Roundup: True Blood, same-sex marriage, homelessness

US Presbyterians consider allowing marriage of same-gender couples

Despite repeatedly being told that any action toward changing the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s definition of marriage to include same-gender couples might lead to schism and loss of world mission partners, the General Assembly Committee on Civil Unions and Marriage Issues voted 28-24 late Tuesday to do just that.

PCUSA vice moderator resigns amid ‘divisive’ comments

Days after being elected as vice moderator of the General Assembly – the second highest elected position in the Presbyterian Church (USA) – the Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe resigned on Wednesday after realizing that her recent participation in a same-sex marriage was going to be disruptive.

Helping the homeless is a major national challenge

As overnight temperatures plunge to below freezing in many parts of the continent, a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has highlighted the fact that about 99,000 Australians are homeless in one of the most prosperous societies in the world.

Labor fails to make significant progress on Rudd’s pledge

Labor has made barely any progress in tackling homelessness in the four years since Kevin Rudd vowed to make the issue a national priority.

True Blood sinks its teeth into religion and politics

“We wanted to play with the politics/religion angle, since that seems to be something that never stops,” creator Alan Ball says. “Some of the things being said by some people during the Republican primary were so horrifying to me that I thought, ‘What if vampires wanted a theocracy? What would that look like?’ Whenever anybody thinks they know what God wants and wants to apply that to government, whether Americans or the Taliban, it’s kind of a terrifying thing.”