Guess I wasn’t kidding about having that “Jon Stewart curse” — a lot of faith-related news broke while I was on vacation, including the prayers and faith-based aid directed to Japan’s disaster recovery efforts, and the American Muslim community’s reaction to the congressional hearings on homegrown Islamic terrorism.

(Incidentally, there were no signs of the tsunami on Mexico’s Pacific coast, though hotels refrained from putting out their beach chairs on Friday, just in case.)

While I catch up on hundreds of headlines of professional and personal interest — including whether the now-postponed World Figure Skating Championships, scheduled for this month in Japan (a major skating country), will be relocated or canceled — here are some interesting links on those two major topics:

• In defense of Peter King’s Muslim hearings (Asra Nomani for The Washington Post On Faith blog)
• WPost vents on Peter King, then does its job (GetReligion)
• Archbishop of Japan writes of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear peril (Episcopal Cafe)
• How Japan’s religions confront tragedy (CNN Belief Blog)
• Prophecy site blames Japan disasters on all our sins (USA Today Faith & Reason blog)

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