Thursday’s round-up

President Obama picked up his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo this morning, reminding the world (and world religions) that “no holy war can ever be a just war.” On the topic of holy war, a group of Muslims is staking a claim on a spot near Ground Zero to project a more tolerant image of […]

President Obama picked up his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo this morning, reminding the world (and world religions) that “no holy war can ever be a just war.” On the topic of holy war, a group of Muslims is staking a claim on a spot near Ground Zero to project a more tolerant image of Islam. If you missed it yesterday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is appealing to his country’s 5 million Muslims to embrace French ideals of tolerance and women’s rights. In Britain, Christian hotel owners have won their case against a Muslim women who claimed defamation over the breakfast table.

Americans seem to be taking a little of this, a little of that, in the cafeteria line of contemporary belief, according to a new Pew survey. And a Gallup survey says Americans’ ratings of the ethical caliber of clergy has reached its lowest point in 32 years.The most litigated cross in the country, the Mt. Soledad war memorial in the middle of the Mojave National Preserve, was back in front of a federal appeals court on Wednesday.

It’s been 30 years since the death of America’s original televangelist, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, and some say sainthood is in the offing.That ongoing spat in St. Louis over an independent-minded Polish Catholic church has reached a turning point after the church’s parent group, the Reformed Catholic Church, dissolved itself.


Abortion is, once again, in the headlines. Three women are suing over Ireland’s abortion ban, saying it limits their human rights. Lawmakers out in the People’s Republic of Berkeley, Calif., are sending wire hangers to members of Congress who voted to prohibit federal funding of abortion in health care reform.

The New Jersey state Senate has postponed its make-or-break vote on gay marriage. In Maine, they’re still fighting over gay marriage — a reporter claims he was fired after dashing off an angry e-mail to gay-rights groups over last month’s vote to overturn gay marriage. Speaking of marriage, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford dodged impeachment over his Appalachian Trail/Argentina romantic escapades, getting off with a reprimand instead.

There’s a new push on Capitol Hill to protect the sanctity of Christmas. Good luck with that one. The AP finds out what atheists are celebrating this Christmas, and with Hanukkah starting tomorrow, it’s time to start preparing your gourmet latkes. And (in case you missed this), Sen. Orrin Hatch has come up with a gift “for the Jewish people” that keeps on giving, well beyond the eight days of Hanukkah.

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