Long antagonistic to a wide spectrum of religious faiths, the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan passed new regulations that critics are calling a blow to religious freedom. The Kazakh house of parliament approved the bill Thursday. Backers say it will help combat religious extremism. A day earlier, Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament had also voted in favor of the…

Does a church have the right to hire or fire the preacher without worrying about government interference? If a Catholic priest decides he doesn’t accept the authority of the Pope, can the diocese recall him without worrying about the National Labor Relations Board? Can the local Baptist church fire a youth minister who announces he speaks in tongues…

Northern Ireland farmer Alan Graham says he’d never heard of pop star Rihanna, but she was dressed too inappropriately to use his barley field, so he made her film crew pack up and leave. He did take time to counsel her to get right with the Almighty. “It was an encounter the global superstar probably wasn’t expecting as the…

New federal guidelines are so narrow that Jesus himself would not qualify for the Department of Health and Human Services “religious employer exemption,” says Cardinal Daniel DiNardo. Neither would the Good Samaritan. The HHS rules has so many rules that “it protects almost no one, said DiNarto, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee…

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