Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who sparks riots two years ago threatening to burn the Quran, says he didn't have anything to do with the anti-Islam video that sparked riots outside U.S. embassies in Egypt and Libya. Look for more on this story from RNS later today.
Following the riots in Egypt and Libya, CNN has a useful explainer on why depictions of Islam's Prophet Muhammad — flattering, incendiary or otherwise — are problematic with Islam. NPR looks at the “breathtakingly offensive” film that got it all started.
Our own Omid Safi has 12 things you need to know to make sense of this story.
Locals in Benghazi, meanwhile, held a massive “we're sorry” rally after the riots that left Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens dead. And the Vatican says the pope's trip to Lebanon this weekend is still a go, despite the violence.
The ACLU is suing on behalf of a small church that wants to distribute leaflets outside the Mormon temple in Brigham City, Utah, but can't because the city requires permits for its “Free Speech Zone.” Evangelical pastors are suing New Orleans for the right to pass out leaflets in the French Quarter, especially during a massive gay pride party.
Bill Clinton once considered becoming a Mormon, but couldn't accept the Mormon concept of the hereafter. Plural marriage, well, that's another story …
An Amish man in Ohio will spend 30 days in jail for firing a gun into the air; the bullet later landed and killed a 15-year-old girl who was driving her horse-drawn buggy — more than a mile away.
After the Catholics poached a few sheep from Episcopalians for their new Anglican-style dioceses, Episcopalians are returning the favor by trying to attract Hispanics.
Looking for a nice Jewish boy to marry? You might want to check out the synagogue during the upcoming high holidays, reports The Forward, for “the hottest singles scene around.”
The Vatican is hosting a two-day “Courtyard of the Gentiles” talk with nonbelievers in decidedly secular Sweden.
A new poll shows POTUS with a comfortable 8-point lead over challenger Mitt Romney among Catholics, although it's much tighter (46.5 to 45.6 percent) among white Catholics. Why the difference? Hispanic Catholics.
The NYC health department meets today on whether to require consent forms for circumcision ceremonies in which the mohel sucks the blood from an infant boy (let your mind process that image for a minute. Or not). Critics say the practice can result in passing on herpes, and has resulted in infant deaths.
The “Circle of Protection” that church leaders launched last year around the poor is still needed, they say, as poverty rates remain largely unchanged.
Churches that meet in Toronto public schools on the weekend recently saw their rents doubled, quadrupled or worse, and advocates say it could result in the churches being left homeless.
An Australian doctor has lost his medical license after prescribing chemical castration for a gay teenager; the doctor is a member of the Exclusive Brethren Christian sect. Anyone ever heard of them?
— Kevin Eckstrom
