Friday’s roundup

Members of the Secular Coalition for America will get their long-awaited sit-down with members of the Obama administration today; POTUS is not expected to attend. Speaking of POTUS, he and FLOTUS honored luminaries in the arts and humanities at 1,600 yesterday; Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel seems to be the only “religious” name on the list […]

Members of the Secular Coalition for America will get their long-awaited sit-down with members of the Obama administration today; POTUS is not expected to attend.

Speaking of POTUS, he and FLOTUS honored luminaries in the arts and humanities at 1,600 yesterday; Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel seems to be the only “religious” name on the list (unless some of you consider Bob Dylan in that category).

Clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces continue in Hebron over Israel’s decision to include the Cave of the Patriarchs on a list of historical heritage sites (the site sits in the middle of Palestinian-controlled territory). The death toll from a stampede at a mosque in Timbuktu, where Muslims where observing the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, stands at 24.


The two remaining U.S. missionaries in Haiti will stay locked up over the weekend, a Haitian judge says.German prosecutors have opened a probe into allegations of sexual abuse at a Jesuit-run school.

Evangelical chaplains are keeping a wary eye on efforts to repeal Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell. A study says women at Catholic schools are more likely to “hook up.”

Evangelist Kenneth Copeland gets to keep his $3.3 million private jet off the Texas tax rolls. A rift is erupting between outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins and his godless online admirers. The trial involving a Baltimore cult continues, with one woman saying cult leaders had her institutionalized to keep her from talking.

A Muslim employee at Hollister (think Abercrombie & Fitch) is suing after she says she was fired for refusing to take off her headscarf. A Montana court said Butte High School officials were within their rights when they told a valedictorian to strip, or at least modify, religious references in her 2008 speech. A Jewish couple in Finland was fined after the mohel who performed their son’s circumcision didn’t use an anasthetic.

Two long-separated pieces of the Hebrew Bible — a victory dance of sorts after Hebrew slaves crossed the Red Sea — have been reunited, and it feels so good. A Danish newspaper has reached a settlement with descendants of the Prophet Muhammad after the paper published cartoons that Muslims deemed offensive.

Just in time for Passover, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she’s knee-deep in the middle of a trade dispute over gefilte fish bound for Passover platters. A Jewish school in Washington state forfeited a tournament game rather than violate no-drinking rules related to Purim.


And this, from Japan (just because it’s Friday): A temple is allowing women to flush their troubles away after bowing to the porcelain god.

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