Check out this Newsweek column by religion editor Lisa Miller, about the high cost of being Jewish. I’ve noticed this myself, through friends and in my reporting on Judaism: synagogue fees and Hebrew school tuition can be pretty pricey, that’s not even counting private day schools, summer camps and other activities considered optional for some Jews,…

Last month, I wrote about how the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had prompted environmental soul-searching, particularly among Christians and adherents of nature-based religions (Native Americans, Pagans, etc.) who have been offering up prayers and rituals to help heal the earth. National Catholic Reporter has published an oil spill hymn, written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette,…

It seems that Paul the Octopus might be omniscient after all — the eight-legged oracle correctly predicted Spain would beat Germany in today’s FIFA World Cup semifinal, to advance to Sunday’s final against the Netherlands. (No word yet on whether any religious groups object to the potential for sea creature idolatry here; then again, sports-related…

Pope Benedict is off to Castel Gondolfo, the papal summer residence 27 miles southeast of Vatican City, for the rest of the month. (The 136-acre estate is actually larger than Vatican’s own city-state.) Presumably, he will use this time to get some rest, after a rather harrowing “Year for Priests,” and perhaps write another book. The Vatican is still open…

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