When the president is a polygamist, who gets to be First Lady?

(Which, if you ask me, is and always has been a stupid title, given that Americans aren’t supposed to be that into royalty and such.)

But in South Africa, the new president has two wives and one fiancee. The new president embraces his Zulu roots, but not everyone is thrilled.

Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring

So says Huffington Post and NPR.

Souter was appointed by Pres. George H.W. Bush, but he has been unexpectedly moderate-t0-liberal. Pres. Obama most likely will choose a woman for his first appointment to the Supreme Court. That last link suggests women look at justice differently than do men.

Not that you asked, but there is Biblical precedent: Deborah the judge.

Does this make you nervous?

A marathon public reading of the Holy Bible starts Sunday and goes through — with the help of hundreds of volunteers — Thursday of next week at the U.S. Capitol.

That’s 90 hours of wall-to-wall Word, now in its 20th year.

Vatican Baptist Church?

Yep. Says so here.

An interesting mixture of theologies, yes? That, or yet another sign of End Times. And thanks, Jesus Goes to Disney World, for the photo.

What’s wrong with a little prayer?

Depends on your motivation, I guess.

The National Day of Prayer is next Thursday. Though the event (one hesitates to say “holiday”) started as a presidential proclamation in the ’50s, it has become decidedly evangelical in the last few years. It’s good to have someone at the helm, but must it be limited to these people?

This group seems pretty exclusive to me. Can I get an amen? From someone other than an evangelical, d’ya think? Here’s a letter calling for a more inclusive day.

How do you define “blasphemous libel?”

Irish authorites will need to figure that out.

Part of the definition is material that is:

“grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion.”

In addition, the distribution of said material has to be intentional. There was no attempt to define religion, says this Irish Times column.

Give this priest Notre Dame’s top honor

The Rev. James Martin would be a nice replacement now that the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican has turned down the university’s award (the Laetare Medal) to avoid sharing the graduation stage with pro-choice Pres. Obama.

The Rev. Martin makes his case here. Can a non-Catholic vote? Because I’d certainly vote for him.In fact, I’d give him the award based soley on his No. 4:

Look, I’ve never worked at a Catholic university. So I don’t know what it must be like to maintain your Catholic identity in a secular culture while trying to maintain the highest standards of academic excellence, nor can I imagine how hard it must be to follow what the Vatican wants, what the bishops want, the parents want, the students want, the benefactors want, and the trustees want. That’s a tall order. So I wouldn’t criticize something that I’ve never tried to do. But when I came to collect my award…

He says he’d give a speech and it would be funny and he wouldn’t ask for a stipend.

And if he’s not available, how about this guy?

Racism’s Top Five Hits

From Channing Kennedy, here.

So much for our post-racial society.

Fat cash to any one who can explain this song to me

It’s beautiful, but…more on Radiohead, here.

Hot toddies for pregnant bodies

Is it paternalistic to deny pregnant women alcoholic beverages?

The Bible, after all, says to take a little wine for your stomach’s sake. Does this verse apply to pregnant women, too?