Did you know that Paula Abdul is Jewish? Paula is the former judge of American Idol and star of one of the greatest crash-and-burn reality shows ever (that would be Hey Paula), and now she’s in Israel touring the country as an official guest of the country’s board of tourism.

Paula is visiting religious sites, going to museums, and even hanging out with the country’s president, Shimon Peres. (Fun fact: Peres is the first cousin of Lauren Bacall. I guess that makes it hard for him to get starstruck!) Paula called her journey to the Holy Land “the most magnificent trip I’ve ever taken.”

Now, Paula, whose family is Lebanese-American, is making up for lost time: she’s reportedly going to have a bat mitzvah for herself in Israel. This sounds almost exactly like the schedule for my Birthright trip, now that I think about it.

Britney Spears has a new album coming out and is about to kick off a two-year residency in Las Vegas, so she’s out there working the publicity machine. During a recent Twitter chat, a fan asked Britney what her favorite book was, and the singer replied, “Anything by Max Lucado.”

Lucado is a Texas-based preacher and author of a hundred (yes, a hundred) Christian-themed adults and kids’ books. Their titles include Grace for the Moment, Outlive Your Life: You Were Born to Make a Difference, and God Thinks You’re Wonderful. In 2005, Reader’s Digest dubbed him the Best Pastor in America.

Britney grew up in a Southern Baptist family and still identifies herself as a Christian, so it’s not surprising that she reads Max Lucado’s books. However, Radar points out that Lucado says that marriage should only be between a man and a woman and is, by that token, anti-gay marriage. I’m not totally convinced that Britney is anti-gay by association, though. If she is, her fanbase would take a huge hit, and I hope she realizes that.

Her new movie, Paradise, is all about religion. In the movie, which was originally titled Lamb of God, a young religious woman (Julianne Hough) is in a terrible accident, which causes her to question G-d and run off to Las Vegas to see what sin feels like.

Well, it looks like screenwriter/director Diablo Cody had some pretty specific pop-culture inspirations for the movie: The Duggars. Particularly Jinger. Diablo recently tweeted that if Jinger ever wants to run away from her family, she can come live  with her in L.A. Below is an exchange she had with writer Lily Burana (a friend of FGP and author of the wonderful book I Love a Man in Uniform).

We have a spare bedroom waiting for you in L.A., Jinger Duggar.

— Diablo Cody (@diablocody) October 1, 2013

@diablocody Does she know that we know (and have ALWAYS known) that she’s The Chosen One? #TeamJinger

— Lily Burana (@lilyburana) October 1, 2013

@lilyburana She must know. She has to know. She’s Googled in the night. Hasn’t she?

— Diablo Cody (@diablocody) October 1, 2013

@diablocody We will greet her with open arms and bedazzled jorts with JINGER in orange rhinestones fanning across the tush.

— Lily Burana (@lilyburana) October 1, 2013

@lilyburana We will drive her to Drybar and anoint her temples with oils and serums. We will allow her to choose up to 4 nail designs.

— Diablo Cody (@diablocody) October 1, 2013

Ever since the first Duggar special aired on what was then Discovery Health, viewers have felt a particular alliance with Jinger. Maybe it’s because she got by far the worst of all the terrible J names. Or maybe it’s because she tends to roll her eyes and look “over it” when her family is doing yet another cheesy promo episode and using “purpose” as a verb.

Either way, Diablo is not the only person who wants to take Jinger away from her family. An entire popular message board, Free Jinger, was named in honor of the most rebellious-looking Duggar kid.

Jim Bob Duggar has never kept his values a secret, even if they are somewhat downplayed on his TLC series 19 Kids and Counting.

The former Arkansas state representative appeared at the Values Voter Summit and made a speech about the evils of abortion. In his speech, Jim Bob relayed a story about Mike Huckabee visiting a former concentration camp (which he defines as “where a lot of Jewish people were killed,” in case you hadn’t heard) and then drew a parallel between abortion and the Holocaust.

The summit was sponsored by the FRC, the organization Jim Bob’s son Josh Duggar now works for in Washington.

“You are the army that can go out and impact America,” Jim Bob said to the crowd at Liberty University in Virginia. He probably also meant to add “and you should also have a ton of kids and make a baby army like I did.” After the speech, he added, “Let me clarify, we have since 1973 had 55 million abortions, so what we have going on is a baby holocaust.”

Oh, and the event also featured a speaker who claimed that Matthew Shepard’s murder was “a fraud.” Sounds like a fun day!

Although they love to go on and on about modesty, Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar sure don’t mind sharing TMI details about their sex life on national TV. The couple constantly brags about how they’re “trying” for yet another kid (yes, we do know where babies come from, but thanks for the visual) and Jim Bob’s pre-wedding “sex talk” with son Josh Duggar is still one of the most cringeworthy things I’ve ever seen on TV.

This week’s episode, though, brought a whole new level of ick. The episode was about how Jim Bob and Michelle and Josh and Anna Duggar celebrated their respective wedding anniversaries. In Jim Bob’s segment, he said that the most unusual place he and Michelle had ever had Bible study was in the bathtub, because he has a waterproof Bible. My only reaction to that charming moment was to back away slowly from the TV.

Do you think you can buy a waterproof Bible at the same place Alexis Bellino bought her Swarovski-encrusted ones? Is there a special “wacky Bibles” store just for reality TV stars? Apparently waterproof Bibles are so popular that this website sells multiple versions.

Actor/reality star Stephen Baldwin scored a $110,000 book advance to write a book entitled Ready to Get Dangerous? The book was supposed to be a memoir about Stephen’s life with a heavy dose of Christianity. A press release described the book, which was sold in 2007, as “what it means to live everyday as ‘a sold out, hardcore, nothing held back Jesus freak.'”

However, Stephen has not actually written the book, which puts him in violation of his contract. His publisher, Hachette, is now suing to get their money back. Clearly, writers’ block isn’t the issue, since Stephen managed to complete two other books (one a faith-focused book that came out in 2006 and the other a Christian-themed novel penned with a coauthor and published in 2008). The Celebrity Apprentice star might have already spent all the money, since it’s been five years since then, and he’s had financial trouble, including being busted for not paying three years’ worth of taxes.

Stephen isn’t the first celebrity to default on a book and find themselves having to pay back money to a publisher. Random House successfully sued P.Diddy after he failed to deliver a memoir they were planning to publish, and Victoria Gotti had to pay back HarperCollins, also for a memoir.

The supertrailer for the new season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills just came out, and it hints at some interesting storylines this season. It also features two new cast members, Joyce Giraud and Carlton Gebbia. It’s not clear whether both are full-on Housewives or “Friends of the Housewives” but each gets a pretty decent amount of screen time.

Although Carlton’s smooch with castmate Brandi Glanville is definitely going to be on the show, it’s not clear whether Carlton’s religious beliefs will be mentioned, even though they’re way more interesting. Carlton is a practicing Wiccan who says that she gets a lot of flak about her beliefs. She talks about her practice a lot on Twitter.

@teresaisthebest … I am & unfortunately my Faith has a stigma attached that does not cast a positive light upon it but what I practice is.

— Carlton Gebbia (@CarltonGebbia13) September 19, 2013

@CarltonGebbia13 @TeamCarltonBH Im LOVIN yur attitude. I think the witch stuff is fascinating but u know youll get sum flack 4 it #ignorance

— Jord Z (@Jord3058) September 25, 2013

“@KellyKittyKat: @CarltonGebbia13 Are u a witch for real? I’m intrigued. Please tell me more.” Yes KittyKat, loved ur photo sending u one 2

— Carlton Gebbia (@CarltonGebbia13) September 29, 2013

Also, her kids’ names are Destiny, Cross, and Mysteri. Do you think Carlton gets invited to Kyle’s daughter’s bat mitzvah? Based on Carlton’s Twitter, it seems that she’s very close to Yolanda Foster and Lisa Vanderpump.

Before Katy Perry was an animal-print-and-candy-loving pop star, she was Katy Hudson, aspiring Christian singer. Though her switch to the secular side of music helped make her a star, Katy (whose parents are pastors) hasn’t given up on her Christian background. Her new album Prism features the ballad “By the Grace of God,” which probably won’t ever be released as a single but does a bang-up job appealing to one of her core constituencies.

But what does John Mayer think?

Man, has it been a busy fall for relationships with kids from huge reality TV families! Jessa Duggar is the first Duggar daughter to enter courtship, which means she should be getting engaged fairly soon unless something major happens, and Erin Bates and Chad Paine are getting hitched in November. But Erin isn’t the only Bates kid settling down – her brother Zach Bates just proposed to his girlfriend Whitney.

As is typical with the Bates clan, mom Kelly Bates announced the big news on the family blog. The big proposal happened on the beach in Orlando with both sets of parents looking on.

Although the Bates family is very religious, they seem to be much more open-minded than the Duggars. Whitney and Zach met like any other couple – he flirted with her while she was at her waitressing job! Though Whitney now solely wears skirts and dresses, she used to wear pants and grew up in a more secular family. (Yes, “used to wear pants” is what passes for liberal around these fundamentalists, but hey.)

Cheers to the couple, and let’s wait and see if their eventual wedding ends up on TV.

Rabbi Philip Berg, who founded the celebrity-beloved Kabbalah Centre in LA, died last weekend. A funeral was held for him in Safed, Israel, a town known for its mystic roots and connection to Kabbalah (the Jewish kind, not the pop-culture kind).

Among the white-clad attendees was Ashton Kutcher, who was there with girlfriend Mila Kunis. Mila is Jewish, but I have no idea if she considers herself a Kabbalist. Ashton, however, is one of the celebrities most committed to the religious group. He and former wife Demi Moore were actually married at the Kabbalah Centre in LA. Other celebrity followers include Madonna, whose son Rocco Richie had his bar mitzvah last year, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, and Sandra Bernhard.

Us Magazine reports that Ashton was deeply moved by the funeral ceremony, which included a recitation of “Ani Ma’Amin,” or “I Believe,” which is based on an ancient text by Maimonides.