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(UNDATED) The Amish are often portrayed as the most rooted of communities, who seldom venture off the farm except for short trips by horse and buggy. In fact, nearly 11,600 Amish households have picked up and moved to a different state since 1992, according to a new study. And that doesn’t include migration within states,…

(UNDATED) Distortions, stretches, half-truths and omissions are familiar features of political campaigns. But independent fact-checkers and analysts say that outright falsehoods in candidates’ ads may be reaching a level not seen since TV commercials entered presidential politics more than a half-century ago. It is happening, they say, because false advertising has worked; because there are…

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions. The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut’s civil unions law…

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII on Thursday (Oct. 9), praying that the World War II-era pontiff would reach the next step on the road to sainthood, and defending him against charges that he did too little to save Jews during the Holocaust. Pius…

SALT LAKE CITY – Mormons should strive for unity at home, in the church and with those whose backgrounds and opinions differ from Latter-day Saints, a senior church leader said. Henry B. Eyring, the senior counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said at the faith’s semiannual General…

BUENA PARK, Calif. – In a suburban landscape dotted with evangelical megachurches and auto malls, followers of an Indian religion thousands of years old spent days decorating marble idols and lighting incense to herald the opening of one of their faith’s largest temples. The new $20 million Jain temple complex, celebrating a religion that promotes…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders condemned the DVD “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” that has been circulated in U.S. newspapers and urged Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to do the same. More than 20 million DVDs were distributed as paid advertisements in 12 electoral swing states. The Interfaith Alliance, a…

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The stuff Harold Males is saying around his synagogue here might have shocked people’s sensibilities a few years ago. Like his contention that evangelical Christians make good friends. “They’re not dangerous people, not to me,” he insists. Or that Gov. Sarah Palin boasts some impressive credentials. “Dressing a caribou is no…

(RNS) Catholic legal scholar Nicholas Cafardi, who recently endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, has resigned as a trustee of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, an outpost of conservative Catholicism. Cafardi, an expert in civil and canon law, said he quit the school’s board voluntarily. “When it became apparent to me that some Catholics…

Zen Buddhist meditation may help treat depression, attention deficit disorder and anxiety, among other maladies, according to a recent study by Emory University neuroscientists. Mental illness such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression are characterized in part by “excessive rumination” or runaway thoughts, said Giuseppe Pagnoni, a neuroscientist at Emory in Atlanta. Zen meditators show an…
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