religion

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Duggar Critics See Fringe Cult
 Duggar Critics See Fringe Cult 
19 kids & counting

Duggar Critics See Fringe Cult

Enquirer notes link with group that wants to overthrow government

(Newser) - If the National Enquirer is to be believed, the Duggars don’t have 19 children simply because they love kids: No, it’s because they belong to a cult that plans to take over the US government. Jim Bob and Michelle, stars of TLC’s 19 Kids & Counting, are...

Gays Denied Communion: Then Turn Away All Sinners

Wig-wearing activists storm out of Dutch church

(Newser) - Hundreds of Dutch gay rights activists dressed in pink wigs stormed out of Mass yesterday in protest of a local Catholic priest's refusal to give communion to a gay man. The dispute began last month when the man, crowned Carnival prince in a nearby town, was denied communion because he...

Politics Driving Young Away From Religion
Politics Driving Young Away From Religion
Analysis

Politics Driving Young Away From Religion

Millennials less likely to belong to a faith; conservatives blamed

(Newser) - Young people are turning their backs on religion, with a whopping one in four 18- to 29-year-olds unaffiliated with any particular faith, according to a recent Pew study of the so-called “Millennial” generation. Yet the number who say they believe in god or pray frequently is similar to past...

Godlessness Hampers US Foreign Policy

Report says America ignores world religions at its own peril

(Newser) - President Obama needs to close the "God gap" in foreign policy, or the US will surely continue to feed religious extremism and undermine peace efforts around the world. So claims a report delivered to the White House yesterday, which warns that the "uncompromising Western secularism" of those at...

A Call for Separation of Church and Sports


 A Call for Separation 
 of Church and Sports 
ANALYSIS

A Call for Separation of Church and Sports

Football players leave much to be desired as Christian role models

(Newser) - Christian evangelicals must be pretty amped up by the high profile of their religion in professional sports, David Gibson writes, but the "cozy coupling" of church and sport has its dark side. First, there’s what commentator Shirl James Hoffman recently called the “cheap grace” of athletic faith....

UK Cleric to Women: 'Submit to Your Husbands'

Church blames divorce on behavior of 'modern women'

(Newser) - Two clerics at a British church have shocked parishioners by urging wives to "submit to their husbands in everything." Angus MacLeay of St. Nicholas Church in Kent distributed a leaflet last week entitled "The Role of Women in the Church," which tells women to "remain...

Saudi Police Begin Valentine's Day Crackdown

 Saudi Police Begin 
 Valentine's Day 
 Crackdown 
banned holidays

Saudi Police Begin Valentine's Day Crackdown

The holiday, and any item invoking it, are banned

(Newser) - The Saudi religious police are cracking down on stores selling items that are red or in any other way allude to the banned celebration of Valentine's Day. A Saudi official says policemen are inspecting shops for red roses, heart-shaped products, and gifts wrapped in red, and ordering store owners to...

Cross Burned in Boy's Arm Sparks School Religious War

Townies support creationist teacher's 'religious rights'

(Newser) - A cross burned into the arm of an Ohio schoolboy by his creationist science teacher has sparked a three-year battle pitting neighbor against neighbor over the role of religion in public schools. An army of supporters is backing the teacher, who is still fighting his firing from the Mount Vernon...

Air Force Builds Wiccan Center; Someone Erects a Cross

So much for efforts to boost religious tolerance at academy

(Newser) - The Air Force Academy's newly opened outdoor worship area for Wiccans was supposed to signal a new era of religious tolerance at an institution long plagued by complaints of Christian bias. Until, that is, a cross was planted in the middle of it two weeks ago. Now angry religious freedom...

Churches Ask Men to Fight Like Jesus

The latest trend combines Christianity with mixed martial arts

(Newser) - Jesus just too wimpy for you? Fear not: A new crop of churches that combine religion with mixed martial arts could solve all your spiritual problems. "Compassion and love—we agree with all that stuff, too," one pastor tells the New York Times , "but what led me...

Voodoo High Priest: Christians Hogging Haiti Aid

Robertson 'devil pact' slur reflects 200 years of prejudice

(Newser) - Evangelical Christians are blocking much-needed aid from reaching Haiti's many voodoo practitioners, says the religion's top leader. "The evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves," high priest Max Beauvoir tells the Daily Telegraph as he points to the first aid shipment to arrive in his...

Metalheads Declare Religious Status

Campaign for metal fans' souls launched

(Newser) - British heavy metal fans are being urged to put their faith in their music by listing their religion as "heavy metal" in the next census. A similar campaign in the last once-a-decade census led to 390,000 people listing their faith as "Jedi"—outnumbering believers in Judaism,...

Book: John Paul II Whipped, Starved Himself

Pope self-flagellated in pursuit of 'Christian perfection,' says author

(Newser) - Pope John Paul II whipped himself with a belt, even on vacation, slept on the floor, and frequently denied himself food as acts of penitence, says a new book by the Polish prelate spearheading his sainthood case. The book Why He's a Saint also includes previously unpublished speeches and documents,...

Ex-Scientologist Actor: Return My $120K

After 33 years, Larry Anderson wants out

(Newser) - After 33 years as a Scientologist and a star turn in a widely disseminated orientation video, actor Larry Anderson wants out—and he wants his money back. Anderson, a magician turned TV actor and game-show host, says the organization owes him $120,000. A Scientology rep tells the St. Petersburg ...

43% of Americans Report Bias Against Muslims

Muslims face worst prejudice, most unfavorable view

(Newser) - A whopping 43% of Americans report at least “a little” bias against Muslims, and a majority, 53%, have an unfavorable view of the religion, according to a Gallup poll released today. That makes Islam far and away the most reviled religion in the country; Only 18% reported some prejudice...

7 Simpsons Life Lessons
 7 Simpsons Life Lessons 

7 Simpsons Life Lessons

Matt Groening's sitcom can really teach us something

(Newser) - The Simpsons is more than just a cartoon—it’s spawned essays, books, and lecture series, and the Telegraph takes a look at the lessons it can teach us:
  • Family is the most important thing: Contrary to former president George Bush’s beliefs, The Simpsons celebrates family—complete with a
...

Comedy Club Battles Church in Texas Mall

Comedians sick of too-loud gospel music; church cries bigotry

(Newser) - It sounds like a sitcom setup: A comedy club and a boisterous church move in next to each other in the same Texas strip mall and can’t stand each other. Hilarity ensues. But it’s a scenario that’s actually playing out in Austin, the Wall Street Journal reports,...

Vatican Praises The Simpsons' Take on God

Despite his jokes, Homer knows Him 'quite well'

(Newser) - The Vatican's newspaper sees right through Homer Simpson’s superficial ambivalence about—or even ignorance of—God to a soul that finds its “ultimate refuge in” the supreme deity. In a study of that great theological repository, The Simpsons, the editors of L'Osservatore Romano praise its portrayal of “...

Risqu&eacute; Xmas Ad Sparks Anger
 Risqué Xmas Ad Sparks Anger 

Risqué Xmas Ad Sparks Anger

Catholics offended by Anglican church billboard

(Newser) - A New Zealand Anglican vicar trying to be funny by putting a sheepish Joseph naked in bed with Mary on a billboard has infuriated Catholics. "Poor Joseph, God was a hard act to follow," reads the ad. The idea "was to lampoon and ridicule the idea of...

Stop Citing Jewish Ethics Against Health Reform!
Stop Citing Jewish Ethics Against Health Reform!
rabbis to lieberman:

Stop Citing Jewish Ethics Against Health Reform!

Senator backed Medicare buy-in 3 months ago, and still should

(Newser) - “A hallmark of Judaism is disputation,” writes David Gibson, and it shows—Joe Lieberman is in a pitched battle with his home state coreligionists over health care reform. Rabbis from across Connecticut, in tones both dulcet and shrill, are lobbying the senator to drop his opposition to anything...

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