Faith-based initiatives possibly challenged; 10 minutes with James Hudnut-Beumler; Jesus' tomb; Purim alcoholism

The Supreme Court is weighing a challenge to faith-based initiatives, reports Adelle M. Banks in Wednesday's RNS report: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on a technical aspect of church-state law that is being closely watched for its potential implications on how government and religious organizations relate to one another. The arguments mark the first time the high court will consider a case challenging the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. But the justices' task is to determine whether the taxpayers bringing that challenge -- staffers of the Freedom From Religion Foundation -- have the right to file the suit, not the merits of the program itself.

G. Jeffrey MacDonald spent 10 minutes with...James Hudnut-Beumler, dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, about his new book, "In Pursuit of the Almighty's Dollar: A History of Money and American Protestantism," and churches' intimate and often uncomfortable relationship with money.

James Martin asks, "Does Jesus' `Tomb' Mean the End of Faith?": For many years I've wondered about the following scenario: What if an archeologist turned up the bones of Jesus and had some decent proof? And what if they were found in such a way that it was hard to deny the claims? That would really shake things up in the Christian world. After all, Christian faith is based on the belief that Jesus rose from the dead. As St. Paul says in his First Letter to the Corinthians, "If Christ is not risen ... then your faith is in vain." So, to be honest, the news of the new book, "The Jesus Family Tomb," startled me. It contains several such tantalizing discoveries, including an ossuary marked "Jesus, son of Joseph." But, in the end, the Discovery Channel's discovery may not be that much of a revelation.

Orthodox Jews confront alcohol abuse during Purim, writes Michele Chabin from Jerusalem: As the director of an organization that helps teens at high risk for self-destructive behavior, Caryn Green never has a stress-free day. Still, some are harder than others, and Green is expecting the daylong holiday of Purim -- which begins Saturday (March 3) night in the U.S. and Sunday night in Jerusalem -- to be one of them. "Purim is a time when, according to Jewish tradition, it's OK to drink till you're oblivious," said Green, a transplanted Texan. She isn't the only one concerned with the general surge of drug and alcohol use among Orthodox Jews, a community that once saw itself as almost immune to these problems. "There has always been the belief that Jews drink less than members of other communities, and although historically this may be true, we still have a problem," said Rabbi Tzvi Weinreb, executive vice president of the New York-based Orthodox Union.

Oscar Winner Jennifer Hudson

Quote of the Day: Oscar Winner Jennifer Hudson

"Oh my God, I have to just take this moment in. I cannot believe this. Look what God can do. I didn't think I was going to win."

-- Jennifer Hudson, reacting to her Oscar win for best supporting actress in "Dreamgirls" on Sunday (Feb. 25) in Los Angeles. The "American Idol" finalist was quoted by The Associated Press.

Lenten Fish Snacker

Quote of the Day: A KFC Press Release

"KFC's new Fish Snacker Sandwich, a tender, flaky filet of 100 percent Alaskan Pollack topped with tangy tartar sauce and served on a warm sesame bun, extends KFC's popular Snacker line-up and is ideal for American Catholics who want to observe Lenten season traditions while still leading their busy, modern lives."

-- KFC (the chain formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken) in a Feb. 21 press release promoting their new fish sandwich. KFC President Gregg Dedrick has sent a letter to the Vatican asking Pope Benedict XVI for his blessing.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Sunday celebrations; Wilberforce combats modern slavery

In Monday's RNS report, Katherine Boyle talks to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who has been called an "infidel," and doesn't mind a bit: Controversial author and Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not afraid to say what she thinks. But, after receiving a number of death threats, the slender, soft-spoken Somali native decided to travel with two bodyguards, just in case. The men stand outside the door as Hirsi Ali discusses her recently released book, "Infidel," which details her escape from an arranged marriage in Somalia, election to the Dutch Parliament and her women's rights advocacy. Hirsi Ali's criticism of Islam in public statements and in the autobiography has caused many devout Muslims to condemn her, making the bodyguards a necessity. "People kept telling me, `You're an infidel, you're an infidel, you're an infidel,"' Hirsi Ali says. "Yes, I'm an infidel, and I'm proud of it."

Boyle also reviews a new book that explores sports, Sabbath and shopping on Sunday: Sunday celebrations vary greatly across America -- although, for some, church services and sporting events are observed with nearly equal fervor. Author and Brigham Young University professor Craig Harline explores the origins and current state of the first day of the week in his new book, "Sunday: A History of the First Day from Babylonia to the Superbowl," which will be released in March. "The topic resonated with me right away," Harline says. "There's a constant debate, implicit and explicit, on whether (people are) to rest (on Sunday) or whether that rest includes play."

Nancy Haught looks at groups that are using a new film about Wilberforce to combat modern slavery: Slavery is not dead, and neither is the campaign to kill it. A new generation of abolitionists hopes that a sweeping historical epic now in theaters will help boost their ranks. The movie "Amazing Grace" has inspired The Amazing Change (http://www.theamazingchange.com), a global campaign that unites several abolitionist groups, including the International Justice Mission (http://www.ijm.org) and Free the Slaves (http://www.freetheslaves.net). One of their biggest hurdles, abolitionists say, is overcoming the general notion that slavery no longer exists.

Gesundheit!

John Allen, the widely respected Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, takes his British colleagues to task for a story that got some notice earlier this week.

Seems that The Times of London reported --erroneously, Allen says -- that an Anglican-Catholic ecumenical commission was close to saying that Anglicans would soon answer to Rome and the pope. Before the ink had dried on the page, the commission put out a statement saying the Times report was wildly inaccurate.

What Allen is saying -- and mincing no words while he's at it -- is that this is not unusual for the tabloid culture of the British press. It's not only irresponsible, he says, but dangerous. "when the British press sneezes, the rest of us catch cold," Allen writes.

Spiritual tours; Padre Pio bread

In Friday's RNS report, Mary Radigan looks at how companies are responding to the increased interest in spiritual tours: Tom and Geri Kartes are about to become pilgrims. They plan to take a lot of photos and record the experience when they go on a faith-based trip to Italy and Bosnia in May. The Grand Rapids couple will visit the Vatican, as well as religious sites in Monte Ste. Angelo, Loreto and Lanciano. In Bosnia, the city of Medjugorje holds a place where the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to children every day since 1981. Their goal is to join a growing niche in the travel industry by developing programs and trips for those interested in religious-themed tours and vacations. Launching their own business, they want to jump onto the growing interest in faith-based excursions.

Suzanne Popadin reports on bread with heavenly credentials: A chain letter. Yes. A chain e-mail. Sure. But chain bread? This most unlikely pass-along commodity is said to have begun in an equally unlikely place -- the Vatican. But while it may be unlikely, it's probably lucky. If you're going to eat something that's been kicking around for a long time, a celestial component can only be a good thing. The foodstuff in question is called The Holy Bread of Padre Pio. Once given, the rules say, it can't be refused, and participation is a once-in-a-lifetime undertaking. It is said to bring good luck to those who eat it.

Mitt Romney's Damascus Moment

The folks over at Get Religion have been chatting about Peggy Fletcher Stack's article about Mitt Romney's political evolution -- from sounding like a liberal Mormon to sounding like a born-again Southern Baptist.

Bishop Stands Up for All Church Members

Quote of the Day: Episcopal Bishop Steven Charleston

"This church is either open to all, or it is closed to the Spirit. We either stand for what we know is just and embrace our (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) members, or we stand aside as justice is denied. There is no easy way out of this choice. There is only a gospel way forward."

-- Bishop Steven Charleston, president of Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., reacting to Anglican demands that the Episcopal Church stop blessing same-sex unions and allowing gay bishops. His letter to the Episcopal seminary was posted on the blog www.dailyepiscopalian.com.

10 Minutes With ... Edward Gilbreath

Bruce Tomaso over at the Dallas Morning News has linked to Adelle M. Bank's interview with Edward Gilbreath of Christianity Today on why evangelicals seem to have such a hard time with race relations.

Jews vs. Mormons on the Iraq War

Gallup has some new interesting numbers on the Iraq War -- more specifically, if you're Jewish, you're probably against it. If you're Mormon, you're probably for it:

Among Religious Groups, Jewish Americans Most Strongly Oppose War

by Jeffrey M. Jones
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- An analysis of Gallup Poll data collected since the beginning of 2005 finds that among the major religious groups in the United States, Jewish Americans are the most strongly opposed to the Iraq war. Catholics and Protestants are more or less divided in their views on the war, while Mormons are the most likely to favor it. Those with no religious affiliation also oppose the war, but not to the same extent that Jewish people do.

The greater opposition to the war is not simply a result of high Democratic identification among U.S. Jews, as Jews of all political persuasions are more likely to oppose the war than non-Jews
who share the same political leanings.

For this analysis, Gallup combined 13 surveys from the last two-plus years that measured both support for the Iraq war (using Gallup's "mistake for the U.S. to send troops to Iraq" question) and respondent religious affiliation, for a combined sample of more than 12,000 interviews.

Across the time period these 13 surveys covered, an average of 52% of Americans opposed the war by saying the United States made a mistake to invade Iraq, and 46% favored the war by saying it did not make a mistake.

The table shows how Iraq war support breaks down among the religious groups for which there are sufficiently large sample sizes to provide stable estimates.

United States Made a Mistake in Sending Troops to Iraq, by Religious Affiliation, 2005-2007 Gallup Polls

Religious Preference / War a mistake (%) / War not a mistake (%)

All Americans 52/46
Protestants 48/49
Non-black Protestants 43/55
Black Protestants 78/18
Catholics 53/46
Jews 77/21
Mormons 27/72
No religion 66/33

Of these major religious groups, three show more opposition than support for the war:

• Jewish people oppose the Iraq war by a better than 3-to-1 margin, 77% to 21%.
• Americans without a religious preference are twice as likely to oppose (66%) as to support (33%) the war.
• Catholics are somewhat more likely to oppose (53%) than to support the war (46%).
• On the other hand, Mormons and Protestants show more support than opposition to the war. Mormons are strongly in favor, as just 27% term the war "a mistake."
• Overall, Protestants are divided, with 48% opposed and 49% in favor. But black Protestants and non-black Protestants diverge in their views. Black Protestants -- who are overwhelmingly Democratic -- show strong opposition to the war, while among non-black Protestants, support for the Iraq war surpasses the majority level (55% say the war was not a mistake).

Leaving a Mark

Quote of the Day: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans

"The glitter of Mardi Gras has been washed away for another year, and the smudge of ash will be gone tomorrow. But the mark that Katrina has made on our hearts and minds is harder to remove."

-- From an Ash Wednesday editorial published Wednesday (Feb. 21) in The Times-Picayune newspaper of New Orleans.

Freedom From Religion; Snooping ministry; a new book from Robert M. Franklin; Icon artist prays and paints

Thursday's RNS report features a report by National Correspondent Adelle M. Banks on the challenge to faith-based programs going before the Supreme Court: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case next week (Feb. 28) on a technical aspect of church-state law that is being closely watched for its potential implications on how government and religious organizations relate to one another. The arguments mark the first time the high court will consider a case challenging the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. But the justices' task is to determine whether the taxpayers bringing that challenge -- staffers of the Freedom From Religion Foundation -- have the right to file the suit. "The case seems very technical in nature but it could end up impacting real substantive rights that people expect and have come to enjoy over decades," said Melissa Rogers, a visiting professor of religion and public policy at Wake Forest University Divinity School.

Daniel Burke reports on a company for whom snooping is a ministry: It's not snooping, say the folks at Oxford Document Management Company, it's ministry. What they do -- checking the reputations of candidates for ministry, as well as their financial and criminal histories -- is a service to God. And the churches are lining up. With just three full-time employees, Oxford Document Management Company provides the background checks for 90 Episcopal dioceses, 13 United Methodist regional conferences, six Catholic dioceses, scores of Lutheran Synods, the Unitarian Universalist Association and a host of other national denominations. After 16 years in the business, the company has established itself as the go-to firm for church background checks. And in an age of million-dollar embezzlements and costly sex-abuse scandals, its services are more important than ever.

Churches must combat crisis in black America, says author Robert M. Franklin. Adelle M. Banks takes a look at his new book: Black churches need to work together on specific problems facing African-American communities in order to address the "unfinished business" of helping people in need, argues the author of a new book on the subject. Robert M. Franklin, author of "Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities," said churches are among the institutions that should combat gaps in education, income and health between blacks and whites. "This is a call to action ... for churches and other houses of worship," said Franklin, a professor of social ethics at Emory University in Atlanta, whose book was published by Fortress Press. "You could use your moral authority more effectively by taking on the tough and persistent problems that plague our children and young people."

Fran Henry talks to an artist who paints icons, and gets closer to God in the process: Self-expression never entered into Chris Rigby's decision to learn to paint "windows to the divine," as she sees icons. She is a Roman Catholic, and says icons inspired her to better understand her Christian faith: "I write the icon, and the icon writes me. It teaches me. It changes me." Following iconography tradition, she prays while she paints, "humanly prayers, full of worries and the human experience. ... Something in the prayer will come through in the icon." She hopes they help those who see them connect with God.

Romney Evolves from Left to Right

Romney Once Tilted Left, Now Right, of Official Mormon Teaching

RNS' Peggy Fletcher Stack examines the shift in presidential candidate Mitt Romney's positions from liberal Mormonism to a more conservative, evangelical stance, in this week's full-text article, linked above.

Quote:

These days, Romney talks like a Southern Baptist.

Jesus is his "personal savior," Romney told a South Carolina newspaper recently. He's recently awakened to how Roe v. Wade has "cheapened the value of human life." And that includes stem-cell research.

Episcopal fasting on gay issues; 10 minutes with Edward Gilbreath; Kissling steps aside; Gay Jews and Purim

In Wednesday's RNS report, Katherine Boyle writes that the leader of the Episcopal Church is urging "fasting" on gay issues: Responding to a mandate from the worldwide Anglican Communion, the top leader of the Episcopal Church has called for a moratorium on the blessing of same-sex civil unions and the consecration of gay and lesbian bishops. But it is unclear whether Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori intends for the moratorium -- which she describes as "a season of fasting" -- to be a permanent or temporary measure. Some conservatives say Jefferts Schori's statement does not go far enough, noting that Anglican leaders who met last week in Tanzania did not ask for merely a temporary ban. "The Episcopal Church has turned playing with words into a high art form," said the Rev. Kendall Harmon, a prominent conservative leader from South Carolina.

Adelle M. Banks spent 10 Minutes With ... Edward Gilbreath, during which she talked to the author of "Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity," about being one of the few blacks in his evangelical circles.

After 25 years, an abortion warrior steps aside, reports Daniel Burke: For a quarter-century, Frances Kissling has been poking a stick in the eye of the Catholic hierarchy. Whether arguing for abortion rights, trying to get the Vatican kicked out of the U.N., or hurling zingers at conservative Catholic activists, the 62-year-old has always attracted attention -- some good, some bad. But after 25 years in the limelight, Kissling will retire Feb. 28 and turn over the reins at Catholics For a Free Choice to a new generation of leaders. As she prepares for a new career in writing and teaching, Kissling talks about abortion, the state of progressive religious causes and what it means to be a Catholic.

Nicole Neroulias writes about gay Jews who see a coming-out story in Purim's Esther: As a child, Idit Klein celebrated Purim by wearing homemade gowns and tiaras to play the beautiful Queen Esther. She fantasized about how she, like the heroine who dangerously revealed her faith to save ancient Persia's condemned Jews, could have somehow become royalty and rescued her relatives from the Holocaust. Thirty years later, Klein compares Esther's fearful revelation of her religious beliefs to the experience of coming out of the closet. " Purim is really a quintessential coming-out story," she said. "When I came out, I immediately felt the parallels between the experience and the Esther story." Some, including Klein, would like to see Purim become a "National Jewish Coming Out Day."

Clipping the Hedges ...

Bruce Tomaso, our friend over at the Dallas Morning News, has sparked some chatter by posting Ron Csillag's Q&A with Chris Hedges, the author of "American Fascists."

Big Hats, First Ladies and Co-Pastors

In Black Churches, Pastors' Wives Take on New Roles

RNS' Adelle M. Banks looks at the expanding role of pastor's wives in black churches, in this week's full-text RNS article, linked above.

Quote:

"The role is changing -- no longer sitting in the front row with a big hat, but getting involved," [Pastor June] Robinson, a "30-something" woman who also serves as the church's financial director, said in an interview after a recent service. "We do have a position of influence and a voice and I believe God expects us to use our position and our voice to influence the next generation."

Calling All Rabbis

As German Jews Rebuild, Rabbis Are in Short Supply

Niels C. Sorrells reports on the rebuilding of the Jewish population in Germany, and a resultant shortage of rabbis, in this week's full-text RNS article, linked above.

Quote:

Many of Germany's revived Jewish communities are strong enough to stand on their own, says Walter Homolka, rector of the Abraham Geiger College in Potsdam and Berlin. But those communities need leaders, which means not only training rabbis, but training rabbis who will, in turn, inspire others to follow in their steps some day.

Leaving a Legacy

Quote of the Day: Centenarian's Great-Nephew John Stewart Jr.

"She has served the good Lord, she has served the church, she has served us. What better legacy can she leave?"

-- John Stewart Jr., a great-nephew of the late Emma Faust Tillman, who died Jan. 28 at age 114 in East Hartford, Conn., and was at that time the oldest person in the world. He was quoted by The New York Times. Known as the "mother" of the Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in Hartford, she was a choir member for more than seven decades.

Haggards Says He's "Completely Heterosexual"

Our friend Eric Gorski out at the Denver Post reports on the whereabouts of Ted Haggard, the disgraced former megachurch pastor and president of the National Association of Evangelicals who resigned after a male prostitute revealed on ongoing sexual -- and possibly drug-fueled -- relationship.

The highlights, according to Gorski:

-- Haggard spent three weeks at an Arizona treatment center and emerged "completely heterosexual" with his marriage intact. ("It wasn't a constant thing," a friend says)

-- Haggard and his wife, Gayle, plan to leave Colorado Springs ("It's like an open wound. He needs to get somewhere he can get the wound healed") and possibly relocate to Iowa or Missouri.

-- The Haggards also plan to pursue online master's degrees in psychology.


DenverPost.com - Haggard says he's not gay

Bush and the Methodists

Proposed Bush Library Divides U.S. Methodists

RNS' G. Jeffrey MacDonald reports on the division among United Methodists on the proposed location of a George W. Bush presidential library and policy institute at Southern Methodist University, in this week's full-text article, linked above.

Quote:

"Some of us don't believe that starting a pre-emptive war against anybody, especially a country that had no role in 9/11, is on our list of religious values," said William McElvaney, an emeritus professor of preaching and worship at SMU's Perkins School of Theology. "Relaxation of the Geneva Conventions (codes for treatment of war prisoners) and torture ... are not on our list of Christian virtues."

Supporters of the proposed Bush library and policy center don't want to sacrifice what they regard as a paramount Methodist virtue: tolerance for different ways of living out the faith.