Herod: Nice Guy?

Historians, Fans Defend the `Real' King Herod

Nope. King Herod certainly doesn't qualify as a nice guy, but his image has been buffed and shined of late, as Nicole Neroulias reports in this full text RNS article, linked above.

Quote:

Annually vilified in Christmas pageants as the tyrant responsible for the slaughter of Bethlehem's baby boys and for chasing Mary, Joseph and Jesus into Egypt, Herod the Great should receive more balanced treatment, some historians and academics argue.

The Artist Formerly Known as Cat

Quote of the Day: Singer Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)

"Being in the position I am today, I do feel like a looking glass, where people living in the West can view Islam, and Muslims can view another culture. I feel comfortable looking at both and living in these two distinct zones."

-- Singer/songwriter Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, speaking to USA Today about how his 1978 conversion to Islam allows him to live in two different realms.

Everything is Closed ... Might as Well Have a Baby!

Quote of the Day: Brynn Kushner of College Park, Md.

"When I was younger, my mom told me that I was born on Christmas because, being Jewish, she had nothing better to do that day."

-- Brynn Kushner of College Park, Md., writing in a Washington Post forum about being Jewish during the Christmas season (Dec. 15).

MegaChurch Automalls

Chrysler Test-Drives Marketing to Black Churches

RNS' Jeffrey MacDonald examines Chrysler's efforts to market its cars via test drives hosted by four of the nation's largest black megachurches, in this week's full-text article, linked above.

Quote:

For Chrysler, observers say, the experimental test drives mark a coup on two levels: the carmaker has overcome a centuries-old taboo on marketing goods for profit in sacred spaces, and also gained entry into influential black church circles less than four years after Chicago-area black pastors launched a boycott alleging the company discriminated against black customers.

Use Heaven as a Model

Quote of the Day: Harlem Pastor Calvin Butts III

"You've got to do everything. Churches, schools, health care, housing. You've got to take your people up to heaven so they can see what God has in store and then take them down to the ground so they can see what work is to be done."

-- The Rev. Calvin Butts III, pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, speaking at the recent annual Pastoral and Evangelism Council, sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala. He was quoted by The Huntsville Times.

Hatemongers Need Not Apply

Quote of the Day: British Prime Minister Tony Blair

"Our tolerance is part of what makes Britain, Britain. So conform to it -- or don't come here. We don't want the hatemongers, whatever their race, religion or creed."

-- British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking in London on Friday (Dec. 8). He was quoted by The Associated Press.

Today's Favorite Headline

Oy vey. The ever-on-top-of-things David Van Biema at Time Magazine has it here.

Oaths of Office and the Quran

Ellison Won't Be First Politician to Forgo Bible in Taking Oath of Office

RNS's Omar Sacirbey looks at the controversy surrounding newly elected representative Keith Ellison's decision to take his oath of office on the Quran, the holy book of his Mulsim faith, in this week's full-text article, linked above.

Quote:

Many say prohibiting Ellison from taking his oath on the Quran would violate the constitutional provision that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

Identity Lost

Quote of the Day: Former Nun Mary Dispenza

"Everything that I knew, all my identity, was wrapped up in the church in one way or another. I was just lost. I felt we both lost: the church lost me and I lost the church. And we both had invested a lot in each other for all those years."

-- Mary Dispenza, 67, a former nun who expects to receive $1.33 million of the $60 million settlement by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in a class action suit involving clergy sex abuse. Quoted by the Associated Press, Dispenza said she is haunted by the memory of being molested by a pedophile priest as a young girl.