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Associated Press San Francisco – The conservative Diocese of San Joaquin voted Saturday to split from the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church, becoming the first full diocese to secede from the denomination in the debate over the Bible and homosexuality. Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention…

Associated Press – December 7, 2007 WASHINGTON – Mike Huckabee has vaulted from nowhere into second place in the Republican presidential race, riding a burst of support from evangelicals, Southerners and conservatives, a nationwide poll showed Friday. The surge by the former Arkansas governor has come largely at the expense of Fred Thompson, according to…

Associated Press – December 6, 2007 FRESNO, California – Headed into a critical vote, an Episcopal diocese in central California is poised to split with the national denomination over what its bishop sees as the threat of moral decay. The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin is expected to vote by Saturday to secede from the…

Associated Press – December 7, 2007 NEW YORK – A luxury grocery store in Manhattan made a food faux pas, advertising hams as “Delicious for Chanukah.” Chanukah – an alternate spelling for Hanukkah – is the eight-day Jewish holiday that began Tuesday evening, and hams – as well as pork and other products from pigs…

By Nancy Haught Religion News Service Portland, Ore. — The Christmas contradiction gives Pastor Rick McKinley a headache. Americans will spend about $475 billion this year on gifts, decorations and parties that many won’t even remember next year. They will run themselves ragged — shopping, wrapping and celebrating. And some won’t pay off their Christmas…

Associated Press Milan, Italy – The Dalai Lama opened a 10-day visit to Italy on Thursday with few official meetings on his schedule and no plans by the Vatican for a papal audience for the Tibetan spiritual leader, despite earlier reports there would be one. “I’m sorry I won’t meet him,” the Italian news agency…

Associated Press College Station, Texas – Republican Mitt Romney, confronting voters’ skepticism about his Mormon faith, declared Thursday that as president he would “serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause,” and said calls for him to explain and justify his religious beliefs go against the profound wishes of the nation’s founders. At…

Associated Press – December 5, 2007 SPOKANE, Wash. – The city’s Police Department will remove crosses from its chaplain badges to settle a lawsuit filed by a Lutheran pastor-turned-atheist. “It’s a milestone,” said Ray Ideus, 75, who volunteers eight hours a week for the department, and filed the lawsuit in 2006. “It’s very important that…

Associated Press – December 4, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO – An atheist pleaded with a federal appeals court to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance tot he American flag and “In God We Trust” from U.S. currency, saying the references disrespect his religious beliefs. “I want to be treated equally,” said Michael…

Associated Press – December 4, 2007 JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A delegation of the world’s elder statesmen called Tuesday for an immediate cease-fire in Sudan’s Darfur and for the international community to urgently honor its pledge to send in a U.N.-African peacekeeping force. “The future of Darfur, and indeed the whole of Sudan, sits on…

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