There was a big Christmas display two blocks away from the house I grew up in until age 6. Every year, even when we moved out of the state, we came back to watch Santa and his sleigh rise up a pulley system in the spotlight. As impressive as that display is, it just got blown out of the water by the Holdman's display in Utah.

A few random bits of odd religious news for you: South Park is taking on the Church of the Latter Day Saints through Broadway. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with the co-writer of Avenue Q Robert Lopez, are creating a musical with the working title, Mormon Musical "on the lives and loves of Mormons," the New York Post reports.

This week a Hindu statesman eloquently praised the Vatican for having installed a 2,400-panel solar field. “We may believe in different religions, yet we share the same home—our Earth," Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said urging all religious leaders to work on environmental issues. "We must learn to happily progress or miserably perish together.

Twilight is getting attacked from all sides, but that hasn't stopped vampire-loving teenage girls from devouring the book and movie. Some praise the book and movie as a morality tale. Author Stephanie Meyers is Mormon and brought her faith into the story by having the couple--human Bella and vampire Edward--refrain from sex before marriage.

It took Galileo nearly 400 years to get back into good standing with the Catholic Church. John Lennon should be thankful it only took him about 4 decades. Lennon's famous remark about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus didn't sit too well with some Christians, though it didn't stop their popularity.

I would be remiss to not mention that this past weekend Catholics and other peace activist gathered in Columbus, Georgia for the annual School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation protest.

Mary went missing, but apparently she wasn't in hiding. A short item from the Associated Press: A $30,000 bronze statue of Mary was pried from its place and stolen last Friday night from Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach, California. Thankfully, she ended up on the lawn of an Orange County home.

New fraternities and sororities are popping up around the country, but their popularity isn't about partying. It's about piety. There are at least 210 Christian fraternities and sororities around the country now.

When I think of the Food Network and its celebrity chefs (love them as I may), I think of lobster, cavier, and pate; dainty servings with bold flavors; and restaurant checks the size of my paycheck. Watching the Food Network is one of my primary forms of entertainment, and being a judge on Iron Chef America is one of my dreams.

We all know that Marx wrote a very famous book about economics and criticized capitalism's excesses, but did you know that he is living now and is the archbishop of Munich?