Secularizing Christianity.com As part of its effort to move beyond the Christian Internet world, Christianity.com Inc. is changing its name to Starwire Corporation. Christianity.com will still exist, but only as part of a larger, less religious entity. “Think of Christianity.com as a banquet table. We invite all kinds of Christian organizations to pull up a chair and share the food that they brought with one another,” president David Davenport explains in a press release. “Now envision a room with many other banquet tables where organizations can reserve a table of their own—this is one way to differentiate Starwire from Christianity.com.” Or think of it another way: the Christians sitting at the banquet table aren’t ordering big enough meals, and it’s time to find bigger tippers. Only time will tell if Starwire Corporation will do any better at shaking the image Christiainity.com has had since its inception as being part of the Pat Robertson media empire.
Chicago-area religious leaders “fail” Beliefnet’s “What religion are you” test The Chicago Sun-Times asked four Chicago area religious leaders—Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist—to take Beliefnet’s Belief-O-Matic religion test. The findings: maybe people don’t really believe what they think they do. The “prominent Muslim leader” earned a score of 100 percent … for Orthodox Judaism. “The results should be a stark reminder of how much in common the Abrahamic faiths truly have,” the unnamed Muslim told the paper. The Reform Jewish rabbi also scored 100 percent … for “Liberal Quaker” (he chalked it up to taking the quiz “right before sundown.”) The Buddhist priest, said the quiz, would be better as a Neo-Pagan, New Age, Unitarian, Liberal Quaker, Christian Scientist or New Thought follower. However, the head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago’s Respect Life office scored 100 percent as Roman Catholic—which she is. Weblog is tempted to make a comment about the test demonstrating that all religions pretty much are the same except Christianity. But Weblog won’t say such a thing.
Home-schoolers kick some serious sphingine They’re queens (and kings) of the bees. Home-schoolers are dominating at spelling bees (where they’re spelling , geographic bees, and other academic contests. Home-schooling advocates say such wins—by spelling phrontistery and sphingine—demonstrate that home-based education works wonders. Public school advocates say the parents of the winners are spending too much time with the dictionary and atlas. “Education is not The Weakest Link or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” Paul Houston, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, tells the Chicago Tribune. “You’re not an educated person because you can memorize pages of esoteric words. That’s why you have spell check on your computer.” That’s write. Hew kneads spelling?
Church life:
- Church to sell antique silverware | 400-year-old communion cups are to be sold to pay for building repairs (The Daily Telegraph, London)
- Making music, finding God | A husband and wife who grew up in Communist China are now choir directors at Long Island churches (Newsday)
- Catholic priest has 3 kids! | Celibacy, an issue which has divided the Catholic Church in recent years, is causing ripples in Nigeria (The News, Lagos, Nigeria)
- Bishop declines to speak at Iliff | Students protest stand on gays in ministry (The Denver Post)
- Earlier: Gays protest commencement speaker at Iliff School of Theology | Episcopal Bishop Jerry Winterrowd says only celibate homosexuals can serve as priests in Colorado Episcopal churches. (The Denver Post)
- Orthodox bishops seeking unity | U.S., Canadian bishops take cautious approach to expanded cooperation (Associated Press)
- Also: Orthodox bishops seek greater unity, relevance in 21st century (Religion News Service)
Australia’s archbishops:
- Anglican archbishop race heats up | With less than three weeks until Sydney Anglicans meet to choose their next archbishop, one nominee has pulled out of the election race and another is yet to make his decision public. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Gay scene exists in church, says Catholic Archbishop of Sydney | “A very, very small area of clerical life” (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
- Pell anxious that gay priests do not become an issue in Sydney | Homosexual priests “acting out” their sexuality is incompatible with remaining in priesthood, says archbishop (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Bishop’s ‘snub’ could lead to an unholy row | Anglican leadership of Sydney did not send representative to installation of Pell has snubbed the new Catholic Archbishop, Dr George Pell, refusing to send an official representative to his installation last week. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Pope John Paul II:
- Russia, Greece Church heads criticize Pope | John Paul II should have sought permission of Orthodox clergy before Ukraine visit next month, they say. (Reuters)
- Arabs accuse Pope of ‘Jewish lobby’ | Some in Syria find fault with church’s attempt to make peace with Judaism (Associated Press)
- Pope chided for silence amid slurs on Jews | Anti-Defamation League says John Paul should have said something against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Catholic League says “Get real.” (New York Daily News)
- Critics say pope’s apologies go too far | Italian coauthor of Crossing the Threshold of Hope says latest trip “distorts the church’s past, risks exposing it to humiliation, defers to its persecutors and understands ecumenism to be like a syncretism where one religion seems as worthy as another.” (Religion News Service)
- Welcome, man of peace. Let’s go hate my enemy. | Using the Pope as a political weapon (The New York Times)
- Russian patriarch offers hope for papal visit (AFP)
Missions and ministry:
- Man on a mission | Luis Palau is coming to Hartford, Connecticut (The Hartford Courant)
- Orthodox Church airs views | ”Come Receive the Light,” is the first effort by Orthodox Christians to build a national broadcast program. (The Boston Globe)
Pop culture:
- Comics no place for religion | What was wrong with Johnny Hart’s Easter cartoon is what is wrong with many of the cartoons that run in newspapers these days: It wasn’t funny. The comics are supposed to be funny. (Laurence D. Cohen, The Hartford Courant)
- God spell | Spirited fans make gospel plays a powerful draw at Dorchester’s Strand Theatre (The Boston Globe)
Persecution:
- Christian body seeks human rights commission’s intervention | All-India Christian Council wants inquiry into “the increasing incidents of attacks on minorities” in central Gujarat (The Times of India)
- Police investigate slaying of Sri Lankan priest | Bernard Costa, parish priest in Negombo, north of Colombo, was killed on Thursday in the vestry. (Associated Press/Times of India)
- Gangsters rob cleric of church property | Anglican priest gagged and tied by armed youth (The Nation, Nairobi)
Bible:
- Pilate, the Jews and Jesus | Recent public statements show how misinterpretation of what led to the Crucifixion continues to plague historical understanding. (Los Angeles Times)
- The Bible in America — The Bible is the best-selling book of all time — but fewer Americans are actually reading it. Host Bob Edwards speaks to biblical studies professor Michael Brown about the decline of biblical knowledge in America. (14.4 and 28.8 kbps RealAudio streams) (NPR’s Morning Edition)
- Modern world killing off language of Christ | Aramaic is heading for extinction in the last three remote Syrian mountain villages where it is still spoken. (The Daily Telegraph)
- Also: Syrians preserve language of Jesus (Associated Press)
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