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Updated to add the Maccabeats link and video. Hanukkah tunes have come a long way since my suburban New York public school had us singing “The Dreidel Song” and a couple of obscure Hebrew ditties to balance out all the Christmas carols. First came Adam Sandler’s mid-90s “Chanukah Song,” featuring his list of Jewish celebrities (which he…

Updated at 9 p.m. EST with more links. Dec. 1 is always a crazy day for me — how convenient that my birthday (shared by Woody Allen and the Rosa Parks bus boycott launch, among other events) falls during the holiday season and World AIDS Day! This year, it’s also the first night of Hanukkah and a…

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has officially recommended that U.S. lawmakers repeal the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, citing a Pentagon study — taking religious concerns into account — that reports allowing openly gay troops would cause only “limited and isolated” short-term disruptions to military readiness. A new poll reports that a majority of Americans now support repealing DADT, but…

I’ll always remember Thanksgiving 2008 as the one where we carved the turkey to the sounds of CNN, anxious for updates on the attacks on Mumbai’s hotels, train station, cafes and Chabad House. Fortunately, this year’s holiday weekend remained terror-free, thanks to federal investigators who caught Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a “confused” Somali American teenager accused of plotting to bomb…

I’ve just written a Religion News Service story about whether people of faith make easier marks for con artists, prompted by the news of a Ponzi scheme that scammed $30 million from Chicago-area Muslims, along with other affinity frauds that have targeted Jews (Madoff, anyone?), Mormons, evangelical Christians, etc., in recent years.  There aren’t any official stats yet on whether…

Pope Benedict attempted to clarify the Catholic Church’s anti-condom policy in a recent interview with a German journalist over the weekend, but only seems to have caused more confusion. Basically, the pontiff affirmed the Vatican’s stance against artificial contraception (condoms, birth control pills, etc.) but also said there are extremely isolated situations — citing the…

A New Jersey pastor, the Rev. Cedric A. Miller, has announced that married leaders at Living World Christian Fellowship Church must quit Facebook, due to a surge in adultery among church members who have rekindled old flames or struck up new flirtations through the social networking site. He also recommends that all married people stop…

President Obama has signed an executive order to streamline the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, a group created under former President George W. Bush. The reform reflects recommendations made earlier this year by council members and critics, including clarifying some church-state separation concerns, but stops short of preventing grant recipients from hiring and…

Catholic and secular media outlets alike blared the news yesterday: in a surprise upset, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan is the new head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) — the first time in decades that the group’s sitting vice president, in this case Bishop Gerald Kincanas of Arizona, won’t get the job. Could…

Between 2 and 3 million Muslims have converged on Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for this year’s annual hajj — the pilgrimage to Islam’s holy city, birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. (Only Muslims allowed.) Around the world, the event culminates with today’s Eid al-Adha celebration. Some links: Muslim hajj pilgrims perform devil stoning ritual (Washington Post) President sends…
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