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Former model Giselle Meza’s career allowed her to visit exotic locations and world-renowned sights, but it was witnessing the worst violations of human rights that stuck with her throughout the years.
You’ve probably seen them—most of us have. Ads soliciting women to donate their eggs for in vitro fertilization are everywhere: in newspapers, on the Internet, on college campus bulletin boards. Most people don’t even think twice about it. An opportunity for young women to earn a little cash and do something nice for an infertile couple, and it’s all supervised by doctors. What could be wrong with that? Plenty, according to a new documentary.
PORTLAND, OR (August 23, 2010) — Billy Rojas and the Centroids community today issued the Ground Zero Declaration, a detailed set of principles that support religious freedom but oppose construction of the Cordoba House (aka Park 51) Islamic center near the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. This declaration builds on the concerns expressed by politicians such as Newt Gingrich and George Pataki, supported by a detailed analysis of where Islamic beliefs are incompatible with American values. The Declaration consists of four sections: Affirmation of core American values, including religious freedom Summation of the argument against a new Islamic…
COMMENTARY I never expected to find a role model in a children’s television icon, but I did. A tribute to Mister Rogers. On a recent set of tour dates, I was talking books with Neil Tankersly, keyboardist for Echoing Angels, when he recommended a book about children’s television icon Mister Rogers. At first I was skeptical and feigned enough interest to be polite, but not enough to encourage him to tell me more about it. Not taking my cue, he continued to rave about the book and then even started looking up YouTube videos of Mister Rogers for me to…
WISCONSIN DELLS — As one enters the city of Wisconsin Dells, the population sign says 2,418. That’s the number of people who live year-round in this popular vacation destination. However, that number often swells throughout the year. Wisconsin Dells, known as the “water park capital of the world,” welcomed over three million visitors in 2009. Many of those visitors attend Mass at St. Cecilia Parish. The tourists keep St. Cecilia Parish very, very busy, especially during the peak vacation time from May to September. “We are an international parish,” said Msgr. Felix Oehrlein, the pastor. “It’s a tremendous joy to…
The findings have surfaced with ominous regularity over the last few years, and with little notice: Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.
BOYSTOWN, Ill.– Andrew Marin is trying to bridge a gap that has widened remarkably in recent years. It’s the gap between conservative Christians and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community. Marin’s vision is bold and his commitment is deep. The evangelical and his wife recently bought their second home in Boystown, Ill., — Chicago’s official gay neighborhood.
WASHINGTON — Nearly one in five Americans incorrectly say President Obama is a Muslim, up from 11% last year, according to a Pew Research Center poll. In the survey, about one-third of Americans correctly say Obama is a Christian, down from 48% who said so last year. In all, 43% say they do not know what religion Obama practices.
International missions is shifting focus to urban centers, following migration patterns that in 2008 indicated that more than half the world’s population lives in cities. Fewer than 30 percent of the world’s 2.5 billion people in 1950 lived in cities. By 2050, almost 70 percent of the world’s estimated 10 billion people will do so, according to the United Nations. “As the escalation of global urbanization has taken place, so has the urbanization of mission work,” said Doug McConnell, dean of the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. Both local and full-time missionaries from the West are moving…
The sanctuary walls are, as a rule, made of flat wood, concrete and glass wrapped in metals with an industrial look — often matching the furnishings on the stark altar. If there are stained-glass images, they are ultramodern in style, to match any art objects that make sense in this kind of space. The floors are covered with carpet, which explains why there are speakers hanging in the rafters. The final product resembles a sunny gymnasium that just happens to contain an abstract crucifix, the Stations of the Cross and one or two images of the Virgin Mary. “The whole…