Today the Episcopal Church announced that it will consecrate its second non-celibate gay bishop this May. Mary Glasspool was elected bishop on December 5 but was waiting for a majority of the diocesan bishops and “standing committees” in the jurisdiction to approve her consecration.

To approve a bishop’s consecration, a majority of the standing committees must agree that the candidate is “of such sufficiency in learning, of such soundness in the Faith, and of such godly character as to be able to exercise the Office of a Bishop to the honor of God and the edifying of the Church, and to be a wholesome example to the flock of Christ.” The majority agrees, so the Church will move ahead with consecrating Glasspool as bishop in the Los Angeles area.

The American Anglican Council responded to the news with the following strongly-worded statement from Bishop David C. Anderson, President and CEO:

“What this means is the majority of The Episcopal Church’s leaders – down to the diocesan level throughout America – are exercising no restraint as requested by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the primates of the Anglican Communion. Despite pleas to the contrary, they have given their consent for a partnered lesbian to become a bishop, not just for Los Angeles, but for the whole church. Unfortunately, this comes as no surprise because The Episcopal Church, at its General Convention this summer, voted in favor of allowing dioceses to determine whether they will conduct same sex blessings using whatever rites they deem appropriate. Even if The Episcopal Church should eventually decide to sign an Anglican Covenant, it has shown time and time again that it will not abide by traditional Christian and Anglican Communion teaching on marriage and sexuality.”

Girl Scouts distributed an explicit sex guide at a UN workshop, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute reports. C-FAM says at the Commission on the Status of Women (see WORLD’s coverage here), the Girl Scouts held a panel that kicked out non-Scout adults and distributed an International Planned Parenthood Federation brochure that said the following:

“Many people think sex is just about vaginal or anal intercourse… But, there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex. There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!” The brochure goes on to encourage young people to “Improve your sex life by getting to know your own body. Play with yourself! Masturbation is a great way to find out more about your body and what you find sexually stimulating. Mix things up by using different kinds of touch from very soft to hard. Talk about or act out your fantasies. Talk dirty to them.”

In the latest development, the Girl Scouts have denied that they distributed the brochure, implying it was left over from a previous event. Austin Ruse, president of C-FAM, responds by saying all previous parallel events that day were not about adolescent topics–the focus of the brochure. He also noted that Girl Scouts has a long-standing relationship with IPPF.

After the emergence of the abuse scandal Emily blogged about yesterday, the beleaguered New York Gov. David Paterson may end his campaign for reelection, sources say. The New York Times reported today that even allies and friends “said his political standing had been irreparably damaged” and that he cannot handle the scandal, a campaign and governing at the same time. Sources told New York Daily News that Paterson will announce his campaign’s end today, although another source warned that it is Paterson we’re talking about:

The governor has a reputation for being wildly mercurcial and changing his mind at the last minute – particularly if he feels he’s backed into a corner.

Paterson earlier ignored Obama’s request that he not run in the next election.

Bristol Palin is going to Hollywood. She says she is “thrilled” to have a guest-star role playing herself on ABC Family’s show, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”  The show’s executive producer Brenda Hampton called Palin “the most famous teenage mother in America.”

Palin said the program “educates teens and young adults about the consequences of teen pregnancy.” WORLD’s Megan Basham had a different take in an article calling the show part of ABC Family’s “sex-obsessed programming:”

Many argue that the show’s material is hardly appropriate entertainment for the 12- to 17-year-old viewers it attracts.

Bristol Palin is becoming a more vocal figure. Earlier, Bristol spoke out after Family Guy’s portrayal of a Down Syndrome woman who said her mother was the governor of Alaska. Via her mother’s Facebook page, she issued a statement that called the producers “heartless jerks:”

When you’re the son or daughter of a public figure, you have to develop thick skin. My siblings and I all have that, but insults directed at our youngest brother hurt too much for us to remain silent. People with special needs face challenges that many of us will never confront, and yet they are some of the kindest and most loving people you’ll ever meet. Their lives are difficult enough as it is, so why would anyone want to make their lives more difficult by mocking them?

A picture of Jesus holding a beer can and a cigarette is heating up India. According to BBC, the picture appeared in a primary school handwriting textbook, oddly. The government of the Indian state of Meghalaya has responded by confiscating the textbooks, and the State Education Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said the government is considering legal action against the textbook publishers.

The Catholic Church is now boycotting the textbooks. Dominc Jala, the Archbishop of Shillong, said, “We are shocked and hurt by this act where Jesus Christ has been portrayed in a highly objectionable manner…we condemn the total lack of respect for religions by the publisher.”

The state is reportedly 72 percent Christian.

This looks like one nasty divorce. The husband (Joseph Reyes) is Catholic, the estranged wife (Rebecca Reyes) is Jewish, and Joseph Reyes has just been arraigned on criminal charges for taking their toddler to church.

According to ABC News, after Rebecca Reyes gained custody of their daughter, Joseph Reyes baptized their daughter without his wife’s permission, sending her emails and pictures to document the event. She requested a restraining order and Chicago judge Edward R. Jordan then issued a court order banning Reyes from  “exposing his daughter to any other religion than the Jewish religion.”

Reyes then took their daughter to church, calling the media to document it this time. He now faces a charge of indirect criminal contempt and a possible six months in jail. He made a somewhat bizarre statement to Good Morning America: “In terms of Judaism, based on the information I was given, Catholicism falls right under the umbrella of Judaism.” In a YouTube video, he says, “I am taking her to hear the teachings of perhaps the most prominent Jewish rabbi in the history of this great planet of ours.”

The wife’s lawyer calls it a power play but Reyes says he is just trying to teach his daughter his faith.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation is suing the federal government, saying that the tax break it gives pastors is, in the words of co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor, “not constitutional, … not fair, and …  not necessary.” In fact, she told The Tennessean, “We think the law is rotten at the core.”

The federal government allows churches to pay part of their pastor’s salaries in the form of a housing allowance. Pastors can save thousands of dollars on taxes because the housing allowance is tax-exempt. This policy has been in place since the 1920s and has already survived one challenge in 2002, after a similar court case led Congress to step in and save the housing break.

Dan Busby, head of Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, told The Tennessean he thinks Congress would still save the housing break:

“I don’t think this lawsuit is going anywhere,” he said. “Both houses of Congress don’t want to touch this.”

A PDF copy of Freedom from Religion’s court complaint is here.

This Wednesday, on the eve of the Conservative Political Action Conference, conservative leaders will reveal a new vision statement. The “Mount Vernon Statement” is ” a document defining the movement’s principles, beliefs and values in light of the challenges facing the country and the need for Constitutional Conservatism since the Obama administration came to power.”

The last big conservative statement of faith, the Sharon Statement, was drafted 50 years ago by the Young Americans for Freedom. The new statement will be signed by conservative heavyweights like former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese, Tony Perkins with the Family Research Council, Wendy Wright with Concerned Women for America, Grover Norquist with Americans for Tax Reform, Elaine Donnelly with Center for Military Readiness, and others–a total of 80.

Matt Lewis gives good background on the earlier statement–and the impact the new statement might have:

To be sure, the movement has changed — and, to my way of thinking, not all for the better — since the signing of the Sharon Statement. The young intellectuals at Sharon, for instance, pledged fealty to rugged individualism. In recent times, many prominent conservative intellectuals, especially ex-pats from the recent Bush administration, have pushed a squishier concept of “national greatness,” which has proven — as the phrase suggests — to be a call for larger government.

Tea Party people are mad at Marvel Comics, saying it portrayed them as “super villains” in a recent Captain America comic. According to The Raw Story, in the comic book, Captain America travels to Idaho to investigate a white supremacist group called the Watchdogs. On the way, he comes across a rally where protesters wield signs like “Stop the Socialists!” One African-American character references the group as “angry white folks” and says “I guess this whole ‘hate the government’ vibe around here isn’t limited to the Watchdogs.”

The real Tea Party people say that it paints them as angry racists who hate the government. Marvel editor-in-chief gave a tepid apology and a lengthy explanation, saying he can “absolutely see how some people are upset about this” but the story is “being blown out of proportion and taken out of context.” He said the writer simply “wrote in an anti-tax protest into his story to show one of the moods that currently exists in America. There was no thought that it represented a particular group.” Adding slogans from actual tea party signs was a quick, last-minute decision.

Former president Bill Clinton has been hospitalized in New York City for chest pains, ABC News reports. In a statement, his counselor Doug Band says that Clinton went to the hospital after experiencing discomfort and has had two stents placed in his coronary arteries. Band reports that Clinton is “in good spirits” and will still continue his work in Haiti. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on her way to Manhattan.