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Bodies for/by Jesus

Posted: July 30th, 2010, 9:00pm EDT

They begin with a group prayer, concluded in Jesus' name. Their music is religious in nature, a compilation of upbeat and encouraging Gospel music. Their workout kinesthetics could be confused for the choreography of a church piece.

These are the images from the Body Gospel DVDs, the latest in the religious diet/workout culture.

CNN covered this organization in a piece dated July 21. Donna Richardson Joyner was quoted in the piece speaking about the intersection of exercise and faith in God:

Adding God into the mix "requires not only to believe it, but the willpower to change," Joyner said. "It's a different type of willpower."

"This is saying to your faith, 'I'm doing this because my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,' " she said. "This is not about losing weight to look good -- it's more purposeful than that."

Joyner's videos, touted as "America's #1 Faith Based Workout" on its website, have been supported by Oprah Winfrey; those interested can purchase the "Six Inspiring, Prayer Led Workouts" on DVD for just under $80.

This question of bodies, exercise, and religion, however, raises interesting ethical and theological questions. Do these efforts imply that success in weight loss are guaranteed by invoking God? Some people say it helps. But in a culture that places so much emphasis on the body and on looks, where does one draw the line between healthy participation and unhealthy obsession? Will this lead people to push a campaign of being "Slim for Him," of looking good as part of divine favor?

I am not the only one asking these, and similar, questions. As the CNN article quoted:

"There's a part of me that cringes a little bit when I sense that there's this idea or concept that all you need to do for [a] weight loss program is [have] a little prayer or Bible study and all becomes easier," said Peter Walters, an associate professor in the applied health science department at Wheaton College in Illinois.

Academics in the Study of Religion are also taking up this question about the place and use of the body in Christian circles. R. Marie Griffith at Harvard Divinity School published a book in 2004 that addressed this directly. Titled, "Born Again Bodies: Flesh and Spirit in American Christianity," the piece looks at the role and importance of the body in American Christianity by looking at different religious communities: the Puritans, Christian Scientists, Nation of Islam, etc.

For now, it seems that Joyner's enterprise will join other ventures into the realm of Christianity and modern-American life, a giant realm of religion and media, such as Christian siding that battles socialism, Veggie Tales and their pseudo-Christian messages, and chastity rings.
Friday’s roundup

Posted: July 30th, 2010, 3:57pm EDT

The faith-healing parents in Oregon who are in court for failing to provide medical care to their infant daughter have pleaded not guilty. An Orthodox priest in Eastern Europe is being investigated for allegedly drowning a baby boy as he baptised him.

Newt Gingrich is back at it: gave a speech Thursday where he said, "This is not a war on terrorism ... this is a struggle with radical Islamists." Novelest Anne Rice says she's giving Christianity the quits. Daniel Dennett's latest article blames seminaries for destroying the faith of future clergy.

The United Methodist Church's highest court plans to review it's 2005 decision that allows pastors to ban non-celibate gays and lesbians from membership. The scandal at Southern Baptist church in Tennessee, where a longtime church secretary was charged with embezzling $1.5 million, has now spread to her son, who's charged with skimming more than $400,000.

A South Carolina pastor and his wife were caught with child pornography on their computer. A Catholic priest in Wisconsin will plead not guilty to his case of possession of child pornography. Family members filed suit against the Diocese of Pittsburgh after an abuse victim allegedly committed suicide after the church stopped paying for counseling sessions.

The University of Illinois instructor who was fired for alleged hate speech concerning the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality has been offered a position at the university. A new book answers the question: Why is Reinhold Neibuhr such a big deal? And physicists at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva they might be closing in on the elusive Higgs Boson, a.k.a "the God Particle." Religion Dispatches argues why taxing the rich is the "Godly thing" to do.

What do a Catholic priest, a Taoist master, and a Lakota holy man have in common? They're all coming together in the South Dakota town of Deadwood to help rebury uncovered 130-year-old remains. A fortune teller in Virginia claims county officials violated her religious rights by making her fill out typical fortune teller licensing requirements. And a Methodist Church in England stopped yoga classes because they were "spiritually confusing."

Thousands of Israelis held a "subdued" gay pride march in Jerusalem. Bangladesh's Constitution no longer holds language that requires the government "to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on solidarity." Muslim parents in Sweden are being fined for refusing to allow their daughters to attend compulsory swimming classes in school; the classes are mixed-gender.

Afghan villagers say NATO forces showed disrespect for the Quran. Speaking of disrespect, Malaysia fined the group of 12 Muslims who brandished severed cow heads in protesting the construction of a Hindu temple. In Baghdad, al-Qaida briefly planted its flag in the capitol and killed 23 members of Iraq's security forces across the country. The "What Happens If We Leave Afghanistan?" cover of Time magazine continues to raise eyebrows.
Good morals start at birth

Posted: July 29th, 2010, 9:00pm EDT

Could our moral sensibility exist from the time of our very first breath? Some researchers believe so.

Work being conducted at Yale University has demonstrated that our moral reasoning may find its roots, quite simply, in our mere humanity.

Psychologists have often wondered whether ethics and morality are primarily nature or nurture based. Are we born as a clean slate, or do we bear figments of ethics in our bones? The new research being conducted by Paul Bloom and others has demonstrated that babies might actually possess some moral reasoning capabilities, more than we previously gave them credit for. As he said in his article in the New York Times back in May:

A growing body of evidence, though, suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life. With the help of well-designed experiments, you can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling even in the first year of life.

Socialization remains important, however:

But this is not because babies and young children lack a sense of right and wrong; it's because the sense of right and wrong that they naturally possess diverges in important ways from what we adults would want it to be.

The video that accompanied the article is quite good.
Thursday’s roundup

Posted: July 29th, 2010, 4:08pm EDT

As a federal judge struck down major portions of Arizona's "papers, please" immigration law, a majority of Americans thinks the waves of immigration a century ago are no longer helpful. Religious groups, who claimed a major victory in the ruling, vow to press on. "Left Behind" co-author Tim Lahaye says President Obama is bringing us "closer to the apocalypse."

Remember that Ohio science teacher who taught religion in his public school classroom and burned a cross into a student's arm? He and the student's family have reached a settlement; terms were not disclosed. Meanwhile, in Maryland, the "Indiana Jones of Torah Scrolls" has reached an agreement with investigators that he can regale audiences with his tales of rescued Torah scrolls only if he can prove they are true.

The AP reports that independent egalitarian Jews (think Orthodox women prayer leaders) are changing the face of American Judaism. A coalition of black churches aims to raise $50 million over the next five years to help fund Haitian reconstruction projects. Benny Hinn, the white-suited apostle of the prosperity gospel, is in need of a little prosperity himself; he's asked supporters for $2 million to help cover expenses.

Senate Democrats put out an SOS to religious groups to help pass their agenda. Baptist leaders say some 1,000 foreigners were denied visas for their summit in Honolulu, and a new study of the Amish finds them growing and moving west in search of cheap farmland. Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs will be back in court on Aug. 18 for a hearing on his lawyer's request for a "speedy trial before a jury of his peers."

British church officials, overwhelmed by the costs of hosting Pope Benedict XVI in September, plan to ask pilgrims to pay about $40 to attend some papal events; Vatican officials say it's a "contribution," not an entry fee. Meanwhile, Britain's Education Ministry says it's open to the idea of establishing a "free-thinking" school based on secularism and humanism.

The NYT reports that South Africa's four-year-old gay marriage law has been good for gays and good for business, but hasn't spread to the desperately poor black African population, where "gay men and lesbians often face unabashed discrimination and violence."

Indonesian Muslims have been told not to washy trasy tabloid shows, or get sex-change operations, or presumably watch trashy TV shows about people who get sex-change operations. Meanwhile, in neighboring Malaysia, a reality show contest to pick the country's next up-and-coming Muslim leader has a huge following.

A (female) lecturer at a small Islamic university in eastern India has been told she can teach only if she dons a burqa; so far, she's refused. Al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, told French Muslim women to be "holy warriors" (suicide bombers?) to protest France's proposed ban on Islamic veils. Muslim soccer players on a German team will be able to break their Ramadan fast (i.e., drink water) without running afoul of Islamic law, officials said.

Over in New Zealand, Jews are upset about a new animal-welfare law that requires slaughtered animals to be stunned with a taser before they are executed; Jews say it violates kosher standards for killing animals. And in Australia, new (atheist) PM Julia Gillard tried to reassure Christians that her unbelief will not affect government funding of church-run schools.

The world's third-most-wanted Nazi has been charged with the deaths of some 430,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Gays are marching for equal rights today in Jerusalem, and some grocery stores in Lebanon are refusing to stock coffee filters that contain Hebrew lettering on the box. Some folks in Israel are trying to expand/update the list of kosher foods, including locusts. Anti-Defamation League director Abe Foxman has accepted filmmaker Oliver Stone's apology for blaming Israel for U.S. foreign policy woes, and saying Jews control the media.
July 28, 1989

Posted: July 28th, 2010, 9:00pm EDT

It's really a great experience to look back and see what was happening in times gone past. Here at RNS, we've got some archives from past years, so I will occasionally pick up and look to see what was happening on a given date in, say, 1989, or maybe 1994. I don't have links to any of them, of course, but I do have some of the highlights from the stories that I will share.

In July 1989, the world had finally gotten somewhat accustomed to that wall that split Berlin. Fashion style called for sweaters (zebra arm optional) with big hair and lots of denim. And Madonna had still not been overshadowed by Lady Gaga.

In the news on this day in 1989, however, there were nine headlines that were sent out on the RNS wire, some of which have some interesting modern-day correlations:

NEW YORK: Evangelicals say White House ignoring their wishes on FCC post

It seems that evangelicals have always had an issue with the FCC. And, as well, that James Dobson has been in the news for way too long:

Several evangelical leaders, angry that their choice to head the (FCC) was rejected, are complaining that the White House is ignoring loyal constituents who helped elect President (George H. W.) Bush. In sharply worded letters to the White House, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Ed McAteer of the Religious Roundtable and the Rev. Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association have charged that the administration is taking them for granted.

Some of the evangelicals were angry because of a comment made by Republican Party leader Lee Atwater last year that evangelical activists are, in a barnyard phrase, "sucking hind tit" and "have nowhere else to go" except to the GOP. Mr. Wildmon cited the quote in a letter to President Bush and then added, "We didn't ask for much, just crumbs, and we didn't even get those" with regard to the FCC.

Kudos to the reporter for getting the Atwater quote.

Today, the problem is a federal court's ruling that strikes down the FCC's indecency policy. Many evangelicals fear that this will lead to an inordinate amount of conscious expletives that will be touted as accidents.

PHEONIX, Ariz.: Bishop makes public apology for child sex abuse by priest

Goes to show that these scandals have been going on for at least two decades.

Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien of Phoenix has made a public apology for failing to do more to show support for the families of three boys who were molested by a priest in his diocese.

...The bishop said he was 'as outraged and angry as anyone about what happened to those children.' But he said neither he nor any other representative of the church had personally contacted the families to offer support, counseling or reimbursement for counseling because he had been advised by lawyers that such actions could be considered an attempt to place pressure on the families to drop the charges.

Ouch. I wonder if these are the same people that recommended the Vatican place women's ordination in the same document about sex abuse. Oops.

The rest of the titles sent out include:

GLENDALE, Calif.: Baby boomers are returning to church but not always joining.

ATLANTA: United Methodists encouraging poor to establish their own churches.

DENVER: Denver archdiocese responds to complaints from Hispanics.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.: Southern Baptist agency hires full-time Washington lobbyist.

NORTHFIELD, Minn.: Disenchantment with churches said to help New Age movement.

NEW YORK: Descendant of Orthodox St. Innocent sees Soviet, U.S. bond.

and finally,

MANILA: Evangelicals find new approaches are needed to reach Muslims.
Wednesday’s roundup

Posted: July 28th, 2010, 5:17pm EDT

Rich Cizik, the former DC lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals who lost his job after telling NPR that he supports same-sex civil unions, returned to the same NPR show to reflect on the fall-out. The change, he says, has been good for him. And he still supports civil unions: "While I haven't come to a conclusion on [gay marriage,] I am convinced that you can't deny rights to people based on their sexual orientation. It's wrong," he says. "It's even wrong, I think, as Christians to take that position. Because we should support human rights for all people even when they don't agree with us."

Boston University's Stephen Prothero goes after Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey for suggesting that Islam may not be a religion after all; the Telegraph's Damian Thompson says Islam may not be a cult, but cult-like Islam is all the rage. Newsweek profiles the Rev. Al Sharpton and what his career says about race relations in the Obama era.

FBI Director Robert Mueller defended the agency's domestic surveillance program, saying there is no religious or ethnic profiling, as Muslims allege. Community leaders in New York recommended against a historic landmark for the proposed "Ground Zero mosque," thereby eliminating a potential major hurdle for the center. NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is probing the case of a con-artist (supposedly Episcopal) "nun" who's been soliciting funds for a charity that doesn't exist. (photo, left, via NY Post)

The Anti-Defamation League says the number of anti-Jewish incidents remained as a "sustained and troubling" level in 2009. New York's finest will step-up patrols around NYC mosques during Ramadan.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Christian counseling student against Eastern Michigan University after the school booted the student from the program when she refused to counsel same-sex couples. A federal court ruled that a Baptist preacher from a predominantly Muslim area of Ghana is eligible for asylum.

Israel says it may have to close the Jordan River to baptisms because of high levels of pollution. Twelve Muslims in Malaysia were fined for protesting a Hindu temple under construction by parading around a severed cow's head (a definite no-no in Hinduism).

Human rights groups are horrified that an estimated 2,000 young girls -- in the United Kingdom, of all places -- will be forced to under female circumcision (genital mutilation) this summer. India, meanwhile, is struggling with a rash of "honor killings" involving couples who defy caste culture and family wishes and elope.
Michael Jackson and Jesus

Posted: July 27th, 2010, 9:00pm EDT

David LaChapelle is the photographer and director widely known in the fashion world for his pictures of such figures as Naomi Campbell, Whitney Houston, Uma Thurman, and recently Lady Gaga. On display in the Paul Kasmin Gallery in NYC is his latest installation, "American Jesus".

LaChapelle has taken pictures that display Jesus interacting in modern-day representations of Biblical events. In one image, a scantily-clad prostitute wipes Jesus' feet with her hair. In another, Jesus stands at the center of a table as in The Last Supper, only this time he is surrounded by thugs and criminals.

What has caught the eye of some, however, are the images that combine Jesus and other religious symbols with Michael Jackson.

(Photos courtesy of the websites of the Paul Kasmin Gallery and Sebastian Guiness Gallery)

In one article about the installation, LaChapelle stated that his inspiration for using Michael Jackson in his works came shortly after the pop star's death in 2009.

Although LaChapelle has worked with the Jackson family many times over the years, the "American Jesus" series was conceived after the singer's death and executed with the use of a look-alike.

"...when I worked on the millennium-issue cover of Rolling Stone, it was a fold-out cover with a lot of people wearing masks and a Michael Jackson imitator in the center. That's when Michael realized I was a friend and not a foe."

LaChapelle had a rough life growing up in Connecticut. Michael Jackson, one article said, was a dramatic figure in his life.

The 47-year-old LaChapelle spoke passionately the other day about growing up gay, Catholic and suicidal in Fairfield, Conn., and finding salvation (and photography) at the North Carolina School for the Arts. Twice he burst into tears recounting the trials of the King of Pop, whose first name he has tattooed on a ring finger.

Although they hadn't met, the two had mutual friends. "He knew I was on his side," says LaChapelle, who staged these shots at his farm in Maui. Below, LaChapelle shares his thoughts about two of his works.

The works will be on display until September 18, 2010.
Tuesday’s roundup

Posted: July 27th, 2010, 4:38pm EDT

A judge sentenced a Tennessee mother of three to 42 months in the clink for taking money and services for five years to battle breast cancer -- which she never had. Filmmaker Oliver Stone angered Jewish groups by seeming to defend Hitler, and also digging up the old Jews-control-the-media trope (he later says he's sorry). Robert Duvall discusses faith on film with NPR.

Actor Will Smith wants to play original bad-boy Cain (Adam and Eve's wayward murderous son) in "The Legend of Cain" where Cain, it turns out, is a vampire. Speaking of brought back from the dead, former President Jimmy Carter said the endorsement of Texas pastor Jimmy Allen in 1976 helped him win the White House and no longer be a "a forlorn, woeful, forgotten, hopeless candidate."

Notorious polygamous leader Warren Jeffs will get a new trial on charges that he was an accomplice to rape surrounding the 2001 marriage of a 14-year-old girl, the Utah Supreme Court ruled today.

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey is wondering whether the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom should also apply to Muslims: "Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, cult whatever you want to call it," Ramsey said.

In neighboring Georgia, a counseling student at Augusta State University has filed suit (with a religious conservative law firm) after she was allegedly told to undergo sensitivity training toward gays if she wanted to complete her degree. An unemployed Colorado Springs woman apparently has enough money to buy bus ads telling people to "Save the Date" for Jesus' return on May 21, 2011.

The IRS has given a reprieve to small charities (less than $25,000 in receipts; excluding churches) to file their returns without losing tax-exempt status.

Megachurch guru Rick Warren is on the mend after that unfortunate run-in between his eyes and some burning tree sap. Kay Warren tells Christianity Today: ""The amount of agony was so extreme that I could not believe his eyes were not destroyed," Kay said on the phone. "He's definitely better and almost completely back to normal."

A Virginia-born Muslim man details the three months he spent stranded in Cairo after a trip to Yemen to find a Muslim bride; FBI agents asked him to become an undercover mole as part of his release back to the U.S.: "I listen to rap. I play basketball. I watch football. I wasn't brought up the way these crazy people [terrorists] are brought up. I just want to live on with my life. I don't want to be an informant. I want to work for an IT company. I want to be a normal person."

And so it has come to this: a British minister has decided to tweet his way through Communion. Careful not to spill the wine on your keyboard. And careful with your Bible, too: a British hospital wants to ban bedside Bibles because they could carry germs.
Are Catholics losing Latin America?

Posted: July 26th, 2010, 9:00pm EDT

Lots has been brewing in the Western Hemisphere _ Chile, Argentina and Cuba have all been wrestling with teh Catholic Church in recent weeks. A quick recap of what's been happening in Latin America:

Argentina decided to legalize same-sex marriage, an act that went against Catholic Church lobbying (picture, lop left). After debates that kept delegates in their chambers until the early hours of the morning, Argentina became the first Latin American nation to extend equal rights of marriage to same-sex couples. From the LA Times:

The 4:05 a.m. vote came after an exhaustive debate that dragged on for more than 14 hours. Hundreds of supporters of the law, waiting outside Congress in freezing temperatures, erupted in cheers and tears of joy when news of the vote reached them.

"This was already a victory because there was no one in Argentina who wasn't following this debate," said Emelina Alonso, a human rights lawyer who joined the crowd to support the law. "Human rights and international law oblige us to protect [same-sex] marriage - so it is in Argentina and soon, surely, in other countries in the region."

There are some who see Argentina's actions as evidence of a waning Catholic presence (and power) in Latin America. As Reuters said:

"Evidently the Church has been losing presence and influence regarding political decisions, which is part of a secularization process," said Ana Maria Bidegain, a religious studies professor at Florida International University.

"People are still Catholic and they still believe in the fundamentals ... but they no longer agree with what (the Church) says regarding morality," she said.

There's also Cuba, whose release of 52 political prisoners was spawned by work by the Catholic Church and other human rights groups.

The Roman Catholic Church said in a statement that five of the 52 political prisoners would be freed within hours and would travel to Spain, accompanied by their relatives. Whether they were forced into exile or chose to leave is not known.

The remaining 47 will be released in "a process that will take three or four months starting now" and "may leave the country," according to the church. The prisoners, who include journalists, community organizers and opposition figures, were sentenced to prison terms of 20 years and more. Sanchez noted that no names had been released and that no relatives or lawyers had been notified, even the five families who were said to be leaving immediately.

Religion Dispatches had a piece by feminist theologian Mary Hunt called "Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Cry For the Catholic Church" where she says, "the Roman Catholic Church was defeated as soundly as the political opposition on this one. Maybe it is a sign of things to come in Latin America-on abortion, for example-and around the world as the institutional church fritters away its symbolic capital."
It seems that even Latino Catholics in the U.S. are exhibiting similar opinions, as a newly released poll by the Public Religion Research Institute said.

It's hard not to agree with Hunt and the Reuters story that the power of the RC Church may be on hold, if not declining, especially when the New York Times reports that Chile is going to go against Catholic Church opinions to pardon prisoners who played a role in Pinochet's "Ditry War."

Is this an indication that the Catholic Church is losing its edge?
Monday’s roundup

Posted: July 26th, 2010, 3:49pm EDT

The Muslim imam behind the "ground zero mosque," said it's neither a mosque, nor at ground zero. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf told Reuters, Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} "We are trying to establish something that follows the YMCA concept but is not a church or a synagogue or, in this case, a mosque. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 We are taking that concept and adapting it to our time and the fact that we're Muslims. It's basically a Muslim Y."

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Elsewhere in New York, the board of trustees of a Roman Catholic Church on Staten Island, whose members include NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan, rejected a proposal to sell a vacant convent to a Muslim organization that planned to use it as a mosque.

WaPo profiles the 20-year-old Virginian charged last week with trying to fly to Somalia and join an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group and finds that, like a lot of young men Adam Chesser tried out a variety of identities (including breakdancer and Marilyn Manson wannabe) as he searched for his true self.

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Israelis set fire to a field, tried to tear down an unfinished house and attacked West Bank Palestinians on Monday, the AP reports, in apparent retaliation for authorities demolishing illegal settler buildings. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Iran's Islamic authorities appear to be stepping up repression of Baha'is, long-maligned religious minority, advocates for the group say.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Sunday welcomed to its clergy roster seven openly gay pastors from the San Francisco area, Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} the first of several planned services since the denomination voted at its convention last summer to allow noncelibate gay ministers in committed relationships.

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Reuters says the Catholic Church's failure to derail a gay marriage law in Argentina shows that the church's influence is waning in Latin America. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Chile's president rejected a proposal by the Catholic Church to pardon elderly and sick prisoners convicted of human rights violations during the Pinochet dictatorship.

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Pope Benedict XVI has granted broad powers to the archbishop selected to overhaul the scandal-scarred Legionaries of Christ. CNS has a short article on how the pope spends his summer vacation (hint: lots of reading and praying). Bus ads advocating for women's ordination will greet the pontiff when he travels to England this September.

Speaking of Merry Ol', Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, in England for a top-level Anglican meeting, continued her charm offensive through the English-speaking provinces, preaching in London and Wales that human weakness causes us Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} "to insist that some are not worthy of respect, that dignity doesn't apply to the poor, or to immigrants, or to women, or Muslims, or gay and lesbian people." No word, oddly, on whether she wore her bishop's miter, a subject of some controversy earlier this summer.

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A popular Saudi cleric said Europe's burqa bans are stupid, but it is permissible for Muslim women to reveal their faces in countries where the Islamic veil is banned. Malaysian Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Islamic authorities say soccer uniforms with devils, crosses or skulls promote the "wrong value," but that Manchester United jerseys should not be banned. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Two Muslim women were ordered out of a swimming pool in the southern France for wearing burkinis (see a burkini pictured at top left).

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Turkey has offered citizenship to Orthodox Christian archbishops from abroad to help the next election of the ecumenical patriarch, the spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox faithful, Reuters reports.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Russian prosecutors have opened a criminal prosecution against the Church of Scientology on the grounds that it is promoting extremism. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The D.C. Circuit Court held that appellants had not demonstrated that printing the national motto "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency is unconstitutional.

The United Methodist Church's top judicial body will hear several appeals related to homosexuality this fall, including a pastor who would not allow an openly gay man to join his Virginia church, and New York ministers who want to marry same-sex couples.

Evolution continues to be a tricky topic among Tennessee evanglicals. French nuns won a contest to record an album for a label whose artists include Lady Gaga and the Rolling Stones.