TODAY IN GOD:
RELIGION NEWS BITES FOR YOUR SNACKING PLEASURE
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A word from God Girl HQ:
OK. The Montana book factory is hard at work today, so this will be the only Dudeist posting du jour. We’ll be back tomorrow with God Girl’s weekly column and other bits.

First, just because it made us laugh, we give you, Pope Bono(vox):

And now, back to the headlines:

A country-western Muslim:
With Egyptian roots and a southern drawl, Kareem Salama sings at a very American crossroad.
Cambridge, Mass. – Kareem Salama – the main act on this evening’s Muslim Student Association program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – nervously sips a bottle of water backstage as his guitarist/producer tunes a 12-string guitar.

The crowd buzz softens to a deferential hush as a bearded student takes the stage to start the evening with readings from the Koran in an Arabic melody that sounds like a medieval hymn.

It’s Koranic recitations like these that inspired Mr. Salama, the son of Eygptian immigrants, to become a musician. But it’s the peculiarly American circumstances of his life that drove this devout Muslim with a Southern drawl to his musical passion – country.

And so on this evening Koranic verse dissolves into the main act: the upbeat twang of what is perhaps the first Muslim country singer. In a down-home sound that seems at total odds with his look – an elegantly built man with a goatee style popular with young Arabs in his parents’ Middle Eastern homeland – Salama croons to the enthusiastic audience. “Baby, I’m a soldier and I hear those trumpets calling again … It’s time for this simple man to be one of the few good men,” go his original lyrics to a war ballad about the shared humanity of two soldiers on opposing sides.

As any musician emerging at the grassroots level, Salama performs mostly at smaller, niche events like this one. But he clearly has a growing following. Mariam Kandil, an MIT brain and cognitive sciences major who first heard him at another Muslim conference, says that Salama “got me to like country music.”

But further, adds Ms. Kandil, a Muslim who wears hijab, the traditional Muslim head scarf, “What really caught my attention was his voice. But also the lyrics of the songs … cater not only to the Muslim population but to a more universal group of people because of their meaning.”
FOR THE FULL STORY (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR) CLICK HERE

Cola fans know Passover brings out ‘real’ Coke
It’s that time of year again, when observant Jews and obsessed cola lovers seek out Passover Coke now on shelves in select Chicago area stores.

That’s because kosher-for-Passover Classic Coke is “The Real Thing,” fans say, referring to the sugar-sweetened formula trotted out this time of year. That’s how it was made until a formula change in the 1980s, when sugar was replaced with high-fructose corn syrup.

Jews of European descent don’t eat corn and its byproducts in observance of the holiday and its many dietary restrictions.

The holiday marks the ancient Israelites’ flight from slavery in Egypt.

“It’s so good, because they use the original recipe,” said Emily Kutchins, 26, shopping recently at the Hungarian Kosher Supermarket, 4020 W. Oakton, Skokie. The New York chef not only grabbed a few 2-liter bottles for the Chicago visit, but had already stocked up before leaving home.
FOR THE FULL STORY (By my homegirl Lisa Donovan at the SUN-TIMES) CLICK HERE

‘Porn & Pancakes’ fights X-rated addictions
MORTON, Illinois (CNN) — At 8 o’clock on a recent Saturday morning, more than 250 men gathered at New Life Christian Church in Morton, Illinois, for a breakfast of porn and pancakes.

The event, not as titillating as it sounds, is the brainchild of Craig Gross, founder of the online Christian ministry, XXXChurch.com. Gross concocted the idea of “Porn & Pancakes” as a way to get Christians and church officials to talk about pornography addiction.

It’s a problem, he said, that is growing, among Christian communities.

Over the smell of maple syrup and sausage, Gross and other guest speakers — including a former producer of pornography — talk to the men about how pornography negatively affects their lives, including relationships with their families and with God. The men who come to hear them speak want to make sure they don’t develop a problem themselves.

“A lot of people think Christians sure don’t struggle with this,” Gross said. “The stats don’t lie: Christians are consuming pornography. And to me, it’s not a surprise.”

A nonscientific poll on XXXChurch.com found that 70 percent of Christians admitted to struggling with porn in their daily lives. Church officials are not immune either. According to Gross, some 76 percent of pastors he surveyed said they, too, have a problem. Gross says he’s not surprised so many Christians find themselves struggling with addictions to pornography, considering just how mainstream and easily accessible it has become.
FOR THE FULL STORY (CNN) CLICK HERE

British churchgoers an endangered species?
One in 10 people in the UK attends church every week and one in seven goes once a month, according to research.

Christian charity Tearfund’s survey of 7,000 people puts the UK among Europe’s four least observant countries.

Two-thirds of those polled had not been to church in the last year, except for baptisms, weddings or funerals – but 53% identified themselves as Christian.

Tearfund said nearly three million more people would attend regularly if given the “right invitation”.

It said churches could do more to offer encouragement to potential worshippers.

The poll, conducted last year among people aged 16 and over, suggests that one in four UK adults attends church at least once a year.

Tearfund said 53% of people identified themselves as Christian, compared with almost three-quarters who had in the last census in 2001.
FOR THE FULL STORY (BBC NEWS) CLICK HERE