(RNS) Three Buddhists, a Hindu and a “none” will walk into the 113th Congress, and it’s no joke. Rather, it’s a series of “firsts” that reflect the growing religious diversity of the country. By David Gibson.

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) Kenyan church leaders are lining up in opposition to proposed new marriage bills, which they say will weaken marriage by allowing cohabitating couples to register as married. By Fredrick Nzwili.

You know all that talk about red states wanting to secede after Obama's win? Well, South Carolina Episcopalians went ahead with it. Rabbi Shmuley explains why he lost, Anne Lamott breaks prayer down into three words and Franklin Graham is upset.

This weekend when I got into an elevator at a convention hotel, one of the four guys already inside was whistling. It was a bit annoying. "Stop whistling," one of his friends said. "He's not whistling," said another friend. "He's just doing natural theology." I am definitely at the AAR, I thought.

Earlier this month, the AP's Rachel Zoll reported that Russell Renwicks, a manager in the IRS Mid-Atlantic region, had recently said that the agency "had suspended audits of churches suspected of breaching federal restrictions on political activity." Oh no, claimed IRS spokesman Dean Patterson. Renwicks had "misspoke."

Analysts note that Mitt Romney nominee lost in large measure due to changing American demographics—particularly the rise of the Latino vote, non-white Christians, and the religiously unaffiliated. But another demographic trend also threatens to hurt Republican chances in the future: the decline of marriage.

The U.S. Catholic bishops are showing strong approval ratings, so they can take that as consolation after their Election Day setbacks. Then again, the nuns are still way more popular. So it goes.

(RNS) Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said the Diocese of South Carolina can't unilaterally secede, as she urged conservatives to stay in the denomination despite sharp disagreements over theology and homosexuality. By Daniel Burke. 

(RNS) The Church of God in Christ has re-elected Presiding Bishop Charles Blake to serve a second four-year term as head of the nation's largest Pentecostal denomination. By Kevin Eckstrom.

Twinkies were supposed to outlast us all, but with Hostess in code blue, does that mean the end is nigh? Find out why "Jesus" can't save you from hackers, and how some Jews are taking an unorthodox approach to the college hook-up culture.

Averse as he is to hyping apocalyptic hyperventilating by right-wing preachers, Terry Mattingly takes the MSM to task for ignoring the pre-election assertion by the Rev. Robert Jeffress that President Obama is preparing the way of the Antichrist.

(RNS) Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Thursday kicked off an ambitious, four-year project to reorganize the archdiocese’s 288 parishes into approximately 135 ``parish collaboratives,'' each headed by a single pastor and served by a ministry team. By G. Jeffrey MacDonald. 

(RNS) Trying to make sense of the 2012 election and the unfolding David Petraeus sex scandal, I consulted the Bible and the “Sayings of the Fathers,” a collection of rabbinic teachings written between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. The ancient perceptions about politics and ethics are as insightful today as when they were first uttered. By A.James Rudin. 

 WASHINGTON (RNS) From this election forward, candidates won't be able to win the White House by relying on the white Christian vote, according to a new report. By Lauren Markoe.