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INTERNATIONAL
Darfur dilemma
Full deployment of a new peacekeeping force has been delayed until 2009, and the United Nations warns conditions are worsening. See ReligionLink’s Darfur edition to see which groups are urging action.
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ReligionLink
THIS WEEK
FILM
‘Prince Caspian’: another Narnia blockbuster?
Disney and Christian-backed Walden Media will release Prince Caspian, the second of its film adaptations of the Chronicles of Narnia, on May 16, 2008.The first film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, (2005) scored big successes – and generated big debates. ReligionLink offers an array of experts who can comment and explore the movie’s content, quality and marketing.
FAITH LEADERS
Pope survey
Pope Benedict’s image among Americans improved after his trip to the U.S., according to a new survey released May 6 by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. For interview sources, see ReligionLink’s edition on the pope’s visit.
CURRENT
EDITION
APRIL 28, 2008
SOURCE GUIDE
Covering Islam and politics
Muslims’ engagement with government and politics is becoming more prominent in the United States and abroad on issues ranging from terrorism and immigration to charities and civil rights. This guide lists research centers, organizations and scholars with expertise on the growing role of Muslims’ interactions with government and politics.
SOURCE GUIDE
Abortion: updates, experts & organizations
Thirty-five years after abortion became legal in the U.S., the issue is shifting in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. These days abortion opponents and abortion-rights supporters are focusing their efforts on state legislatures and courts. But in a presidential campaign year, advocates are hoping that the next president will have the opportunity to appoint Supreme Court justices who will tip the court’s balance to either more strongly supporting the landmark Roe v. Wade decision or overturning it. ReligionLink presents state and national updates and extensive listings of experts and organizations involved in the debate.
Spotlight:
In the archives
GOVERNMENT POLICY
Farm bill action
The House could vote on the farm bill, much of which funds food stamp and nutrition programs, this week. See ReligionLink’s guide to what religious groups are hoping for from the bill and why.
BIOETHICS
A guide to beginning-of-life issues
Families struggle every day with difficult decisions about the health of embryos, fetuses and newborns, and many of those debates involve ethics and religious values. ReligionLink offers a source guide on the issues and experts as new technology brings new possibilities and new questions.
FAITH LEADERS
Benedict in America
Pope Benedict XVI made his first visit to America as pope April 15-20, with stops in Washington, D.C., and New York. ReligionLink offers a guide to key issues related to his visit, a range of national and regional experts on Benedict and the church, and a catalog of Web resources on the papal visit.
FAMILY
Polygamy
Hundreds of women and children have been removed by authorities from a Texas ranch run by members of a religious group that practices polygamy. See ReligionLink’s edition on polygamy for sources.
DEATH PENALTY
Supreme Court upholds lethal injection in Kentucky
The decision — from a court that includes five Catholics for the first time — came on the first full day of Benedict’s first visit to America as pope. The five Catholic justices all agreed with the result of the decision, though only three backed Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion. The Catholic Church has been an outspoken opponent of capital punishment. See ReligionLink’s death penalty edition for background and sources.
SOURCE GUIDE
Covering Islam 101
Almost six in 10 Americans say they know little or nothing about Islam’s practices, and what they know is sometimes wrong. Meanwhile, a third of Americans say the media are the biggest influence on their perception of Muslims. This edition of ReligionLink is a journalist’s guide to covering Muslims and Islam in America. It features a guide to the basics of Islam, issues journalists should be aware of, source listings of major Muslim organizations and media, national and regional experts, and demographic information.
ELECTIONS 2008
Beyond Super Tuesday: religion in the presidential campaign
The primaries continue to churn the political waters, even in the wake of the Super Tuesday results, which highlighted divisions within the two major parties rather than ending them. But the role of religion in the campaign remains a constant, as does a range of related ethical and moral issues of concern to voters. ReligionLink offers a guide to the issues along with new and updated resources for reporting, including:
CONGREGATIONS
Faith
fuels affordable housing
The lack of affordable housing is one factor in the complicated mortgage
crisis rocking the stock market. ReligionLink's
issue on affordable housing reports on how congregations and faith-based
organizations are working to fill Americans' need for housing that won't
tumble them into financial ruin.
SCIENCE
The physics of creation
How the universe came into being is a basic question for both science
and religion. The Big Bang theory - which is widely accepted by cosmologists,
the scientists who study the universe's origin and nature - places that
event 13.7 billion years ago. But a number of researchers say the Big
Bang theory allows room for religious or spiritual interpretations compatible
with a variety of faith traditions.
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