Tuesday’s Religion News Roundup: Tee Ball * Thatcher’s Faith * Military nuns?

Tee ball is luring parishioners out of the pews and on to the field. The obit writers seems to be skipping over Margaret Thatcher's strong Christian faith. And a case for nuns to serve as U.S. military chaplains.

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Tee ball is luring parishioners from the pews, says a new study. Photo by Vinnie Ahuja courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Tolerance schmolerance. Senior Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer at the LDS General Conference: just because the nation may change its laws to “tolerate legalized acts of immorality” does not make those acts any less spiritually damaging.

Are the obit writers for Margaret Thatcher, the first woman and first scientist to lead Great Britain, failing to mention how a strong Christian faith shaped the Iron Lady’s politics?


Cohabitation is nearly as much of a social norm as marriage, says reams and reams of federal data. Unmarried couples who live together are staying together longer than in the past — and more of them are having children.

Church vs. tee ball. A new study shows that the thing that competes with church attendance most is kids’ sports.

Against the tide of consoling thoughts and prayers for Rick Warren, a shocking number of people are posting and tweeting messages that condemn the pastor and his son, Matthew, who committed suicide last week.

An antidote to that ugliness — RNS blogger Jana Riess writes that she sees signs of a “palpable shift in how America is dealing with news of mental illness and suicide.”

Our man in London says that religious leaders are pushing heads of state hard on the United Nation’s anti-poverty goals — the deadline for which is 1,000 days away.

Pope Francis and the head of the Germany’s Evangelical Lutheran Church discussed the upcoming 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017. Awkward? “Friendly,” says the Holy See.


Church historian David Steinmetz writes that for all his tradition-bucking, Pope Francis “seems attuned to very specific Catholic traditions of church reform that claim his attention and color his vision of genuine Christianity.”

Jennifer Bryson urges the Roman Catholic Church to allow nuns to serve as U.S. military chaplains.

Several IP addresses in Vatican City have been the recipients of lots and lots of porn.

RNS blogger Jonathan Merritt has read the Rev. Jim Wallis’ new book and has some pointed questions for him on gay marriage, immigration reform and other timely issues.

CNN’s Dan Merica says the Archdiocese of Detroit is trying to soften remarks by Archbishop Allen Vigneron that compared advocates for gay marriage who receive Communion to perjurers.

An elaborate hoax — which included fake websites and videos — aimed to convince people that mega church Pastor Joel Osteen had renounced Christianity.


– Lauren Markoe

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