Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

Beliefnet News

WASHINGTON (RNS) The House on Thursday (May 27) rejected a proposed amendment that would have allowed military chaplains to close public events with faith-specific prayers. The amendment, offered by Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., to the Military Construction Authorization Act, was deemed not relevant to the bill, Bachmann’s office said. The amendment would…

WASHINGTON (RNS) A slight majority of Americans view gay or lesbian relations as morally acceptable, a first since Gallup pollsters started asking about the issue in 2001. In a recent survey of 16 different behaviors or social practices, pollsters found that 52 percent of Americans accept gay or lesbian relations, a steady increase since a…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Obama administration has made a rare foray into the Catholic sexual abuse crisis, backing the Vatican’s claim it is immune to lawsuits in the U.S. because it is a sovereign nation. In a brief filed on Friday (May 21) before the Supreme Court, the acting solicitor general argued an appellate court erred…

(RNS) As oil continues to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, churches and religious organizations along the Louisiana coast are providing food, money and support to parishioners whose livelihoods hang in the balance. More than 7 million gallons of oil have contaminated the Gulf since an oil rig explosion on April 20, pulling the region’s…

NEW YORK – The questions on the ads aren’t subtle: Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you? A conservative activist and the organizations she leads have paid several thousand dollars for the ads to run on at least 30 city buses for a month. The ads point to a website called…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Standing before a room full of fellow African-Americans, Jamila Bey took a deep breath and announced she’s come out of the closet. Her soul-bearing declaration is nearly taboo, she says. “It’s the A-word,” said Bey, 33, feigning a whisper. “You commit social suicide as a black person when you say you’re an atheist.”…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The push for immigration reform has united many faith groups in a fervor not seen since the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s, much of it directed at Arizona’s new get-tough immigration law. Yet a central feature of the apartheid fight — a church-led boycott against South Africa — hasn’t been fully embraced by…

Associated Press – May 25, 2010 STOCKHOLM – A Swedish university has invited an artist who angered Muslims by caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad to finish a lecture that was disrupted by violent protests. Officials say Lars Vilks has agreed to return to Uppsala University in the fall to complete his lecture about the limits of…

SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) After convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner announced his intention to be executed by firing squad, national and international reporters suggested it was a throwback to the wild, wild West. Some Utahns, though, had a different explanation for why such an anachronistic execution technique remained an option in the 21st century: “blood…

NEW YORK – New York City officials say a plan to tear down a building and put up a mosque near the World Trade Center site will need the approval of a commission that protects landmarks. They say the building Muslim groups plan to tear down to make room for the mosque and a cultural…
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners