ThursdayâÂ?Â?s Religion News Roundup: Gay sermon non-apology, Billy Graham on gay marriage, NFL suicide

The North Carolina pastor who said parents should ridicule and beat their children if they seem gay says he’s sorry that people didn’t understand him and that he wouldn’t say what the videotape shows him saying. Pastor Sean Harris (in photo) is also frustrated that his critics won’t cut him some slack. “At this point […]

The North Carolina pastor who said parents should ridicule and beat their children if they seem gay says he’s sorry that people didn’t understand him and that he wouldn’t say what the videotape shows him saying.

Pastor Sean Harris (in photo) is also frustrated that his critics won’t cut him some slack. “At this point nothing seems sufficient,” he tweeted.

North Carolina resident Billy Graham says he supports the proposed state amendment against gay marriage that prompted Harris’s sermon.


Michele Bachman will endorse Mitt Romney, which could help solidify his support among Christian conservatives – along with the departure of his gay foreign policy adviser. Newt Gingrich is leaving the stage, but still can’t really bring himself to say the right words about Romney.

The United Methodist Church isn’t buying the argument that it should divest from companies accused of contributing to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

In other Methodist news, the predominantly white UMC and five historically black denominations have entered a full communion agreement after more than a decade of discussions.

Racism and the race for TAC continues to roil the Anglican Communion.

Anglicans are united in celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer.

Dutch churches are shuttering, but their sacred art finds an afterlife.

One in seven people worldwide think the world will end soon. That probably won’t work on a sandwich board.

The Vatican is tightening oversight of global church charity groups.

Father Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest with a Ph.D. in political science, schools Stephen Colbert (oh, and Paul Ryan) about Catholic social teaching and the budget. (Colbert’s barnyard Latin is impeccable, too.)

Reese has a bigger hill to climb: David Barton, the evangelical polemicist who has some factually-challenged views on faith and the Founding Fathers, apparently parlayed his Jon Stewart appearance into a Google phenomenon.


Tennessee’s governor will veto a bill that would reverse Vanderbilt’s controversial nondiscrimination policy on student groups, even religious ones.

Another former NFL football player has killed himself, and a growing number of commenters say we need a debate about the ethics of modern gladiator sports.

Black. Republican. Female. Mormon. And on a roll – that’s Utah’s Mia Love.

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David Gibson

Sandwich board photo from here.
 

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