Happy National Prayer Day, everyone. Whether you’re praying from the rooftops, in front of the Pentagon, or in a closet, may the God of your choice hear your orisons, to paraphrase Kinky Friedman (that’s the Kinkster at left).
But, of course, almost nothing religious skates by these days without being conscripted into the Culture Wars, and the NPD is no different, NPR reports, noting that a federal judge recently struck down the 1952 statute that called for a national day of prayer. NPD has even grown contentious in Utah.
Undeterred by that, nor by his disinvite from the Pentagon’s NPD ceremony, Franklin Graham prayed in front of the five-sided building and didn’t back down from his criticism of Islam. Later today, the evangelist will pray outside the Capitol, where our own Adelle Banks will be covering the story.
In a related note, people are beginning to notice that when President Obama issued a proclamation on April 30 declaring May Jewish American Heritage Month, he tweaked the usual proclamation language to omit “in the year of our Lord.” It remains to be seen whether this will endear Obama to American Jews, who are sharply divided over his Middle East policies, according to the NYT.
A Connecticut bill that would have extended the statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases has been withdrawn after lobbying from the Catholic Church, who called the bill “horrendous.” Italian victims of sexual abuse want bishops held responsible for not reporting an abusive priest. Pope Benedict XVI will likely address the sex abuse crisis when he visits Portugal next week, says our Francis X. Rocca. A Brazilian archbishop said adolescents are “spontaneously homosexual” and society is a bunch of pedophiles.
The nation’s two largest Lutheran denominations met to talk about the theological implications of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s decision last summer to permit non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy. Sunnis and Shias in Iraq are debating an agreement that would decide which of them gets to be the final arbiter of disputes.
The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop two Connecticut high schools from holding graduation ceremonies at a megachurch.
Egyptian cops are looking into a complaint filed by Copts about a 2008 novel that they say violates the country’s laws by insulting Christianity. So, I guess they won’t be publishing Philip Pullman’s new novel over there any time soon? A Methodist pastor in Virginia want to build small, temporary back-yard shelters to house relatives. I think they call those things dog houses.
