Organized religion won’t be the same after the Great Recession, the Vatican is asking U.S. bishops to pitch in more than $1 million for the investigation of American nuns, and the Illinois Supreme Court declined to extend the statute of limitations on a child sexual abuse case. Christian advocates at Liberty Counsel have begun an “Adopt a Liberal” campaign and a retired cop turned pastor in Detroit shot an intruder in his church.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston said kids must be protected from “hedonism, individualism, and … MTV,” high school cheerleaders in Tennessee are in trouble for displaying Christian banners at football games, and police arrested an Ohio teen who rolled a joint in Bible paper. The GOP says a pagan high priest in Queens can run for city council.
Pope Benedict XVI is “very happy” with his low-key trip to the Czech Republic, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu won $100,000 for practicing forgiveness, and the Dalai Lama donated $50,000 to Emory University for its science-Buddhism program. Lutherans in Kenya are urging their American counterparts to “repent” for lifting a ban on noncelibate gay and lesbian clergy.
Catholic Sisters of Mercy are urging the U.S. to pay attention to the crackdown in Honduras, China issued a report saying that it respects religious freedom, and a Malaysian woman’s sentence of caning for drinking alcohol was upheld.
Bottoms up.