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As I expected — though perhaps not this quickly — San Francisco’s proposed ballot measure banning circumcision has been, ahem, nipped in the bud. On a serious note, the debate over the pros and cons of circumcision, both medically and religiously, continues… with no end in sight. And now for something really fun: Thanking God for…

Ramadan is a physically and spiritually demanding month for Muslims — think Lent & Yom Kippur having a baby, on steroids — but when the Islamic calendar places it during secular summertime, it’s especially tough, because the daylight fasting requirement gets much longer. (Then again, it’s no picnic when Ramadan falls during your athletic season,…

America’s fiscal crisis and debt ceiling debate has prompted a lot of soul-searching, both literally and figuratively. (An interfaith gathering even attempted to pray away the problem… let’s see if it works better than praying away the gay!) As with the controversies over immigration reform and health care reform and other economic and social justice issues,…

A new poll finds that most Americans want presidential candidates to have strong religious beliefs — even if those beliefs are different from their own. As Gary Scott Smith, a history professor at Grove City College and author of “Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush” told me: That’s a longstanding trend in American culture.…

Not only was Anders Behring Breivik, Norway’s accused mass murderer, not an Islamic terrorist, but he’s an Islamophobic hardline Christian. (Cue immense sigh of relief from Scandinavia’s Muslim community, among others.) A Christian terrorist, if you will. The facts are still coming about the alleged gunman, but here are some faith-related stories on the tragedy, which has claimed 93…

The Catholic Church isn’t the only denomination that has struggled with the concept of reporting accusations of child sexual abuse to the police, rather than trying to handle as much as possible internally in deference to ancient religious laws and the avoidance of scandal. Hasn’t every religious group — or secular organization that oversees children —…

Stephen Colbert had some fun words for Texas Gov. Rick Perry — is it just the twangy God talk, or is he physically morphing into his predecessor George W. Bush, too? — on his Comedy Central show a few days ago, regarding his controversial upcoming prayer rally and possible presidential bid: The Colbert Report Mon –…

Updated at 1 p.m. EST to add NCR interview with Archbishop Chaput. It’s been a tough year for the Catholic Church in Philadelphia, where the pesky clergy abuse revelations just won’t go away. But now Cardinal Justin Rigali — due to reaching age 75 and/or the way the scandal has festered — is retiring, and Archbishop Charles…

You know it’s an election cycle when there’s even more gay-related religion news than usual, beyond the usual headlines about marriage, parenting, ordination, DADT in the military, etc. On that topic, two stories in particular are rocking Christian America’s “is gay OK?” fault line: Amid Bachmann controversy, many Christians are cool to conversion therapy for…

It’s a Fun Friday to whet Bill Maher’s appetite: Austrian Pastafarian Wins Right to Wear Pasta Strainer on His Noodle (Episcopal Cafe) (Check out the BBC’s story for images of Niko Alm, an atheist, wearing the strainer in his new license photo.) It seems religious freedom can be a slippery slope – or perhaps just…
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