The News Shticker: Religious “freedom” in the dock, pre- and post-Zohanism

• Louisiana has passed an “academic freedom” bill permitting school districts to promote Creationism in the classroom.
• A Texas court has upheld the right of religious organizations to engage in practices that may constitute physical and emotional abuse, even when those practices may endanger the well-being of a minor.
• A public school teacher in rural Ohio was fired for promoting Christian views in the classroom and branding crosses onto his student’s arms.
• Video has surfaced of pop singer Amy Winehouse shoving a fan during a recent performance at a rock festival in the UK.
• Contradicting earlier reports that the two were receiving “Kabbalah counseling,” the UK’s Sun reports that Madonna and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, may divorce over the singer’s involvement with the Kabbalah Center.
• Jewlicious contributor DJ Handler reminds us of a Saturday Night Live sketch in which Adam Sandler first explored the disco-loving Israeli persona that would come to be known as the Zohan.
• A religious studies professor at Virginia Tech explains what the Zohan tells us about post-Zionism and vice-versa.
• An Orthodox court in Israel has issued a ban on portable video players, such as the video iPod, claiming “their devilish distributors want nothing more than to drive the people of Israel to sin.”
• Jay Michaelson ponders whether there’s room for the Jews in Narnia.
• Jewish Currents editor Rokhl Kafrissen looks back at Nextbook’s Jews & Power event, raising qualms with the conception of Jewish “liberalism” advocated by the likes of Ruth Wisse and Leon Wieseltier.
• And finally, daaaaaamn, Ahmadinejad’s wife is smokin’! Psych!