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Associated Press – September 17, 2008 OMAHA, Nebraska – A meatpacking plant has agreed to accommodate Muslim workers’ request for prayer time during Ramadan, union officials said Wednesday. Earlier this week 300 Muslim JBS Swift & Co. workers, most of Somali background, walked off the job in protest of the prayer dispute. No one was…

By DANIEL BURKE c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Bishop Robert Morlino rarely criticizes politicians by name from his pulpit in Madison, Wis., but he was “worked up” about what he saw on NBC’s “Meet the Press” the morning of Sept. 7. Sen. Joe Biden, a Catholic Democrat, had explained why he opposes outlawing abortion…

By Al Webb Religion News Service London – Some 126 years after Charles Darwin’s death, the Church of England has gone into 21st-century cyberspace to issue an official apology to the naturalist for its own 19th-century “misunderstanding” over his theory of evolution. Darwin’s thesis that all life evolved over millions of years was published in…

By David Harris Religion News Service Flint, Mich. – A movie being distributed as an advertising insert in more than 70 newspapers nationwide is drawing protests from Muslim groups who call it an attempt to stir up hate. The movie, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War on the West,” argues that radical Islam is the greatest threat…

By Ashley Gipson Religion News Service Washington – More than 100 religious leaders have urged the federal government and both major political parties to develop long-term solutions to address poverty and environmental concerns along the Gulf Coast. In an attempt to solve what they called a “moral crisis,” the religious leaders sent the statement to…

By Daniel Burke Religion News Service (RNS) President Bush’s proposed library at Southern Methodist University cleared another hurdle after an Oklahoma bishop refused to reject the plan, according to the United Methodist Church. Oklahoma Bishop Robert E. Hayes said it was a matter of secular, not church, law at this point, the United Methodist News…

Associated Press – September 14, 2008 LOURDES, France – Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass on Sunday at the Lourdes shrine renowned for miracles, telling tens of thousands of faithful they should hold onto hope in a world full of evil, torture, suffering and injustice. About 50,000 pilgrims, singing hymns and some shouldering a life-sized crucifix,…

By Tiffany Ray Religion News Service BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Carolyn McKinstry, a lifelong member of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, remembers 1963 as a dark time, when a bomb planted under a stairway took the lives of four little girls, her friends, on Sept. 15 in the church basement. On Sunday (Sept. 14), McKinstry joined other…

By ADELLE M. BANKS 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Megachurches — known for their big buildings, big schools and big crowds — continue to grow, but a new study detects shifts in the way they are expanding. “The general growth pattern is that about 90 percent of megachurches report that they are growing, and many…

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald Religion News Service (RNS) In this high season for political books, two evangelical publishers are leading the race to capitalize on fascination with Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Tyndale House Publishers of Carol Stream, Ill., has begun distributing a paperback edition of “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom…

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