Senate Democrats scored a major health-care victory early Monday morning, as they brokered a compromise on abortion and broke through a Republican filibuster. No one seems very happy with the abortion compromise, with NARAL, NRLC, and the Catholic bishops all denouncing it. The bishops said the bill “should not move forward in its current form.” Fox news guy Huckabee compared Nebraska’s Sen. Ben Nelson to Judas for accepting the compromise and voting for the bill. Nothing sells Christmas books like a well-timed Judas jab.
A public memorial service for Oral Roberts will be held Monday at the eponymous Oklahoma university he founded, which is expected to be his lasting legacy, the AP reports.
Mayor Fenty of Washington signed the bill legalizing gay marriage, and an evangelical church in Denver has thrown its doors open to “queers.” Yet another Anglican committee (that’s two, not including the Arch. of Canterbury, for those of you scoring at home) has asked the Episcopal Church to think twice before agreeing to consecrate a lesbian as bishop. A covenant that aims to define Anglicanism was sent to the communion’s 38 provinces for formal consideration.
The conservative Christians at Alliance Defense Fund are starting a project to combat “unconstitutional censorship” at colleges and universities.
The spiritual father of Iran’s reform movement died on Sunday at age 87, the Vatican is cracking down on unauthorized uses of the pope’s image, and Israeli archaeologists say they have found a 1st century house that could shed light on how Jesus lived. In yet another blow for Catholic Legionaries of Christ, the movement’s leaders admitted that one of their founder’s books was plagiarized from a Spanish political leader.
Finally, we would be remiss not to note that Peter Steinfels of the NYT revealed Saturday that his next Beliefs column will be his last. Steinfels’ wide-ranging columns offered an erudite and fair-minded take on everything from Medieval same-sex unions to 19th-century Buddhism, responded to the issues of the day without succumbing to reactionism, and continually prompted this reader to re-examine how to cover the religion beat. He will be greatly missed.
AP Photo is of the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in Qum, Iran.
