Thousands of neo-pagans and New Agers celebrated the Summer Solstice this morning at Stonehenge. For once, they saw the sun rise through the English fog, the AP reports.
Louisiana’s State Senate has designated today a day “unified, intercessory” prayer for the BP oil spill. “It is clearly time for a miracle for us,” said Sen. Robert Adley. Worth noting, perhaps, that a lot of non-Christians don’t believe in intercessory prayer, but, ah well, legislators ain’t theologians, are they?
They did, however, pass a religious freedom bill in Louisiana, making it harder for local governments to restrict religious observances, and another bill that allows people to bring concealed weapons to church. Pastors aren’t so keen on that, the Times-Picayune reports.
The AP noticed that a veritable UN of religious groups shows up when natural disasters occur. Take that, Hitchens. Police in a Detroit suburb have arrested four Christians for disturbing the peace during an Arab-American festival.
The tarnished legacy of Legion of Christ founder Marcial Maciel took another blow today, when his own son sued the order, alleging that it helped Maciel abuse him. A cardinal under investigation for misuse of funds says he is bearing “the cross” of the investigation. Cuba and the Catholic Church are continuing their detente. Raul Castro even wore a suit to a meeting with Vatican officials last weekend, the AP reports.
Defense Secretary Gates said President Obama may veto the bill that repeals Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell if it includes wasteful defense spending. Religious freedom advocates are pushing Obama to bring up their issue when he meets Russia’s President Medvedev in the U.S. this week.
WaPo looks at the whisper campaign in South Carolina against Sikh-turned-Christian Nikki Haley – and how it’s not working. The U.S. Catholic Bishops expressed “grave concern” to the FDA over a new emergency contraceptive. A New Hampshire sex offender is challenging a probation condition that bars him from going to church because there are children there. Twenty-eight percent of Americans said they haven’t attended church in the last six months, according to a Barna poll.
Smith College in Massachusetts is saying good-bye to its chaplains, who were fired to close a budget gap. The plan to convert a convent into a mosque in Staten Island is faltering in the face of community opposition. French conservatives who wanted to host a sausage and wine festival in a Muslim neighbor to antagonize locals instead had their party near the Arc de’ Triomphe. Buddhists in Michigan celebrated Buddha’s birthday.
