And the hypocrisy of Israel (which already possesses over 200 nuclear warheads) and an atrocious record of human rights violations questioning Iran’s aim of developing nuclear energy has led to some pointed political commentary, such as the cartoon on the right.
 

It has been hard to find sober, objective facts on the Iranian nuclear crisis, and even harder to find policy makers who are able to offer clearheaded advice on how to move forward.     Until now.     

A group in the UK has just released what might be the most realistic analysis of the situation.    This group, called the Oxford Research Group, presents itself as being committed to: “The Oxford Research Group (ORG) is a leading independent think-tank that has been influential for 30 years in pioneering the idea of sustainable approaches to security as an alternative to violent global confrontation, through original research, wide-ranging dialogue, and practical policy recommendations.” 

The report is highly recommended.    you can access the PDF of the report here.  

One hopes that all American, Israeli, and Iranian pocliy makers avail themselves of its clearheaded vision.

Readers should be warned, however, that the report does utilize British spellings.     Therefore, it is not for the faint of heart.

**************************

Key principles of what a deal would look like
This briefing outlines what might be considered a set of broad principles for negotiations on the Iran nuclear issue.  These principles have been neglected in the past in the belief that objectives are better achieved by more coercive means.
The key principles are as follows:
• Talking without preconditions
• Incentivise phasing of negotiations and pay attention to sequencing
• Need to define political endgame and how to get there
• Seeing the opportunities for positive signalling
• Face-saving and equity
• Focusing on mutual security concerns and areas of cooperation
• Creating a climate for trust building - an informal track to support the negotiations
• De-escalating the rhetoric
• Taking “regime change” off the table
 

As is the case for many other people, my morning routines are often full:   getting our kids up and dressed, give them a breakfast that doesn’t have the word “frosted” or “sugar” before a cereal, get them in the car, and take them to their respective school.    I share the road with thousands of other dads and moms, folks sipping their morning coffee, or checking their smartphones.     The roads are packed, and the traffic can be intense.

This morning though, I saw the most extraordinary sight.     The four lane road leading to my daughter’s school was blocked on both sides, with one woman standing in the middle of the road, arms stretched out to the side like a Christ figure.   Her own car was stopped on the right hand lane, and had the blinkers on.   Cars on both sides of the road were at a stand still, and we were all marveling at what she was doing.

I followed the eyes of the other drivers, and noticed that they were not looking at the woman, but rather at her feet.   Finally I saw what everyone had been staring at:    there, in the middle of this highway, was an old turtle which was slowly, very s   l   o   w    l   y, crossing the busy highway.     The woman had stopped her car, brought the traffic to a stand still, and was providing safe passage to the turtle.   Without her intervention, there was little doubt that in a few seconds, some unsuspecting driver would have crushed the turtle that was probably older than most drivers on the road.

She was not an extraordinary woman, in many ways.  You would walk past her a million times in a grocery store without pausing to look twice.    She wasn't young, tall, buff, or beautiful.  Yet her action was extraordinary, and indeed beautiful.     It radiated strength, and compassion.    There was something transformative about seeing courage and love, out in public, from the most ordinary of people.

I surveyed the faces of the drivers I could see, expecting to find some frustration at the 2-3 minutes that this intervention was going to cost them.    It would not have surprised me to find some rolling their eyes, honking their horns, or tapping the steering wheel in frustration.    Much to my surprise, and then delight, that is not at all what I saw on face after face.   Instead, I saw gentle, compassionate smiles.    What I saw were people nodding in a knowing fashion, approving of this selfless display of compassion.   

There was a wave of gratitude that washed over me at that spot:  what if compassion, and the acknowledgement of compassion, is what is actually hardwired into our being?   What if we are not these potentially frustrated and rushed beings, but actually made to live in compassion?  And what if there are those who are willing to live out lives of compassion come to be met with acknowledgement of compassion, mirroring that very love back to them?

On the way home, there was another connection that came to my heart, something unexpected.   My mind wandered back to the teachings of Dr. King, that maestro of compassion lived out loud, talks about a profound transformation that occurs when we project the “I” into the “thou” and stop trying to live compassion by proxy.  In Dr. King’s account, we get to the point when we stop asking the question of “if I stop to help them, what will happen to me?” and we end up acting on “if I do not stop help them, what will happen to them?”

This is what the woman who helped the turtle cross the road did.     She didn’t think about the danger to her, or her car, if she stopped and got out of the car.     She didn’t think about what would happen to her if she was 3 minutes late getting to her next destination.    She acted based on the direct command of compassion:   If she did not stop to help the turtle, what would happen to the giant creature?

As I drove home, another question, another moral dilemma, presented itself to me:
We live in a world where one out of every five human beings lives on a dollar a day.  
We live in a world where poverty is not a “natural” condition, anymore than slavery or war are natural conditions.  We, the living human community, acquiesce in the face of conditions that perpetuate the trauma of war and poverty everyday.  We, even the best-intentioned of us, have convinced ourselves that the problems we face are “too big” to be fixed.    Yet, if we took the resources that we as a human community spend on warfare in a given year and set aside eight days out of that full year’s budget, we could wipe out hunger, we could eliminate poverty.    

Will we act?
Will we get out of our car, and help our fellow human beings cross this dangerous road that we ourselves have created?
Will we rise beyond the “if I stop to help my fellow human beings, what will happen to me?” question, and will we arrive at the “if I do not stop to help my fellow human beings, what will happen to them?”
Will we do so not out of pity, but merely out of love and concern for our fellow travelers on the path of life?

Maybe, just maybe, we would find that more people than not are willing to live out this creed of compassion for all.  Maybe, just maybe, we would find that the people we expect to be hostile towards our sacrificial action would actually nod knowingly, and compassionately.     And maybe, just maybe, a few would join in.

That turtle got to cross the dangerous road due to the selfless compassion of one woman.

May all of God’s children get to cross the dangerous road of life to reach their destination. 
We need all of us to stop the traffic of madness, and re-create this path as what it has been intended to be:   a safe passageway for all of God’s creatures to reach their destination.   May we be participants in making it so.

Queen Elizabeth II greets employees on her walk from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center mission control to a reception in the center’s main auditorium in Greenbelt, Maryland where she was presented with a framed Hubble image by Congressman Steny Hoyer and Senator Barbara Mikulski on May 8, 2007. RNS photo courtesy NASA/Bill Ingalls via Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees,_May_8,_2007_edit.jpg)

Queen Elizabeth II greets employees on her walk from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center mission control to a reception in the center’s main auditorium in Greenbelt, Maryland where she was presented with a framed Hubble image by Congressman Steny Hoyer and Senator Barbara Mikulski on May 8, 2007.

Zeeshan Hyder with the up and under layup during a Muslim Basketball League game in Southern California. RNS photo by Aamir Syed

Zeeshan Hyder with the up and under layup during a Muslim Basketball League game in Southern California.

Abdul Yousef dunking over his brother, Yaser Yousef, during the dunk contest with the Muslim Basketball League in Southern California. RNS photo by Bilal Umarji Photography

Abdul Yousef dunking over his brother, Yaser Yousef, during the dunk contest with the Muslim Basketball League in Southern California.

Hanif Madyun (Los Verdugos) goes up for a dunk during the dunk contest with the Muslim Basketball League in Southern California. RNS photo by Bilal Umarji Photography

Hanif Madyun (Los Verdugos) goes up for a dunk during the dunk contest with the Muslim Basketball League in Southern California.

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to lead his general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Feb. 8. RNS photo by Paul Haring/Catholic News Service

The pontiff's comments on the sisters come just a month after the Vatican crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella group that represents most American nuns. The group was accused of not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, abortion and women’s ordination.

Addressing a group of bishops from the United States who were in Rome for a regularly scheduled visit, Benedict said he hoped that the current phase of “discernment” would bear “abundant spiritual fruit” and revitalize women religious communities “in fidelity to Christ and the Church.”

The pope called on the nuns to rediscover the “sublime dignity and beauty of the consecrated life” and stressed the need to strengthen communication between women religious and local church authorities.

In his speech to the bishops, Benedict also praised the church's “great generosity” towards immigrants in the United States.

He said the bishops' commitment to immigration reform was a “particular sign” of their efforts on behalf of immigrants, but conceded that it was a “difficult and complex issue” from the social, political and economical, as well as the human, point of view.

Concluding his address, Benedict seemed to echo the bishops' alarm over President Obama's policies, including the fight over the contraception mandate, saying that the American church faced the “threat of a season in which our fidelity to the Gospel may cost us dearly.”

DBG/AMB END SPECIALE

William Peter Blatty, who graduated from Georgetown in 1950, says the "last straw" was the university's speaking invitation to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. 

Sebelius, who addressed graduating public policy students on Friday (May 18), has been criticized by conservative Catholics for approving a mandate that requires many religious institutions to cover employees' birth control costs. The Archdiocese of Washington called the Sebelius invitation "shocking."

Blatty, 85, credits a Georgetown scholarship with fostering his writing career, which includes an Academy Award for "The Exorcist," a blockbuster based on his best-selling 1971 novel. In the book and movie, a Jesuit priest at Georgetown, the nation's oldest Catholic university, struggles to save a demon-possessed girl. Now retired, Blatty lives in Bethesda, Md.

"What I owe Georgetown, however, is nothing as compared to what Georgetown owes to its founders and the Christ of faith," Blatty said in a statement.

The author says that Georgetown has violated church teaching for decades by inviting speakers who support abortion rights and refusing to obey instructions the late Pope John Paul II issued in 1990 to church-affiliated colleges and universities.

Georgetown should amend its ways or stop calling itself a Catholic or Jesuit institution, Blatty said. 

A media spokesperson for Georgetown did not respond Friday to a request for comment. On its website, the university says, "Catholicism’s rich and diverse intellectual tradition is central to Georgetown’s academic life." 

In response to criticism of the Sebelius speech, Georgetown president John J. DeGioia said this week that the university is “committed to the free exchange of ideas” even if it does not agree with all of them.

Blatty's "indictment" against Georgetown charges the school with failing to recruit Catholic teachers and students, neglecting to instruct students in Catholic morality and defying church doctrine. He expects the suit to be filed in the Archdiocese of Washington's court of canon law this fall.

Blatty recently founded The Father King Society, named after a former Georgetown theology professor, to enlist fellow alumni in his cause.

A similar church suit was brought against Georgetown in 1991 for authorizing university funding for a student group that supported abortion rights. According to Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly, the case reached the Vatican before Georgetown agreed not to fund the group.

The conservative Cardinal Newman Society has assisted Blatty's cause. 

DBG/AMB END BURKE   

M100o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr

Queen Elizabeth II greets employees on her walk from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center mission control to a reception in the center’s main auditorium in Greenbelt, Maryland where she was presented with a framed Hubble image by Congressman Steny Hoyer and Senator Barbara Mikulski on May 8, 2007. RNS photo courtesy NASA/Bill Ingalls via Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees,_May_8,_2007_edit.jpg)

The survey, conducted by the polling organization ComRes for the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), showed 73 percent favor her remaining as the church's "Supreme Governor" and "Defender of the Faith" -- titles held by the monarch since King Henry VIII broke with the pope and Roman Catholicism in the 16th century.

ComRes said it interviewed 2,591 adults in England by telephone between March 30 and April 15.

Despite the growing influence of other faiths, largely through immigration and including Muslims, Jews and Sikhs, the English remain steadfast in their support of Queen Elizabeth as head of the Church of England, which is considered the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The BBC poll was conducted to coincide with the queen's diamond jubilee celebrations, which are now well under way.

It showed that only one-fourth of those interviewed thought the queen and her successors should have no religious role or religious title of any sort -- a percentage that has held firm for the past several decades.

But should her son and heir apparent, Prince Charles, succeed his mother to the throne, about 50 percent would favor a change that he himself has suggested: that instead of Defender of the Faith, he wear the title of Defender of Faiths.

Earlier this year, at a multifaith reception she held at Lambeth Palace in London, Queen Elizabeth staunchly defended the Church of England itself, which she suggested was often misunderstood.

"Its role is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of all other religions," she said, but "instead the Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country."

DBG/AMB END WEBB

"It was all about the good of Mother Church.They cared about money, they cared about the business of the church, not the flock and not the parishioners."

Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington, who is prosecuting a senior Catholic official for failing to prevent the sexual abuse of children. He was quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

An online campaign called “Save Our Shorter” says that the lifestyle pledge, adopted in the fall of 2011 along with a statement of faith, has led to dozens of resignations. University president Donald Dowless on Friday (May 18) confirmed that 36 faculty have resigned and at least 25 cited disagreement with either the personal lifestyle statement or the faith statement.

The school usually has about 100 full-time faculty.

“The Shorter Board of Trustees is slowly destroying the reputation of our beloved school and causing irreparable damage to the cause of Christ,” the Save Our Shorter website says.

Dowless said Friday that some of those who resigned did not state the reason for leaving.

In a Wednesday statement, Dowless said he and the university board recognized there are “strong feelings on both sides” about the new employment rules but the board decided to “reclaim our Christian roots” even if the consequence was a loss of faculty and staff.

“Our University was at a crossroads to either take steps to regain an authentic Christian identity in policy and practice or we would become a Christian University in name only,” he said.

The university, in Rome, Ga., now requires faculty to sign a personal lifestyle statement that says they will not engage in illegal drug use or drink alcohol in restaurants, stadiums and other public locations.

“I reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality,” the statement reads.

The Georgia Baptist Convention began appointing all trustees of the school’s board in 2005 after a ruling in the state convention’s favor by the Georgia Supreme Court.

DBG/DSB END BANKS

The new BBC series Sherlock is terrific fun, but its acedically bored main character is so ill-mannered that he bears little resemblance to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective. This devolution reveals more about our own era than it does about Sherlock Holmes.

Before I criticize the characterization let me just say that many other aspects of this series' updating have been delightful. The pacing is brisk, the reliance on technology fascinating (Watson's chronicle, for example, has been moved to a blog, and Sherlock is never without his mobile phone). And I was of course relieved that A Study in Pink, the series opener based on Conan Doyle's inaugural novel A Study in Scarlet, retained all the plot twists of the original without the anti-Mormon propaganda.

But.

In Conan Doyle's stories, Sherlock Holmes had many flaws: he was driven, untidy, and logical to a fault. He was arrogant at times, yes, and somewhat vain. He may have suffered from bipolar tendencies, was a little too loose with verboten substances, and seemed to be secretly terrified of women.

But he was not cruel. He was rarely even rude.

The BBC's contemporary Sherlock is entirely unfazed when his landlady has been beaten and tied up. He rescues her but expresses no concern about her welfare and disagrees with Watson about her needing a rest. This Sherlock openly ridicules a woman at his own Christmas party, noticing by the tiniest detail of her clothing and demeanor that she is aiming to impress some man but not realizing that he's the one who has sparked her interest. And he seems to barely tolerate Watson's presence.

This Sherlock is constantly bored and repeatedly tells people that they, and their stories, are boring. He craves stimulation, even if that means that someone is about to get murdered. Anything so he can enjoy the intellectual thrill of the chase.

The BBC's Sherlock Holmes has abandoned hero status and become an antihero, that morally ambiguous character that has risen to TV prominence in recent years (Jack Bauer, Dexter, Dr. House, Spike, etc.). The most disturbing thing about this is that he has everything in common with his archnemesis, Moriarty. Moriarty in this series is wildly unpredictable and downright psychotic, whereas in the books Moriarty's complexity lay in his unfailing calm.

Call me old-fashioned, but it would be marvelous to see a bit of Holmes's humanity return to 221B Baker Street.

The proposed attack ad featuring the Rev. Jeremiah Wright  injected race and religion into the 2012 race in a big way, the NYT reports.

Mitt Romney said he "repudiate(s) that effort," but stood by comments he made in February suggesting that President Obama wants to make America into a "less Christian nation"

The Super Pac that considered running the ads quickly backed away, calling them "merely a proposal."

CNN's Roland Martin says conservatives' plans may boomerang. "You're now putting on the table how African Americans were treated by the Mormon religion. I don't think Mitt Romney really wants to have that conversation, considering he was an elder and his dad was an elder, and they really did not embrace African Americans," Martin said. 

A former Roman Catholic priest, John F. Fiala, was found guilty in Texas of plotting the death of a man who accused him of sexual abuse.

Salt Lake City is the most religious metropolis in the U.S., according to a new study, and Portlandia the least. 

Nearly half of American Internet users are online for religious purposes. Lord knows what the rest of you are doing. 

An Orthodox Jewish professor, Maurice Eisenstein, claims that faculty and administrators at Purdue University Calumet conspired to ruin his reputation over anti-Muslim comments he made in the classroom and on Facebook.  

"Exorcist" author William Peter Blatty is turning heads (sorry, I couldn't resist) by preparing a canon law suit against Georgetown University, his alma mater, to stop the school from calling itself Catholic or Jesuit.

Commonweal mag breaks down the Franciscan U. of Steubenville's arguments for dropping students' health care plans.

Famed Swiss theologian Hans Küng declined an invitation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vatican 2, saying that a funeral or penance service would be more apt.

Cleveland Catholics are anxious for their bishop to re-open their parishes, as the Vatican ordered more than a month ago. 

A predominantly black church whose pastor backed same-sex marriage now faces foreclosure.

A Brooklyn-based artist has made wine-flavored Popsicles with sticks that depict a crucified Jesus. 

Finally, Disco Queen Donna Summer, who grew up singing in church, became a "sex goddess" through hits like "Love to Love you Baby," and returned to Christianity after suffering from depression, has danced her last dance. She worked hard for her money, so let's hope He treats her right. 

If you, too, work hard for your money, then you'll probably like our Daily Religion News Roundup, delivered straight to your inbox five days a week for no charge. It's Hot Stuff. 

Yr hmbl aggrgtr,

Daniel Burke 

M240o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr

Hanif Madyun (Los Verdugos) goes up for a dunk during the dunk contest with the Muslim Basketball League in Southern California. RNS photo by Bilal Umarji Photography

“Sometimes we’d sneak out of prayers to play ball,” recalled Abdelkader, who grew-up attending the Worcester Islamic Center in central Massachusetts. Like a growing number of American mosques, the Worcester Islamic Center has a basketball court -- and hence a built-in temptation for younger members.

“It’s not supposed to be like that, but kids love to play the game,” Abdelkader said while watching a recent Boston Celtics playoff game on a big-screen television at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. He was joined by about 20 other Muslims, a scene that is being replicated in living rooms and Islamic community centers as the NBA playoffs head toward the finals in June.

At the moment, there are at least eight Muslim players in the NBA (four Turks, two African Americans, one Iranian, and one Tanzanian), and one of them -- center Nazr Mohammed of the Oklahoma City Thunder -- is currently in the middle of a tense series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

But the special relationship between Muslims and basketball goes beyond any particular player or team and embraces the sport itself. It is not unlike the one described in “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story,” a 2010 documentary film written by Ira Berkow, a Pulitzer-prize winning sportswriter.

For many Muslim Americans, college and professional basketball provides heroes they can take pride in, symbols of affirmation at a time when they face hostility from some Americans. And it serves as a way to develop fellowship with their fellow believers while reaching out to non-Muslims.

“Every Muslim community I go to, there’s this obsession for basketball. Almost every mosque you go to, there’s a basketball court outside,” said Musab Abdali of Houston.

Abdali, 19, is helping organize the youth program of an annual convention sponsored by the Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America, a pair of religious and outreach organizations. This year's convention will be held in Hartford, Conn., over Memorial Day weekend. The “highlight” is the 3-on-3 basketball tournament, which is expected to draw close to 200 players, Abdali said. “Basketball has become more than a sport; it’s a culture for us.”   

M160o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr

Zeeshan Hyder with the up and under layup during a Muslim Basketball League game in Southern California. RNS photo by Aamir Syed

That culture is manifesting itself in Muslim basketball leagues and tournaments across the country, and is even recognized by the country’s major Islamic organizations, which are often criticized for being out of touch with Muslim youth.

Evolving from pick-up games in Chicago, the National Muslim Basketball Tournament was launched in 2010 and now holds at least four tournaments per year. The most popular one is in Chicago and has attracted 42 teams with 8 or 9 players each.

The Islamic Society of North America has recruited the organization to set-up a tournament during its annual convention in Washington D.C. this September. 

Many of the leagues are highly-organized and high quality: they include players with college basketball experience, and they have summer and winter seasons where games are tracked with standard basketball statistics. Many leagues are funded by player registration fees and, occasionally, sponsors. That helps pay for certified referees, court rentals, and jerseys.

Prayers are generally held before or after games but in most leagues every third or fourth player is a non-Muslim.

“We do that so we could set a good example to non-Muslims,” said Ziad Pepic, a co-commissioner of the Muslim Basketball League in Southern California. The league started in 2005 and now has close to 300 players.

“We can’t go out to a bar Saturday night and meet people. But being able to go to a basketball court and play is a great way to meet people and build bridges with them,” said Saad Khurshid, one of the organizers of the Muslim Basketball league in Parsippany, N.J.. The league, whose motto is “Building Brotherhood Through The Game Of Basketball,” has more than 200 players who play on teams named after cities in the Muslim world, such as Mecca, Cairo, and Timbuktu.

So what explains the attraction between Muslim Americans and basketball? 

M200o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr

Abdul Yousef dunking over his brother, Yaser Yousef, during the dunk contest with the Muslim Basketball League in Southern California. RNS photo by Bilal Umarji Photography

For starters, basketball has provided Muslim Americans with more heroes than any other major sport in America [see box below]. To be sure, Muslims have competed professionally in football, boxing, soccer and other sports, but the number of Muslim basketball stars whose fame put their faith in a positive spotlight is unrivaled. These include all-time NBA leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and 12-time NBA All-Star Hakeem Olajuwon, who retired in 2002 after a long career spent mainly with the Houston Rockets.

Shaquille O’Neal, in a 2010 interview with a Turkish journalist, referred to Olajuwon as a “Muslim brother” and said he planned to make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

“We have people to look up to. We have Muslims who have won championships and who have set records,” said Abdali. His favorite player is Olajuwon, who is famous for fasting during games during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. “He was such an inspiration,” Abdali said.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, another former All-Star who retired in 2008, also played while fasting.   

Another reason is the overlap between Muslim Americans and African-Americans. Close to 80 percent of NBA players are black, and basketball has long-played an important part in many black communities. At the same time, an estimated 30 percent of Muslim Americans are black.

Many Muslim Americans who are not black also identify with blacks as a fellow minority in a country still marked by prejudice, so they embrace popular culture associated with black culture, especially basketball and hip-hop music.  

“Hip hop culture still has a large sway in public life, and there are Muslims who are involved in hip culture, and basketball is integral to that culture,” said Suhaib Webb, a former hip-hop DJ and playground player, who is now imam at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. 

Basketball is also the easiest and most affordable sport for Muslims to organize. Those are important considerations for a faith whose numbers and communal finances are still small. Basketball teams require half the number of players needed in football, soccer or baseball, and they don’t need any special padding or equipment.

“My take is logistics. You don’t need a lot of space like you do in football or soccer,” said Basharat Saleem, director of youth programs for the Islamic Society of North America’s annual convention.

The grass-roots popularity of basketball in the Muslim community means that Muslim Americans have been able to maintain their passion for basketball despite the current absence of pro and college players on par with past Muslim legends. But that may change. The nation’s top high school basketball player, Shabazz Muhammad of Las Vegas, is Muslim, and he will be a freshman at UCLA this year.

DBG/KRE END SACIRBEY

Muslim NBA All-Stars

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 65.
Center, Milwaukee Bucks 1969-1975, Los Angeles Lakers 1975-1989.
Born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, he converted in 1971. NBA all-time leading scorer, Hall of Fame 1995, 6 MVPs, 19-time All-Star, 6 championships.

Hakeem Olajuwon, 49.
Center, Houston Rockets 1984-1999, Toronto Raptors, 2001-2002.
Graduated from Muslim Teachers College in Lagos, Nigeria. Hall of Fame 2008, 1994 MVP, 12-time All-Star, 2 championships.

Shaquille O’Neal, 40.
Center, Orlando Magic 1992-1996, Los Angeles Lakers 1996-2004, Miami Heat 2004-2008, and three other teams between 2008-2011.
Born to a Baptist mother and Muslim stepfather. Future Hall of Fame, 2000 MVP, 15-time All-Star, 4 championships.

Larry Johnson, 43.
Forward, Charlotte Hornets 1991-1996, New York Knicks 1996-2001.
Converted in 1999. Rookie of the Year. 2-time All-Star.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, 35.
Forward, Vancouver Grizzlies 1996-2001, Atlanta Hawks 2001-2004, plus 2 other teams between 2004-2008.
American-born Muslim, father is an imam. Played while fasting during Ramadan. All-Rookie Team, 2002 all-star.

Mahdi Abdul-Rahman, died in 2011 at 70.
Guard, Los Angeles Lakers 1964-1967, Seattle Supersonics 1967-Atlanta Hawks 1968-1971, plus three other teams between 1971-1974.
Born Walt Hazard, he converted during his NBA career. All-Star 1967-1968, went on to coach UCLA, his alma mater where he won the 1964 NCAA championship.

Jamaal Abdul-Lateef Wilkes, 59.
Guard. Golden State Warriors 1974-1977, Los Angeles Lakers 1977-1985, Los Angeles Clippers 1985-1986.
Born Jackson Keith Wilkes, he converted in 1975. Rookie of the Year. Three-time all-star, 4 championships. Nick-named “smooth as silk Wilkes.”

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, 43.
Guard, Denver Nuggets 1990-1996, Sacramento Kings 1996-1999, Vancouver Grizzlies 2000-2001. Still plays overseas.
Born Chris Jackson, he converted in 1991. All-Rookie Team, two-time NBA free-throw leader. Caused uproar by not standing for national anthem.

Today, the Washington Post criticized the Cardinal Archbishop of Washington for finding it "shocking" that Georgetown University would invite HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to speak at the awards ceremony of its Public Policy Institute.

What we find shocking is Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s failure to credit the proper role of a university and the importance of vigorous, open debate, even--or perhaps especially--involving matters of intense controversy and religious disagreement... The cardinal’s public slap-down of what he termed Georgetown’s “unfortunate decision” fails to recognize that critical academic function.

What the Post fails to recognize, however, is that its idea of a university and that of those protesting Georgetown's invitation are not the same. The protest is being spearheaded by the Cardinal Newman Society, a conservative Catholic outfit dedicated to "studying and promoting the work of our patron, John Henry Cardinal Newman, especially as it relates to Catholic higher education and the unity of faith and reason." That refers to Newman's well-known work, The Idea of a University, a series of nine lectures published in 1858 after Newman had served as rector of the newly established Catholic University of Ireland (now University College, Dublin).

Here's a taste of what Newman had to say, from lecture 5:

The medieval schools were the arena of as critical a struggle between truth and error as Christianity has ever endured; and the philosophy which bears their name carried its supremacy by means of a succession of victories in the cause of the Church. Scarcely had Universities risen into popularity, when they were found to be infected with the most subtle and fatal forms of unbelief; and the heresies of the East germinated in the West of Europe and in Catholic lecture-rooms, with a mysterious vigour upon which history throws little light...

In this day, on the contrary, Truth and Error lie over against each other with a valley between them, and David goes forward in the sight of all men, and from his own camp, to engage with the Philistine. Such is the providential overruling of that principle of toleration, which was conceived in the spirit of unbelief, in order to the destruction of Catholicity. The sway of the Church is contracted; but she gains in intensity what she loses in extent. She has now a direct command and a reliable influence over her own institutions, which was wanting in the middle ages. A University is her possession in these times, as well as her creation: nor has she the need, which once was so urgent, to expel heresies from her pale, which have now their own centres of attraction elsewhere, and spontaneously take their departure.

In other words, Newman did not like the idea of the medieval university (much less the contemporary one), where all subjects were to be taught and where there was (for the most part) free and open discussion of even heretical ideas. (OK, so in 1277 the bishop of Paris condemned a bunch of propositions, including some of Thomas Aquinas', at the University of Paris.) Newman's idea of a (Catholic) university was an institution that overruled the principle of toleration, and where the Church had the power to insist that only its truths be taught, and to keep the heretical outside the gates.

I'm not saying that the Archdiocese of Washington claims to be on the same page as the Newman Society. After all, it based its condemnation of the Georgetown invitation on "the selection of a featured speaker whose actions as a public official present the most direct challenge to religious liberty in recent history and the apparent lack of unity with and disregard for the bishops and so many others across the nation who are committed to the defense of freedom of religion."

But when it comes to direct challenges to religious liberty in recent history, the HHS contraception mandate doesn't hold a candle to Employment Division v. Smith, the 1990 Supreme Court decision that disallowed free exercise challenges to neutral laws of general applicability. That decision happened to be the work of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, Georgetown '57. However, you didn't find the Archdiocese of Washington protesting when Scalia was invited to give the keynote address at the university's Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy a few years ago.

The problem with Sebelius, I'd say, is not that she has acted against religious liberty per se, but that her contraception decision specifically put Catholic institutions in a position they didn't want to be in. Oh, and that she's a pro-choice Catholic to boot. Defending her selection as a speaker, Georgetown president John J. DeGioia said, “We are a university, committed to the free exchange of ideas." To the Archdiocese of Washington, she's a heretic whose ideas on health care should not be given a platform in a Catholic university. Which is pretty much Newman's idea.

"If they did, it didn't make much difference."

Detroit Pastor Marvin Winans, after he was carjacked, telling WXYZ-TV that his attackers did not recognize him.

The Reverend Oliver White, at his Grace Community United Church of Christ in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood of St. Paul, Thursday morning May 3, 2012. RNS photo by John Doman / Courtesy St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The Reverend Oliver White, at his Grace Community United Church of Christ in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood of St. Paul, Thursday morning May 3, 2012.

First lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama are joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden at a National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral. Religion News Service photo courtesy Donovan Marks/Washington National Cathedral

First lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama are joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden at a National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral.

Left to right, Michelle and Barack Obama, Joe and Jill Biden, and Bill and Hillary Clinton pray during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral.

Left to right, Michelle and Barack Obama, Joe and Jill Biden, and Bill and Hillary Clinton pray during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral.

The Napa-based Presbytery of the Redwoods voted 74-18 on Tuesday (May 15) to instead praise the Rev. Janie Spahr, who wed 16 same-sex couples when gay marriage was legal in California in 2008.

The Rev. Janie Spahr, a self-described ``lesbian evangelist,'' is facing trial in the Presbyterian Church (USA) for marrying same-sex couples in California in 2008, when gay marriage was legal. Religion News Service file photo courtesy of That All May Freely Serve

“The 38-year ministry of the Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr has been faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to her calling,” the presbytery said.

“I was stunned by the kindness and the love,” Spahr said Thursday. “I’m so grateful to the presbytery.”

In 2010, the Redwood presbytery’s own court found Spahr guilty of breaking church rules by representing the ceremonies she conducted as marriages, and ordered the presbytery to publicly rebuke her. That decision was upheld by the PC(USA)’s top court in February.

But the Redwoods Presbytery rejected those rulings this week, saying that a public rebuke would “continue the harm” done to gays, lesbians transgender people and bisexuals “in the name of Jesus Christ.”

“The Presbytery of the Redwoods opposes imposition of the rebuke … as inconsistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the faithful life of ministry lived out in this Presbytery,” the motion said.

The motion does not undo the rebuke, but emphasizes the presbytery’s rejection of the judicial rulings, said the Rev. Robert Conover, the presbytery's stated clerk, or chief church officer.

Laurie Griffith, manager of judicial process and social witness in the PC(USA), said she had never before seen a presbytery reject a ruling from its own court.

Last year, the PC(USA) voted to allow openly gay clergy. Gay and lesbian advocates will lobby to lift the ban on gay marriages at the PC(USA)’s General Assembly in July.

KRE/LEM END BURKE 

Phillis and Phillip Clipps pray during Mass at the Community of St. Peter in Cleveland. The Clipps, with a handful of other black Catholics from the closed St. Adalbert Church, call themselves the ``Roamin' Catholics." RNS photo by Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer

As they wait, parishioners from some of the moribund parishes have begun organizing committees in preparation for the reopenings, which the diocese says are in process, although there's no official timetable.

At St. Mary Catholic Church in suburban Bedford, parishioners have formed a parish council, a finance committee and a music committee. And they have tied blue and white bows and a "Welcome Home" sign on the front of their church.

"We've got our committees organized," said St. Mary parishioner Carol Szczepanik. "We're just waiting for the bishop."

At St. Patrick in Cleveland, more than 50 people have been meeting regularly at a nearby Protestant church to discuss ways to raise money, rebuild their congregation and engage parishioners in helping to clean up and restore their mothballed worship site.

And at St. Barbara in Cleveland, about 50 people are working to reopen their parish, including passing out fliers in the neighborhood asking people to join the congregation.

"We're trying to keep the connections going," said parishioner Michael Minich, noting that while the church has been closed, thieves have stolen two air-conditioning units along with a metal flagpole, which they cut down with a hacksaw.

"I think people are excited about coming back," Minich said. "If we stay focused, we'll succeed."

The 12 churches were among 50 closed by Lennon over 15 months as part of a down-sizing plan, beginning in 2009. The bishop said the closings -- most of them in inner-city neighborhoods -- were the result of changing demographics and shortages of priests and cash.

But the 12 appealed to the Vatican, arguing they still had enough resources to sustain their parishes. In March, the Vatican upheld the 12 appeals, issuing each church a decree saying that Lennon did not properly follow canon law and procedures when he closed them.

Lennon decided not to appeal the decision, saying, "It's time for peace and unity in the Diocese of Cleveland."

At the news conference, the bishop said he could not say how soon the churches would reopen. He said his first order of business was to assign priests to the parishes.

"The complex process of appointing clergy leaders for the affected parishes has been moving forward steadily since the April 17 announcement and continues on a daily basis," diocesan spokesman Robert Tayek said.

But so far, no assignments have been publicly announced, frustrating some parishioners eager to return to their churches.

"We haven't heard anything," said Miklos Peller, who wrote the appeal for St. Emeric, a Hungarian parish. "We might have to stir up certain interests in Rome again because it looks like this is going to be dragged out. People are getting anxious and edgy."

Lennon leans strongly toward having priests -- not nuns or lay administrators -- running parishes. Given the scarcity of priests, some Catholics are wondering where Lennon is going to get 12 new pastors.

"Bishop Lennon and his staff are making every effort to appoint clergy from the Diocese of Cleveland to fulfill the pastoral leadership roles in the 12 parishes," Tayek said.

Lennon has started holding preliminary meetings with a handful of parishes to discuss the reopening process, including a Tuesday (May 15) meeting with parishioners from St. Barbara.

"He was very pleasant," said parishioner Michael Minich, who said the session lasted for about an hour and a half. "It was very informal."

Minich said the bishop told him that all money and sacred artifacts taken from St. Barbara when it closed will be returned. But he gave no date to reopen the church and named no pastor.

"His concern was our membership," said Minich, noting that Lennon said he wanted to meet with him and other parishioners again in a couple of weeks.

(Michael O'Malley writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland).

KRE/LEM END O'MALLEY

The donations lift the spirit, said Rev. Oliver White, but they likely won't be enough to save the church.

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The Reverend Oliver White, at his Grace Community United Church of Christ in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood of St. Paul, Thursday morning May 3, 2012. RNS photo by John Doman / Courtesy St. Paul Pioneer Press.

“Technically, we should be packing,” White said.

On June 1, the church will likely default on a high-interest loan and lose its building, unless it can come up with $175,000 to buy the loan out.

As of Wednesday (May 16), Grace Community was about $170,000 short, but its plight has gained considerable attention within and without the UCC, thanks to one of several reasons the predominantly African-American church may lose its home.

In 2005, White, took a stand at the UCC's General Synod in opposition to many of his congregants and backed support for same-sex marriage. His side won the day at the conference, with about 80 percent of the vote, but White came home to a congregation divided over his belief that gay couples deserve the UCC's blessing. Immediately, he began to watch its numbers dwindle.

The congregation, founded in 1990 in a relatively poor African-American neighborhood, grew smaller and poorer, and two years later took out a high-interest $150,000 loan, which now has an even higher interest rate of 23 percent.

When the church was growing financially desperate earlier this spring, a predominantly gay UCC megachurch in Dallas delivered a $15,000 check to help with the interest payments.

The donation, hand-delivered, gave the remaining members of the congregation hope.

But an incident earlier this spring in which a gunman drove by the church firing shots and screaming “die faggots,” shook the congregation. There were no physical injuries, and it inspired them to fight harder to survive.

In hindsight, White said, signing the loan was a terrible mistake, and buying it out is the key to the church’s survival. White is asking 200,000 people to donate $1 each, working his church networks and with rally.com, an online fundraising tool that has gleaned more than $700 for Grace Community.

If the goal isn’t met, according to the church's statement on rally.com, the pastor’s “decision to take a stand in favor of gay marriage rights will have cost him and his small congregation their spiritual home."

But Grace Community had serious fiscal needs even before White took his stand. And even White acknowledges that the church could have done a better job of managing its money.

Race also plays a role in the church’s plight.

To many other churches within the generally progressive UCC, the question of same-sex marriage was easily settled in the affirmative.

But African-American churches have generally been more resistant, making White’s stance particularly brave in the eyes of many gay rights proponents – such as those at the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas -- who realized the stakes for Grace Church were particularly high.

Race also plays into the relationship between White’s church and the denomination, and its efforts to keep Grace Community afloat. The UCC’s Minnesota Conference counts 135 churches, including one predominantly Native American church and one African-American church – Grace Community.

“It’s of great interest to us to have ministry in both those communities,” said Conference Minister Karen Smith Sellers, citing years of financial assistance to Grace Community from the conference and individual UCC churches, an estimated total of more than $100,000.

In 2007, the conference, with agreement from Grace Community, decided to diminish its financial support, Sellers said. “We released ourselves from a relationship that began to look unhealthy,” she said.

White attributes only good intentions to the state conference, which, he said, rightfully pointed out that Grace Community’s finances could have been better kept and more transparent. But despite the conference’s willingness to help, their concerns seemed patronizing to some parishioners, he said.

“I don’t think they meant it to be racist but it came off that way,” said White, who met with Sellers on Thursday to discuss the church’s future.

“It could be God has other plans for this congregation,” Sellers said before the meeting.

In the meantime, the donations continue to dribble in, from people of all races, gay and straight alike. White continues to pray for that “miracle check” that will solve his problem.

KRE/AMB END MARKOE

GOP activists and a conservative billionaire are working on campaign ads that tie President Obama to controversial comments by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, according to the NYT. 

“The world is about to see Jeremiah Wright and understand his influence on Barack Obama for the first time in a big, attention-arresting way,” says the proposal leaked to the Times. 

Tensions between the Archdiocese of Washington and Georgetown University are escalating ahead Friday's address by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the Jesuit school.

The Vatican dismissed former Canadian bishop Raymond Lahey, who was convicted of possessing child pornography, from the clerical state. 

Legionaries of Christ leaders knew that the Rev. Thomas Williams had fathered a child many months before they public acknowledged it, Reuters reports.

More than half of Catholics (55 percent) say bishops are less likely to cover up abuse cases today than in the past, according to a survey of U.S. Catholic magazine readers. 

Not to be outdone by their episcopal counterparts to the south, Canada's Catholic bishops are mounting a "religious freedom" campaign to combat "aggressive relativism."  

A California presbytery bucked the PCUSA's top court by refusing to punish a pastor who was found guilty of performing same-sex marriages. 

Continuing a loooooonnng courtship, the Vatican says “further discussions” will be needed with the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) before they get back together.

Popular pastor and gospel singer Marvin Winans, who delivered the euology at Whitney Houston's funeral, was assaulted and carjacked in Detroit.  

Chuck Colson was memorialized at Washington National Cathedral in a service steeped in prayers about prison and redemption.

The idea of heaven as a lofty place with angels playing harps is all wrong, says Anglican theologian N.T. Wright. 

A Christian softball league in Missouri benched a team whose church has a bisexual pastor, even though she doesn't even play. 

Hasidic Jews are rallying against the Internets, and spreading the word via Twitter. 

Jesus Christ is now a video game character.

Pat Robertson says you should break your friends' Buddha statues, which sorta makes him a Zen master.  

Yr hmbl aggrgtr,

Daniel Burke 

Photo courtesy of The New York Times. 

The familiar political cliche of kicking the can down the road has become a convenient “Procrastinators’ Prayer” invoked across all faith communities. 

Catholic leaders in the United States often attempt to defer the painful but necessary action of closing underutilized parishes and parochial schools. Kicking the can down the road allows the financially bleak status quo to continue, and enables church authorities to temporarily escape the ire of parishioners who oppose closures of neighborhood churches and schools.  

The growing shortage of Catholic priests in America always raises the question of women clergy, a topic so controversial that the hierarchy doesn’t even permit the existence of a can to kick down the road. It totally rejects the idea, and sends such talk into the theological deep freeze.

Mainline Protestant leaders are confronting a continuing hemorrhage as historic denominations lose both members and influence. Mergers on a local and regional level loom, as “tall steeple churches” become increasingly expensive to maintain for smaller and aging congregations.

Some mainline denominations have not yet settled the question of gay clergy, and that issue appears and reappears at many ecclesiastical meetings. Faced with the divisive issue, they kick the can down the road some more and usually refer it to some blue-ribbon panel for further debate and discussion.

Evangelicals were once the “go go” religious community in the U.S., with rapid growth in new churches, members and political clout. But even they are kicking the can down the road as their standard bearers -- Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum -- were elevated and rejected during the primary. Now they'll have to kick the can down the road to 2016 or later for "their" candidate to win.

The Jewish community is also adept at kicking the can down the road. A recent American Jewish Year Book contains 59 single-spaced printed pages that cover the enormous panoply of national organizations devoted to religious and synagogue life, education and schools, community relations, cultural programs, overseas aid, Israel, social welfare, Holocaust museums and memorials, and youth and women organizations. 

Yet that kind of Jewish infrastructure can't be supported by either demographics or economics. Like their Catholic and Protestant counterparts, Jewish leaders and organizations kick the can down the road in hopes of an economic recovery or a resurgence in Jewish philanthropy without recognizing that the current (and future) donor base is tapped out.

Politicians also love the idea of ignoring short-term problem in favor of long-term fixes that often figments of their own imagination. In the long run, they say, it will all get squared away. Just look at our inability to address long-term problems in Medicare, Social Security or federal debt.

The problem is, that doesn't do anything to actually fix the problem, either now or down the road.

Catholics believe a shrinking pool of priests will, in the long run, be filled by seminarians from Asia, Africa and South America. Meanwhile in the short run, American priests are fewer, older and burdened with increased workloads. 

Mainline Protestants, buffeted by membership losses, believe a revolution of sorts will, in the long run, correct the current imbalance in funding, new churches, and membership. 

American Jewish leaders recognize that short-run economic turbulence may continue, but in the long run a stronger community will emerge that's capable of adding even more pages to the already long list of organizations and charities. 

That's all well and good, but the problem with kicking cans down the road is that it changes nothing. The can only gets beat up in the process, and it does nothing to change the road you're on.

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee's senior interreligious adviser, is the author of the recently published "Cushing, Spellman, O'Connor: The Surprising Story of How Three American Cardinals Transformed Catholic-Jewish Relations.")

LEM/KRE END RUDIN
 

The choir sang “The King of Love My Shepherd Is”, composed and directed by Canon Michael McCarthy, director of music at the Cathedral. Approximately 1,200 people gathered on May 16, 2012 for Charles Colson's memorial service at Washington National Cathedral. RNS photo by Donovan Marks/courtesy Washington National Cathedral

The choir sang “The King of Love My Shepherd Is”, composed and directed by Canon Michael McCarthy, director of music at the Cathedral. Approximately 1,200 people gathered on May 16, 2012 for Charles Colson's memorial service at Washington National Cathedral.