2008 Archives
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Spirituality plays significant part in children’s happiness
Posted: 4/25/08
Spirituality plays significant
part in children’s happinessBy Ron Csillag
Religion News Service
TORONTO (RNS)—Spirituality contributes significantly to a child’s overall happiness—even more so than for adults, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia.
The study tested 315 children ages 9 to 12, measuring spirituality and other factors such as temperament and social relations that can affect an individual’s sense of happiness.
Erin Oquindo sorts donations at a Nashville-area drop point for Shoes for Orphan Souls, a ministry of Buckner International, for which the Vacation Bible School at her church in Franklin, Tenn., raised 261 pairs of shoes and 605 pairs of socks. When Erin turned 10 and invited friends to her birthday party, she told them she didn’t want gifts for herself, but asked them to bring shoes and socks to donate to Shoes for Orphan Souls. A recent study shows spirituality in children such as Erin contributes to their overall happiness. (BP photoRobin Oquindo) 04/24/2008 - By John Rutledge
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2nd Opinion: Facing fears & global warming
Posted: 4/25/08
2nd Opinion: Facing fears & global warming
With all of the pending disasters blamed on global warming blasting their way through the media, I can understand why many might fear the future climate. We are told emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), are destroying not only polar bears and petunias, but the planet as a whole. If we don’t “stop global warming,” The End will surely come.
I am a climate scientist. My research and that of many others does not lead me to be afraid for the climate’s future. However, I am fearful for other reasons:
• I fear for my science. The truth is, our climate system is so complex that we cannot predict its state even into next month. Nonetheless, I see high-profile individuals (usually untrained in science) making claims with unwavering confidence about the climate’s trajectory and a looming catastrophe.
I do not see the humility this science demands. In fact, I suspect an anthropologist, isolated from the media, would observe this global-warming fervor as a religion complete with anointed authority figures, sacred documents, creeds, sins requiring absolution, castigation of heretics and even an apocalypse.
04/24/2008 - By John Rutledge
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DOWN HOME: A lesson learned while pulling weeds
Posted: 4/25/08
DOWN HOME:
A lesson learned while pulling weedsEvery once in awhile, I stare face-to-face into the reality I have become someone very different than the little boy I used to be.
Of course, I’m still me. Yet the line of continuity between the boy I was and the man I am somehow unraveled along the way. I think it happened out in the yard.
When I was a kid, if you’d given me the option between pulling weeds or getting spanked by Daddy every day for a week, I would’ve bent over and grabbed my ankles.
Back then, Baptists believed in spanking. Unfortunately, I got my share, probably because I was the oldest child. Oh, yeah, and probably because I had ’em coming. (However, I developed a theory that corporal punishment related proportionally to birth order. Maybe parents became more permissive with each new child. Or maybe their arms just wore out.)
04/24/2008 - By John Rutledge
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EDITORIAL: Reversal builds case for moratorium
Posted: 4/25/08
EDITORIAL:
Reversal builds case for moratoriumIronically, Thomas Clifford McGowan Jr. became a free man the same day the U.S. Supreme Court freed states to resume executions.
McGowan’s case illustrates why Texas and other states should maintain a moratorium on capital punishment.
McGowan was a 26-year-old day laborer in 1985, when a 19-year-old rape victim picked his picture out of a police lineup. Tentative at first, when pressed for a decision by a police officer, the young woman said McGowan was the man who raped her.
So, McGowan went to prison for more than 22 years—almost half his life. This spring, DNA tests proved McGowan did not commit the crime. Judge Susan Hawk recommended McGowan go free, and he’s out of jail while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals considers Hawk’s decision. He became the 16th Dallas County inmate to be exonorated by DNA tests during the past seven years.
04/24/2008 - By John Rutledge
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Faith Digest: Bible tops America’s bookshelf
Posted: 4/25/08
Faith Digest:
Bible tops America’s bookshelfThe Bible is the favorite book of all time for American adults, regardless of demographic group, according to a new 2008 Harris Interactive Poll. Researchers said it’s rare to find such consensus among Americans, regardless of gender, education level, geographic location, race, ethnicity or age. Yet, more than 2,500 Americans who responded to an online poll agreed the Bible is their No. 1 favorite book. The poll also found political affiliation did not affect reading preference. Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike agreed on the Bible and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind as their top two favorite books. Other top five choices were Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and The Stand by Stephen King. Rounding out the top ten were The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
Former bishop elected Paraguay president. A former Roman Catholic bishop was elected president of Paraguay after being criticized by his church for running for the office. Fernando Lugo, 56, defeated the Colorado Party, which had reigned in the country 62 years. The Vatican opposes clergy members holding political office and had demanded that Lugo halt his political pursuits. Lugo said he resigned from the church and no longer must follow its laws. His five-year term begins Aug. 15.
04/24/2008 - By John Rutledge
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Scholars cast critical eye on Graham’s legacy
Posted: 4/25/08
Scholars cast critical eye on Graham’s legacy
By Cecile S. Holmes
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Ecumenist, prophet, peacemaker. Friend of presidents and queens. Evangelical powerbroker who was sometimes too closely tied to politicians. Each description applies to Billy Graham.
An official 1991 biography by William Martin called America’s foremost evangelist a Prophet With Honor. The editors of a new book largely agree, but not without casting a more critical eye on Graham’s remarkable career.
“He has maintained for six decades the same message, the same seemingly untroubled convictions, the same unblemished ethical record. In an age of anxiety, he calms the national soul.”
–Thomas G. Long,
Professor at Emory’s Candler School of Theology04/24/2008 - By John Rutledge
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Mission Lubbock fights hunger, delivers hope
Posted: 4/25/08
Mission Lubbock fights
hunger, delivers hopeBy Kaitlin Chapman
Texas Baptist Communications
UBBOCK—When people think of Lubbock, they think of unending cotton fields, hearty dust storms, flat plains and Texas Tech football. Few think of people like Cheryl Tannery.
Tannery, who raised three boys as a single mom, is just one of thousands of people in the Lubbock area who have been stricken by poverty and experienced hunger firsthand. But Mission Lubbock has stepped in to help rebuild the lives of people in need by providing food, clothing and furniture and showing hope that only can come from Christ.
Cheryl Tannery checks a list as she makes a food box for a family seeking assistance at Mission Lubbock. Tannery, who has received assistance from Mission Lubbock herself, chose to give back to the mission by volunteering two days a week since last October. (Photo/Kaitlin Chapman) 04/24/2008 - By John Rutledge
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