Friday’s roundup

Brace yourself for another skirmish in the culture wars: A federal judge in Boston yesterday struck down part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, saying gay couples who get married in the states that allow it should have access to federal benefits. Conservatives vow to win on appeal, and/or make it the next abortion […]

Brace yourself for another skirmish in the culture wars: A federal judge in Boston yesterday struck down part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, saying gay couples who get married in the states that allow it should have access to federal benefits. Conservatives vow to win on appeal, and/or make it the next abortion battle: “”Does this federal judge want to start another culture war?” asked Maggie Gallagher, chairman of the National Organization for Marriage. “Does he really want another Roe. v. Wade?”

And NBC’s Today Show agreed to allow same-sex couples to compete in its “Modern Wedding” Contest. “The rules stated that eligible couples must be able to be legally married in New York, where we will host the wedding,” NBC said in a statement, “therefore excluding same-sex couple applicants. Our intent was not to be discriminatory or exclusive. … We have opened up the application process to same-sex couples, and will extend the deadline to Monday, July 12. Moving forward, we ensure that our future wedding contests will be inclusive of all couples.”


Presbyterians meeting in Minneapolis voted to allow gay clergy, but keep intact the definition of marriage between one man and one woman — at least for now. The Church of England opens debate today (again) on whether to allow female bishops. America’s premiere Jewish university, Brandeis, has a new president.

Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes has forged an on-site partnership with a Pennsylvania seminary. A Unitarian Universalist congregation in Wisconsin called the cops when a woman showed up packing heat (still unclear what point she was trying to make). Tune in tonight to ABC’s 20/20 for an update in the case of a Texas Baptist pastor convicted of making his wife’s murder look like a suicide so he could carry on an affair with another woman.

Some 29 state attorneys general (and several conservative groups) have filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing for the constitutionality of the laws that created the National Day of Prayer (a judge struck those laws down earlier this year; the case is currently on appeal). Our own Rabbi Jim Rudin looks at the theological origins of The Star Spangled Banner.

Pope Benedict XVI has named an Italian archbishop to oversee the troubled Legion of Christ order. The NYT, which has been criticized as “anti-Catholic” for its coverage of the clergy abuse scandal, says the pope “has the obligation to shepherd not just [abuse] guidelines but credible mandates that all priest-abusers and bishops who abetted their crimes face disclosure and punishment.”

Three British Muslims were convicted of conspiring to blow up transatlantic flights, and the Kremlin-backed head of Chechnya praised a band of men who fired paintballs at women who weren’t wearing their headscarves. The women were, in the words of President Ramzan Kadyrov, “naked.”

The NYT says tax-free donations by U.S. citizens to Israeli settlements are complicating U.S. plans to stop the expansion of those very settlements. Another ship packed with humanitarian aid is set to sail to Gaza, again trying to break the Israeli blockcade. Chinese media say a monk has confessed to killing a priest and a nun.

And this, because it’s Friday: A sociologist of religion in Australia says vampires have achieved cult-like status, thanks to Twilight and True Blood. “”The vampire is no longer a monster that needs to be exclusively destroyed, it is now a superman-type of character that people aspire to become to realise their full potential. Dracula has become a modern-day gothic Buddha.”


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