanding is the standard” and “religious ignorance is bliss.”

You can take the religion quiz on the Dallas Morning News site HERE

I scored a 43. Feh. Should have been better, given my chosen vocation. I need to brush up on my basic Hindu knowledge, among other things.

Episcopal bishops say no to demand

New York — Episcopal bishops risked losing their place in the global Anglican family Wednesday by affirming their support for gays and rejecting a key demand that they give up some authority to theological conservatives outside the U.S. church.

In strong and direct language, the Episcopal House of Bishops said it views the Gospel as teaching that “all God’s children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants” in the church.

The bishops also said they would not agree to an Anglican plan for leaders outside the U.S. denomination to oversee the small number of conservative American dioceses that disagree.

“We cannot accept what would be injurious to the church and could well lead to its permanent division,” the bishops said in a resolution from a private meeting in Texas.

“If that means that others reject us and communion with us, as some have already done, we must with great regret and sorrow accept their decision.”
FOR FULL STORY (AP via CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER) CLICK HERE

Mennonites Leaving Missouri Over Photo Law

The grocer, the butcher, a cabinet maker and several other members of the town’s Mennonite community are said to be planning to move to Arkansas over a Missouri requirement that all drivers be photographed if they want a license.

The Mennonites – a plain-living sect whose members are similar to the Amish, but usually more worldly – say the 2004 law conflicts with the Biblical prohibition against the making of “graven images.”

“We want to respect our government. We’re not trying to fight them. But we still have our beliefs,” said Ervin Kropf, a bearded, overall-wearing grocer whose market draws customers from miles around for the fresh milk, brown eggs and spices supplied by his fellow Mennonites.
FOR THE FULL STORY (AP VIA BELIEFNET.COM) CLICK HERE

Texas town offers Santeria priest settlement in animal sacrifice/religious freedom lawsuit

A Santeria priest who is suing Euless over his religious practice of animal sacrifice would be allowed to kill chickens and hold small weekly gatherings at his home under a settlement offered by city attorneys.

But the proposal would continue to prohibit the sacrifice of goats – a practice that Jose Merced says is as essential to Santeria as communion is to Catholics. And it would limit the gatherings to 25 people.

Mr. Merced said he will reject the city’s offer as a restriction on his religious freedom.
FOR THE FULL STORY (DM NEWS) CLICK HERE

Chinese Take-Out Spawns Christian Controversy

A controversy involving offensive Asian stereotypes is simmering in Christian publishing. Youth Specialties (YS), a division of Zondervan*, produced the book Skits that Teach (Aug. 2006) for church youth groups, and now they’re reacting to charges of racism. In some of the dialogue, a Chinese restaurant deliveryman uses language that portrays Asian people in exaggeratingly stereotypical ways.

Soong-Chan Rah, a professor evangelism and church growth at North Park University in Chicago, discovered this while searching online for Meemaw, a Chinese restaurant on the north side of the city. “I thought it was unusual that the first entry for ‘Meemaw’ was Zondervan,” Rah told RBL. “I clicked on the site and the offensive material was right there on the sample page.” Rah then posted the information on his personal blog. The material found a larger audience on the Web and elicited an outpouring of response from Asian-American Christians.

Rah contacted Youth Specialties, “and we had a number of conversations prior to them issuing an official response,” he said. “I told them that this material is in the public arena, it’s a public sin, and it required a public apology. The authors, Eddie James and Tommy Woodward, and YS president, Mark Oestreicher, were very sensitive to our concerns, and in the wake of discussions, issued gracious responses. It reflects tremendous humility to take correction and act accordingly.”
FOR THE FULL STORY (PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY) CLICK HERE

*For the sake of full disclosure: Zondervan is publishing my next two books.