Thailand’s National Buddhism Office has proposed that Thai cigarette packs carry an additional consumer warning, that “‘Donating cigarettes to monks is a sin.'”

Florida State Senator Daniel Webster said last week that he is “exploring the possibility” of proposing a constitutional amendment to repeal Florida’s separation of church and state. The proposal comes in the wake of a November Florida court ruling against using vouchers for religious schools, and Webster said he thought of proposing an amendment after realizing “how clear the constitution seems on the matter” of separation of church and state. The Florida A.C.L.U. translates: “‘So if the constitution stands in the way of their radical agenda, don’t change the radical agenda — change the constitution.”

On behalf of a grateful nation–
On behalf of a grateful nation–
On behalf of a grateful nation–
Copy, paste, print. Rumsfeld admits he has used a machine to sign condolence letters to the relatives of the 1,300 U.S. war dead.

World’s wealthiest church weighs in on AIDS with… $132,000? AP reports that the Vatican has established a foundation to help AIDS victims to which it urges people to contribute even if they don’t agree with the Church’s opposition to condoms. Sure, whatever; but what’s with the paltry start-up sum? Is this a PR move, or just a badly-conceived initiative? Ask, AP, ask.

Another Christmas story: Desperate Boston Catholics plead with Bishop Sean O’Malley to keep their church open for just one more Christmas. Movie rights, anyone?

We can’t stand to read yet another story about the battle for Christmas, but if you’re convinced that American Christians are victims, or that Christmas is a Christian conspiracy, here’s some fuel for your indignation from The Washington Post‘s Alan Cooperman. Hardcore Christmas partisans will want to turn to the New York Observer‘s Nicholas Von Hoffman, who investigates the nasty economic roots of the “suicide season.”

Since the discovery of God on google, the Almighty is suffering in this new free market of the divine, reports Mark Carr. God down 22 points; Satan up 26, evil climbs 64.

“Some draw parallels to the profound societal divisions of the Vietnam era; others audaciously compare our age to the Third Reich. A flurry of new books about the Founding Fathers argue that the rise of George W. Bush and his army of conservative Christians was foretold by the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But none of those go back far enough. If we really want to know the history we’ve been doomed to repeat, we have to return 900 years, to medieval Paris…”