Friday’s Religion News Roundup

The good folks down in Alabama say their new governor probably could have chosen better words than saying non-Christians are not his “brothers and sisters,” but that doesn’t mean they disagree with him; the leader of the state’s largest synagogue says “all my concerns from this incident are put to rest.” Over at Fox, they’ve […]

The good folks down in Alabama say their new governor probably could have chosen better words than saying non-Christians are not his “brothers and sisters,” but that doesn’t mean they disagree with him; the leader of the state’s largest synagogue says “all my concerns from this incident are put to rest.”

Over at Fox, they’ve rejected a “Jesus Hates Obama” ad for the Super Bowl. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Jewish Democrat from Tennessee, apologized (sort of) for invoking Nazi imagery during the health care debate, but says his words were taken out of context (JTA has all the various back-and-forth).

Researchers over at Georgetown wonder why more parents aren’t naming girls Mary (Joseph is holding its own along with Matthew and John, while Luke is gaining popularity as Mark sinks).


The murder charges stemming from the “house of horrors” abortion clinic in Philly are fueling a national debate on whether more coulda/woulda/shoulda been done to keep Dr. Kermit Gosnell in check.

The Buckeyes want campus administrators to drop a provision that allows OSU student groups to exclude others who don’t share their “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

A federal judge in California gave the green light for three gay couples to proceed in their challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. The 9th Circuit ruled in favor of a Chinese Christian man seeking political asylum; a lower court had denied his bid because he “incorrectly” answered basic questions about Christianity, and the appeals court found the quiz improper.

The Vatican‘s top doctrinal czar is on a scouting trip to India, where some have raised concerns that the region’s polytheistic culture is leading Catholic theologians to believe Christianity is just one — and not THE one — path to God. In a veiled shot at scandal-scarred Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, B16 says public officials must rediscover their “spiritual and moral roots.”

Christians in northern Sudan are packing their bags and heading (to the largely Christian) south if, as expected, the south secedes and northern Sudan is declared an Islamic state ruled by Shariah law.

Jewish groups are on the hunt for lost or unknown mass graves from the Holocaust, while the American Jewish Committee gave an award to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.


Reuters is defending its use of the term “Prophet Muhammad” when referring to the founder of Islam, while a block of Quebec lawmakers wants to ban ceremonial Sikh daggers from the Parliament in Ottawa, even though one MP has been wearing it since 2004 without incident.

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