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May 2008
- Aussie Anglican Won't Make Nice for Papal Visit
  
  Sydney Morning Herald | May 26, 08 1:09 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An influential Anglican cleric won’t be welcoming Pope Benedict to Australia with open arms. But the outspoken dean of Sydney, whose brother is the city's archbishop, says he has no trouble with the public funding that's going toward the pontiff's July visit. Phillip Jensen says he won’t be “going to see him or waving a flag,” but neither will he “pray for rain on his parade.” More »
- McCain Severs Ties to Pastor Over Holocaust Blast
  
  CNN | May 22, 08 4:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - John McCain and John Hagee dissolved their union in tit-for-tat fashion today—one day after an offensive sermon about Hitler came to light. Hagee claimed God sent Hitler to perpetrate the Holocaust, because it was a “top priority for the Jewish people … to get them to come back to” Israel. McCain called the remarks “indefensible” as he “rejected” the controversial endorsement. More »
- Bush Issues Arab To-Do List
  
  New York Times | May 18, 08 1:06 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Bush addressed Arab leaders at the World Economic Forum today, urging them to make the changes necessary to achieve peace in the region. Citing improving women's rights, strengthening their economies, and bolstering democracy as the major goals, Bush reprised some of the same language from his speech last week in Israel, the New York Times reports. More »
- Pro-McCain Pastor Apologizes to Catholics
  
  Politico | May 13, 08 6:24 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Texas preacher whose anti-Catholic comments were haunting John McCain's campaign apologized today, and the president of the Catholic League accepted, Politico reports. In an apparent effort to avert a GOP version of the Jeremiah Wright situation, John Hagee wrote a letter about his "deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful"; those comments included referring to the faith as a "Godless theology." More »
- Feds Probe Al for $1.5M in Back Taxes
  
  Associated Press | May 9, 08 8:31 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Washington is investigating Al Sharpton and his companies for nearly $1.5 million in back taxes and penalties, the AP reports. Sharpton, who has been negotiating the size of his federal debt, brushed off the government's latest move today. “Whatever retaliation they do on me, we never stop," the civil rights agitator said. "I think that that is why they try to intimidate us." More »
- Ind. Nuns Don't Have a Prayer at Polls
  
  Associated Press | May 7, 08 5:59 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A dozen nuns who lacked proper photo ID were turned away from an Indiana voting booth yesterday—by a fellow nun. None of the nuns, all over 80, had a driver's license because they don't drive, and some presented outdated passports, the AP reports. Their convent has launched a major push to arrange for proper ID in time for November's election. More »
April 2008
- Greenies Find God Might Be the Answer
  
  Politico | Apr 15, 08 11:56 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - How much carbon would Jesus use? Not much, say the religious communities now teaming with environmentalists to lobby Capitol Hill. As a carbon-capping bill approaches the Senate, eco-advocates hope that church partnerships will re-frame the debate, and religious leaders rail against the desecration of divine creation and the suffering of the poor coping with energy costs and food shortages. More »
- Domino's Founder Grows His Catholic-Friendly Town
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Apr 14, 08 1:55 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Almost a year after opening, Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan’s made-to-order Catholic town is growing. Although the 1,000 residents of Ave Maria, Fla., are not exclusively Catholic, the town wears it identity on its sleeve: The only coffee shop plays Mass on TV 24/7, and the bookstores prominently display Vatican, a "papal election board game." The Telegraph pays a visit. More »
- Bitter Schism Dominates Faith Forum
  
  Los Angeles Times | Apr 14, 08 6:48 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Secular politics won the day at last night's "Compassion Forum" in Pennsylvania, the LA Times reports, despite the Democratic contenders' resolve to present a united front on faith. Hillary Clinton used her pulpit at Messiah College to sermonize against her rival's comments on "bitter" religious voters, again calling the line "elitist, out of touch, and, frankly, patronizing." More »
- 7 Deadly Sins? Try These On for Size
  
  Weekly Standard | Apr 10, 08 7:31 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Vatican has released a list of seven new Deadly Sins, and satirist-curmudgeon PJ O’Rourke isn’t impressed. Writing in the Weekly Standard , O’Rourke details the updated catalogue, which includes “morally debatable experimentation,” “social inequality and injustice,” and “genetic manipulation.” Finding it wanting, the author has come up with a list of his own. Number one? Celebrity. More »
- Lieberman Campaign, Not Opponents, Crashed Site
  
  Stamford Advocate | Apr 10, 08 1:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The FBI found accusations by Joe Lieberman’s campaign that challenger Ned Lamont’s supporters crashed the Connecticut Senator’s Web site on primary eve in 2006 to be unfounded, reports the Stamford Advocate after obtaining federal documents. Instead, it was probably Lieberman’s camp itself that brought down a misconfigured site with overuse. The senator’s campaign had accused its opponents and requested investigation. More »
- McCain Keeps His God to Himself
  
  Politico | Apr 3, 08 2:05 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - John McCain is notably reserved about his religious faith. He rarely refers to God on campaign stops, in marked contrast to the two presidents who preceded him and, in a role reversal, to his Democratic opponents. His reticence is a throwback to the days when religion was kept out of politics, Politico notes, and may be a weapon against him in the general election. More »
March 2008
- Gorbachev Admits He's Christian
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Mar 19, 08 9:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Nearly 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union's atheist empire, Mikhail Gorbachev has admitted he is a Christian, reports the Daily Telegraph . On a visit to Italy the last president of the Communist state prayed at the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, and later told priests the saint had played a fundamental role in his life. "St. Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ," said Gorbachev. More »
- Obama Preacher's Words Keep Resurfacing
  
  Guardian (UK) | Mar 14, 08 11:59 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In the latest campaign preacher flap, TV networks are airing clips from sermons in which the former pastor of Barack Obama's church condemns "racist" US society and compares the candidate's experiences to Jesus' struggles, the Guardian reports. "God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human," said the fiery pastor who presided over Obama's marriage, baptized his kids, and provided the title of his biography. He also once described the 9/11 attacks as "America's chickens coming home to roost." More »
- Mac's Pastor: Make War on Islam
  
  Mother Jones | Mar 13, 08 2:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The popular televangelist described by John McCain as a "spiritual guide" has called on Christians to "wage war" to destroy the "false religion" of Islam, reports Mother Jones . Apparently, McCain could lead those Christian soldiers, with powerful Ohio megachurch leader Rod Parsley endorsing the candidate as a "strong, true, consistent conservative." McCain appeared at a rally last month with Parsley days before his successful Ohio primary. More »
- Obama's Church Flouts Tax Law
  
  Wall Street Journal | Mar 10, 08 2:35 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama's home church in Chicago may be risking its tax-exempt status by promoting the candidate in sermons. Churches are allowed to support specific causes, but not candidates, and some experts say the praise—and attacks on Hillary Clinton— violate IRS laws. "There does seem to be a pattern of attempting to tip the scales," a law professor tells the Wall Street Journal. More »
- Teddy Teacher Spurs UK to Kill Own Blasphemy Law
  
  Los Angeles Times | Mar 6, 08 2:12 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Britain's House of Lords voted yesterday to abolish blasphemy laws after an international incident sparked debate over secularism and tradition, the Los Angeles Times reports. With the UK and Sudan at odds in November over the prosecution of a British teacher allowing students to name a teddy bear Mohammad, many pointed out the hypocrisy of having a similar measure on common-law books. More »
- Nepali Goddess Retires at 11
  
  Associated Press | Mar 3, 08 12:35 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Sajani Shakya, one of Nepal's living goddesses, is officially retiring at age 11, the AP reports. Religious leaders briefly stripped the Kumari of her divine status last year after she defied custom and traveled abroad, but her premature retirement isn't related to the controversy, officials say. She has "come of age," an official put it delicately. Kumaris are worshiped only until puberty. More »
- Buckley Leaves Conservatism Up the Creek
  
  Newsweek | Mar 2, 08 5:45 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - William F. Buckley may have been the architect of the modern conservative movement, but what will it do without him? Evan Thomas even wonders, in Newsweek, if what he created still exists at all. Buckley was “a man who could spar intensely with the late liberal icons…and then have a laugh over a martini.” Rush Limbaugh he was not. More »
February 2008
- Will Mac Reject His Radical Pastor's Nod?
  
  Salon | Feb 28, 08 2:59 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama gets grilled over unsolicited praise from Louis Farrakhan, but John McCain draws no flak for “proudly” accepting the endorsement of a homophobic, Islamophobic evangelical pastor. Grotesque double standard, Glenn Greenwald calls it in Salon. Tim Russert made Obama “jump through multiple hoops” to disown the Nation of Islam leader, but no one’s complaining that Mac’s “honored” to be John Hagee’s choice, he notes. More »