Monday’s Religion News Roundup: GOP VPs talk religion; CHA rejects Obama compromise; Keller tells Catholics to split

Romney phones it in at Faith & Freedom Conference. Catholic hospitals reject Obama's contraception compromise. Former NYT editor tells liberal Catholics to leave the church. 

Sens. Marco Rubio and Rob Portman auditioned for VP at Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition Conference last weekend; both mentioned religion, albeit briefly. 

Mitt Romney himself phoned it in, appearing via video from a campaign bus in Pennsylvania, where he summoned his inner Santorum, according to Buzzfeed. 

A NYT profile of Ann Romney mentions her Mormon conversion but doesn't dwell.


In an unexpected blow to the Obama administration, the Catholic Health Association rejected Obama's contraception compromise.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious says the Vatican's crackdown has had a broad effect on Catholics worldwide. 

Former NYT executive editor Bill Keller says Catholics “of open minds and open hearts” – including progressive nuns – should quit the church.

“If you are not getting the spiritual sustenance you need, if you are uneasy being part of an institution out of step with your conscience — then go,” Keller writes.

Maybe they can convert to bougie Buddhism, er, Newddhism, a nice, “pragmatic” religion that offers the hope of “modest self-transformation.”

So that's what all those hours on the cushion are for? 

Imagine that thousands of people – including your father – recognized you as the reincarnation of a great Buddhist master. But you wanted no part of it. 

Pope Benedict XVI told Irish Catholics on Sunday it is a mystery why priests abused children. What's the Irish equivalent to Woodstock


Christian missionary groups taunted Arab Americans with a pig’s head and signs that promoted hatred of Islam at a festival in Michigan. 

At least 10 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a bomb blast at a Catholic Cathedral in Nigeria on Sunday

Conservatives in Washington state are rallying to ban same-sex marriage

Chinese are expressing outrage after their government dragged a seven-month pregnant woman to a hospital and forced her to undergo an abortion.  

The National Association of Evangelicals is urging pastors to seek a common moral ground by uniting under a consistent code of ethics.

Scientists say bones that Bulgaria claims belong to John the Baptist indeed date to the first century AD. 

WaPo profiles a pint-sized preacher who squeezes in sermons between homework and riding go-carts.

Southern Baptists pulled “The Blind Side” from their stores because the film has a few foul words. 


The new Religion News Godcast, on the other hand, is clean as a church on Christmas. Check it out

Yr hmbl aggrgtr,

Daniel Burke

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