Jews are less likely than Catholics or Protestants to change faiths, though religious switching nationwide has increased since 1965, according to a study released this week by the American Jewish Committee. Most who leave Judaism become unaffiliated, rather than converting to another religion; Many continue to identify as Jewish in an ethnic or cultural sense,…

Beijing – Trading fireworks for somber prayer, Tibetans marked Wednesday’s arrival of their new year with mourning as Chinese authorities sealed off Tibet and Tibetan regions in western China to foreigners. An unofficial Tibetan boycott of festivities was in memory of last year’s victims of a harsh Chinese crackdown on anti-government protests. The Dalai Lama,…

Washington – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday (Feb. 25) that a city park in Utah does not have to include a monument of a small religious sect even though it already features a Ten Commandments monument. Summum, a Salt Lake City-based group, had argued that officials in Pleasant Grove City, Utah, violated its free…

Xiahe, China – Only a handful of pilgrims gathered here last weekend at the historic Labrang monastery, normally bustling before the Tibetan New Year. “There was a war in Lhasa this year. Lots of Tibetans were killed,” one resident murmured, referring to protests last March against Chinese rule that broke out in the Tibetan capital…

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