By Michelle Boorstein

Muslim American organizations hurried Friday to condemn the shootings at Fort Hood, saying they have already begun receiving some hate mail and emphasizing that there are thousands of Muslims serving in the armed forces.

Officials from the Islamic Society of North America, the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council and Imam Mohamed Magid of the large Northern Virginia mosque ADAMS (All Dulles Area Muslim Society) among others held a news conference Friday, urging Americans to view the shooter as a criminal individual, not a representative of Islam.

By Michelle Boorstein

Is Orthodox Christianity progressive?

To see the spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians making his rounds in Washington this week - meeting with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Senate leader Reid and speaking at the Brookings Institution today - you could make that case. In his talk yesterday at Georgetown University (sponsored by the left-leaning Center for American Progress), the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew spoke about the spiritual imperative for nonviolence, universal health care and reducing consumption to help the environment.

But Bartholomew knows the political language of America, and he made a point in his talk to claim that these positions are neither left nor right, calling the Orthodox "one of the most conservative members of the Christian family."

By William Wan

Two recent developments following the Catholic Church's surprising overtures last month to Anglicans. First, the Vatican has confirmed that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on Nov. 21.

Rowan's purported reason for visiting Rome, according to news reports, is "the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Willebrands, a Dutch cardinal who was a pioneer in Catholic ecumenism and who died in 2006." A Vatican spokesman says Rowan's visit was planned before the pope's stunning announcement on Oct. 20, opening the Catholic Church to disaffected Anglicans.

By William Wan

There has been a spike in stories about Church of Scientology lately, basically a litany of bad news for the organization.

To recap, just in the past few weeks, the church has:
* been convicted of fraud by a French court
* seen the acrimonious departure of director Paul Haggis, who was one of the church's high-profile celebrity members but now calls it in a letter "morally reprehensible"
* been the subject of yet another in-depth investigative series by the St. Petersburg Times, based on the horror stories of former members

What's driving all the bad news? Much of the troubles have been connected to the departure of top-level people in the organization, who in turn are now speaking openly about things the church has tried hard to keep secret.

By Michelle Boorstein

Top U.S. officials will meet this week with an unusual environmental lobbyist: the head of the world Orthodox Church.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians, who also has come to be known as "the green patriarch," arrived at Andrews Air Force Base last night from New York. He will meet this week with the area's Orthodox Christians, diplomats and U.S. government bigwigs including President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Clinton and Speaker of the House Pelosi.

While the Christian Orthodox population in the U.S. is small - about 4 million - the Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian community in the world after the Roman Catholic Church. For the Obama Adminstration, that means a chance to connect with communities in Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East.

By William Wan

Beliefnet's Editor-in-Chief, Steven Waldman, just announced he's leaving to work for the Obama administration.

Waldman built Beliefnet.com up from the ground, editing and blogging for the website. He and the website have gone through some rocky times, including the company's bankruptcy, to become it what it is today -- which is a mixture of religion news, multi-faith communities, how-to spirituality content, etc.

The website's press release talking about his departure mentions his new job title, senior adviser to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and describes it this way: "He is charged with leading a process to devise recommendations for the commission on how to react to the dramatic changes in the media landscape."

By Jacqueline L. Salmon

When it comes to publicity stunts, anti-abortion activist Randall Terry sure knows how to make 'em up. The latest: He is calling on people to burn effigies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and submit the videos to his Web site as part of a "Burn in Hell" video contest to protest health-care reform. Oh, and call their local media to get coverage.

A YouTube video offers step-by-step instructions on how to construct the 3-foot-by-5-foot effegies, which a person on the video then douses with lighter fluid and lights.
"It's time to start drawing from our proud American history of burning people in effigy," an unidentified man says on the video.

He says the act is a "not a threat to their body, but it is a threat to their soul."

By Michelle Boorstein

Among the issues President Obama will confront when he goes to China next month are the serious restrictions on religious freedom there. A half-dozen Chinese legal experts are in Washington today to try and publicize the issue, but U.S. officials have thus far refused to meet with them.

The group of five lawyers who handle religious freedom cases and one legal journalist will be at the National Press Club this morning for a talk co-hosted by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a government body that this week called on the Obama Administration to do far more to press such issues around the world.

Human rights groups are worried that Obama isn't committed to the cause of human rights, particularly in China. Also hosting the Chinese lawyers is ChinaAid, a Christian advocacy group focused on the plight of Christians in China in particular. We'll see if we can get some update from their comments and if there is any reaction from the White House, which - according to USIRF - has declined to make available any officials available.

By Jacqueline L. Salmon

Religious leaders are asking politicians, talk-show commentators and others to drop the Nazi language.The rhetoric that equates policy positions with the practices of the Nazis during World War II had gotten out of hand, they say.

Some examples:

*The Rev. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, who called health-care reform proposals "what the Nazis did" and proposed the "Dr. Josef Mengele Award" for Obama health-care adviser Ezekiel Emanuel.

*Fox News Host Glenn Beck, who compared the treatment of Fox News by the Obama Administration to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust.

By William Wan

An interesting reversal by the army last week on a Sikh recruit's request to keep his turban and his unshorn hair and beard. After arguments from a pro-bono team of lawyers, Sikh advocate groups and the recruit himself, Army officials allowed an exception for Captain Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, a doctor.

The ruling is huge for the Sikh community, the first favorable ruling on the religious turban/hair issue in 23 years. However, the exception is for Kalsi alone and won't apply to other Sikh's joining the army. "I am overjoyed by the Army's decision to allow me to serve my country," Kalsi said in a news release by the Sikh Coalition, which held a protest and lobbied for his cause. "Like the many Sikhs who fought before me, I know I will serve America with honor and excellence."

By Michelle Boorstein

John McCain had to distance himself from controversial Texas megapastor John Hagee, but Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel doesn't mind standing with Hagee.

Wiesel spoke before some 6,000 people Sunday night in San Antonio at one of the "Night to Honor Israel" events that are put on each year by Hagee's group, Christians United For Israel. The group has raised millions of dollars for Israeli and Jewish charities since it was founded three years ago.

It also has been controversial; some Jews are suspicious of Hagee's brand of Christian theology that requires the eventual conversion of the Jews, and others cite a Hagee sermon that called the Holocaust part of God's plan to lead to the creation of the state of Israel. The speech caused so much controversy that Sen. McCain - then a presidential candidate - had to distance himself from Hagee.

But Wiesel has been linked with Hagee before Sunday, when John Hagee Ministries presented $9 million for Israeli and Jewish causes. The event was at Hagee's Cornerstone Church, where video and photos show people waving American and Israeli flags.