religion

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Religion Remains Flashpoint With Huckabee

GOP candidate sounds off on creationism in schools, Romney's Mormon faith

(Newser) - A month before the Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee reacted with frustration when asked if creationism should be taught in public schools, the AP reports. Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who has said he does not believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, said his personal views on religion...

Senator Attacks Free-Spending Megachurches

Tax-exempt status at odds with ministers' perks: Grassley

(Newser) - Sen. Charles Grassley thinks big-spending pastors of so-called “megachurches” might be abusing their tax-exempt status, NPR reports. Ministers in these stadium-sized churches preach a gospel of wealth, and practice what they preach—driving Rolls Royces, flying in private jets, living in mansions. “Maybe that's not illegal,” the...

Romney to Address Mormonism
Romney to Address Mormonism
Dec 3, 2007 7:24 AM CST

Romney to Address Mormonism

With Huckabee ahead in Iowa, Romney hopes to draw Christian voters

(Newser) - Mormon presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will address voters' discomfort about his faith in a speech Thursday, hoping to repeat JFK's 1960 success in allaying fears about his Catholicism, the Boston Globe reports. The former Mass. governor wants to convince Christian voters that his faith shouldn't be a reason to turn...

Boy Dies After Refusing Cancer Treatment

Judge denies parents' plea for transfusions hours before death

(Newser) - A 14-year-old Seattle boy who was given a 70% chance of recovering from childhood leukemia has died, weeks after refusing blood transfusions his biological parents—both recovering drug addicts—wanted him to have, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. He died just hours after a judge ruled in his favor after determining...

Faith Doesn't Play in British Politics

Blair complains that any UK pol who cites God is considered 'a nutter'

(Newser) - Soon-to-be-Catholic Tony Blair has confessed that faith was "hugely important"  in decisions he made as Britain's prime minister, and he wished he could, like President Bush, have been open about it at the time. But Britons are suspicious of religion, Blair said in a TV interview reported in...

Doomsday Cult Leader Pleads With Holed-up Flock

Followers refuse to release children

(Newser) - Self-declared prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov today asked the doomsday cult he started to release four children from their underground cave, the AP reports. Confined to a psychiatric ward and charged with setting up a violent religion, Kuznetsov was brought to the site and spoke through a ventilation hole, telling adults and...

Mormons Losing Faith in Mitt
Mormons Losing Faith in Mitt
Nov 15, 2007 10:31 AM CST

Mormons Losing Faith in Mitt

Romney's attempts to look like an Evangelical disturb some in his own faith

(Newser) - Mitt Romney’s attempts to massage his Mormon faith are causing grumbles in Utah, the New Republic reports. Many criticize Romney for downplaying key beliefs to win over mainstream Christians who traditionally loathe them. “I understand he has to appeal to them,” said one Mormon, “but it...

LAPD Scraps Muslim Mapping Program
LAPD Scraps Muslim Mapping Program
Nov 15, 2007 6:22 AM CST

LAPD Scraps Muslim Mapping Program

Mayor rips 'counterproductive' police plan

(Newser) - Following a frenzy of controversy, the Los Angeles police department is scrapping its much-criticized plan to "map" Muslim communities. The department had hoped to pinpoint isolated Muslim communities in an attempt to identify problem hot spots. Critics said the plan was a form of religious profiling, and that it...

Blair to Convert to Catholicism
Blair to Convert to Catholicism
Nov 10, 2007 2:36 PM CST

Blair to Convert to Catholicism

Long-rumored move expected in next few weeks

(Newser) - Tony Blair will officially become a Catholic in the next few weeks, a Catholic newspaper says, after years of signing off on Anglican appointments as prime minister. The conversion isn't a shock—Blair often attended Mass with his Catholic wife and child. But the Church of England’s official status,...

Lawmaker Probes TV Preachers
Lawmaker Probes TV Preachers
Nov 7, 2007 8:18 AM CST

Lawmaker Probes TV Preachers

Says ritzy ways sparked inquiry into six ministries

(Newser) - A top Republican lawmaker is probing six televangelists who have put their opulent lifestyles on display, the AP reports. Rolls Royces, private jets, and a $30,000 table are among the luxuries that sparked Sen. Chuck Grassley's inquiry, he said yesterday. "I don't want to conclude that there's a...

Parents Leaning on Religion to Dodge Vaccines for Children

Faith often used to cover other objections

(Newser) - Parents are turning to state laws allowing religious exemptions to keep their children from being vaccinated, the Associated Press reports. Such shots are often required for children to attend preschool; though sects such as the Christian Scientists have real religious objections to medicine, some parents distrustful of the science behind...

Thompson Losing Evangelicals
Thompson Losing Evangelicals
Sep 27, 2007 12:31 PM CDT

Thompson Losing Evangelicals

Balk at endorsing candidate who won't talk about his religion, doesn't back gay marriage ban

(Newser) - Fred Thompson, once the longed-for alternative to a field of uninspiring GOP candidates, didn't get through his campaign's first official month before the religious right started jumping ship, Politico reports. Thompson's refusal to back a gay marriage ban, past lobbying for an abortion-rights group, and refusal to talk religion has...

Prisoners Sue Over Religious Book Limits

In the wake of post-9/11 crackdown, First Amendment concerns arise

(Newser) - The removal of  hundreds of thousands of  religious books  from federal prison libraries is drawing fire—not just from inmates, but from chaplains and other religious leaders. In the wake of 9/11, the Bureau of Prisons issued an approved list of religious books for institutions it controls, the Times reports,...

Pope Blasts Wasted Weekends
Pope Blasts Wasted Weekends
Sep 10, 2007 8:25 AM CDT

Pope Blasts Wasted Weekends

Sundays are time to reflect on dangers posed by humanity, he says

(Newser) - Pope Benedict has urged Catholics to  keep Sunday special amid the  "mad rush" of the modern world. He encouraged people to set the day aside for reflection on faith and the dangers humans pose to the world, including destruction of "God's creation," an apparent reference to environmental...

ACLU's Alter Ego Invites God Into Courtroom

Center scores wins for religious right with free speech arguments

(Newser) - A legal center that champions the Christian right is scoring victories and becoming “a very, very significant player in constitutional law,” one analyst says. The American Center for Law and Justice has made waves in the legal world by defending prayer at high school football games and supporting...

Thousands Honor Mother Teresa
Thousands Honor
Mother Teresa
Sep 5, 2007 2:52 PM CDT

Thousands Honor Mother Teresa

Devotees flock to observe anniversary of beloved nun's death

(Newser) - Thousands visited Kolkata (Calcutta), India, today to remember Mother Teresa 10 years after her death. At the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, where the nun lived and died, the local archbishop led a Mass where rich and poor joined to pray for her, Reuters reports. "I hope she...

God's No 'He' Man in Reform Judaism's New Prayer Book

Gender-neutral book took 20 years to develop

(Newser) - After 20 years of development, Reform Judaism's new prayer book hits the shuls in about a month with a gender-neutral text that eliminates references to God as "He." The new prayer book, "Mishkan T’filah," is intended to offer something for everyone, from those who prefer...

Gospel Lives in the Oval Office
Gospel Lives in the Oval Office
Aug 29, 2007 12:41 PM CDT

Gospel Lives in the Oval Office

New biography reflects on Billy Graham's counsel to 8 of last 9 presidents

(Newser) - Billy Graham has seen US leaders laid bare, from skinny-dipping with LBJ to long walks on the beach with GWB. A new book details the ailing 88-year-old preacher’s rendezvous with presidents past, including counseling Ford to pardon Nixon and advising Hillary Clinton to look past Monica Lewinsky. Graham’s...

Your Credit's Good With God
Your Credit's Good With God
Aug 27, 2007 1:41 AM CDT

Your Credit's Good With God

Boston church now accepting parishioners' plastic for collection plate

(Newser) - Franciscan friars have another deep question to ask their congregation: Paper or plastic? The brothers of St. Anthony's Shrine in Boston have installed a wireless kiosk allowing their flock to make contributions with credit or debit cards. The service is provided by SecureGive.com, created by a Georgia minister and...

Shops Closed in Iran for Giving 'Un-Islamic' Do's

Part of crackdown that includes tattoos and scanty clothing

(Newser) - Western or unconventional styles are officially out in Iran, where police shuttered over a dozen barbershops in the past 2 weeks for giving “un-Islamic” haircuts. Such practices are forbidden thanks to an edict issued in April through the barber’s union. Eleven salons for women were also closed for...

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