from the hooping-it-up-with-Christ dept.

From the ever-helpful ymatt comes a pointer to Jesus of the Week, including the current Jesus, a $19.95 figurine from CatholicShopper.com that depicts the Messiah pulling down a rebound over a couple of undersized white kids.

from the not-sure-if-he-has-a-position-on-Pokey,-though dept.

Pope John Paul, speaking in his weekly address in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, focused on the Internet, giving his blessing to the net after previously having warned that it was a cesspool of moral decay. “We shouldn’t be afraid to put to sea in the vast ocean of information,” the pontiff said. “This new medium makes it possible for us to reach many more people with the word of God. I myself have been in communication via email with the widow of the former finance minister of Nigeria, and understand that the Church will soon be receiving a generous donation in return for its help in transferring a large sum of money out of the country.”

from the how-blessed-are-those-who-cannot-read dept.

Again from the L.A. Times comes a story about the Rev. William R. Grimbol, author of the latest work in the “Idiot’s Guide” series: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Life of Christ. It joins such other venerable crossover titles as The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Enhancing Self-Esteem and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Raising Your IQ.

from the freedom-of-worship dept.

From the L.A. Times comes the story of a recent pagan ceremony in Lancaster, CA, that was disrupted by Satan-fearing Christians who surrounded the pagans, quoted scripture at them, and blared Christian pop tunes. The pagans called the sheriff’s department, but either because the disrupters included people with ties to the department, or because the sheriffs were just too darned busy (depending on who you ask), no one responded for more than four hours. Now the pagans want the disrupters prosecuted under hate-crime laws, but apparently the law only protects religious services conducted inside a “tax-exempt building.”