2013-01-30T17:10:29-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:10 pm   By

Few journalists paid attention when two teen-aged mothers from Grant County, Ky., won their legal fight to enter the National Honor Society. Somer Chipman and Chasity Glass were barred from the 1998 induction ceremony for one simple reason — both were pregnant. The American Civil Liberties Union said this was illegal discrimination. Feminists for Life agreed and backed the ACLU case. Executive director Serrin Foster told the court: “If Ms. Chipman and Ms. Glass had had abortions, their sexual activity... Read more

2013-01-30T17:10:38-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:10 pm   By

The journalists who met at Columbia University on Oct. 5, 1993, knew we were in for a challenging and confusing day. We had, after all, come to New York to discuss “Religion and the News.” A veteran CBS producer said this was a tough topic, since most broadcasters don’t consider religion newsworthy unless it veers into “party politics, pageantry or pedophilia.” Freedom Forum researchers offered sobering statistics showing that 58 percent of liberal Protestant leaders affirmed the statement “most religion... Read more

2013-01-30T17:10:45-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:10 pm   By

Summer is the season for church conventions that talk about hot issues. Last week’s 47th convention of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America passed a resolution that addressed both sexuality and the Iraqi war. But this time the lofty words led to an historic change. The assembly voted to oppose “divisive and dangerous” positions taken by “left-wing” and “right-wing” groups. To be specific, it rejected “support for same-sex marriage, support for abortion, support for ordination of women to... Read more

2013-01-30T17:10:53-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:10 pm   By

If someone had created a stock market for spirituality in the 1990s, all of the prime indicators would have gone off the charts. That made sense, the experts told Beliefnet.com CEO Steven Waldman. The economy was on fire and this new wealth caused many people to ask big questions. Times were good, yet they felt empty. They went shopping for answers. Then the nation plunged into recession, while signs of interest in spiritual matters kept increasing. That made sense, said... Read more

2013-01-30T17:11:03-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:11 pm   By

It would be hard to name two more radically different men than the late Pope John Paul II and New York Times columnist Frank Rich. Nevertheless, the acerbic culture-beat scribe did his best to say something positive when biding the pope farewell. At least, said Rich, John Paul II had seen the light on the “core belief of how life began.” “Though the president of the United States believes that the jury is still out on evolution,” he wrote, “John... Read more

2013-01-30T17:11:11-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:11 pm   By

Editor’s note: The first of two columns. Vatican watchers pay close attention to the sermons a pope preaches during the historic rites that immediately follow his election. Yet few flinched when Pope Benedict XVI made the following comment on the origin of human life during the Mass marking the inauguration of his pontificate. “The purpose of our lives is to reveal God to men,” he said, in St. Peter’s Square. “And only where God is seen does life truly begin.... Read more

2013-01-30T17:11:18-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:11 pm   By

Once upon a time, there was a magic kingdom of family entertainment that was loved by values consumers from sea to shining sea. But an evil leader entered the castle and things went amiss. Mighty were his deeds, though he was small in stature. Then a throng of angry Southern Baptists appeared at the gates waving Bibles. Some even began to have second thoughts about paying the mini-mogul to help them raise their children. In time the evil one fell,... Read more

2013-01-30T17:11:24-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:11 pm   By

Billy Graham promised that he would avoid politics and stick to saving souls during his final New York crusade. The New York Times offered a sigh of relief, noting that the closest he came to danger in the first sermon was when he said: “There’s a lot of discussion about the Ten Commandments being in a courtroom or in our country. We need to look at the Ten Commandments because they convict us of our sin.” The key was that... Read more

2013-01-30T17:11:31-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:11 pm   By

When Father John Parker was asked to say the benediction at the graduation rite for the Medical School of South Carolina he did what any Eastern Orthodox priest would do. He went straight to “The Great Book of Needs,” a four-volume set of prayers collected over two millennia for use during every imaginable kind of ritual. It was easy to find prayers about Jesus and healing, including: “Do now, O Lord, give your grace to all those here gathered who... Read more

2013-01-30T17:11:40-05:00

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:11 pm   By

It was a mean question, but Howard Dean had to know it was coming. The Democratic National Committee chairman was visiting Capitol Hill for a chat with Sen. Harry Reid, followed by a photo-op scrum with the minority leader and 50-plus journalists. That’s when Fox News correspondent Brian Wilson did the math and asked the inevitable question. The logic was simple. Since Dean had said (a) that he hates Republicans and (b) that the GOP is full of white Christians,... Read more

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