The ants-crawling-on-a-crucifix artwork that was taken down by the Smithsonian after the Catholic League complained has been born again, as it were, in a private D.C. gallery. A Georgia GOP congressman wants a federal probe on how the artwork ended up in the taxpayer-supported Smithsonian in the first place.
The Pentagon’s 300-page report on repealing Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell finds substantial opposition to repeal among military chaplains, WaPo reports, but just three out of 145 chaplains who participated in focus groups said they would resign if gays and lesbians are allowed to serve openly. A doctor, writing in The New England Journal of Medicine, says the policy is harmful to troops’ health because they can’t be honest with their doctor for fear of discharge.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is defending $37 million in tax incentives to help build a $150 million theme park (top left) outside the Creation Museum, saying he was not elected to debate religion but rather create jobs. Over in Nashville, religious broadcasters want the FCC to loosen rules on radio and TV programs raising funds for needy nonprofits.
Conservative activists are trying to push Apple to reinstall an iPhone app that allowed people to sign the Manhattan Declaration, which voiced opposition to gay marriage, abortion and other issues; gay groups got the gadget spiked because they said it was hateful.
Supporters of California’s Prop 8 measure that banned gay marriage want a federal appeals judge, the famously liberal Stephen Reinhardt, to recuse himself from the case because his wife works for the ACLU. (Will they make the same request if and when this case reaches the Supreme Court, where Clarence Thomas‘ wife is an outspoken conservative activist?). Illinois is poised to become the sixth state to allow civil unions after lawmakers approved the measure yesterday.
WaPo has a moving story about a Virginia family’s test of faith after the 21-year-old son was left in a coma after a beating. “What kind of God would allow this to happen?” the father asks. “What kind of God wouldn’t correct it?”
In Delaware, a jury awarded $30 million to a victim of an abusive priest, which the NYT says is the highest jury award ever awarded to a single victim. In Holland, just 241 of the 1,800 who contacted Catholic officials about possible abuse have filed a formal complaint.
Catholic AIDS workers in South Africa say the pope’s seeming willingness to allow condoms to stop the spread of HIV is what they’ve been saying for years. The Vatican said B16 would gladly accept a new solar-powered popemobile; our own Frank Rocca points out that the pope didn’t actually ask for one, but the Vatican said he’d accept one if it were given.
Struggling and dwindling Jewish communities are looking for people who will tend to cemeteries and synagogues after they’ve died off. The Hamas leader in Gaza said there’s no al-Qaida in his territory, but hard-line zealots are on the rise. It’s the second night of Hanukkah and a headache for Israeli fire officials, who caution you to be careful about keeping your menorah candles a safe distance from the curtains.
