So we’re gonna go straight to my favorite story of the day: An Austrian atheist won the right to wear a colander on his head for his ID photo because he is a … wait for it …a Pastafarian who worships at the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Kudos to GW’s Jonathan Turley for this one-liner: “It is not clear if he listed his weight as al dente.”
Meanwhile, back in the real world:
Alabama churches are leading the opposition to the “meanest” immigration law in the country, which kicks in on Sept. 1. Over in Texas, a group of atheists are suing to stop Gov. Rick Perry‘s planned August prayer rally.
Michele Bachmann’s therapist husband is coming under fire for endorsing ex-gay therapy at his practice outside Minneapolis.
Fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty released a new video in which he talks extensively about his Christian faith, and also explained why he won’t sign that “traditional marriage” pledge that’s circulating in Iowa. Mike Huckabee’s daughter (and Pawlenty adviser) says TPaw’s faith is the real deal.
The Guttmacher Institute says states have approved 80 new restrictions on abortion in 2012, up from the previous high of 34 in 2005. Psychologists at Utah State have launched a major survey on gay Mormons.
Matthew Chapman’s The Ledge is making the rounds, and some atheists hope it’s their version of Brokeback Mountain. Other nonbelievers don’t like the story line that features an atheist seducing one half of a fundamentalist Christian couple.
Grand Rapids is wondering whether Fred Phelps & Co. will show up outside Betty Ford‘s final funeral today; they failed to show (as promised) at services in California on Tuesday.
As the Dalai Lama wraps up his peace festival in D.C., here’s a look at his predecessors, some of whom weren’t so giggly or peace-loving.
CT’s Sarah Pulliam Bailey scores an interview with Bristol Palin about abstinence, pre-marital sex and whether losing her virginity to Levi Johnston was date rape.
Seattle megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll has apologized (sort of) for asking readers to post stories of the “most effeminate anatomically male worship leader” they’ve come across. His response to the dust-up: “As a man under authority, my executive elders sat me down and said I need to do better by hitting real issues with real content in a real context. And, they’re right.”
Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn are on edge after an 8-year-old boy was found dismembered in a fellow Orthodox Jewish man’s freezer.
Things are going from bad to worse for Irish Catholics, after the government summoned the Vatican ambassador to explain a 1997 directive to bishops not to report abuse cases to the authorities. A government panel yesterday raised serious questions about the church’s (in)ability to police itself.
Things aren’t much better for Catholics in China after Beijing went ahead and ordained yet another bishop without Rome’s OK.
Israeli “Freedom Riders” are ensuring that women know they can sit anywhere they’d like on public buses. Somewhere Rosa Parks is smiling.
Rocco reports that B16 may soon replace his current ambassador to Washington and promote him to a post in Rome that carries a red hat.
The Church of England may pull its $6 million share out of Rupert Murdoch’s scandal-scarred News Corp.
Lawmakers in Hungary passed a law that officially recognizes 14 faith communities; all others (or those operating less than 20 years) will have to reapply for official recognition.
— Kevin Eckstrom
