http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/ Current News On Beliefnet en Copyright 2009 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:41:09 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/imgs/bg_icon.gif http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/ 82 100 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss WASHINGTON - The national motto, "In God We Trust," will be engraved in the Capitol Visitor Center, responding to critics who said Congress spent $621 million on the new facility without paying due respect to the nation's religious heritage. The House voted 410-8 Thursday to direct the Architect of the... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/house-orders-engraving-of-in-g.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/house-orders-engraving-of-in-g.php Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:41:09 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/house_orders_engraving_of_in_g_comments.html Nicole Symmonds WASHINGTON - Democrats on a key Senate panel Thursday voted to permanently reverse a policy in effect under recent Republican administrations that banned giving U.S. money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information. The 17-11 vote by the Appropriations Committee would give the existing policy - set... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/panel-backs-aid-to-groups-that.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/panel-backs-aid-to-groups-that.php Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:36:47 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/panel_backs_aid_to_groups_that_comments.html Nicole Symmonds WASHINGTON (RNS) Francis Collins, the researcher who mapped the human genome and navigated clashes between his Christian faith and science, has been chosen to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Calling Collins "one of the top scientists in the world," President Obama announced his nomination on Wednesday (July 8),... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/evangelical-francis-collins-na.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/evangelical-francis-collins-na.php Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:06:25 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/evangelical_francis_collins_na_comments.html Nicole Symmonds BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A lot of youth pastors might love the chance to share their faith with a movie star for two hours and then be featured in the star's next motion picture, testifying about Jesus. Jody Trautwein, youth pastor at Point of Grace Ministries in Birmingham, got that chance... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/pastor-gets-used-by-bruno-and.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/pastor-gets-used-by-bruno-and.php Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:04:22 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/pastor_gets_used_by_bruno_and_comments.html Nicole Symmonds WASHINGTON -- The ink had barely dried on the pope's newest encyclical when the group Catholics for Working Families used the document to push for the pro-union Employee Free Choice Act. Has Pope Benedict XVI suddenly become a liberal? Worker's rights. Financial regulation. Environmental protection. They're all policies that are... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/democrats-progressives-find-un.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/democrats-progressives-find-un.php Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:52:03 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/democrats_progressives_find_un_comments.html Nicole Symmonds WASHINGTON -- From a sparsely adorned office building a stone's throw from the White House, Joshua DuBois carefully navigates the delicate line between church and state. Each morning, he sends a devotional message to President Obama's BlackBerry. He appears before religious and community groups to explain his role as director... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/on-all-things-religious-obama.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/on-all-things-religious-obama.php Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:45:56 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/on_all_things_religious_obama_comments.html Nicole Symmonds (RNS) A Michigan-based Christian relief group, International Aid, has closed its doors amid financial struggles while World Vision, one of the largest evangelical relief agencies, has eliminated about 75 positions. International Aid needed to collect about $1.5 million in the past two months to balance its $70 million budget, but... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/economy-closes-one-relief-grou.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/economy-closes-one-relief-grou.php Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:16:15 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/economy_closes_one_relief_grou_comments.html Nicole Symmonds WASHINGTON (RNS) Christian conservative groups decried new federal guidelines that will increase taxpayer dollars going to embryonic stem cell research. The guidelines, which took effect Tuesday (July 7) after they were issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), stipulate that federally funded research will be allowed only on excess... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/conservatives-blast-obama-on-s.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/conservatives-blast-obama-on-s.php Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:13:58 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/conservatives_blast_obama_on_s_comments.html Nicole Symmonds VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI called Tuesday for a new world financial order guided by ethics and the search for the common good, denouncing the profit-at-all-cost mentality blamed for bringing about the global financial meltdown. In the third encyclical of his pontificate, Benedict pressed for reform of the United... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/pope-proposes-new-financial-or.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/pope-proposes-new-financial-or.php Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:00:16 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/pope_proposes_new_financial_or_comments.html Nicole Symmonds WASHINGTON (RNS) President Obama said he may attend "a number of different churches" in Washington rather than just one and is receiving a daily devotional message from a key staffer. "How we handle church when we're here in D.C. is something that we're still figuring out," the president said during... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/obama-says-he-may-attend-a-num.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/obama-says-he-may-attend-a-num.php Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:51:55 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/obama_says_he_may_attend_a_num_comments.html Nicole Symmonds VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican City State reported a deficit of $22 million for 2008 as a consequence of the "global economic-financial crisis," the Vatican announced on Saturday (July 4). The Vatican's annual profit and loss statements showed that the 108-acre sovereign territory, which includes St. Peter's Basilica and the... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/vatican-city-state-reports-22.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/vatican-city-state-reports-22.php Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:46:26 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/vatican_city_state_reports_22_comments.html Nicole Symmonds WASHINGTON (RNS) California megachurch pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren spent his Independence Day here in the nation's capital addressing the largest Muslim organization in North America. While publicity ignited before the speech, the actual event had some competing fanfare. The speech kicked off 40 minutes late, and just in... News http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/evangelical-pastor-warren-asks.php http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/evangelical-pastor-warren-asks.php Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:25:33 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/07/evangelical_pastor_warren_asks_comments.html Nicole Symmonds