A first-year suburban Chicago school teacher asked for a three-week unpaid leave-of-absence to travel to Mecca for Hajj. The district said “no.” So the teacher quit her job, went to Saudi Arabia, and then lawyered up.

Now, the Department of Justice has gotten involved, alleging that the district failed to make a “reasonable accommodation” for the teacher’s religious beliefs.

Question: Was it unreasonable for the school district to deny the teacher the leave-of-absence?

A DOJ press release, laying out the facts of the case, is below. (more…)

A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows a dramatic shift on the topic of gay marriage.

By 53 to 44 percent, Americans polled this month said gay marriage should be legal.

In 2000, the 100 largest churches in the United States all had average weekly attendance of 4,000 people or more.

In 2010, only churches with average weekly attendance of 8,000 or more made the 100 largest churches list, according to megachurch researcher John N. Vaughan.

About half the churches on the list (49 percent) are non-denominational.

Sixteen percent are in the Los Angeles area, while 7 percent are in Dallas and 7 percent are in Houston. (Atlanta finishes fourth with 6 percent of the megachurches.)

The former Arkansas governor’s book-signing at the Billy Graham Library has been canceled for now.

It will be rescheduled at a time when the evangelist is available to meet with the 2008 presidential candidate, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Funeral pickets are constitutionally-protected speech, nation’s high court declares in 8-1 ruling.

So who voted against Phelps?

Justice Samuel Alito.

“Respondents’ [Phelps'] outrageous conduct caused petitioner great injury, and the Court now compounds that injury by depriving petitioner of a judgment that acknowledges the wrong he suffered.

In order to have a society in which public issues can be openly and vigorously debated, it is not necessary to allow the brutalization of innocent victims like petitioner. I therefore respectfully dissent.”
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Mars Hill Bible Church Pastor Rob Bell has a new book coming out and it’s causing a ruckus. It’s called Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.

CNN’s Belief Blog has the details.

The book hasn’t been released yet, but the publisher has released a promotional video. And it’s fueling allegations that Bell is a “universalist” — someone who believes that everybody is going to heaven and nobody is going to hell.

According to CNN, Bell refers in the book’s promotional video to

“the nonviolent Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, and asks, ‘Gandhi’s in hell? He is?’

‘And someone knows this for sure?’ Bell continues. ‘Will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell? And if that’s the case how do you become one of the few?’

‘What we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about who God likes,’ Bell says ‘The good news is that love wins.’”

Well, the good news is that love wins and controversy sells. This is going to create some serious theological and literary buzz.

A former British Prime Minister is going to be hanging out at Rick Warren’s California megachurch. Here are the details from A. Larry Ross Communications:
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, a nationally influential Baptist minister and advocate for tolerance who oversaw Harvard University’s Memorial Church for more than 30 years, has died. He was 68.
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At a time when most other denominations are losing members, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is growing rapidly.

During the past half-century, its U.S. membership has more than tripled, from 311,539 in 1959 to 1,043,606 in 2009.

Worldwide, there are now an estimated 16 million Adventists.
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