Ronald Cole-Turner is the H. Parker Sharp Professor of Theology and Ethics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, author of Transhumanism and Transcendence: Christian Hope in an Age of Technological Advancement and editor of Design and Destiny: Jewish and Christian Perspectives on Human Germline Modification.

Interfaith declaration published in 2000 and signed by over 1,000 individuals from the Catholic, Jewish and Protestant communities as well as other layman, pastors and religious leaders. The declaration defends the concept of human dominion over the Earth and the importance private property rights trumping government regulations.

A conference in Jerusalem in early January 2011 debated the brain-versus-breathing parameter. The issue has been in the news in Israel since Israeli soccer legend Avi Cohen was left brain dead after a December motorcycle accident. His bodily functions ceased after eight days, and his family retreated from a previous commitment to donate his organs despite being […]

In November 2010, the Rabbinical Council of America, the central body of Modern Orthodox rabbis in the U.S., circulated a detailed report raising questions as to whether the organization’s longstanding acceptance of brain stem death as a definition of death comported with Jewish law. A majority of Jewish legal scholars cited said death was defined by the […]

Do religion writers always write stories for religious holidays? New clergy? Anniversaries? By Melanie Smith The Decatur Daily The routine events of religious life are a challenge to the religion reporter. Is there anything newsworthy about another Easter or Rosh Hashanah or Ramadan? Do readers want to know how their neighbors observe Lent or Divali? […]

Read a commentary from Beliefnet.com, by Rodger Kamenetz from Sept. 2, 2003 about Jews who are attracted to Buddhism (some call them JuBus).

Many religion reporters also write about spiritual movements and ethical concerns. What sorts of stories like that should a religion writer do? By Richard Scheinin San Jose Mercury News To write stories about spiritual movements, look for the telltale “signs” of religion-the quest for transcendence we hear so much about these days, the attempt to […]

David S. Katz is a professor of the history of books and chairman of the history department at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has written about fundamentalism and scriptural literalists.

Emmanuel Sivan is an emeritus professor of history at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and an expert in comparative fundamentalisms. He is a co-author, with Gabriel A. Almond and R. Scott Appleby, of Strong Religion: The Rise of Fundamentalisms Around the World, a publication in the Fundamentalism Project series.