More Amazing Stories: Angels, horse hockey, Islamic coolness

Sorry, but when wacky religion news items come in too fast to satirize individually, we are forced to release them all at once in our "Amazing Stories" feature. Here's some more:

• Thirty-five-year-old Princess Martha Louise of Norway, who is fourth in line to the throne, has come under intense media scrutiny for her involvement with the Astarte Education School, an alternative school that aims to teach people how to get in touch with "the angels and the divine Universe." The princess wrote on their web site that she had learned how to talk to angels and communicate with horses. Horses? Be patient... the item below shows THERE'S A THEME forming!

• Following in the footsteps of Southwestern Seminary's Christian Housewife course, a Texas Baptist church-starting conference offered participants a course in HALT, or Horse Assisted Leadership Training, a ministry that incorporates horses to "teach leaders about themselves and how to work with those around them." It's facilitated by an Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) certified team.
You could call all this just a load of HORSE-HOCKEY, but a jackass did speak to Balaam, after all.

• The music video Malak Ghair Allah or You Only Have God to Count On was a hit when it was launched recently at a popular mall in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. It's message: You can be cool and devout. But the main cast includes a Saudi woman, which is very rare. She appears covered up in black with only her face showing. The song tells of a young Muslim who strays from the true path by smoking, flirting and skipping prayers. He suffers by losing his fiancée, falling behind at work and then having a serious motorcycle accident. But things turn good when he reverts to a more prayerful way of life and stops smoking. (Think I saw the same story in a Sunday School instructional film in junior high). Hundreds of people showed up to watch the video on a giant screen in the mall's main hall. Why is all this news? Because the Saudi government considers music un-Islamic and usually BANS MUSIC IN PUBLIC PLACES!

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