Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave Baghdad
By Tim Cocks and Muhanad Mohammed. Reuters. Iraqi soldiers stand at attention during the transfer ceremony of Baghdad's old defence ministry building Reuters - Iraqi soldiers stand at attention during the transfer ceremony of Baghdad's old defence ministry... MORE
Religion and Health Care Reform
BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: As President Obama pushed health care reform a coalition of religious leaders joined the effort with a rally and interfaith prayer service in Washington. The event brought together Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and others who called for universal and affordable health care. The group said health care is a moral issue and called the nation's current situation too immoral to tolerate. One of the participants in that interfaith coalition is Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby.... MORE
TCPC News
TCPC Founder Receives the 2009 Distinguished Alumniae Award from Episcopal Divinity School
Cambridge, MA- During Alumniae Days in May, Episcopal Divinity School honored the work the Rev. James R. Adams. He was presented the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award at the Alumniae Dinner and Awards Presentation on May 7.... MORE
Pluralism Sunday 2009 Celebrated Around the World
The Center for Progressive Christianity's PLURALISM SUNDAY 2009 event was celebrated in churches around the world on May 3, manifesting the idea that other religions can be as good for others as our faith is for us. It was an occasion for churches to experience and learn more about the faith traditions of the world. Some churches will hold the event on different dates during the year. Each congregation marked the occasion in worship in a unique way. For instance, the Congregational Church UCC of Belmont, California, had Imam Abdul Anwar preach from the Yaseen Foundation Mosque in Belmont.... MORE
Do You Want to Change the World?
Are you one of those special people who want to help change the way our children view the world? Are you someone who wants to help our children understand that we are one in our goodliness not our sinfulness?Are you one of 500 people who would like to help us give our children hope in humanity?
Respectability and Its Discontents: Missing the Louche, Loud, and Lovely World of Sexual Outlawry
By Peter Laarman. Religiondispatches.org. In this meditation on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots an ordained minister, while eulogizing his own outlawry, notes that God's goodness is evident in the way in which new and seriously maladjusted queer youth are still rising up to bring new energy and edge to the movement.... MORE
Saguaro Seminar Stays with Obama
By Daniel Burke - Religion News Service. Obama has hired fellow Saguaro alumni for top White House posts; solicited two more, including Progressive Christian, Jim Wallis, to be close spiritual advisers; and implemented a host of ideas kicked around those tables 10 years ago.... MORE
Keeping Faith in President Obama's Immigration Reform Vows
In the coming weeks, President Obama will convene a bipartisan meeting with members of both houses of Congress that could be a turning point in the future of immigration in this country. Its purpose is to explore effective ways to speed immigration reform forward this year.... MORE
"The Number: 31% - White evangelicals reject global warming"
About half (48%) of white mainline Protestants believe the Earth is warming as the result of human activity - roughly the same proportion as among all Americans (47%) - but only a third of white evangelical Protestants (34%) share that belief.... MORE
Meet In The Middle 4 Equality Rally Montage
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Over 12,000 trees planted across northern Michigan in early May 2009 by the interfaith U.P. EarthKeepers
Over 12,000 trees were planted in early May 2009 across northern Michigan by congregations of over 100 churches and temples. The interfaith Upper Peninsula EarthKeeper Tree Project started with the planting of the first tree during an Earth Day 2009 blessing of the trees ceremony in Marquette, MI presided over by the bishops and other leaders from ten faith traditions. Thousands of volunteers planted red pine and white spruce seedlings with help from hundreds of children ages two to twenty-two.... MORE
Distortions Aside, Clergy Support Gay Rights in Surprising Numbers
By Peter Montgomery. Religion Dispatches. Recently released results from a survey of mainline clergy reveals that, when policies are portrayed honestly, the number of clergy who support same-sex marriage, adoption, etc., nearly doubles.... MORE
Most Americans Identify As ‘Pro-Life' For First Time
By Gwyneth Doland. A Gallup poll released last Friday revealed some surprising news for both sides of the abortion debate: More Americans now describe themselves as "pro-life" than "pro-choice" for the first time since Gallup began asking the question in 1995. But numbers from the same poll show 76 percent of Americans still believe abortion should be legal in all or some cases - a number that remains unchanged from 1975.... MORE
Why this tolerance for torture?
By LEONARD PITTS JR., Miami Herald The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life surveyed Americans' attitudes on the torture of suspected terrorists. Pew found that 49 percent of the nation believes torture is at least sometimes justifiable. Slice that number by religious affiliation, though, and things get interesting. It turns out the religiously unaffiliated are the least likely (40 percent) to support torture, but that the more you attend church, the more likely you are to condone it. Among racial/religious groups, white evangelical Protestants were far and away the most likely (62 percent) to support inflicting pain as a tool of interrogation.... MORE
New Website Allows Visitors to Compare World Religions Side by Side
By Jeninne Lee-St. John. What Do Religions Believe? A Website with Answers. Its founders, husband and wife Leo and Cathie Brunnick, have created a library of the histories and belief systems of 50 (and counting) of the world's faiths, along with maps of their origins and videos of their religious services, so people can learn more about their own faith and explore others in a nonsectarian format. Each week experts will present a debate on a new topic, such as religion on the Web or abortion. Moreover, all the content on the streamlined, reader-friendly site is written and peer-reviewed by divinity scholars and other experts, including theologians at Harvard and the University of Southern California, where some undergrads will be using Patheos in introductory religion classes this fall.... MORE
Maine Becomes 5th State to Approve Gay Marriage
NEW YORK - The governor of Maine on Wednesday signed a law making the northeastern US state the fifth to allow gays to marry.... MORE
Former First Presbyterian Pastor and TCPC Board Member Pens Second Book
Former First Presbyterian Church pastor and TCPC Board Member, Gary Wilburn, pens his second book in a trilogy on faith, hope, and love. Entitled "Lots of Hope," his book is a discourse on the powerful role that hope plays in the lives of individuals and communities, particularly his own.... MORE
Study Examines Choice of Religion
By Jacqueline L. Salmon. Washington, USA - More Americans have given up their faith or changed religions because of a gradual spiritual drift than because of disillusionment over their churches' policies, according to a study released yesterday that illustrates how personal spiritual attitudes are taking precedence over denominational traditions.... MORE
Obama Team Seeks Progressives' Support on Poverty
By Adelle M. Banks, RNS. Members of President Obama's domestic team addressed more than 1,000 Christian progressives at an anti-poverty meeting Monday (April 27), asking for their help to accomplish the president's agenda.... MORE
Interfaith Earth Day 2009: Bishops, faith leaders bless and plant first of 12,000 trees; major planting is May 3
(Marquette, MI) - The bishops and leaders from northern Michigan's largest faith communities planted the first of 12,000 trees during an Earth Day 2009 ceremony on the shores of Lake Superior. The 12,000 trees will be planted May 3 at 100 churches/temples across northern Michigan as thousands from 10 faith traditions help: ( Jewish, Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Zen Buddist, Quakers) & the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership, the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute & the Northern Michigan University Student Team.
