Wednesday’s roundup

Celebrating Ramadan? NPR finds there’s an app for that. Egypt is creating a special time zone for Ramadan (to help end the daily fast an hour early), and Saudi Arabia is rolling out the world’s largest clock (sorry, Big Ben) overlooking Islam’s holiest site. Some Saudis apparently want the new Mecca clock to replace Greenwich […]

Celebrating Ramadan? NPR finds there’s an app for that. Egypt is creating a special time zone for Ramadan (to help end the daily fast an hour early), and Saudi Arabia is rolling out the world’s largest clock (sorry, Big Ben) overlooking Islam’s holiest site. Some Saudis apparently want the new Mecca clock to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). WaPo says many U.S. Muslims are still confused on when, exactly, Ramadan begins based on the sighting of the moon.

Joining conservatives at the American Center for Law and Justice, lawmakers on Capitol Hill now want the imam behind the so-called Ground Zero mosque booted from a goodwill trip sponsored by the State Department. New York Gov. David Paterson has offered help in moving the disputed mosque to a different location elsewhere in Gotham. The NYT says planners didn’t do the requisite homework — or anticipate the pushback — while planning the center.

CNN asks whether the black church is keeping black women “single and lonely” while a new study shows that black couples are more likely to pray, and therefore stay, together. A conservative Catholic website is offering pointers on how to knock down arguments in favor of same-sex marriage.


St. John’s University in Minnesota has dumped Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman (stepson of the late great RNS godmother Deborah Howell) as a senior fellow because his opinions apparently were too liberal for some Catholic alumni. A Catholic priest in Nashville is in hot water for a video that’s gone viral in which he questions priestly celibacy, birth control and papal authority.

Evangelical fav (and newby Denver Bronco) Tim Tebow is sporting a new hairdo, a la St. Francis of Assisi. Researchers in Hong Kong say St. Peter’s mother-in-law (who was healed by Jesus) had a bad case of the flu. Charismatic faith-healer Benny Hinn is denying an affair with fellow televangelist Paula White, although he does admit a blossoming “friendship” (perhaps they met in Washington, where both were under investigation for lavish spending by the Senate Finance Committee).

An Iowa county is going to battle against Mennonites and their steel-studded tractor tires that officials say are tearing up local roads (the Mennonites claim the tires are protected by the Constitution’s religious exercise clause). Rifqa Bary (remember her?), the Ohio teenager who fled to Florida to escape her Muslim family after she converted to Christianity, was released from foster care yesterday when she turned 18.

Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages performed in Mexico City (which the court had already upheld) have to be recognized by all 31 states, though other states need not perform them. Costa Rica’s Supreme Court blocked a proposed referendum on same-sex marriage, saying it would be unfair to gays. On this side of the border, the American Bar Association approved a resolution urging states to let same-sex couples tie the knot.

Officials are keeping a wary eye on the Pakistan floods, concerned about hard-line Islamic charities that are rushing in to deliver aid (and ideology?) and creating further opportunities for the Taliban to take root amidst the suffering.

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