TODAY IN GOD:RELIGION NEWS BITES FOR YOUR SNACKING PLEASURE ____________________________________________________________________________________Billy Graham, tourist attractionThe evangelist’s life is honored in a hometown museum. But some think the Disney-like displays cheapen his legacy. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The other day, Billy Graham toured the showy museum that will soon open here to honor his six decades of bringing God’s word to the high and the humble. America’s best-known evangelist walked through stage-set re-creations of the barn on his parents’ dairy farm; the canvas tent... Read more

GOD GIRL GOES HUFFPO Mizzz Arianna Huffington’s HUFFINGTON POST relaunches today with a new design and brand-new content, including some religion blogging by our very own God Girl in HuffPo’s new Living Now section. Today, God Girl is sandwiched between Donna Karan and Alison Rose Levy, both writing about health care. You can expect another blog posting from GG later this week. Some old stuff, some new stuff, so stay tuned … Read more

MUST READ DU JOUR: “Evan Almighty: Makers of Comedy Film Aim for Religious Audience” More important than the lesson Mel Gibson taught Hollywood about drunken anti-Semitic tirades (that they’re bad for publicity) is the one gleaned from his 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ.” The movie demonstrated just how many evangelical moviegoers there are and how much money can be made from them. Mindful of that market, Universal Pictures has teamed up with Grace Hill Media, a public relations... Read more

R.I.P.: CHARLES NELSON REILLY Charles Nelson Reilly, the Tony Award winner who later became known for his ribald appearances on the “Tonight Show” and various game shows, has died. He was 76. Reilly died Sunday in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia, his partner, Patrick Hughes, told the New York Times. Reilly began his career in New York City, taking acting classes at a studio with Steve McQueen, Geraldine Page and Hal Holbrook. In 1962, he appeared on Broadway as... Read more

AN OLDIE BUT A GOODY: HOLLYWOOD NUNS Last August, Charlie LeDuff of the New York Times published a great report — written and on video — about the Monastery of the Angels in Hollywood, home to the cloistered Dominican nuns. It’s a lovely story and the accompanying video is well worth taking the time to watch. American Album:For 56 Years, Battling Evils of Hollywood With PrayerBy CHARLIE LeDUFFPublished: August 28, 2006 HOLLYWOOD — Sister Mary Pia, wearing a threadbare habit,... Read more

TODAY IN GOD:RELIGION NEWS BITES FOR YOUR SNACKING PLEASURE ____________________________________________________________________________________The Gospel of Dobson James Dobson is the Christian right’s most powerful leader. While the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition have crumbled, Dobson’s organization, Focus on the Family, has prospered. His multimillion-dollar-a-year media empire includes a daily radio show, with him as the host, that reaches millions of listeners, as well as a rapid-response telephone and letter-writing operation. This empire is based at an 88-acre campus in Colorado Springs, with... Read more

APROPOS OF NOTHING:“‘You can call me Iggy.’ … ‘Sorry I’m late, Jim.'” Iggy Pop and Tom Waits in our favorite scene from Jim Jarmusch’s “Coffee and Cigarettes.” Read more

TODAY IN GOD:RELIGION NEWS BITES FOR YOUR SNACKING PLEASURE ____________________________________________________________________________________WHEN WILL WE LEARN? Executions Criticized After Botched Lethal Injection Lucasville, Ohio – Death penalty opponents called on the state of Ohio to halt executions after prison staff struggled to find suitable veins on a condemned man’s arm to deliver the lethal chemicals. (The photo above is of the execution chamber at San Quentin prison.) The execution team stuck Christopher Newton at least 10 times with needles Thursday to insert the... Read more

Toddler vs. Tibetan monks? Toddler wins. There’s a Buddhist lesson in here somewhere … Read more

GODSTUFF CICADAMANIA: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE GODLY “It’s a bug-eat-bug world out there, Princess. One of those Circle of Life kind of things. This is the way things are supposed to work.”— Hopper in the 1998 film “A Bug’s Life” They’re late. The cicadas. I’ve been sitting on the chaise all week, staring at the grass in anticipation of their creepy arrival. Each time a blade of grass moved, disturbed by a busy worker ant, a gentle breeze... Read more