Author: Nomi Morris

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beliefs-kneel-20100515,0,4133336.story

When Akasha Lonsdale was a child in London, her agnostic family prohibited her from participating in religious services at the Church of England school she attended. Required to sit at the back of a Hebrew class for the school's Jewish students, she befriended a girl whose family invited her to the...

Author: Scott Mobley

Source: The Record Searchlight

http://www.redding.com/news/2010/may/15/mayor-pushes-prayer-diversity/

Redding Mayor Patrick Jones wants to diversify City Council invocations.

Police chaplains currently deliver these prayers, which essentially are entreaties to some higher power for guidance at the beginning of a council meeting.

The council on Tuesday will consider Jones’ proposal to open...

Author: Hillary May

Source: The Washington Times

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/14/seven-bahai-leaders-kept-locked-up/

Two years ago to date, the top leaders of the Baha'i movement in Iran were enjoying the last peaceful morning they would see in a long time.

While in their homes, four men and two women - a seventh leader had been arrested previously - were dragged off by government officials to...

Author: Fredrick Nzwili

Source: Ecumenical News International

http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=4066

A number of Christian and Muslim leaders in Kenya have called on the International Criminal Court to punish those behind the 2007 to 2008 post-election violence that tore apart the country, regardless of the positions of the perpetrators. 

The religious leaders say that the beginning of the ICC's investigations in...

Author: Peter Smith

Source: The Courier-Journal

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100512/FEATURES10/5120393/

The Dalai Lama's entourage stood ready to whisk him across the Indiana University campus on Wednesday afternoon to a waiting audience of thousands at its main auditorium, where he was overdue to resume a daylong series of teachings.

But he wasn't rushing. He lingered patiently with several prominent American...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AFP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hx2uUxa56iyk7iw2kAjbmF2cHljA

A controversial cross erected to honor American war dead in the Mojave National Preserve has been stolen after the US Supreme Court rejected calls for it to be removed, officials said Tuesday.

The National Park Service confirmed that the seven-...

Author: Alex Hayes

Source: Times Series

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8157627.Archbishop_of_Canterbury_visits_Jain_temple/

The leading cleric in the Church of England visited a temple near Potters Bar on Friday to find out more about Jainism.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, joined around 250 members of the community at the largest Jain temple in Europe, in Northaw.

Dr Williams...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126672354

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington.

In recent weeks, skirmishes in the cultural conflict over the clothes worn by some Muslim women erupted in Belgium's parliament, in an Italian court and at a traffic stop in France. The burqa and the niqab cover a woman's body almost completely, but there are also disputes over...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Local

http://www.thelocal.se/26528/20100508/

A law firm is suing the Swedish state for discrimination after one if its lawyers, a Muslim woman, was removed from a case following a complaint from a Christian asylum seeker.

The woman's employer, Salmi & Partners, was outraged after the Supreme Migration Court ruled on Thursday to have the woman taken off the case. 

"It's...

Author: Manya Brachear

Source: Chicago Breaking News

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/judge-wont-toss-contempt-charge-against-dad-who-took-daughter-to-mass.html

A Cook County judge has ruled that a father must stand trial for contempt after taking his daughter to Mass at a Roman Catholic church, defying a court order that barred him from exposing the 3-year-old to any "non-...

Author: PAULINE JELINEK

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iE3ra6XcxPHXokY36_keo4EoTHcQD9FHOAQ00

Evangelist Franklin Graham prayed on a sidewalk outside the Pentagon Thursday after his invitation to a prayer service inside was withdrawn because of comments that insulted Muslims.

"It looks like Islam has gotten a pass,"...

Author: Mark Barna

Source: Colorado Springs Gazette

http://www.gazette.com/articles/national-98160-aim-prayer.html

Colorado Springs’ reputation as a stronghold of Christian conservatism has created a backlash in the form of reoccurring billboards sponsored by groups that support the separation of church and state.

The latest billboard campaign in the Springs is funded by the Freedom From Religion Foundation...

Author: Mark Sherman

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8QO_ctQm-Ud4QJtkds1JkQu1-YQD9FCCASG2

The Supreme Court's conservative majority signaled a greater willingness to allow religious symbols on public land Wednesday, a stance that could have important implications for future church-state disputes.

By a 5-4 vote, the...

Author: Philip E. Jenks

Source: National Council of Churches News

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/100426arizonalaw.html

The National Council of Churches and other religious organizations have sharply criticized Arizona's new immigration law as fundamentally unjust, dangerous to citizens and non-citizens alike, and a rejection of centuries-old biblical precepts of justice and neighborliness.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC General Secretary, who...