Thursday’s Religion News Roundup

President Obama will stay next month at the Indian hotel attacked by terrorists in 2008, according to the White House. Gandhi’s museum and grave are also on the itinerary; the Sikh’s Golden Shrine is not, though the administration shot down speculation that Obama is dodging the shrine to avoid being photographed in a headscarf and […]

President Obama will stay next month at the Indian hotel attacked by terrorists in 2008, according to the White House. Gandhi’s museum and grave are also on the itinerary; the Sikh’s Golden Shrine is not, though the administration shot down speculation that Obama is dodging the shrine to avoid being photographed in a headscarf and fan false rumors about his faith.

A Tea Party founder says he stands by a column in which he urged the defeat of U.S. Rep Keith Ellison because he is a Muslim. A Saudi prince says the proposed Islamic center in NYC should be moved out of respect for 9/11 victims. A man purporting to be Osama bin Laden warned France to remove troops from Afghanistan and lift its burqa ban, according to a tape broadcast by Al Jazeera on Wednesday.


Ultra-Orthodox Jews’ special status in Israel – including dispensations from mandatory military service, separate schools, and public subsidies to study the Bible – is coming under new scrutiny, according to the AP.

Americans still are donating generously to religious charities, but are not passing the plate in church, according to a new report.

The Vatican official running the embattled Legionaries of Christ warned of “certain shipwreck” for the conservative order unless it changes course.The Archdiocese of Baltimore is considering cutting back on Masses because of a shortage of priests.

The Catholic Archbishop of Denver called for a new Christian Knighthood. The Archbishop of St. Paul/Minneapolis is a study in quiet control, says the Minneapolis Star Tribune. California Catholic bishops have not taken an official position on the state’s marijuana referendum, but the Bishop of Oakland says toking up is “incompatible with Christian morality.”

A Korean-American missionary says he was tortured by his North Korean captors. Four Amish elders in Missouri pled guilty for failing to tell police about allegations of sexual abuse in their community. A judge denied a request for a new trial in the Iowa kosher slaughterhouse case.

Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, which leaves some Christians in a candy-corn quandary. Some are holding All Saints parties. Louisiana’s Livingston Parish has banned the observance of Halloween on Sundays. Violators risk a fine of $500 or 30 days in jail.

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