The New York Times' Jennifer Steinhauer celebrated the faith of the fiercely pro-abortion former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California under a laugher of a headline, "At Divisive Moment, Pelosi’s Faith Coexists With Belief in Abortion Rights." The online headline is even "stronger" in silliness: "In Pelosi, Strong Catholic Faith and Abortion Rights Coexist." Steinhauer strove mightily to portray left-wing, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage Pelosi as an unconflicted Catholic.

On Sunday’s NBC Meet the Press, moderator Chuck Todd hyped Pope Francis taking on liberal agenda items: “The incredibly popular pope has been outspoken on his views about inequality and climate change....[in the] Shriver Report snapshot poll of American Catholics, a full 86% think it's a good thing that this pope has emphasized income inequality and environmental issues over things like abortion and same-sex marriage. It’s remarkable.”

Bloomberg's John Heilemann was a rather reluctant witness. But when called on to testify, so to speak, he confirmed a stunning fact: that during the 2008 presidential race, it was Hillary Clinton who started the rumor that Barack Obama might not be a Christian. The matter arose Monday's Morning Joe. Scarborough ripped Hillary's hypocrisy for criticizing Republicans who question Obama's religion, "when it all started with her and her campaign passing things around in the [2008] Democratic primary." Asked to confirm, Heilemann tersely said "it was the case."

Applying bogus definitions of “fascist” and “fascism” to conservatives and conservatism has long been almost a cottage industry on the left. In a Friday post that mostly riffed on Rep. Paul Gosar’s intention to skip Pope Francis’s speech to a joint session of Congress, Daily Kos writer Hunter argued that the modern conservative movement may not be fascist right now, but easily could become so.

“All the elements for the ascension of true fascism are now in place among the top ranks of the American right,” wrote Hunter. “The adaptation of pseudo-‘Christian’ rhetoric to promote movement goals (expansionist interventionism, hyper-nationalism, xenophobia, a focus on ‘true’ members of the nation versus the undesirable intellectual, political, religious and ethnic ‘others’) while actual Christian thought is marginalized as ‘leftist’ and even dangerous ought to be good for a sub-essay of its own.”

Editor's Note: See Update Below

Sincerely-held religious beliefs are now the butt of a joke for one major brand.

Tide laundry detergent recently released a commercial poking fun at Christians who still hold to that “old-fashioned” belief that marriage should be between one man and one woman. You know, those “silly” families who have lost their businesses, fought long legal battles or resigned from their jobs for refusing to endorse a same-sex wedding.