Uh \u2026 the Easter kiwi<\/span><\/span>?<\/font> Environment Canterbury on the country\u2019s South Island wants people to come up with an alternative Easter symbol as part of a campaign to highlight the damage caused by the non-native pest.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re like an environmental curse,\u201d Mark Oldfield of Environment Canterbury told Reuters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did have a similar competition a number of years ago and we came up with the Easter Kiwi,\u201d Oldfield said, referring to the flightless bird that is the country\u2019s national bird.<\/p>\n Rabbits were introduced in the late 19th century for a fur trade that never got established, but they bred at such a rate that they infested large parts throughout the country, eating sparse vegetation and causing widespread erosion. Passover seders can be \u2018relaxed, funky,\u2019 rabbi explains<\/font> But many Jews describe Passover, which begins at sundown today, as the \u201cfun\u201d Jewish holiday. And some take their seder fun and extend it beyond the first night of Passover.<\/p>\n Although family seders remain the most common kind of Passover celebration, non-traditional seders have become increasingly popular in recent years. There are seders-at-sea, chocolate seders and seders for singles, for racial justice, for addicts, for women, even for vegetarians.<\/p>\n Precisely because it is a home-based, family-oriented festival, Passover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday, observed by the very religious and not-so-religious alike. Joyful noises at a hip-hop church<\/font> As he stood in the pulpit of the Hip-hop Sanctuary New Generation Church, all eyes were on him.<\/p>\n \u201cThey say we can\u2019t have hip-hop and church,\u201d said Flo, a lay preacher whose real name is Roosevelt Sargent. \u201cI say this is real church. It\u2019s just presented by and for the hip-hop community, but don\u2019t get it wrong, this is a place of praise and worship.\u201d<\/p>\n In the dimly lighted church, a chorus of agreement rang out.<\/p>\n Murals of the Last Supper dangled from the wall. A deejay scratching bass-booming, wall-thumping music worked from the pulpit. Churchgoers wore do-rags and New Era fitted hats, and clutched worn Bibles.<\/p>\n With traditional churches seeking ways to revitalize interest in worship \u2014 particularly among the young \u2014 the distance between hip-hop and religion is closing. Was It a Hoax? Debate on a \u2018Secret Mark\u2019 Gospel Resumes<\/font> Ho-hum, you say? Isn\u2019t it simply Easter season, when fresh Gnostic gospels or dubious ossuaries show up like spring daffodils?<\/p>\n Ah, but those with long memories know that just such a \u201csecret Gospel of Mark\u201d once did make headlines. In 1973, Morton Smith published both a dense scholarly tome (\u201cClement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark,\u201d Harvard University Press) and a popular book (\u201cThe Secret Gospel,\u201d Harper & Row) describing a manuscript that he had found in a Greek Orthodox monastery south of Jerusalem. Beware slackers: Your soul may be dead<\/font> Government departments around the country often pay more out in wages than they should, with far too many employees sitting around doing nothing or continuing to be paid after they have retired, the China Daily said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some cases, former staff members\u2019 families receive their salary after they have died,\u201d the paper said, referring to the \u201cdead souls\u201d phenomenon.
TODAY IN GOD:<\/font>
RELIGION NEWS BITES FOR YOUR SNACKING PLEASURE <\/span>
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WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND \u2013 A New Zealand environmental body is targeting the Easter bunny in a renewed war against one of the country\u2019s worst natural pests.<\/p>\n
FOR THE FULL STORY (REUTERS VIA YAHOO NEWS) CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n
Passover seders are sometimes depicted as stiff family affairs with ancient foods, bored children and a heavy dose of scripture. Sort of like a religious Thanksgiving without the football.<\/p>\n
FOR THE ENTIRE STORY (By my homechunk Tim Townsend at the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH) CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n
He goes by the name of Pastor Flo.<\/p>\n
FOR THE FULL STORY (LOS ANGELES TIMES) CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n
Imagine the discovery of a previously unknown Gospel of Mark, a secret text suppressed by church authorities that pictured Jesus initiating his disciples with a hallucinatory, nocturnal and quite possibly homosexual rite. Imagine the headlines, the four-alarm book promotion and the cable network special.<\/p>\n
FOR THE FULL STORY (Peter Steinfels at THE NEW YORK TIMES) CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n
BEIJING \u2014 China has issued new rules intended to weed out \u201cdead souls\u201d and other so-called employees at government departments who earn salaries despite not doing any work, state press reported last week.<\/p>\n
FOR FULL STORY (AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE VIA UK YAHOO NEWS) CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n