Monday’s Religion News Roundup: Rosh Hashanah; Muslim protests; Pope Stephen III

All hail King Bibi. Muslim riots continue. Pope Stephen III.

L'Shana Tova, Jewish friends. According to NBC's David Gregory, you not only have a new year, you have a new leader. All hail King Bibi

Speaking of horns tooted, blowing the shofar to herald the onset of Rosh Hashanah ain't just for rabbis anymore, our Lauren Markoe reports.

The LAPD took Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, one the men behind the moronic film “Innocence of Muslims,” in for “voluntary questioning” on Saturday. 


Nakoula and another California man behind the film were influenced by a fiery Coptic cleric who lives in SoCal and is known worldwide for insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad, the LA Times reports. 

Coptic Christian leaders in the U.S., including the bishop of California, denounced the Copts behind the film and attempted to distance their community from it. 

Not surprising: The director of “Innocence,” made his, um … bones, directing softcore porn

Google, which owns YouTube, denied a White House request to censor the film, saying it does not violate its terms of service regarding hate speech. Google blocked the video in Indonesia and India, however, because it violates local laws, according to the NYT, and temporarily blocked it last week in Libya and Egypt.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, hundreds of protesters demonstrating against “Innocence” torched a press club and a government building on Monday. Demonstrators also turned violent outside a U.S. military base in Afghanistan and the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia, the AP reports. 

Defense Sec. Leon Panetta says the turmoil will likely continue for a few more days before tapering off. 

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in the birthplace of Islam, denounced the attacks on diplomats and embassies as un-Islamic.


It's been a scary weekend for an Egyptian atheist known for provoking Muslims.

The NYT takes a stab at describing what's really behind the riots: Traditional Muslims' and Christians' conflict with Western individualism and secularism.

USA Today, OTOH, says the riots result from a power struggle between radical and moderate Islamists

The Atlantic offers a three-fold explanation: 1) U.S. drone attacks in majority Muslim countries. 2) The Israeli/Palestinian conflict. 3) U.S. troops' presence in Muslim countries. 

Meanwhile, a religious foundation in Iran is offering $3.3 million for the murder of “The Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie, who just published a memoir about living under Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa.

In Lebanon over the weekend, Pope Benedict XVI made repeated appeals for religious freedom, and said it was time for Muslims and Christians to work together to combat violence. 

Cash-strapped European cities are looking to lift tax breaks on churches to close their gaping budget gaps, WaPo reports. 


In the U.S., some black clergy see no good presidential choice between a Mormon candidate and one who supports gay marriage, so they are telling their flocks to stay home on Election Day, the AP's Rachel Zoll reports. 

Georgetown U. professor Jacques Berlinerblau wants atheists to stop whining

Tens of thousands of mourners vowed to cherish the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon's teachings as they bid goodbye to their self-proclaimed messiah and “True Father,” the AP reports. 

A Chicago frat house tried to claim they were a monastery to get around zoning restrictions. Nice try, fellas. 

Fordham University's “Catholic Comedy Slam,” with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Stephen Colbert and the Rev. James Martin, “might have been the most successful Roman Catholic youth evangelization event since Pope John Paul II last appeared at World Youth Day,” the NYT reports. 

After Dolan was introduced as a man who might one day be elected pope, the cardinal quipped, “If I am elected pope, which is probably the greatest gag all evening, I’ll be Stephen III.”

Yr hmbl aggrgtr,

Daniel Burke

Got a story for the roundup? Send me an email: [email protected]

Image of the Catholic funnymen is by Fordham student Tim Luecke. 

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