Progressive religious groups are licking their wounds after the House approved the bipartisan tax-cut deal that preserves Bush-era tax rates on all income levels, including the super rich; anti-hunger activists from Bread for the World, however, call it a “major victory.”
A New York grand jury declined to indict one of the two men accused of beating up a Muslim imam in what was seen as a possible hate crime. The incoming GOP chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says he’ll hold hearings next year on the “radicalization” of American Muslims.
New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan is showing some love for Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who led the charge in getting that ants-on-a-crucifix artwork removed from the Smithsonian.
After clergy who didn’t like atheist ads on buses threatened a boycott, transit officials in Fort Worth, Texas, say they won’t accept any religious ads starting Jan. 1.
I’ll let the NYT speak on this one, since they did it so well: “In New York, the epicenter of Jewish life in the United States, some jaws are still not back in place after dropping to the floor” after Henry Kissinger (top left) was heard on Nixon-era tapes saying it’s not “an American concern” if Soviet Jews are sent to gas chambers.
A Kentucky astronomer says his Christian faith kept him from a job as director of a new observatory at the University of Kentucky; maybe there’s a job for him over at the Creation Museum.
A WikiLeaked diplomatic cable says the Dalai Lama asked the U.S. to put aside its activism on Tibetan autonomy in favor of pushing China to combat climate change.
Northern Ireland announced it will launch its own probe into allegations of abuse at churches and schools, similar to the damning investigation in the Republic of Ireland. The Vatican says there’s been a “grave loss of trust” with China after Beijing installed more bishops without Vatican approval and summoned all Chinese bishops to a meeting, including those loyal to Rome.
Anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders wants the Netherlands to follow France and Belgium‘s lead and join the ban-the-burqa bandwagon next year.
