Speaking from Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, President Obama said some of the “misunderstandings and mistrust” between Muslims and the U.S. have been repaired, but the project, a centerpiece of his foreign policy, remains “incomplete.”
On Wednesday, POTUS is expected to deliver a speech on U.S-Muslim relations and tour a mosque in Indonesia, where he lived briefly as a child. An erupting volcano may interrupt his plans, however.
An Indian lawmaker said she asked POTUS during the Indian stage of his 10-day trip to stop the U.S. security precaution of frisking turbans at airport and border screenings. Leaders of American Sikh organizations slammed the pat downs as “security theater.”
Closer to home, the father of an American-born Islamic cleric argued in court that his son should not be targeted for death by the U.S. military. In a video posted online on Monday, the cleric, Anwar Al-Awlaki urged fellow Muslims to kill American “devils.”
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking Oklahoma’s new anti-Shariah amendment. A federal judge said a prominent Muslim organization’s rights were violated when prosecutors publicized documents during the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case.
Six in 10 Catholics and Mormons think the Park51 project should move further away from Ground Zero, according to a new Gallup Poll; one in three atheists, Muslims, and non-Christians agree. Forty-four percent of Utahns agree with Mormon apostle Boyd Packer that same-sex attraction can be overcome.
Leaders from the National Council of Churches, the nation’s largest church coalition, are meeting in New Orleans and commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ecumenical movement.
A new museum dedicated to Jewish American history will open later this month in Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love’s Episcopal diocese voted 341-134 to urge its bishop, accused of helping his brother cover up the sexual abuse of a teenager, to “resign immediately.”
Franciscans in California are appealing a court order that would open the confidential files of friars accused of sexual abuse. A Catholic college in Pittsburgh says a fired monk created pornographic photographs, including images of of himself, and e-mailed them to students. The monk’s lawyers say it was part of an anthropological “dialogue” with students.
Ireland’s human rights watchdog is asking for an investigation into sexual abuse of women and girls in prison-like Catholic laundries. Catholic dioceses in Ireland have lost millions in the stock market.
A Florida pastor handed out $5,000 on Sunday and told his congregation to use the money to help others. Bishop Eddie Long’s church acknowledged that he accompanied four young men on trips, but neither confirmed nor denied that sexual relations took place. Elizabeth Smart, the Mormon girl abducted by a self-proclaimed prophet, is testifying about her ordeal during breaks from her LDS mission. At least she got a plum assignment: Paris.
After working 16 hours a day for 45 years, an Israeli scholar finally translated the entire Talmud. An editor and board member of a Southern Baptist newspaper in North Carolina resigned, saying they were threatened for writing about non-Baptists.
