From religiondispatches.org Obama is scheduled to address the National Prayer Breakfast, organized by ‘The Family,’ which has ties to the ‘kill-the-gays’ bill in Uganda. Religious leaders, including a member of the president’s faith-based Advisory Council, are calling on the president to condemn homophobia and offer an alternative, inclusive prayer event.

KAMPALA, Uganda — Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda’s capital to give a series of talks.  Now the three Americans are finding themselves on the defensive, saying they had no intention of helping stoke the kind of anger that could lead to what came next: a bill to impose a death sentence for homosexual behavior.

Clergy members and churches would not face legal consequences for refusing to perform same-sex marriages, under a state bill being pushed by supporters of gay marriage.

The Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary is announcing a Call for Papers for the 2010 Colloquium, “Allegorical Bible 2.0: Scholarship meets Allegory, Code, and Mysticism.”  The Colloquium will be held at the Universal Truth Center, Miami Gardens, Florida, May 20-22, 2010.

From: faithinpubliclife.org. By Adelle M. Banks- RNS. As Capitol Hill appears politically paralyzed over health care reform, the prescription from many faith leaders is firm: don’t abandon ship.  “The faith community has worked for decades for comprehensive health care reform and this last year … many of them have put aside other policy priorities to take this over the finish line,” said the Rev. Linda Walling, executive director of Faithful Reform in Health Care, an interfaith coalition of more than 70 groups.

A call to bring the world together…We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

Rev Sharon Ferguson, Chief Executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) has denounced the reactionary vote in the House of Lords to approve amendments to the Equality Bill which will enable churches and other religious bodies to discriminate in matters of employment.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A billboard at a New Zealand church depicting a downcast Joseph lying beside Mary in bed and the heading “God is a hard act to follow” provoked more than the intended reconsideration of the meaning of Christmas.

Hoping to ask the American ambassador for help in reaching the Gaza Strip, riot police surrounded 41 US citizens and one Egyptian on Tuesday and blocked their progress.

Media audiences across the world took notice as Copenhagen police arrested hundreds of activists at the peak of the United Nations climate conference that ended last Saturday.

Throughout the course of human history, there are times when a nation and its people must speak to moral imperatives — to speak clearly to what is faithful to our American ideals, what is compassionate toward our people and what is right for our country.  As spiritual leaders of diverse religious background and with one voice, we the undersigned appeal to our elected representatives, our President, and elected officials of the State of Indiana to provide affordable and accessible health care for all Americans.

December 17, 2009?. Attempting to revive climate negotiations that appear dangerously close to flat-lining, the Obama administration announced today that it would join allies in raising $100 billion by 2020 to help the world’s poorest countries adapt to climate change.

Dan Elliott (AP, December 16, 2009).  Air Force Academy, USA – The Air Force Academy says religious tolerance has improved dramatically since allegations five years ago that evangelical Christians harassed cadets who didn’t share their faith. Even the school’s most vocal critic agrees.

ATLANTA, Decembe 2009 – Gifted students across the U.S. and Canada who aspire to be pastoral leaders and professors can get help for their journeys through Fund for Theological Education (FTE) fellowships for the 2010-2011 academic year.  Right now, college students are finishing up their finals and looking forward to a few weeks of rest during the Christmas break. Many of them will use that time to reflect on what their futures will hold. Some may consider the corporate world; others may worry about further education options.

BBC. Sirsa, India – More than 1,000 followers of a multi-religious sect in northern India have pledged to marry female sex workers who want to escape exploitation

WASHINGTON — As an evangelical Christian living in Texas, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe found that many conservatives had questions about climate change based on things they’d heard on talk radio.  The book is a look at the scientific consensus that heat-trapping gases, mostly from the use of fossil fuels, are causing an increase in the Earth’s average temperature. It explains how scientists reach their conclusions and why they rule out other possible explanations, such as the sun, volcanoes and natural cycles.

Politico.com  by Ben Smith.  Frustration among gay Democrats at the White House’s unwillingness to make their issues a first-year priority — or even, in some cases, to acknowledge them — is boiling over today in the form of a move to boycott Democratic National Committee fundraising.

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: As Congress assembles a health care reform package, a longtime expert on medical ethics writes in a recent issue of Commonweal magazine that there has been an important idea missing from the debate–the concept of the common good. The expert is Daniel Callahan, founder and now president emeritus of the Hastings Center. His new book is Taming the Beloved Beast. He joins us from New York.