Guess what? Iceland, which is about 80% Lutheran, apparently also has a lot of people who believe elves and ghosts totally exist. And by “a lot of people” I mean “about half the country.” No word on whether the elves are of the “Orlando Bloom” or “Santa’s Little Helper” variety:

“Only 13 percent of participants in the study said it is impossible that elves exist, 19 percent found it unlikely, 37 percent said elves possibly exist, 17 percent found their existence likely and eight percent definite. Five percent did not have an opinion on the existence of elves.

More admitted to believing in ghosts. Only seven percent said their existence was impossible, 16 percent unlikely, 41 percent possible, 18 percent likely and 13 percent definite. Four percent had no opinion on the existence of ghosts.”

Joe Carter of the First Thoughts blog gets a giggle looking at mugshots of Amish men jailed for failing to affix orange safety triangles to their horse-drawn buggies. Still, he offers props to them for staying true to their beliefs:

“Eight members of an Amish community went to jail after they refused to pay fines for failing to affix orange safety triangles to their horse-drawn buggies. The men refused to pay the fines on grounds that their religion bars them from wearing or displaying bright colors because they are considered too modern. Jailed for misdemeanor contempt of court, the inmates were provided dark-colored jumpsuits in place of the standard issue orange coveralls.

Although the story is a minor religion-related human interest story, it was worth posting because it produced the greatest mugshot series in the history of modern crime.”

The Guardian reports that the rock band Foo Fighters recently staged a counter-protest to the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church by dressing up and singing a “gay love song” across the street from the churchmembers. Video evidence in the link:

“Foo Fighters fought back against anti-gay protesters at a concert this weekend, singing in celebration of “man muffins”. The rockers held a surprise gig outside their tour venue, mocking representatives from the extremist Westboro Baptist Church.

The stunt took place in Kansas City on Friday, where representatives from the notorious Westboro Baptist Church were picketing outside the Sprint Centre. As fans mingled in the street, out rolled a flat-bed lorry, bedecked with hay bales, American flags, and the Foos in fancy dress. ‘How we all doing?’ asked frontman Dave Grohl, wearing a long wig and cowboy hat. ‘We got a song for ya!'”

Relatedly, Christian blogger Rachel Held Evans has a piece entitled “ask a gay Christian“:

“Last week I introduced you to Justin Lee, the director of The Gay Christian Network (GCN), a nonprofit organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians and those who love them. Justin is also the director of ‘Through My Eyes,’ a documentary about young gay Christians, and the co-host of GCN Radio, a popular podcast on issues of faith and sexuality. He blogs at Crumbs from the Communion Table.

Hundreds of questions rolled in from a wide variety of perspectives, with the top three questions ‘liked’ over 100 times. Justin certainly rose to the occasion, answering your questions thoughtfully and humbly. I hope you find his responses as helpful as I did.”

Finally our Tweet of the Day comes from the Tweet of God (maybe we’ll start including a Deity Tweet once a weekâÂ?¦know any other diety twitter feeds?), who apparently made an appearance at last night’s Emmy awards:

@TweetOfGod – Ha! And they say there’s no place for God in Hollywood! There is: Rear loge, Row P, Seat 209. #Emmys