Friday’s Religion News Roundup: Jabba’s mosque * ‘Proof’ of rape * Real pastor’s wives of Atlanta

Turkish Muslims say Lego's Jabba the Hutt's palace looks too much like a mosque. An independent Catholic newspapers stands up for its, well, independence. TLC takes the idea of Real Housewives into the parsonage.

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Lego’s “Jabba’s Palace” play set has irked some Turkish Muslims, who say it looks disturbingly like the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul. Photo courtesy Lego.

Favorite story of the day: A group of Turkish Muslims are ticked off at Lego — who could be ticked off at Lego? — over a Star Wars set of Jabba the Hutt’s palace that they say mimics the revered Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul. OK, Hagia Sophia isn’t technically a mosque, but it was after it was a church and before it was a museum. Either way, they’re ticked.

It’s the annual March for Life against abortion here in town today, and the pope sent a sympathetic tweet: “I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life.”


Speaking of papal tweets, the Vatican said it knew that allowing B16 to dabble in social media was a risk, but “what the pope wants is to be where today’s men and women are.”

Most interesting story of the day: a Catholic hospital in Colorado is under fire for trying to win a wrongful death lawsuit by claiming that fetuses are not people. The state’s bishops, not surprisingly, have a lot to say about that.

Next door in New Mexico, a state lawmaker has filed a bill to force rape and incest victims to continue their pregnancies so they can show “proof” of a crime. Obtaining an abortion, GOP state Rep. Cathrynn Brown says, would amount to “destruction of evidence.”

That Pennsylvania church that staged a mock kidnapping of a youth group and scared the bejeezus out of a 14-year-old girl will pay a $10,000 fine and its youth pastor will do community service under a plea deal reached yesterday.

Across the state in Erie, a federal judge said it’s too early for the Diocese of Erie to challenge the Obama administration’s contraception mandate in court, telling them they have to wait until the law officially kicks in a year from now.

From the Dept. of Good for Them, the independent National Catholic Reporter has refused to submit its “Catholic bona fides” to the local bishop, Robert Finn (he who was convicted for not reporting a known abuser to police). We tried and failed to find the original, so take this blog for what it’s worth.


The secessionist Episcopalians in South Carolina get to keep the “Episcopal” name in the Palmetto State, at least for now, according to a state judge.

TLC has managed to come up with yet another religion-based reality show: “The Sisterhood,” about a group of Atlanta-area preachers’ wives.

Headed to Providence, R.I.? Better pack your Bible because apparently there aren’t too many Good Books there. Here’s our breezy tour through the other least “Bible-minded” cities in the U.S. of A.

The Mennonite pastor at the center of that transnational lesbian custody case (did you follow all that?) was jailed for refusing to testify in court, citing his “religious beliefs.” That’s on top of the sentence he’s already accrued for his role in the case.

All of those I’ve-been-to-heaven-and-where’s-what-it’s-like memoirs are big business for publishers.

No plans for tomorrow? Head down to Atlanta for the strangely named “Heads Meeting” where atheist and secular leaders will try to map out a path forward to organize their disparate (and growing) networks.

Remember the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India that included a Chabad Jewish center? Pakistani-born (and American citizen) David Coleman Headley was sentenced to 35 years for his role in the attacks, less than the life sentence some victims were pushing for.


The Dalai Lama doesn’t want the death penalty for the five men accused in that brutal gang rape case in India.

You’ve heard all the talk about Britain’s testy relationship with the EU lately? Here’s another wrinkle: If gay marriage is approved, the education minister can’t guarantee that teachers will be able to oppose gay marriage without facing the threat of being fired by the European Court of Human Rights.

And with that, it’s off to the weekend, but before you go, make sure you’ve subscribed to the daily Roundup below so we can meet again on Monday:

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