10 things you can do with a cross – Columbia Missourian

“Guest commentary: 10 things you can do with a cross” BY MICHAEL GRINFELD “I’m a big fan of the U.S. Supreme Court, and I’ll defend its important role in our checks and balance system of government to the end. But sometimes, when those five right-wingers on the court get together they can produce some pretty [...]

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Cross Can Stay

“Washington (CNN) — The Supreme Court narrowly ruled Wednesday that a white cross, erected as a war memorial and sitting on national parkland in the Mojave Desert, does not violate the constitutional separation of church and state.” Click on the above image to read the entire article on cnn.com.

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Ash Wednesday observed

It’s Ash Wednesday and many mid-Missourians will begin a period of Lent in preparation for the celebration of Easter. At the Columbia Missourian, we’re looking for services and people who will be gathering to observe this holy day. The president is making note of Lent, too. This is his statement, provided to the media by [...]

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Robert Wright discusses the “evolution of God”

The Althea W. and John A. Schiffman Lecture in Religious Studies series continued on Oct. 6 at the Columbia College campus with guest speaker Robert Wright. Wright, a Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation gave a lecture on “The Evolution of God,” which is also the title of his latest book. Wright is [...]

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Patriotic no matter your religion

Last night when I attended the Muslim Student Organization event, I was able to talk to a few members about their thoughts on Sept. 11. Nuzhat Chowdhury said that she felt like Columbia was a very open community, so she wasn’t worried about any problems associated with the anniversary of the attacks. Another student I [...]

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Faith and health care: a starting point

If you drove down Green Meadows Road on Saturday night, you might have seen a small circle of people standing on the lawn of the serenely lit Rock Bridge Christian Church, holding candles whose flames danced in the breeze of the unseasonably cool evening. If you stood on that lawn with them, you might have [...]

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thoughts on a Christian Science piece?

I’ve been thinking of writing about Columbia’s First Church of Christ, Scientist for a while now; I’ve visited the church twice this summer and have spoken with members of the congregation about upcoming events. But I’d rather do something less newsy, and more thematic. What would people reading this blog and/or the Missourian like to [...]

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Dispute among Jews over Tisha b’Av events

Members of Congregation Beth Shalom attended a service Wednesday, July 29, to remember the importance of a day called Tisha’ah b’Av. Numerous calamities that have occurred in Jewish history seem to have converged on this one day in the Hebrew calendar. The day, which means “The Ninth of Av” is remembered first as the day [...]

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Understanding the Southern Baptist Convention

The 2009 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting runs Tuesday through Thursday of this week. Political issues such as abortion and civil unions will be discussed but, above all, the nation’s largest Protestant body must address its ministries’ concerns over declining membership.

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Islamic burqa “not welcome” in France

In 2004, a law was passed in France prohibiting the Islamic hijab (as well as other ostentatious religious symbols) in public schools. This was a significant show of the country’s commitment to secularity, going beyond what Americans would call a separation of church and state. By involving the government in matters of religious identification, France [...]

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