The curious economic effects of religion A pair of Harvard researchers recently found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies - and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell. (The Boston Globe)
Earning Commissions on 'The Great Commission' The Business as Mission movement began when globalization allowed Christian business people to build companies overseas (Rob Moll, The Wall Street Journal)
Lead Us Not Into Debt Finance guru Dave Ramsey wins followers with a simple message: find God and lose your credit cards. (The Atlantic)
Did Christianity Cause the Crash? Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. (The Atlantic)
Confusion Over Where Money Lent on Kiva Goes Kiva’s home page once promoted lending “to a specific entrepreneur,” but the fine print shows that members’ $25 checks go to microfinance organizations, not individuals. (The New York Times)
Profit `Not Satanic,’ Barclays Says, After Goldman Invokes Jesus Varley joins Goldman Sachs International adviser Brian Griffiths and Lazard International Chairman Ken Costa as London bankers who’ve gone into London churches in recent weeks and invoked Christianity to defend a banking system (Bloomberg)
A Power Struggle Among the Spiritual A rift over finances and control has torn apart Houston's oldest Korean-American church, leaving members in turmoil. (Houston Chronicle)
What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff? This radical Christian's ministry for the poor, The Simple Way, has gotten him in some trouble with his fellow Evangelicals. We asked him to address those who don't believe. (Shane Claibourne, Esquire)
New Fame for the Everyday Donor One Day’s Wages, a new charity established by Eugene Cho, a Christian minister in Seattle, asks donors to give up a day’s income to charity. (The New York Times)
Comedian: End world hunger? Sell the Vatican In a new profanity-laced monologue on YouTube in time for U.N. World Food Day, Silverman suggests that it's time for the pope to "move out of your house that is a city" and use the proceeds to feed the world's poor. (The Associated Press)
The path is less chosen, but young women still hear the call Angela Russell was a teenager visiting relatives in France when she prayed in a chapel where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in 1830. That was where she first felt a call to be a Catholic sister. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
World Vision's Richard Stearns sets out to put an end to global poverty Richard Stearns, president of World Vision U.S., has journeyed from agnosticism and the corporate boardroom to a faith-filled life heading the huge Christian humanitarian organization from his office in Federal Way. (Seattle Times)
C Street house no longer fully tax-exempt C Street SE where disgraced South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford sought counseling after his affair -- as did Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) after his affair -- has begun paying D.C. real estate taxes, according to city officials. (Al Kamen, Washington Post)
Judge clears way for dinosaur park to be seized A ruling by U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers states that the nine properties that make up Dinosaur Adventure Land as well as two bank accounts associated with the park will be used to satisfy $430,400 owed to the federal government (
Did Christianity Cause the Crash? Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. (The Atlantic)
Faithful fight high interest Religious congregations and community groups from across North Carolina will rally in front of the headquarters of Bank of America and Wells Fargo this morning to demand a meeting with bank executives to negotiate an "agenda for economic relief." (The News and Observer)
Pope calls for 'God-centered' global economy Pope Benedict XVI today called for reforming the United Nations and establishing a "true world political authority" with "real teeth" to manage the global economy with God-centered ethics. (USA Today)
Idle Hands: Puritan Advice for the Jobless Puritans gave America a pedagogy of work and an attitude toward life that upsets the modern notion that a person's occupation equals his value (Amy Henry, The Wall Street Journal)
CNN Poll: Majority favor abortion funding ban in health care bill A CNN survey indicates that 61 percent of the public opposes the use of public money for abortions for women who can not afford the procedure, with 37 percent in favor of allowing the use of federal funds. (CNN)
Goldman Commits $500 Million to Help 10,000 Small Businesses A little more than a week after Goldman’s chairman and chief executive drew fire for saying the Wall Street giant was “doing God’s work,” it is apologizing for past mistakes that led to the financial crisis — and sharing at least some of its riches. (The New York Times)
New Fame for the Everyday Donor One Day’s Wages, a new charity established by Eugene Cho, a Christian minister in Seattle, asks donors to give up a day’s income to charity. (The New York Times)
Lead Us Not Into Debt Finance guru Dave Ramsey wins followers with a simple message: find God and lose your credit cards. (The Atlantic)
Did Christianity Cause the Crash? Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. (The Atlantic)
American Baptist College aims to reinvent agenda to draw students Forrest Harris, president of American Baptist, said that the school, where tuition is less than $5,000 a year, had hoped to have 130 full-time students on the Nashville campus at the start of the academic year. Instead there are only 84. (The Tennessean)
Land, other religious leaders: Sanctions needed on Iran Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land has joined Jewish and evangelical Christian leaders in New York in calling for immediate sanctions to thwart Iran from developing nuclear weapons. (Baptist Press)
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