Faith Digest: 50th for ‘I have a dream’ speech

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Bells rings for 50th anniversary of MLK speech. The King Center is urging communities around the world to participate in a bell-ringing ceremony to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. King Center officials say they have reached out to all 50 governors and to cities across the globe, asking them to participate in the bell ringing at 3 p.m. Aug. 28. “My father concluded his great speech with a call to ‘let freedom ring,’ and that is a challenge we will meet with a magnificent display of brotherhood and sisterhood in symbolic bell-ringing at places of worship, schools and other venues where bells are available from coast to coast and from continent to continent,” said Bernice King, King’s daughter and CEO of the King Center. The King Center and the 50th Anniversary Coalition will host a seven-day celebration in the nation’s capital marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. King’s riveting speech was the keynote event of that march. The King Center is asking communities that wish to participate to submit a brief description of their bell-ringing event to [email protected].

Study shows minorities most likely to favor longer lives. Black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics are the most likely religious groups to say “radical life extension”—living to age 120 or more—longevity study344would be good for society, according to a new Pew Research Center study. The speculative “Living to 120 and Beyond” survey comes against the backdrop of U.S. Census Bureau projections that suggest by 2050, one in five Americans will be 65 or older, and more than 400,000 will be 100 or older. Researchers found four in 10 Americans, including 54 percent of black Protestants and 44 percent of Hispanic Catholics, say radical life extension would be “good for society.” Among religious groups, white Catholics showed the least support, at 31 percent. The frequency of a person’s worship attendance had little bearing on views of radical life extension. However, people who believe in life after death were more likely—43 percent—to say treatments that extend life would be a good thing than those who don’t believe in an afterlife—37 percent. The Pew survey was based on phone interviews conducted from March 21-April 8 among 2,012 American adults and had an overall margin of error plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Ambassador to Vatican named. The U.S. Senate confirmed former Catholic Relief Services head Ken Hackett as the next ambassador to the Vatican. Hackett replaces Miguel Diaz, a theologian, and he gives President Obama an experienced voice on social justice in Rome, where Pope Francis has made caring for the poor a priority. No opposition was expected, since Hackett has strong ties to both parties. For five years, he served on the board of former President George W. Bush’s Millennium Challenge Corporation, and he is reported to be close to Denis McDonough, Obama’s chief of staff, whose brother is a priest.

Ethicist to oversee religious engagement for State Department. Secretary of State John Kerry tapped ethicist Shaun Casey to lead the U.S. State Department’s new Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives. Casey is a professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington and advised President Obama’s campaign and other Democrats on outreach to religious voters. Since 2001, the White House has had a similar office—the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships—which has been headed by a succession of directors with strong religious credentials. The current head of the White House office, Melissa Rogers, former general counsel to the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, welcomed Casey as a public servant who understands the “potential for religious communities to spark both positive and negative movements.”


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