Wednesday's Religion Roundup: Lin-spiration
Jeremy Lin does it again, and Tim Tebow may need a new nickname. Tim Dolan also (hearts) NY, and will tell pope why. China snubs Washington's religious freedom envoy, Oliver Stone becomes a Muslim -- sorta. Hutaree militia was hunting the antichrist, not the Feds.
Tim who? Yes, the “Taiwanese Tebow” did it again last night.
Maybe we start calling Tebow the “Pigskin Lin”? Except that Lin seems to have talent as well as faith.
Lin also has a new apartment – he’s not sleeping on his brother’s couch anymore. And he has Stephen Colbert suggesting product endorsements (“Lin-oleum” and “Jeremy Lin-t”). Lin’s real miracle? “This kid has done the unthinkable: Make people want to watch the New York Knicks!”
In other Asian and American news, China gets called for an offensive foul: denying America’s religious freedom ambassador a visa on the eve a major visit to Washington by China’s future leader. Nice.
Black History Month reminder: There are black Catholics, and they have some great stories to tell.
There are also Irish Catholics, and the most prominent one, Tim Dolan, is in Rome to get a red hat on Saturday. He’s also going to tell the pope and the rest of the Vatican that New York is not “Sin City.”
Dolan must be a Knicks fan, too.
Virginia’s legislature is set to pass two of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bills, including a “personhood” bill. Gov. Bob McDonnell will likely sign one, maybe both.
In the meantime, Americans don’t have much problem with contraception, but are split on religious exemptions for providing them.
A defense attorney for the Hutaree militia members on trial for plotting to ambush police and other uniformed officers says they were actually preparing to fight the antichrist, not the federal government.
Something tells me you’d need to bring a bigger gun and more people to fight the antichrist.
Filmmaker Oliver Stone’s son is also making a movie, and in Iran. But Sean Stone is striking out on his own: he says he has become a Shiite Muslim, and will now be known as “Ali.”
But he also says he actually hasn’t left the faith he was born with.
“The conversion to Islam is not abandoning Christianity or Judaism, which I was born with,” said Sean “Ali” Stone, who is making a movie about the mystical poet Rumi. “It means I have accepted Mohammad and other prophets.”
Good luck with that.