The religious makeup of the United States has notably shifted in recent decades, as the share of Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated has surged. But this trend has yet to significantly affect the composition of Congress, which continues to be dominated by Christians, according to a new analysis from ...

A United States court on Tuesday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by the Hindu American Foundation against four activists and academic Audrey Truschke for two articles published in news website Al Jazeera.

The court noted that it “cannot plausibly infer that any of their [Truschke and others] statements were made with actual malice”.

The US-based Hindutva advocacy group had filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on May 7 last year. Besides Truschke, it had sued Hindus for Human Rights co-founders Sunita...

For the Hazrati family, Christmas Day typically includes a lit-up tree, gifts and a dal lunch. 

But after the wrapping paper remnants were cleared from around the tree, the Punjabi Sikh family living in Jersey City, New Jersey, didn’t always know what the rest of the day should entail for a family like theirs — so a few years ago, they started spending Christmas Day at the local gurdwara, a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. 

With no extended family nearby nor religious service to attend, and lacking the colorful parades that would flood India’s...

Some New Bedford residents were surprised to see a quirky new addition to the city’s holiday display in Clasky Common Park the morning of Dec. 11.

Where once stood a Frosty the Snowman ice fishing shack, a colorful Baphomet — a gnostic deity recognized by pagans and occultists — was painted on plywood looking over the wooden snowmen skating in front of it. The Baphomet was removed by the end of the day. According to the City of New Bedford, city workers took it down.

“During the past week, an unknown person or persons breached protective fencing installed around a...