A coalition of religious and veterans groups want an expansion of conscientious objection to include moral objections to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon’s internal review of repealing Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell seems to indicate it could be done with minimal interruption or dissension within the ranks. The first Sikh to become an enlisted Army soldier since 1984 says he’s eager to start fighting: “When the bullets begin flying, it doesn’t concern anyone what religion you are. I bleed the same color,” said Spec. Simran Lamba, 26.
Iraqi Christians weary of attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere can find a home in northern Iraq, a Kurdish leader says; Christians in Baghdad are looking for an escape route as attacks killed five more people on Wednesday. Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite political leaders seem to have emerged from months of deadlock with a new power-sharing deal.
Reuters parses the difference in President Obama’s speeches last year to Muslims in Cairo, and this week’s speeches to Muslims in Indonesia.
The Day of Truth (to protest homosexuality in public schools) is now called the Day of Dialogue, under new management: Focus on the Family. In D.C., the Family Research Council has signed up 18,000+ people to pray for Tea Party ringleader Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). The head of the National Council of Churches says George W. Bush’s defense of waterboarding is “unrecognizable to the fundamental values of this country, and of Bush’s own professed Christian faith.”
Time magazine asks (but never really answers) whether the defection of five Anglican bishops to the Catholic Church is a “irreparable schism” or a “minor crack.” Openly gay Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson tells NPR that death threats “strengthened my faith.”
The Irish attorney general will look into reports of massive waves of abuse against girls inside church-run laundries. The Archdiocese of New York, as expected, announced a host of closings of under-attended Catholic schools. Just in time for Christmas, an anti-abortion group in the U.K. is running an ad featuring an in-utero Jesus (left); it’s been raising eyebrows since it was unveiled in June.
Orthodox Jews in Germany say if the government is going to fund a more liberal seminary, it ought to fund the Orthodox one as well. NPR probes the fault lines of Jewish identity in Israel, and an international coalition of lawmakers wants Internet providers to do more to stem the spread of anti-Semitism online. Texas-based Zion Oil uses the Bible as a map for finding oil in the Middle East.
Elizabeth Smart wrapped up her testimony in the case against her accused kidnapper Brian David Mitchell.
Zach “Fat Jesus” Galfianakis apparently has dreams of rocking it out with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, adding that if Jesus were around today, he would probably be in a really bad cover band.
