Christianity

In a Sacred Italian Race, Some Bristle At the Prize

July 3, 2010

Author: Gaia Pianigiani

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/world/europe/04palio.html?ref=religion_and_belief

No horse race is more sacred in Italy than the Palio, which traces its lineage back 700 years. This year, however, the hotly contested chase has taken an unexpectedly ecumenical — and disputed — twist.

For the first time, a Muslim painter was asked to design...

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Claremont’s Religious Diversity: Church Affirms Multi-Faith Project

July 2, 2010

Author: Robin Russell

Source: The United Methodist Portal

http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=6914

In a bold move to prepare future clergy for America’s increasingly diverse religious landscape, Claremont School of Theology will help offer clerical training this fall for Muslims and Jews as well as Christians.

And the project has the blessing of the United Methodist Church, with which the seminary has long been affiliated.

...

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Liberty U. Removing Ergun Caner as Seminary Dean Over Contradictory Statements

June 30, 2010

Author: William Wan and Michelle Boorstein

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062905331.html

At an evangelical institution such as Liberty University, personal testimonies are a kind of sacred currency; how Jesus saved you from damnation often defines you as a person. Nobody had a story quite as dramatic as that of Ergun Caner, dean of Liberty's seminary...

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Supreme Court Rules Against Christian Group That Bars Gays

June 28, 2010

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65R4RA20100628

A university can legally deny recognition to a Christian student group that bars gays and nonbelievers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday in a case that pitted anti-discrimination principles against religious freedom.

Such official recognition qualifies campus groups for funding and other benefits.

By a 5-4 vote, the justices upheld a U.S....

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Seeking God’s Help for a Wounded Gulf

June 27, 2010

Author: Dan Barry

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/us/28land.html?ref=religion_and_belief

In a small white building along the baptizing Bon Secour River, a building that once housed a shrimp-net business, the congregation of the Fishermen Baptist Church gathered for another Sunday service, with the preacher presiding from a pulpit designed to look like a ship captain’s wheel.

After the...

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Theological Schools’ Partnership Could Reshape Training

June 24, 2010

Author: Lisa Wangsness

Source: Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2010/06/24/theological_schools_partnership_could_reshape_clergy_training/

Leaders of Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre and Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, which will become partners in a yet-to-be-named interreligious institution next summer, say...

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Haley, Jindal And America's New Religious Litmus Test

June 23, 2010

Author: Aseem Shukla

Source: The Washington Post

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/aseem_shukla/2010/06/what_nikki_haleys_victory_does_not_mean.html

Last night's Republican primary runoff in South Carolina plausibly clears the way for Nikki Haley to join Bobby Jindal as governors with an epochal distinction: two Indian Americans leading two Southern states...

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A Marine, a Mosque, a Question

June 18, 2010

Author: Jim Dwyer

Source: New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/nyregion/20about.html?ref=religion_and_belief

A few hours after the town hall meeting began, deep into the question-and-answer portion, Bill Finnegan lined up for a turn at the microphone. He had not come with any intention to speak, but as the evening dragged on, he changed his mind.

A Muslim group had made a deal to buy an empty convent...

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A College Fires Its Chaplains To Save Money, and Students Move On

June 18, 2010

Author: Mark Oppenheimer

Source: New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/us/19beliefs.html?ref=religion_and_belief

When a chaplaincy dies, there is nobody to preside over the funeral. But if there were a funeral, would anyone show up?

In May 2009, Jennifer Walters, dean of religious life at Smith College, closed a budget gap by laying off her only three practicing chaplains, representatives of the...

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Singapore Christian Church Apologizes for Comparing Taoist Beliefs to Protection Racket

June 16, 2010

Author: Alex Kennedy

Source: CJAD

Wire Service: AP

http://www.cjad.com/news/56/1154374

A Christian church in Singapore has apologized for a sermon by one of its pastors that mocked Taoist beliefs, the second such incident this year in the city-state where religious speech is closely controlled.

New Creation Church, which says it has a congregation of 20,000 worshippers, said it apologized for a sermon by Mark Ng in 2008 that...

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