The Senate voted to table an anti-abortion amendment in the health-care reform bill, angering religious conservatives and satisfying progressives. But will it matter without the public option?

Sen Orrin Hatch, a Mormon, has written a Hanukkah song, which he would like Barbara Streisand to perform. “Anything I can do for the Jewish people, I will do,” he said.

Muslim want to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero in NYC to send “the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11.”

The lesbian priest elected as an assistant bishop in Los Angeles said she is hurt by accusations that her election is divisive for the Anglican Communion, but she says she is “conscious of the symbolic nature of my election.” The Boss, and Episcopal bishops, support gay marriage in New Jersey.

A California woman is collecting signatures for a ballot initiative that would require public schools to listen to or perform Christmas carols. The former opinion editor of the Washington Times is sueing the paper, claiming executives pressured him to attend a Unification Church event. A Louisiana school board has changed the word “prayer” to “invocation” to describe its pre-meeting, umm, prayers.

Nebraska’s Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by a Westboro Church member that she desecrated the American flag by wearing it as a skirt.

Uganda is debating a bill that would severely punish gays and people who counsel them. The bill was allegedly proposed by U.S. conservatives and is being vilified by U.S. liberals.

Pope Benedict XVI says he’s sick of all the bad news in the world.

Iraqi Muslims are rebuilding the famed Askariya shrine, just in time for Ashura. French President Sarkozy said Muslims must avoid “ostentation” in practicing their religion.

Scammers in Oman are sending automated text messages promising rewards in the after-life for forwarding the message to 10 people. A Canadian street preacher was acquitted of making noise. Russia’s Supreme Court upheld a ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses’ publications.