Thursday’s Religion News Roundup: Twitter hell * Wiccan Must-Haves * Veggie Values

(RNS) See, I knew it: Twitter really is of the devil. Do you know which religion considers carrot cake an essential ingredient for rites and rituals? And Pat Robertson dispenses marriage advice to women.

image of carrot cake via Emily's Recipe Page (http://tiger.towson.edu/~epower4/recipe.html)
image of carrot cake via Emily's Recipe Page (http://tiger.towson.edu/~epower4/recipe.html)

image of carrot cake via Emily’s Recipe Page (http://tiger.towson.edu/~epower4/recipe.html)

Massachusetts inmate Daniel LaPlante is suing over access to ritual items of his Wiccan faith, including carrot cake, colored pens and, um, dragon blood. The full list is here.

One person who’s happy that Minnesota legalized gay marriage: Jay Bakker, son of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, who served up “rainbow Communion bread” at the inaugural service of his Revolution Church in Minneapolis.


From the Dept. of Oh Pat, You Shouldn’t Have, Pat Robertson says “males have a tendency to wander a little bit” and it’s the wife’s job to make sure the home life is so great that he doesn’t have reason to stray.

Perhaps he’s thinking of Victoria’s Secret model Kylie Bisutti, who’s quitting the runway for her husband and for God.

Along those lines, our own Jonathan Merritt keeps it going with Seattle megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll (whom Merritt said was this generation’s Robertson) and ponders the power of words.

Looks like more and more Canadians are spending Sunday mornings in a booth at Tim Horton’s than at a pew inside a church.

North Carolina is inching toward becoming the eighth state to ban “foreign laws” (i.e., Islamic Shariah law) from state courtrooms.

Speaking of foreign laws, a German evangelical family that says they’ll face persecution back home for home-schooling their kids lost an asylum bid at a federal appeals court; they’re ready to take it to the Supremes.

Increasing numbers of congregations are starting vegetable gardens with the goal of tilling the soil, tending the soul and keeping food pantries well stocked.


As Washington is fixated over the IRS/Tea Party scandal, others say it’s worth remembering that liberal churches — namely, All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena, Calif. — were the victims of a “witch hunt” by the IRS under former President George W. Bush.

Catholic bishops and others are worried about a human cloning breakthrough in Oregon, saying it could lead to designer babies.

Franklin Graham says he was targeted by the IRS, as well as the staunchly pro-Israel group Z Street.

A whole range of Christian leaders came together in D.C. to preach civility, but as our own Lauren Markoe notes, apparently they couldn’t agree on exactly what that would look like.

Yes, it has come to this: There are now tours of Buenos Aires where you can see all the sites Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio frequented before he became Pope Francis.

For those of you out there who are loathe to tweet: The head of the Saudi religious police says using Twitter can send you to hell.


Reports out of China say a Tibetan monk was beaten to death by Chinese police after two cassettes of the Dalai Lama’s speeches were found in his room. People still use cassettes?

Israel’s (female) attorney general is putting her foot down that yes, Jewish women will have access to the sacred Western Wall.

French officials are concerned that prisons are a breeding ground for radical Islam.

That’s it for today, folks. To all of you who contributed to our recent spring fundraising drive, thank you thank you thank you!

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!