Culture
COMMENTARY: Changing the world, one story and one life at a time
(RNS) In her 1968 poem, "The Speed of Darkness," the late American poet Muriel Rukeyser penned the line, "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms."
While the medium is different, a new feature-length documentary, "Girl Rising," also bares witness to the same truth in poet...
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A controversial Broadway play on the Virgin Mary closes Why?
NEW YORK (RNS) A Tony-nominated play that offered a controversial take on the Virgin Mary reflecting on her life held its final performance on Sunday (May 5), closing after only two weeks as poor ticket sales never matched high expectations.
Now the question is: Why?
Shows...
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Vatican uncovers first known depiction of Native Americans
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Preservationists working on a Renaissance fresco in the Vatican have uncovered what experts believe is the first European representation of Native Americans, from 1494.
Writing on April 27 in the Vatican's semi-official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, the d...
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Wide majorities of most U.K. faiths support assisted suicide
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) A new poll finds overwhelming support for assisted suicide for the terminally ill among Anglicans, Catholics, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews in Britain, with Baptists and Muslims the only groups that oppose changes to British law, which currently prohibits assi...
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Modern hymn writers revive a lost musical art
Eds: A version of this story originally appeared in USA Today. It is available for use by RNS subscribers. Please use the USA Today byline.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Most songwriters in Nashville want to get their songs on the radio. Keith and Kristyn Getty hope their songs end up in...
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Poll: U.S. Muslims more moderate than Muslims worldwide
(RNS) Muslims in America are much less inclined to support suicide bombing than other Muslims abroad, and are more likely to believe that people of other faiths can attain eternal life in heaven, according to a new report released Tuesday (April 30) by the Pew Forum on Religion & Pu...
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As Holocaust Museum turns 20, the ranks of survivors dwindle
WASHINGTON (RNS) The adult survivors of the Holocaust are mostly gone now, and those who survived as children -- and were old enough at the time to remember their ordeals -- are now in their 70s and 80s.
It won't be long before no eyewitnesses remain.
That's why, as the U....
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Americans: Marijuana isn’t sinful but not sure it should be legal
WASHINGTON (RNS) American views on marijuana are evolving much like their views on gay marriage, according to a new poll, with many people ambivalent but growing numbers in favor of legalization.
The poll, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with...
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Boy Scouts proposal displeases religious leaders on both sides
(RNS) Conservative and liberal religious leaders may not agree on much, but both are expressing displeasure with the Boy Scouts' proposal to accept gay members but reject gay leaders.
The Boy Scouts of America released its draft proposal on Friday (April 19) that will be voted...
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Colm Toibin’s “Testament of Mary” brings Jesus’ mother down to earth
NEW YORK (RNS) How far can one go in retelling a Bible story, adding things that are not in the original? In "The Testament of Mary," Colm Toibin goes a long way.
His 2012 book is now a Broadway play presenting a view of the mother of Jesus so different from pious tradition tha...
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