Monday’s Religion News Roundup: POTUS’ prayers, Shmuley’s loss, prayer in 3 words

You know all that talk about red states wanting to secede after Obama's win? Well, South Carolina Episcopalians went ahead with it. Rabbi Shmuley explains why he lost, Anne Lamott breaks prayer down into three words and Franklin Graham is upset.

CNN's John blake has a worth-reading account of the painful split (and reunion) between legendary Atlanta preacher Charles Stanley and his preacher son/one-time rival, Andy.

After Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori warned South Carolina Episcopalians not to pull another Fort Sumter, they did just that, voting to leave the national church.

POTUS asked Buddhist monks in Thailand to pray that he and Republicans can find a deal to prevent the U.S. from going over the fiscal cliff, Thelma-and-Louis style (that's the photo).


Christian author Anne Lamott explains the thinking behind her down-to-basics prayer: Help. Thanks. Wow.

Major props to our own Dan Burke, who's in Chicago at the American Academy of Religion conference to take home a coveted prize for reporting on religion.

The Forward has an interesting series of pieces on how to respond (or not) to panhandlers: give them some cash, or not, or maybe some bread.

Sikhs are making inroads in trying to educate Americans about who they are and what they believe, starting in the University of California system.

Speaking of California, after atheists managed last year to coopt an annual holiday display in Santa Monica, and the city pulled the plug on the whole thing, Christian groups are now suing to force the city to put it back. Nothing to get you in the holiday spirit like the Christmas wars.

Focus on the Family chief Jim Daly says conservatives ought to be ready to deal on immigration and “ride this forward” on gay marriage “not with hostility but with humility.”

Franklin Graham, meanwhile, says “Christians” should be “upset” at themselves for not turning out enough votes in the 2012 election.


Pop culture Rabbi Shmuley Boteach says he lost his GOP congressional race, in part, because the party has been overtaken by “religious extremists who are obsessed with abortion, rape, and sex.”

Former atheist blogger Leah Libresco is now a full-fledged baptized Catholic; she had gotten a fair amount of pushback from fellow atheists for her decision to become a believer. We talked with her this summer on our Religion News Godcast.

The Church of England will take up debate this week on whether to allow women bishops (they already allow women priests) — it's a big test for outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and his successor, Justin Welby.

The Vatican's chief sexual abuse prosecutor, who was transferred/promoted/demoted to become an auxiliary bishop in Malta, says he wasn't being punished. “If you want to silence someone, you don't make him a bishop,” says Bishop-elect Charles Scicluna.

Egypt's Coptic Christians have a new pope, Tawadros II, who was enthroned during a three-hour ceremony on Sunday.

— Kevin Eckstrom

 

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