religious kerfuffles

Of course it's no joke to those concerned.

And it's curious how "respect" is so often a one-way street in which my thoroughfare is wider than yours or vice versa.

And it's hard not to wonder what happens to spiritual bedrock when the architecture of the steeples devours so much time and energy ...

Oh well. As the kids might say, what-ever!

-- In Malaysia, a court has ruled that non-Muslims may not use the word "Allah" to refer to the God of their own faiths.

The appeals court said the term Allah must be exclusive to Islam or it could cause public disorder.
People of all faiths use the word Allah in Malay to refer to their Gods.
Christians argue they have used the word, which entered Malay from Arabic, to refer to their God for centuries and that the ruling violates their rights.

-- A German bishop has flown to Rome to discuss his lavish lifestyle with a Vatican that is currently on a poverty frequency.

Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst - dubbed the "Luxury Bishop" - is facing calls for his resignation after spending 31m euros (£26m; $42m) on his residence.
He is also accused of lying about the over-spend on the property in Limburg....
German Catholics ... pay a compulsory tax to the Church as part of their income tax, and many are shocked by the apparent financial waste ....

There is something completely understandable and yet both twisted and grotesque about a spiritual persuasion that is reduced to fisticuffs about words and marble.