religion

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Clemmons Not Huckabee's 1st Freed Killer
Clemmons Not Huckabee's 1st Freed Killer
Joe Conason
Dec 1, 2009 7:28 AM CST

Clemmons Not Huckabee's 1st Freed Killer

Ex-gov said to be a sucker for cons who got religion

(Newser) - Maurice Clemmons isn’t the first killer Mike Huckabee released as governor thanks to his religious sense of mercy. Huckabee granted more commutations and pardons than any governor in the 40 years before him. Some, no doubt, were warranted by Arkansas’ draconian drug laws, but many more came courtesy of...

Aussie Scientologists Accused of Torture

Oz senator alleges violence, embezzlement, forced abortions

(Newser) - Scientology's status as a church masks a "criminal organization" guilty of torture, forced imprisonment, coerced abortion, embezzlement and blackmail, charges an Australian senator, whose accusations have triggered concerns by the Aussie prime minister. Nick Xenophon, who yesterday showed the Australian parliament and police letters from ex-Scientologists detailing abuse and...

UK Man Worships at Church of Climate Change
 UK Man Worships at 
 Church of Climate Change 

RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION?
Nov 4, 2009 8:01 AM CST

UK Man Worships at Church of Climate Change

And claims his belief deserves protection just like Islam or Judaism

(Newser) - You can't force a Muslim to eat pork, or a Jew to pray to Jesus, and a UK man is claiming in court that his religious belief deserves similar protection. Climate change, that is. Tim Nicholson of Oxford is suing for religious discrimination after an employer, annoyed with his attempts...

Court Bans Crucifixes in Italian Classrooms

Government plans to appeal European decision

(Newser) - A European court has ruled that the presence of crucifixes in Italian classrooms violates religious freedom. In a decision denounced by Italian politicians, the court said the compulsory display of the crucifix prevents parents from raising kids with the religion of their choice and restricts the "right of children...

Atheist Ads to Hit NYC Subways
 Atheist Ads to 
 Hit NYC Subways 
UNHOLY CAMPAIGN
Oct 21, 2009 5:36 AM CDT

Atheist Ads to Hit NYC Subways

Coalition to launch godless monthlong campaign

(Newser) - Eight atheist organizations are the creators of a unique month-long ad campaign beginning next week in Manhattan subways that will challenge the belief in God. "A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?" the ads will ask on posters featuring blue sky and clouds. Because the city's...

Atheists Split Over How Mean to Be to Faithful

'New atheists' want to decry religion, not just promote secularism

(Newser) - Can a non-religion schism? Maybe that’s too dramatic a phrase, but there’s a rift growing between so-called “new atheists,” who favor an aggressive, mocking stance toward religion, and the old live-and-let-live kind. On “Blasphemy Day” last month, for example, new atheists were out in force,...

Runaway Muslim Girl Sparks Furor
Runaway
Muslim Girl Sparks Furor
Oct 15, 2009 5:40 AM CDT

Runaway Muslim Girl Sparks Furor

Girl converted to Christianity, sought protection from parents

(Newser) - An Ohio teen has found herself straddling the fault line between the world's two biggest religions after converting to Christianity and running away from her Muslim parents. A judge in Florida, where 17-year-old Rifqa Bary was being sheltered by pastors she met on a Facebook group, has ruled that she...

Pope Canonizes Father Damien
 Pope Canonizes Father Damien 
Oct 11, 2009 2:44 PM CDT

Pope Canonizes Father Damien

Belgian missionary, four others elevated to sainthood

(Newser) - Father Damien, the Belgian missionary who ministered to leprosy victims on the Hawaiian island of Molokai before contracting and dying of the disease, was canonized today. The 19th-century priest, the founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and three others were elevated to sainthood in a ceremony that drew...

A Quarter of World Is Muslim
 A Quarter of World Is Muslim 
Oct 8, 2009 5:31 AM CDT

A Quarter of World Is Muslim

Asia, not Middle East, is center of the world of Islam

(Newser) - A quarter of the world's population is Muslim, and nearly two-thirds of the religion's adherents live in Asia, according to an extensive new study mapping the world of Islam. Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation, and India, a majority-Hindu country, has the world's third-largest population of Muslims—more than twice...

Serena's Tirade: What Would Her Church Think?

Jehovah's Witnesses no fans of cursing—but she won't face big trouble

(Newser) - Serena Williams is a Jehovah’s Witness, which causes Slate to wonder: What does her religion think about her foul-mouthed outburst at the US Open? Jehovah’s Witnesses “discourage members from any sort of foul language on the grounds that it's expressly forbidden in the Bible,” writes Juliet...

Top-Selling US Bible Due for Translation Update in 2011

Translators promise to revisit TNIV's gender-neutral revisions

(Newser) - The New International Version of the Bible will get an update in 2011 as scholars adapt translations to contemporary English usage, USA Today reports. The top-selling Bible translation in North America has not been updated for 25 years, with a proposed 1997 edition scuttled after provoking a contentious debate among...

Facebook: Defining Religion in 100 Characters

From agnostics to Jedis, users wonder how to sum up views

(Newser) - It could be a quick question: What's your religion? But Facebook’s request for that information has led many to review and revise their beliefs to fit into a 100-character space, the Washington Post reports. Answers range from Christian, Facebook’s most popular belief system, to a professed belief in...

Swiss Group Fights Against Islam's Minarets

(Newser) - A debate on freedom of religion featuring ultra-nationalist zealots is playing out in the most unlikely of places: a sleepy hamlet in Switzerland. A group is trying to block the construction of a 30-foot tall minaret on a mosque in Langenthal (pop. 14,000) because it's a symbol of Islam's...

Holy Hell: Churches Squeezed by Economy

(Newser) - The hallelujahs are strained in US churches these days as donations plunge at the same time demand for aid is skyrocketing, reports the Wall Street Journal. Congregations across the nation are slashing budgets and even laying off staff, including pastors. Churches and synagogues usually weather downturns well, but not this...

Fickle Voters Are Change Obama Can Believe In

We're ready to change politics, religion, relationships at the drop of a hat

(Newser) - Whether it’s religion, relationships, or politics, Americans are getting more fickle, experts say. Seniors citizens are more open to divorce, college students are more open to changing schools, and more than 40% of Americans will switch religions, notes one pollster. All this could be bad news for President Obama,...

To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)
To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)
analysis
Aug 3, 2009 1:56 PM CDT

To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)

Measure based on tax laws aimed at Amish

(Newser) - Backers of health care reform on Capitol Hill want a plan that mandates insurance for all—but they appear willing to bend the rules for some religious Americans, Maura Reynolds of CQ Politics reports. Current legislation contains a religious exemption based on tax laws meant to give leeway to the...

iPhone App Would Let Users Text God

Calif. teen, software developer team up for 'A Note to God'

(Newser) - The iPhone already handles many aspects of contemporary life—texts, emails, web surfing, phone calls—so why not prayer? That’s the idea behind “A Note to God,” an iPhone app being developed based on a write-in suggestion from a California teen, the Sacramento Bee reports. Allen Wright’...

Deface the Bible— Don't Worry; It's Art

Reactions mixed on gallery exhibit

(Newser) - An exhibit at Scotland’s Gallery of Modern Art intended to “reclaim the Bible as a sacred text” did not go entirely as planned, the Telegraph reports. Visitors were invited to “write your way back into” the Bible on display, and the resulting additions ranged from the angry—...

Power Meets Prayer at DC 'Family' House
Power Meets Prayer at DC 'Family' House
ANALYSIS
Jul 21, 2009 2:20 PM CDT

Power Meets Prayer at DC 'Family' House

C Street House members believe they 'transcend morality'

(Newser) - The C Street House, the Capitol Hill religious enclave that Mark Sanford, John Ensign, and Chip Pickering have in common, is more than a residence that happened to shelter three lawmakers involved in recent sex scandals, writes Jeff Sharlet in Salon. "If sexual license was all the Family offered...

Malaysian Woman Sentenced to Flogging for Drinking Beer

(Newser) - A Malaysian woman will be flogged for drinking a beer in a nightclub, reports the AP. A judge ordered the part-time model, 32, to be struck six times with a rattan cane and fined $1,400. She pleaded guilty in a religious court to consuming alcohol, but now plans to...

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