Eau de Francis * Mainline 2.0 * Messiah returns: Thursday’s Religion News Roundup

(RNS) Messiah has returned, and maybe not the one you're thinking of. Lots of people want to live like Pope Francis, and now you can smell like him, too.

Remember baby Messiah, who was told he couldn’t have that name because a judge said “it’s a title that has only been earned by one person – and that one person is Jesus Christ”? Turns out he gets to keep his name after all.

"Saying Grace" (1970), by Norman Rockwell.

“Saying Grace” (1970), by Norman Rockwell.

Three Norman Rockwell originals are going up for auction, including the iconic “Saying Grace.


Here’s something that sparked a newsroom discussion here yesterday: writer Carol Howard Merritt says she’s dropping the term “mainline Protestant” because it evokes images of people who “hang out at the Country Club and eat cucumber sandwiches in fancy hats.”

Ed Stetzer says bigger isn’t necessarily better for megachurches, and says the newest trend is going multi-site, not mega-building.

Kabbalah Centre founder Philip Berg was buried in Israel, and among the funeral attendees were Ashton Kutcher and girlfriend Mila Kunis.

It’s a good question from Jonathan Merritt: With Rick Warren’s new crusade against mental illness, will gun control become a new focus for the purpose-driven pastor?

A GOP official in Northern Virginia is refusing to apologize for an anti-Semitic joke that somehow involved the pope and a bill for the Last Supper. Besides being inappropriate, it wasn’t even that good of a joke.

Renee Gadoua looks at the ongoing civil war within the United Methodist Church as increasing numbers of clergy vow to break church rules and marry gay and lesbian couples.

Writer Joshua Eaton ponders the question of whether Navy Yard Shooter Aaron Alexis was a “fake” Buddhist. More of Alexis’ Buddhist background here.

Atheists have a new political action committee, the Freethought Equality Fund, and HuffPo then tries to break it down as to why there are so few open atheists in Congress.


Speaking of, a small but growing number of campuses are offering “Secular Safe Zones” for students who are wrestling with unbelief or getting harassed for being an atheist.

An Israeli family is claiming that Microsoft stole an original Hebrew font created during WW2 without permission.

The BBC’s Lucy Townsend asks whether a sorta-ugly-on-the-outside modern campus chapel can create a sense of spirituality (it’s actually kind of stunning on the inside).

Looks like Pope Francis’ auto preferences are rubbing off — sort of. Archbishop Vincent Nichols said he felt uncomfortable cruising around London in a silver Mercedes, until he concluded that God would think it’s OK if he’s going to meet fancy business leaders.

There’s a new Pope Francis cologne, which the designer says isn’t anything “too flashy.”

The RNS Roundup is sometimes flashy but rarely stinky (we hope) so make sure we have your email address below so you can get the Roundup every day, for free, in your inbox:

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