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I was going to blog about Ted Williams, the “golden voiced” homeless Ohio man and recovering addict who has credited God with for his newfound fame, but I’m a bit apprehensive about his sudden stardom — everyone loves a feel-good story, but this seems like it could easily turn exploitative and ugly. So, for a more…

Jews and conservative Catholics are excited about new House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (the most senior elected Jewish official in American history) and Speaker John Boehner (a Catholic like his predecessor Nancy Pelosi, but one who is staunchly pro-life). But aside from the political shift to the right, it turns out that the new Congress looks…

Christian minorities in the Middle East and Muslim countries were already scared for their lives, but this “Christianophobia” crisis has become even more obvious in the wake of a bombing that killed at least 21 worshipers and injured about a hundred at a Coptic Church in Egypt on New Year’s Day. Check out these links: Tragic New Year for…

Happy New Year! I’m back from an exhausting trip to India, with more than 700 faith-related headlines waiting for me under the Christmas tree. (Incidentally, there were tons of Christmas carols and decorations in the airports and shopping areas in India — where Christians are less than 5 percent of the population — which is food for thought for…

I’m off to India for a family wedding — perhaps we’ll wave to Santa from the window seat! — so here’s plenty of holiday cheer to last until I get back: A flash mob for Christmas (Blogging Religiously) Colbert Takes the Christ Out of Christmas (Commonweal) My Magi: Crab, Crocodile and Sea Horse (Maureen Dowd for…

I’ll have to post an extra Fun Friday tomorrow to make up for all the grim religion news this week, but the plight of Christians in the Middle East is important, especially at this time of year (once again): No Christmas festivities for some Iraqi Christians (Reuters) Christians senselessly tormented by extremists in Muslim world (CNN)…

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has stripped St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center of its Catholic affiliation because of the 2009 procedure that ended a woman’s life-threatening pregnancy at 11 weeks. Apparently, the hospital should have allowed her to die, rather than return to her four children at home. Or, perhaps St. Joseph’s could have transferred…

Two interesting bits of news out of the Vatican: more from Pope Benedict on the clergy sex abuse crisis, and his controversial/confusing comments about condoms. Check out these links: Pope links sex abuse to vices (Religion News Service) Vatican clarifies pope’s condom comments (AP) Pope sees clergy sex abuse as product of moral relativism (Religion…

The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy on gays in the U.S. military, and the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act have deeply divided Americans, perhaps people of faith most of all. Over the weekend, the Senate voted to repeal DADT — leaving closeted troops “cautiously optimistic,” — but fell short of the majority…

I participated in a Religion Newswriters Association panel at Columbia’s journalism school last night with David Gibson (PoliticsDaily) and Rachel Zoll (AP), and someone in the audience wondered about how we determine whether something is worth covering — do we base it on news value or popularity? Rachel noted that the beat used to be more features-oriented,…
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