VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican is slamming the door on attempts by women to become priests in the Roman Catholic Church. It has strongly reiterated in a decree that anyone involved in ordination ceremonies is automatically excommunicated.
(more…)

Iraqis say Marines handed out Christian coins
BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military says an American service member has been removed from duty in Iraq after receiving complaints that Marines were handing out coin-shaped medals promoting Christianity.

Sunni officials in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah say the coins were given to Iraqis at an entry checkpoint and had biblical verses written on them in Arabic.

McClatchy Newspapers, which first broke the story, reports that the silver-colored medal quoted John 3:16 on one side and asked “Where will you spend eternity” on the other.

A military statement says the service member was removed from his duties Friday “amid concerns from Fallujah’s citizens regarding reports of inappropriate conduct.”

The statement says U.S. troops are prohibited “from proselytizing any religion, faith or practices” and the military is investigating the reports.

The military promises appropriate action if they are substantiated.

Most hotels have Gideon Bibles. Marriott Hotels carry the Book of Mormon, too. But Hotel Preston in Nashville has decided to offer a whole library of spiritual texts. In addition to the religion package, there’s also a “redneck package” — complete with Moon Pies, Goo Goo Clusters, RC Cola, pork rinds and Pabst Blue Ribbon…
(more…)

Jacksonville, Florida police are looking for three thugs who robbed two women at gunpoint last week. When last seen, the criminals were armed, dangerous and, wearing their faith on their shirtsleeves, so to speak. According to First Coast Crime Stoppers, the men are “in a white van with dark tinted windows and faded red lettering that appears to say, ‘We Love Jesus.’”

There’s a reward (up to $1,000) for whoever catches these guys.
Click here for more from FirstCoastNews.com

More than a year and a half after President Greenway’s ouster, both sides have reached an “agreement of resolution” but the terms are “confidential”, the school said.
(more…)

(Click here for the latest from Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka.)

Susanne Johnson, the theology professor who objects to the Bush institute, is the author of the website www.smirkingchimp.com, which continually mocks the president and his administration.

Nielsen asked me to keep a written diary of all the television I watched for seven days in May (beginning Thursday May 15 and ending Wednesday May 21). In exchange, they sent me four $1 bills. It was easy money: I watched one hour of the Preakness coverage on Saturday, plus 8 minutes of local news that evening… Then, Sunday morning, I watched the last 3 minutes of the Chris Matthews Show and all of Meet the Press. And that’s it. One week: 2 hours and 11 minutes in front of the idiot box.

Who won Dancing with the Stars? Beats me. Who is the American Idol? I’m pretty sure it’s one of those two guys named Chris. (It’s hard to escape the vast wasteland of “reality shows” — unless you also unplug the Internet, throw out the radio, bring earplugs to work and wear blinders when you walk through the checkout aisle at Wal-Mart.)

When I die, my tombstone epitaph won’t read: “Frank Lockwood — “Wishes he’d watched more television.”

No, I don’t want to waste my prime time on Prime Time.

I read today that Frank Rich of the New York Times is now a consultant for HBO, and has agreed that he’ll never mention the premium television station in his Gray Lady culture column to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Jack Shafer of Slate Magazine questions whether it’s possible to be a culture guru if you ignore Home Box Office: “If Frank Rich’s column is really supposed to be about the ‘intersection of culture and news,’ denying him references to the HBO canon would be like forcing him to write with only his pinky fingers. He’d still get his columns out, but would they be any good?”

My hunch is that Frank Rich can come up with a decent column on a regular basis without mentioning HBO. He might even be able to do it without mentioning cable television. We canceled cable at our house back in 2002. It’s the best decision we ever made.

It’s only been a handicap three times — on those days when I was covering the Kentucky Derby. Celebrity watching is a big deal at Churchill Downs, and a reporter is at a disadvantage if he can’t identify the stars. Here’s how I got by. I would watch the non-rich and the non-famous and when they gawked and gasped, I’d whisper, “Who is that?”
“It’s Toby Keith,” they’d stammer.
Toby Keith?
“The singer.”
What kind of music?
“Country.”
More gasping.
“Who is it,” I’d ask.
“It’s Tara Reid.”
Tara Reid?
“Movie star.”
Still drawing a blank here.
“She was in American Pie…”
The movie, not the Don McLean song…

I’d have a hard time picking B-movie starlets and reality show celebrities out of a police lineup. But Tim Russert? Chris Matthews? Howard Kurtz? No problem…

By LIBBY QUAID
Associated Press Writer
UNION CITY, Calif. (AP) — Republican John McCain has rejected the endorsement of an influential Texas televangelist criticized for his anti-Catholic views.
(more…)

Dan Gilgoff, political editor for Beliefnet and keeper of the 2008 presidential “God-o-Meter” says John McCain’s campaign is flubbing its religious outreach. Gilgoff, an author and former US News & World Report staffer, says McCain has a “ham handed approach to dealing with the Christian Right.”
Click here to see today’s “God-o-Meter.”

For months, Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been a millstone around the neck of Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama. But Republican presumptive nominee John McCain has his own preacher problems. On the campaign trail, he’s warmly embraced John Hagee of San Antonio. Hagee? He’s a minister who says God sent Hitler to “hunt” Jews so that they’d return to the Holy Land. Click here for audio. Hagee also said that God sent Hurricane Katrina to punish people, a claim he later disavowed.

Now comes word that another McCain supporter may have made inflammatory comments.
(more…)

By MICHELLE ROBERTS
Associated Press Writer
SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) — A Texas appeals court said Thursday that the state had no right to take more than 400 children from a polygamist sect’s ranch, a ruling that could unravel one of the biggest child-custody cases in U.S. history.
(more…)

the associated press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The 5-year-old daughter of contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed Wednesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said.
(more…)

It’s probably a good idea to do background checks on people before you give them the keys to your church building…Click here for the story.

Pilots run out of fuel, pray, land near Jesus sign

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — It seemed like an almost literal answer to their prayers. When two New Zealand pilots ran out of fuel in a microlight airplane they offered prayers and were able to make an emergency landing in a field — coming to rest right next to a sign reading, “Jesus is Lord.”
(more…)

Hillary Clinton outpolled Barack Obama 2,714 to 146 in Magoffin County. She captured 93 percent of the vote. He claimed 5 percent. This is the lowest percentage of the vote that any county had given Obama up to this point. But plenty of other Kentucky counties gave Clinton tidal-wave landslides, to mix metaphors. She carried Owsley County 269 to 24 and Martin County 580 to 45 and Pike County 12,915 to 936.