November 2008 Archives

The Chabad Jewish Enrichment Center in Lancaster and York has organized a memorial service for 8 p.m tonight (Nov. 30) for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India.

Among the dead was a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi, Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, 29, and his wife, Rivkah, 28, formerly of the Crown Heights section of New York, along with three other hostages held at the ultra-Orthodox Jewish center in Mumbai. According to news reports, the Holtzbergs moved to Mumbai in 2003 to open a religious center there for Chabad-Lubavitch, a growing branch of Hasidic Judaism that emphasizes outreach to Jews.

From the LA Times: "Amid the wave of attacks that targeted Americans, Britons and Jews in Mumbai, the Chabad-Lubavitch center there was taken over late Wednesday (Nov. 26), and the Holtzbergs were among the hostages. Indian commandos stormed the building Friday morning and found the bodies of five people," including the Holtzbergs.

The words puritan and puritanical today imply a zeal for keeping people from enjoying themselves. I hope that's not the case for you this holiday, dear readers.

I'm getting in the car this morning for the drive to Tuxedo, N.Y., and the Burke-clan Thanksgiving.

If you'd like some Puritan-inspired reading for your ride, check out this and this from Christianity Today or this from the Wall Street Journal about Sarah Vowell's new book, "The Wordy Shipmates," about the American Puritans.

You can also listen to this hilarious podcast that includes Vowell's snarky tale about taking over her family's Thanksgiving celebration.

Also, check out the Thanksgiving package that ran in today's York Daily Record/Sunday News.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has an interesting report about media coverage of religion and the election. An excerpt:

... when religion-focused campaign stories were covered by the mainstream press, often the context was negative, controversial or focused on a perceived political problem.

In all, religion was a significant but not overriding storyline in the media coverage of the 2008 campaign. But in a campaign in which an Obama victory would give the U.S. its first black president, religion received as much coverage in the media as race.

Read more.

Last week, Carlisle's school board voted that teachers can take part in the annual See You at the Pole prayer event, provided they make clear "they are doing so in their individual capacities, and not in any way in their role as employees of the school district."

According to the Patriot-News, the vote came a day before the deadline set by a Virginia group that had threatened the school district with a lawsuit over the issue.

Read more from an earlier post.

In case you missed it, a federal judge sentenced Barry R. Herr of Lancaster to 2.5 years in prison Nov. 21 for embezzling more than $1 million from the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Herr, who pleaded guilty to the federal charges in June, faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a $2.2 million fine. Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of 41 to 51 months in prison. An excerpt from our story:

Before the sentence was handed down Friday, a remorseful Herr took full responsibility for his "poor judgment." He said he felt a "deep sense of humiliation and contrition to those whom I have betrayed. . . . More than money, I have robbed them of their belief and confidence in me."

Last week's Sightings column, scholar Brian Britt writes about the 30th anniversary of the murder-suicide of more than 900 followers of Jim Jones at a commune in the jungles of Guyana:

"While public memorials have been slow to appear and modest in scale, the widespread use of the phrase 'drinking the Kool-Aid' in American speech and writing marks a place for Jonestown in collective memory. ... As if to silence the voice of Jones, whose deadly preaching at the 'white nights' can still be heard on recordings, 'drinking the Kool-Aid' aims to reduce Jonestown to a soundbite and religious rhetoric to mere words."

Above, flowers are tossed onto names of loved ones during the dedication of a memorial wall following a Nov. 18 anniversary service at the Evergreen cemetery in Oakland, Calif. (AP photo)

Read the full column at the jump.

Today's word karuna came to mind because of a new campaign from the Humane Society of the United States called "All Creatures Great and Small" that aims to increase awareness about our moral responsibilities to animals, including those raised for food.

Noting that most religions call upon followers to live by principles of charity and compassion, the campaign urges people of faith in particular to take a small change in their daily lives by eating fewer eggs or switching to cage-free eggs or egg substitutes for a month as an act of compassion for farm animals.

HSUS's concern is for the millions of egg-laying hens in the U.S. who spend their lives in wire cages so restrictive the birds can't spread their wings.

Last Thursday, groups of 10 strangers met in private homes around central Pennsylvania to take part in the Amazing Faiths Dinner Dialogues.

They shared a meal and discussed the role of faith or spirituality in their lives. During dinner, they listened quietly as each person answered a question -- all different -- on the card he or she received when they arrived.

When Vashti McKenzie became the first woman bishop of the oldest historic black church in America, she said, "The stained glass ceiling has been pierced and broken."

She was elected as the first female bishop in 2000 -- more than two centuries after the establishment of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

McKenzie was in York to preach Sunday at Shiloh Baptist Church. If you missed her, listen to an interview she did with "Speaking of Faith" host Krista Tippett recently. (The program aired Oct. 23.)

You can also watch a video of McKenzie's Easter 2008 sermon at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago (the former church home of President-elect Obama).

Beliefnet has reprinted an interesting 2004 interview that a Chicago Sun-Times reporter did with Obama that explains a lot about his faith. Apparently, it's been quoted and misquoted many times but never before published in full-transcript form. Check it out.

"What's a nice Mormon girl like you doing writing about vampires?"

That's a question folks have posed to Stephenie Meyer, author of "Twilight" fame. If I were Meyer, I think I'd get pretty annoyed with how often journalists note her membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a way of introduction.

But a story from Religion News Service actually takes a look at how Meyer's religious upbringing influenced what she writes.

Barry Herr, the Lutheran synod's former treasurer, is scheduled to be sentenced at 11 a.m. Nov. 21 in Harrisburg.

In July, Herr of Lancaster pleaded guilty in federal court to mail fraud, and the federal prosecutor told the judge he would recommend a sentence of 41 to 51 months. Herr was accused of embezzling $1.1 million in funds from the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America between 1985 and 2007.

The synod reported the sentencing update today in its online newsletter, which also noted the synod recently received a $40,000 restitution check -- apparently from the sale of Herr's Jaguar. Bishop Penrose Hoover will be at the sentencing to speak on behalf of the synod.

Religion scholar Martin Marty muses over exit polls and offers his long-held observation and thesis, Marty's Law: No one ever wins culture wars.

Read his full essay at the jump.

Rabbi David Wolpe, author of the new book "Why Faith Matters," will take on atheist Christopher Hitchens in a debate later this month.

Wolpe will answer questions from author Jonathan Safran Foer and members of the Live from the 92nd Street Y audience, including those at the York Jewish Community Center, at 8:15 p.m. Nov. 25. Tickets to the York Township discussion, "The Existence of God and the Role of Faith in Society," (broadcast live via satellite) are $5 and available by phone at 843-0918.

You can listen to the last Wolpe-Hitchens debate here.

Evangelical Christian author Ruth Haley Barton will speak and autograph books 7 p.m. Monday at Living Word Community Church, 2530 Cape Horn Road in York Township.

Barton has written seven books and directs the Transforming Center, a retreat and writing ministry in Wheaton, Ill., inviting Christian leaders and others to reflect on ancient spiritual disciples for inner renewal.

Although a part of the evangelical tradition, her work is ecumenical and her books are rooted in the deepest streams of the contemplative tradition, says Byron Borger, co-owner of Hearts and Minds, who organized the evening. For details, call 246-3333.

Evangelist Billy Graham celebrated his 90th birthday with his family Friday near his mountain home outside Asheville, N.C.

Christianity Today has a special section on Graham, including articles, sermons and a collection of quotes.

A week ago, Deacon Douglas K. Mussey of Good Shepherd Church in Harrisburg was ordained to the Anglican priesthood in Fairfax, Va., by a congregation of breakaway Episcopal parishes who view the denomination as too liberal.

Mussey was among clergy representing six different churches who were ordained Nov. 1 by the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, missionary bishop of an Episcopal splinter group called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America.

From the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life:

I'm still searching for a more detailed breakdown of the exit polls, but here's what I've found so far about how the vote Tuesday looked by faith group:

-- 53 percent of Catholics voted for Obama (45 percent for McCain)
-- 54 percent of Protestants voted for McCain (45 percent for Obama)
-- 77 percent of Jews voted for Obama (22 percent for McCain)

And get this: Only 55 percent of those attending church at least once a week voted for McCain, while 43 percent went for Obama.

This is significant because Bush beat Kerry by roughly 27 million among weekly churchgoers, and McCain beat Obama by only 15 million -- a shocking 12 million person shift. Read some analysis from Beliefnet's Steve Waldman.

I'll post more links as I find them ...