Lama reincarnation denounces Buddhism

Boy chosen by Dalai Lama as reincarnation of spiritual leader turns back on Buddhist order | World news | The Guardian

The Pope Condom

From http://blog.iwhc.org/2009/04/the-pope-condom/

Cult mother pleads guilty but with resurrection clause in plea

A cult mother let her baby son starve to death after he started refusing to say amen after a meal. She pleaded guilty, but with the condition that if the son is resurrected her plea will be withdrawn.

Melbourne Catholic Church embraces testing to ID gay priests | Herald Sun

I don’t even know where to begin on how wrong this is. There are so many levels of wrong, I don’t even have the energy to go through them.

Melbourne Catholic Church embraces testing to ID gay priests | Herald Sun

Finally Tonight, religious apparitions in 2008

Maps of War

Maps of War is a great site that shows via flash expansion & contraction of various empires over history. The Middle East one is great, as is this one, the history of religions:

How It's Made: Communion Wafers

The Cavanah Co. makes more than 80% of the communion wafers for the US, England, Canada and Australia. They point out that because they have such a huge market share, they can actually detect changes in church attendance. For example, a scandal with Catholic priests dropped church attendance by 20%. 911 increased church attendance for 6 months. Bad economic times increase church attendance, so I’m guessing they’re packed at the moment.

Jacko a Muslim?

BELEAGUERED pop star Michael Jackson has converted to Islam and changed his name to Mikaeel, according to UK reports.

The 50-year-old singer, who was once photographed wearing a traditional Arab women's veil, reportedly became a Muslim in a ceremony at a friend's house in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, a London court was told that an Arab sheik showered Jackson with money, cars and trips worth millions of dollars in return for the singer recording and performing new songs.

Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the King of Bahrain, is suing Jackson for about $10m.

The singer claims the cash was a gift.

The court heard that Jackson was a long-term guest in the sheik's palace. Al Khalifa says he lent Jackson millions of dollars to help shore up his finances and subsidise his lifestyle.

AdelaideNow... Jacko a Muslim?

God’s Facebook page

God’s Facebook page via College Humour

Real life Egyptian Incredible Hulk

Among his claims:

• He has been medically tested to have the strength of 30,000 men (260 horsepower), by sampling his legs and spine (huh?)
• He has exemption from working because he might hurt people he’s working with
• He’s not allowed to go to a police station or jail
• He deserted the army for fear of hurting people, was put in jail, then was given a pardon by the president and released
• He can’t demonstrate his strength (eg lifting a car) because the burst of energy required might cause him to go on a rampage
• He won’t shake hands for fear of breaking all the bones in the other person’s hand
• He has never slept in his life since the day he was born
• He has four wives at any one time (he’s been married 28 times) because he must have sex 15 times a day, every day, so when one wife gets tired he moves onto the next
• He drinks melted butter and eats raw mutton, which would kill a normal man

Priest 'smashes chair' over Italian restaurant owner's head as nuns kick him in the stomach - Telegraph

The clergyman and nuns allegedly hit and kicked the 49-year-old man in an argument over the lease on the restaurant, which is owned by the Catholic Church. ……………

"I came down to try to calm things down but the priest hit me with a chair and I ended up on the floor. Then the two sisters started kicking me, insulting me with unrepeatable words," the unnamed owner said in a statement.

He was taken to hospital with injuries to his neck and bruising to his abdomen.

Priest 'smashes chair' over Italian restaurant owner's head as nuns kick him in the stomach - Telegraph

Police in Pakistan stop wedding between children

Police in Pakistan stopped a wedding between a 7 y.o. boy and a 5 y.o. girl that was to end a family feud. The legal age of consent in Pakistan is 18.

Interesting court case against God

Here's the background: Atheist Senator Ernie Chambers files a lawsuit against God, and the judge dismisses the court case "with prejudice" because God doesn't have a residential address and can't be served.

This is where it gets interesting: Sen. Chambers has the right to appeal, on the grounds that since the court acknowledges the existence of God, and recognises His omniscience, then they must accept that He has been duly served. Otherwise they must admit He is either not omniscient, or doesn't exist, or in my opinion they have to finally separate church and state and throw the case out. Sen Chambers hasn't decided if he's going to appeal or not, but I really hope he does, because it would be fascinating to see what happens.

Suit Against God Thrown Out Over Lack Of Address, Judge Tosses Neb. Legislator's Lawsuit Against God, Saying Defendant Never Received Notice - CBS News

Russian woman put on trial in Dubai for drinking juice in public

And people wonder why Dubai is dropping as a tourist destination....

Russian woman put on trial in Dubai for drinking juice in public - Pravda.Ru

Africa: Albinos flee sorcerers and organ traders

These are albino people, not animals.

"People say that the body parts taken from albinos are sold in Tanzania. They put them on gold mines and that brings the gold to the surface, then you just need to collect it," said Ciza, fear evident in his pale blue eyes.

"Some fishermen also use the parts to bait large fish they think have gold in their bellies."

Africa: Albinos flee sorcerers and organ traders

Where are they now: Kirk Cameron

Kirk Cameron stars as a firefighter in a christian movie Fireproof where he’s a guy in a troubled marriage that is saved (presumably otherwise it’d be a pretty crappy christian movie) in the name of Jesus. Skip to about 1:20 in the vid to hear about how people on the set were constantly praying and shoving prayer cards into his costume in his locker as they were making the movie.

Greek “spiritual healers” abuse woman over 230 times and get paid for it

For those who don’t want to read the article, a couple of guys in the Greek community in Sydney convinced a young woman she was cursed and her family was in big trouble, and the only way of lifting the curse was to undergo rituals that mainly involved sexual acts with her. They charged between $500 and $1000 a session, of which there were at least 70 over a 3 year period. Quite a few people I’ve spoken to about this find it hard to understand how this woman could have been tricked into this to this level. Once, strange but OK. Twice, getting weirder. But 70 times over 3 years sounds a little unbelievable. Note that she was not part of a cult or anything, she lived a “normal” life otherwise.

Sex attack duo promised to end curse - National - smh.com.au

Death sentence for downloading an article (G)

BBC reporting on a journalism student in Afghanistan that was tortured and sentenced to death for downloading an article from the internet on the role of women in islam. I can't find anything that further corroborates this story though, and there are scant details on the actual offense he was convicted of other than it was "blasphemy".

Catholic church plans to exhume Cardinal from next to his lifepartner um I mean really really really really good friend

Seems like those Victorian times were very confusing. Relationships between clergy that were as close as husband and wife, but completely *ahem* celibate.

Plan to exhume cardinal is 'homophobic' - Home News, UK - The Independent

Polygamist Gansta Rap

Extremely funny, especially if you’re even a casual fan of Big Love.