Wednesday’s Religion News Roundup: Catholic gun control* Queen James Bible* Frankie Valens’ new gig

Catholics support stricter gun control. Gay advocates publish the "Queen James Bible." D.C. court issues major decision on contraception mandate. Frankie Valens' new gig.

queenjamesbible_queenjamesbible-com_121312_largeIn response to the Sandy Hook shooting, President Obama will announce today that Vice President Joe Biden will lead a national effort find policies to counter gun violence.

A new Public Religion Research Institute survey indicates that Catholics such as Biden are much more likely than white evangelicals and white mainline Protestants to favor stricter gun laws.

Capital punishment is on the wane, advocates say, despite the same number of executions this year as in 2011, as Connecticut became the 17th state to repeal the death penalty.


Billboards are the latest front in the Christmas wars, Kimberly Winston reports.

Winston also reports that “the nones” form the world’s third-largest “religion,” according to a new Pew study.

The Forward notes that Judaism has the highest median age at 36, meaning its growth prospects may be weakest.

Holy Writ!

Gay advocates claim to have produced the first-ever “gay friendly” Bible. The “big, fabulous” Scripture is named the “Queen James Bible,” after King James I, whom the advocates say was “famously bi-sexual.”

As might be expected, certain passages pertaining to homosexuality have been changed.

The Montana Supreme Court rejected an “overly broad” request that gay couples be guaranteed the same benefits as married couples, but advocates plan to try again.

British Muslims want the same legal exemptions as the Church of England in legislation to introduce gay marriages.

Ireland’s Catholic bishops came out swinging against a new law that would legalize abortion if the mother’s life is at risk.


What do you get when you mix an American scholar, a crumbling Mexican monument and the love of a good yarn?  The Dec. 21  Mayan Apocalypse Media Event, saith Reuters.

For some reason, NASA has issued a press release dated Dec. 22, entitled “Why the World Didn’t End Yesterday.

I assume it’s embargoed.

The DC Circuit Court ruled that the Obama administration must report every 60 days on its progress towards exempting Christian colleges from the contraception mandate.

Europe’s austerity measures have even reached Vatican City, our own Alessandro Speciale reports.

Outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says it shouldn’t be taken for granted that all clergy are as “dim” as he is with technology.

Former pop star Frankie Valens has a new gig: pastoring a church in Kansas.

The lion sleeps tonight with lambs.

Yr hmbl aggrgtr,

Daniel Burke

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