Religion News Roundup 5/25/2010

Hello readers! Here's what you may have missed in recent religion news:

• Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the need for reform within the Catholic Church, and a great deal of self-examination. The Dallas Morning News put out an interesting series of blurbs by local faith leaders regarding Benedict's reflection.
• A friend of mine (and former colleague) is working to get African-American non-religious "out of the closet."
• It's been a rough week or so for the Saudi "morality police," or Mutaween.
• Get Religion does its usual excellent job predicting the religious and political fallout of a repealed "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy.
• American Catholic women are just about as likely as any American woman to terminate a pregnancy via abortion. Why? Because they're otherwise just like other Americans. (CNNvia Pew)
• Here's some interesting reading from Sojourners about (the biblical) Ruth...as an illegal immigrant. There are some very good points made about choosing compassion over law.
• In a seeming coincidence of the last two points I posted above, a nun (and others, presumably) have been excommunicated for performing an abortion to save a woman's life. (Politics Daily)

Religion News for 10/5/2009

Hello Readers! It's a beautiful Monday morning. Here's what's been happening lately in religion news...

• Miguel Humberto Diaz is the new American ambassador to the Vatican, and is himself a theologian. (Reuters)
• Pew says support for abortion rights is declining, and that the debate over it is losing steam. (Pew)
• Six of the Supreme Court's justices are now Roman Catholics. Politics Daily's David Gibson has some interesting thought on the implications of that. (PD)
• Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has taken a stance against evolution at his kingdom's only co-ed university. (Reuters)

Religion News for 9/30/2009

Wow, readers, it's almost October! On this day in 1962, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta founded the National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm Workers). And today in religion news...

• Berlin is working to accommodate the prayer needs of Muslim students, but the ruling which permitted it is generating some interesting questions. (Reuters)
• Apparently today is Blasphemy Day. I'll be goddamned. (PD)
• An Arizona judge has granted an injunction on recently passed abortion regulation, pending suit by Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights. (AZCentral)
• A lawsuit in Oklahoma is challenging the constitutionality of abortion laws there, which would require doctors to disclose new information about women receiving abortions. (AP/KJRH)
• A Malaysian woman will be caned for drinking beer under Shari'ah law.
• Bill Tammeus has a saddening and interesting graphic depicting the splits in the Christian church, and an interesting reflection on the ELCA split, which may yet worsen. (Tammeus)

Religion News for 9/16/2009

Hello readers! Today marks the 1843 death of Ezekiel Hart, the first Jew elected to representative office in the British Empire. And today in religion news...

• David Gibson at Politics Daily does an exceptional job at delineating the statements of official Catholics on the issue of healthcare reform. DC's Archbishop Wuerl has also published a column on the issue. (PD, 2)
• The government of the Philippines and Muslim separatists from the south of that country are working towards peace, and allowing international monitoring. (AP)
• Anti-abortion group Operation Rescue is "completely out of money," according to OR president Troy Newman. One abortion provider previously targeted by them isn't so sure. (KC Star)
• Cuba is now allowing religious services in its prisons. (Reuters FaithWorld)

Religion News for 9/14/2009

Hello readers! On today in 1975, Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized, becoming the first native-born American saint. In religion news today:

• Frequent pro-life protester James Poullion was killed on Friday. (Politics Daily-1-2)
• Congressman Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is the country's first Muslim congressman. He had a few interesting comments for the Religion Newswriters Association. (Articles of Faith)
• Indonesia's Aceh province has approved stoning to death for adultery and other harsh punishments for what some lawmakers see as amoral. Human rights activists, including the gay community, are protesting. (SFGate)
• Atheists and agnostics held a conference in Indianapolis over the weekend. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

And it's not news, but I thought this column in Sojourners was pretty poignant.