1 in 5 Americans think President Obama is a Muslim.
A recent medical journal report speculated that Jesus’ healing of a febrile woman may have been the first reported cure of influenza. However, Virology Journal quickly retracted and apologized for the article and its explanation of the New Testament miracle.
Save a soul and win a prize. $250 to spend at Ziggy’s Fun Park!
Here’s a look inside a Hindu home adjoining a temple in the Bronx. While in West Sayville, New York an Indian Christian parade draws interest from the surrounding community. The St. Mary Malankara Indian Orthodox Church’s Assumption Day Parade is an annual favorite for the neighborhood.
Keith Olberman found the Aqua Buddha. How did Fox News let him scoop them on that?
It seems the happiest countries in the world are also the least religious. In Illinois, one atheist is not happy with a $20,000 grant the state gave to the 11-story (and poorly named) Bald Knob Cross of Peace in Alto Pass, Ill for restorations. Georgia based atheist group Foundation Bey beond Belief is encouraging its members to happily give money to religious charities. It remains to be seen how happy folks will be about “International Blasphemy Rights Day.” The September 30th event is being organized by the Center for Inquiry, a New York based atheist group.
Got a problem? No time for church? Try drive-thru prayer .
A 24-foot cross in Vermont pits local land-use law against claims of First Amendment Rights.
And a bomb threat on Sunday at the shrine in Lourdes, France evacuated some 30,000 pilgrims just before the mid-day mass.
Update from last week: The strippers and the churchgoers have reconciled . Good for them.
After one season in the NFL, pro-football player Glen Coffee has given up football because he doesn’t think it’s God’s will for his life. “I don’t know what call God has for my life, but it wasn’t football. … I’ll be happier, not necessarily because I’m without football, but because I’m letting Him do his work.” A Michigan high school is holding moonlit football practices. Fordson High School decided 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. practices were the best solution for the Muslim players who make up the majority of their team and couldn’t eat or drink during the day for the month of Ramadan.
Has Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Islam affected his legacy?
Priests in Europe know how to reach the kids. There’s the Italian DJ priest spinning the latest from Lady Gaga. Then there’s the skateboarding priest in Hungary. Awesome. Even more awesome: pilgrimages on a motorcycle. 10,000 motorcyclists took part in the festival of the Madonna of the Bikers in Porcaro, France.
Christian Scientists want spiritual care covered in the federal health package.
A new law in North Carolina requires schools and colleges to give students a minimum of two excused absences for religious observances. “ Rep. Rick Glazier, who co-sponsored the bill, says: “It has to be a bona fide holiday; you don’t get to just take the day off because you want to pray at home.” Here’s hoping the bill is more precise than “bona fide holiday.” Also in North Carolina, a court ruled that Davidson College campus police could not be given power to arrest suspects and enforce state law because of the school’s religious affiliation—the school is Presbyterian.
A judge struck down a Missouri law restricting protests near funerals . The federal lawsuit was filed by Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of the infamous Fred Phelps, pastor of Westboro Baptist Church and frequent protester at military funerals. In Utah, an appeals court ruled that crosses memorializing the deaths of 14 state troopers were an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.Gainesville officials have denied a Florida church a permit for its planned Quran burning.
Need a little more junk in the trunk? Skip the gym and head over to eBay where you can bid on a booty enhancement spell from a Wiccan. $8.95 and free shipping.
Julia Roberts will no longer talk about religion. Thank you. Roberts said she remembered her mother’s wise words: “You’re an actor, act. Don’ at talk about politics or religion.” Roberts apparently converted to Hinduism during the shooting of her latest film, Eat, Pray, Love. Catholic Church leaders have given the film a thumbs down because Roberts’ character doesn’t pray while in Rome—she merely eats. Meanwhile, one Hindu spokesperson is upset at the Catholic review of the film for describing scenes in the Indian ashram as an “unhealthy environment of semi-idolatrous worship.”
Finally, are evangelicals the new mainline?
