Religious Faith - period ended 1.1.2006

Religious Faith/Religious Diversity/Inclusion/Ramallah/Looking for Christmas cheer?/Jerusalem Post/Jerusalem/Israel/M.E./23-Dec-05//…If you're one of the 30,000 Christians expected in Bethlehem this year - compared to 18,000 in 2004 - activities begin at the Tomb of Rachel at 1 p.m. on December 24, when His Beatitude Michele Sabah, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem (as well as representatives of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahua) proceed to Manger Square surrounded by a big fancy parade via Shepherd's Field.

At 10 p.m. the doors of St. Catherine's open for the 700 lucky ticket holders - out of the 4,000 who requested them - to enter for midnight mass.

If you are not able to enter Bethlehem, try Ramallah, where Quakers landed in 1868. This year you'll find a Quaker service in which congregants practice a non-formal service of song and an exchange of gifts. There are no outward signs or symbols or trees, just a few candles.

At 10:30 a.m. on Christmas day, the Quakers hold a period of silence and an inclusive workshop in which anyone who feels the spirit has moved him is invited to recite a hymn or prayer. ….

Religious Faith/Nudism///12/20: Morning Communique/Minneapolis City Pages/Minneapolis/MN/USA/20-Dec-05//... After two years of Biblical debate over whether or not nudity is sinful, a 67-year-old Quaker grandfather is preparing to open a Christian nudist camp 40 miles ...

Religious Faith/Nudism///Good nudes bible/Local Government International Bureau/London/England/UK/20-Dec-05//... The $2 million complex – complete with a hotel, campsite and children’s water park – is the brainchild of 67 year old Quaker Bill Martin. ...

Religious Faith/Nudism///Christian nudist camp 'soon'/NEWS.com.au/Melbourne/Australia/Oceania/18-Dec-05//... After two years of biblical debate over Adam and Eve and their fig leaves and whether or not nudity is sinful, a 67-year-old Quaker grandfather is preparing to ...

Religious Faith/Nudism///Christians strip to build a new Eden/The Sunday Times/London/England/UK/17-Dec-05//After two years of biblical debate over Adam and Eve and their fig leaves and whether or not nudity is sinful, a 67-year-old Quaker grandfather is preparing to ...

Religious Faith/Civil Rights//Loyalty oath law trips councilman/Carlisle Sentinel/Carlisle/PA/USA/17-Dec-05//….However, Solicitor Stephen Kime told council that the oath must be signed in order for Massey to be sworn in next month.

The scenario being played out in Stoneboro via an Associated Press story is totally objectionable. The loyalty oath alluded to is straight out of the rabid crusade against communism led by U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s.

But during that era, a state Labor & Industry report indicates Gov. John Sydney Fine — a McCarthy fan — hopped on the anti-Communist bandwagon with a vengeance by putting measures into effect that drew dangerously close to infringing on civil liberties.

In 1951, the then-governor banned communism in this state. On March 3, 1952, the history report says he led 32,000 state employees in reciting a loyalty oath to state government.

This was noted as being totally opposite to a stance in which state founder William Penn, a Quaker, refused to swear any oaths. And in 1952, some Quaker teachers were fired for refusing to take the oath along with eight doctors and nurses at Philadelphia General Hospital.

Unfortunately, the state Supreme Court upheld the loyalty oath law in 1954. However, a federal court declared a similar oath unconstitutional in 1969. And Kane is reported to have “simply voided the anti-Communist oath law” in 1975.

So what’s the deal in Stoneboro?

We can’t begin to imagine.

The AP report out of that community just goes to show how bad laws — even when rescinded — sometimes have a life of their own... into the future. …..

Religious Faith/Civil Rights//Times-Dispatch Accepts Ad; Publisher Apologizes/Style Weekly/Richmond/VA/USA/21-Dec-05//…. It’s fine to declare in a Richmond Times-Dispatch personal ad that you’re looking for a “spiritual man who puts God first,” or that you love “lobster and church,” as two recent examples said. But what about help-wanted ads? The T-D recently told David A. Crisp, senior pastor of Hanover Evangelical Friends Church, that he wasn’t allowed to use the phrase “Jesus-loving” in a help-wanted ad, even though it was seeking a worship-service accompanist. Crisp says it’s another egregious example of a world “where you can say almost anything you want to, as long as you don’t talk about the Lord.” Crisp’s secretary sent this ad copy to the T-D Dec. 5: “Vibrant growing Jesus-loving congregation looking to hire a talented pianist/organist for Sunday morning worship services and evening choir practices. Pray about it, then send your resume to ....” ......A newspaper employee then called Crisp, telling him the ad would not be published unless the phrases “Jesus-loving”and “Pray about it” were removed. Crisp says he asked to speak to a supervisor, who said the same thing. A few hours later the supervisor called back, Crisp says, and told him that Media General’s attorney had affirmed her decision.

“What blows my mind,” Crisp wrote in an e-mail he sent to friends, “is this: This paper prints so-called ‘personal’ ads where people can openly advertise that they are looking for homosexual sex or adulterous relationships. ... but according to them I can’t describe our church as ‘Jesus-loving.’ That just doesn’t make much sense to me!”

Crisp sent the e-mail, describing the incident, to about 150 people in his address book Dec. 6, with an invitation to forward the message along. Within 48 hours, he says, he’d received responses from as far away as Hong Kong, India and the Netherlands. Christian radio stations and the Christian Broadcasting Network took notice too.

Six days later, Times-Dispatch publisher Tom Silvestri called Crisp to apologize for the paper’s initial decision. Silvestri said the classified staff and the attorney had interpreted company policy too narrowly, Crisp relates. Apparently, T-D lawyers thought the ad violated the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. The newspaper offered to run the ad at no cost. “He has been very gracious,” Crisp says of Silvestri.

As of last week, the ad appeared in its entirety in the newspaper’s classifieds, with one word added to the beginning: “Vibrant growing happy Jesus-loving congregation in Mechanicsville ….”

Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, thought the incident was an interesting one. In saying “Jesus-loving,” he points out, “they’re simply describing the church. … The Times-Dispatch definitely overreacted.”

A spokeswoman referred to an e-mail Silvestri sent Dec. 14, in which he wrote, “We don’t always score 100 percent with the many decisions we make at the RTD. Our folks were well intentioned in making a cautious decision in a litigious society, but upon further review there was nothing wrong with the ad.”

The flap over the ad is a testament that “the name of Jesus is a powerful name,” Crisp says. There’s nothing wrong with free religious expression, he says, “as long as that freedom is extended to those of us who want to worship the Lord.” — Melissa Scott Sinclair ….

Religious Faith/Arts/Radio/Raines, George and Lisa/Celebrating its 20th Year: KKLA-FM’s Evangelical Voice Has Grown .../WDC Media News/Los Angeles/CA/USA/27-Dec-05//… "If you listen to [National] Public Radio and you listen to Christian radio, that’s the two ends of the spectrum," said Los Angeles trial lawyer Carol Vallely, who tries to catch Alistair Begg’s "Truth for Life" sermons during her morning commute because "he is a great preacher" and because starting the day with the program "gives you a foundation and a daily reminder of how life should be lived."

Loyal listener George Raines and his wife, Lisa, real estate brokers, said they keep their radio tuned to the station, whether they are on the road or working at home. They are members of Yorba Linda Friends Church, an evangelical Quaker church.

"I like it because it is provocative intellectually," said George Raines, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary.

"I am a big fan of Frank Pastore," Lisa Raines said. ….

Religious Faith/Arts/Radio/Raines, George and Lisa/KKLA-FM's Evangelical Voice Has Grown Louder/Los Angeles Times/Los Angeles/CA/USA/27-Dec-05//… "If you listen to [National] Public Radio and you listen to Christian radio, that’s the two ends of the spectrum," said Los Angeles trial lawyer Carol Vallely, who tries to catch Alistair Begg’s "Truth for Life" sermons during her morning commute because "he is a great preacher" and because starting the day with the program "gives you a foundation and a daily reminder of how life should be lived."

Loyal listener George Raines and his wife, Lisa, real estate brokers, said they keep their radio tuned to the station, whether they are on the road or working at home. They are members of Yorba Linda Friends Church, an evangelical Quaker church.

"I like it because it is provocative intellectually," said George Raines, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary.

"I am a big fan of Frank Pastore," Lisa Raines said. ….