Author: JIM DAVENPORT

Source: The State

Wire Service: AP

http://www.thestate.com/statewire/story/404027.html

Faith in the public square would have a high profile in South Carolina as three bills move closer to becoming law.

One creates license tags with "I Believe" in front of a cross; a second makes clear prayers can be offered before public meetings and a third allows set public displays of key historical...

Author: Francis X. Rocca

Source: The Pew Forum/Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=15600

Asserting that "all peoples have a right to be given equal opportunities to flourish," Pope Benedict XVI on Monday (May 12) voiced concern for Israel's dwindling Christian minority, and called for a relaxation of travel restrictions on the country's Palestinians.

The pope made his remarks on in a meeting with Mordechay Lewy,...

Author: Denise Jewell Gee

Source: The Buffalo News

http://www.buffalonews.com/lifearts/religion/story/344180.html

The letters started pouring in from area congregations when Temple Beth Israel on College Avenue was targeted by anti-Semitic vandalism.

Members of churches throughout the city wrote to say they supported the temple in the face of a hate crime.

Then the Niagara Falls Human Rights Commission organized a...

Author: Amy Green

Source: The Pew Forum/Religious News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=15588

Adelino Najarro emigrated from Mexico four years ago. Without a job, he said, life was difficult in his country.

Today, to make a living, he works in a restaurant kitchen. And to improve his English, he goes to church.

Twice a week, Iglesia Forest City in northwest Orlando partners with the local school district to offer...

Author: David Corn

Source: Mother Jones

http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/05/john-mccain-rod-parsley-pastor-problem.html

During a 2005 sermon, a fundamentalist pastor whom Senator John McCain has praised and campaigned with called Islam "the greatest religious enemy of our civilization and the world," claiming that the historic mission of America is to see "this false religion destroyed...

Author: Ruth Gledhill

Source: The Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3890080.ece

Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation, research published today suggests.

The fall - from the four million people who attend church at least once a month today - means that the Church of England, Catholicism...

Author: H. B.

Source: TypicallySpanish.com

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_16406.shtml

The Deputy Prime Minister gave the Government's plans to the Constitional Commission in Congress yesterday.

The Deputy Prime Minister, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, met yesterday afternoon with the Constitutional Commission of Congress to explain the basic lines of the Government in the area of Constitutional...

Author: Ralph Dannheisser

Source: News Blaze

http://newsblaze.com/story/20080507071303tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html

A Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu and a Sikh walk into a hotel ballroom.

The opening line of a joke?

No, but in this case it was the start of a full evening of stand-up comedy aimed - its creators say - at easing religious tensions through laughter "and a healthy...

Author: Ben Winslow

Source: Deseret News

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695277280,00.html

The American Civil Liberties Union said it has "serious concerns" about the way the government is handling the massive child custody case over the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch.

"The ACLU has serious concerns that the state's actions so far have not adequately protected the fundamental rights at stake," the national organization said...

Author: Dave Kinchen

Source: NBC-25

http://www.weyi.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=131113

The hot political issue in Mid-Michigan is all about religion. A group asked the Frankenmuth City Coucil to remove the cross from it’s shield, a request that the council members denied.

In a packed council meeting, residents and non-residents lined up to either attack or defend the Lutheran cross displayed on the city’s shield. Lloyd Clark, a...

Author: Charles Leroux

Source: The Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-goshen-0506may06,0,1827181.story

At the east end of the giant Wal-Mart parking lot in this northern Indiana town of about 32,000, there's a metal-roofed building accommodating as many as 20 horse-drawn buggies. People in plain dress—flat black hats, white bonnets—can be seen around town.

...

Author: Faye Bowers

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0505/p02s01-usju.html?page=1

It was a showdown, of sorts, over how far states should go to keep tabs on the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, the group known to endorse multiple wives for men and motherhood for underage girls. In a public spat, officials from Arizona and Utah squared off last week against a US senator who suggested that the two...

Author: Eileen Ng

Source: Independent Online

Wire Service: AP

http://article.wn.com/view/2008/05/05/Allah_ban_Newspaper_wins_first_round/

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - A Roman Catholic newspaper cleared its first legal hurdle on Monday in its fight against a Malaysian government ban on Christians using the word "Allah" as a synonym for "God."

High Court Judge Lau Bee Lan ruled that...

Author: ANITA CHANG

Source: Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050500375.html

The China Philharmonic Orchestra plans to perform this week for Pope Benedict XVI, state media reported Monday, the latest indication that the often-strained ties between Beijing and the Vatican are improving.

The performance at the...

Author: Philip Pullella

Source: The Star

Wire Service: Reuters