On the upside, the idea that one can commit sins--moral or theological misdeeds--yet still be within the law, is a good thing, especially in a world in which more and more people feel that the line between personal faith and public policy should be erased. In fact, the defense’s claim that Edwards committed sins and not crimes reminds us that in a culture which respects freedom of religion, that distinction must always be maintained.

Mitt Romney has a palindrome problem. In case you happen not to know what a palindrome is, it’s a word or number which reads the same from left to right as it does from right to left. In Governor Romney’s case, the problematic palindrome is Dog/God.

Posthumous baptism of Holocaust survivors is back in the news, and that always raises a range of questions, not only about Mormon-Jewish relations, but about interreligious relations in general and how we know when they are really real. Most recently, the dust up is due to the work of an individual who, in violation of Mormon church policy, baptized the long-dead parents of world famous Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal.

When American sailors rescued Iranian fisherman from their Somali pirate captors, they were greeted not only with relief and joy, but as those sent by God in answer to the captives prayers.“’It is like you were sent by God,’ said one of the rescued fishermen, Fazel Ur Rehman, 28,’ said, as reported by the New York Times. This is a striking response for many reasons, not least among them that these were U.S. personnel from the same naval strike group which had been threatened by the Iranian navy just days before.

Protests have broken out across Israel by members of the ultra-Orthodox community in response to government efforts to uphold civil law. Sparked by issues of women’s dress and behavior on public streets in largely ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, the protests are driven by neighborhood residents who demand that their understanding of Jewish religious law replace civil law when it comes to these issues.

Q) When does Hanukkah begin?

Read full article >>


]]> http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=08c09041485091995502bd7509756b03 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/for-gods-sake/post/when-does-hanukkah-begin/2011/12/19/gIQAmQzm4O_blog.html?wprss=rss_for-gods-sake http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/for-gods-sake/post/when-does-hanukkah-begin/2011/12/19/gIQAmQzm4O_blog.html?wprss=rss_for-gods-sake http://www.washingtonpost.com/Fragment/SysConfig/WebPortal/twpweb/rss/mobile/blog-entry.jpp?id=1000.3.777686114 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/for-gods-sake/post/when-does-hanukkah-begin/2011/12/19/gIQAmQzm4O_blog.html?wprss=rss_for-gods-sake http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/for-gods-sake/post/when-does-hanukkah-begin/2011/12/19/gIQAmQzm4O_blog.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/for-gods-sake/post/when-does-hanukkah-begin/2011/12/19/gIQAmQzm4O_search.html 1000.3.777686114 1f725800-2a6d-11e1-8329-4460f290b8fc Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:33:25 EST Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:33:25 EST 20111219183325 The Washington Post /WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/for-gods-sake/201112/han-1.xml /WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/for-gods-sake/201112/han-1.xml BlogStory BlogStory The Washington Post In the wake of a report that showed that the proportion of American adults who are married is at an all-time low, I hosted a live discussion on the state of marriage on Wednesday. You submitted far more wonderful questions and comments than I could possibly respond to in an hour, and that itself tells me that we really are wrestling with the future of marriage in this country.

The Israeli government-sponsored ad campaign abruptly canceled by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was problematic enough. When combined however, with a talk with veiled references to Iran given by the leader at the annual memorial event for Israel’s first Prime Minister, the iconic David Ben Gurion, “problematic” may have shifted to potentially apocalyptic.