Religious Faith - period ended 10.1.2006

Religious Faith/Non-Violence/Peace/Weinacht, Alan/Greenleaf wants homeowners to arm themselves/KTVB/Greenleaf/ID/USA/20-Sep-06//... Not everyone in town is in favor of the plan. Quakers founded this city a century ago.

“Historically, we're one of the peace churches," said Friends of Greenleaf Church Pastor Alan Weinacht.

Pastor Alan Weinacht says this ordinance goes too far.

"I'm not going to support that. I think that is falling into that culture of fear, and I'm not going to support that. I'm not going to encourage it. I think that's stepping over a line. It's where we don't need to go," said Weinacht.

Weinacht isn't opposed to owning a gun. He has a few himself but says the city has no business encouraging the use of firearms under any circumstance.

"If we would invest as much time into thinking about creative non-violent responses to violence as we did violent responses, we'd probably gain some ground," said Weinacht.

He sees this proposal could too easily be seen as a call to arms or the development of a city-created militia.

"I think the burden is upon city council to prove this is not what this is about, because it sure sounds like it," said Weinacht.

"Greenleaf isn't about being a vigilante, it's probably the exact opposite. It's a peaceful, small community and quality of life is very, very important to the people that are here," said Holton. . ...

Religious Faith/Stewardship/Whitesel, Sue/Indy congregations feel financial squeeze/Indianapolis Star/Indianapolis/IN/USA/26-Sep-06//... The Rev. Sue Whitesel, meanwhile, said talking about giving with her Quaker congregation at the Mooresville Friends Church is not always easy. But she said the Lake institute has been teaching her much about the subject.
"If you look at the long term and what God has given you and what God has blessed you with," she said, "then you give out of abundance and not out of feeling that you have to.". ...

Religious Faith/Religious Diversity/That of God in Everyone/Religious leaders discuss differences/Brownsville Herald/Brownsville/TX/USA/20-Sep-06//...
Airlie Sattler Rose, a Quaker representative, made sure to explain that while she spoke about Quaker practices, she did not speak for the religion.

“The unified principal of Quakerism is that there is God in each person,” Rose said. “Generally, we just feel like God gives us the same teachers over and over again and tries to reinforce those teachings.”. ...

Religious Faith/Religious Diversity/Racism/Knipp, Chuck/SPLC: Cross-dressing, blackface comedian no laughing matter/Montgomery Advertiser/Montgomery/AL/USA/30-Sep-06//..Knipp, too, denies he's racist and said his comedy is meant to assuage racial tension. His act is controversial, he said, because he performs in "blackface," a style that for many people evokes bad memories of America's segregated past.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Knipp confirmed he supports the American Civil Liberties Union and said he is an ordained minister in the Quaker Universalist Fellowship, which he said supports the SPLC's "teaching tolerance" program to promote racial understanding in schools. ...

Religious Faith/Religious Diversity/Prayer//Faith Matters: Stop accusing, start praying/Greensboro News Record/Greensboro/NC/USA/1-Oct-06//... Ever ask yourself why a Baptist isn'ta Presbyterian, or a Methodist a Pentecostal? Why isn'ta Catholic a Greek Orthodox, or a Mormon a Quaker? ...

Religious Faith/Quaker History/Steeple House/Fox, George/A house of awe and dread/Telegraph.co.uk/London/England/UK/15-Sep-06//... Naturally, attachment to human traditions – to armorial hatchments, regimental banners, even to bells and flower arrangements – can engender Pharisaism, that is, love of externals while the heart remains corrupt. Disgust with such Pharisaism drove hot prophets such as the 17th-century Quaker George Fox to despise church buildings as "steeple houses".

But the Church is not unaware of the danger, and reconciles the dead stones of the church building and the living stones of the Christians who make up its people. One of the prayers for the anniversary of the dedication of a church says: "Here you build the spiritual temple which we are."

Each Christian is a living stone, a portable temple of the Holy Spirit. It is at church that they build up the Body of Christ which they mystically constitute. Analogically the altar is Jesus's body too, which is why people bow to it, and the priest kisses it as he approaches to celebrate the Eucharist.. ...

Religious Faith/Mullen, Phil//Pastor will offer gently humorous look at Quakers/Palladium-Item/Richmond/IN/USA/30-Sep-06//Mullen, a Quaker minister and part-time instructor at Earlham College, will offer a gently humorous look at 19th century Quakers and discuss efforts to ...

Religious Diversity/Mental Health`//Zionist Leader, Children Reunited in Death/Los Angeles Times/Los Angeles/CA/USA/21-Sep-06//... Hans veered among religious beliefs, becoming a Baptist in 1924, then a Catholic, Unitarian and Quaker, according to an Israeli news account in 2000. ...