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The Dallas Morning News – August 5, 2008 SAN ANGELO, Texas – Texas’ Child Protective Services, forced two months ago to return to their families hundreds of children it had swept from a polygamist sect’s West Texas ranch, went to court Tuesday to ask that eight of them be put back into state custody. In…

Associated Press – August 3, 2008 BRESSANONE, Italy – Pope Benedict XVI sent greetings to China on Sunday before the Olympics and said he hoped the Games would offer an example of coexistence among people from different countries. He said he will follow the Olympics, which open Friday, with a sense of “deep friendship” and…

Francis X. Rocca Religion News Service Vatican City – A German court has ordered four years’ probation, psychotherapy and medication for a 28-year-old man who last year jumped a barricade and briefly touched a vehicle carrying Pope Benedict XVI. The German man, whose identity was not released, was also ordered “categorically” to abstain from alcohol…

By Michele Chabin Religion News Service Jerusalem – When Kyle Edenzon showed up for his first day of Hebrew school as a young boy, his parents asked the teacher to place their hard-of-hearing son in the front row to better help him understand the lessons. “But as soon as they left, the teacher put me…

By Tim Murphy Religion News Service Unitarian Univeralists in Knoxville, Tenn., reopened their doors on Sunday (Aug. 3), just one week after a gunman opened fire during a production of a church musical and left two people dead. “This sanctuary, which has been defiled by violence, we rededicate to peace. This holy place, which has…

Associated Press – August 4, 2008 NEW YORK – Two decades ago, the Rubashkin family of Brooklyn opened up a kosher slaughterhouse amid the cornfields of Iowa – not exactly a center of Jewish culture. The bearded, fedora-wearing strangers from Brooklyn quickly transformed Postville into its own small-town melting pot. Immigrants from Guatemala and Mexico…

By Valerie Sudol Religion News Service (RNS) The latest site in Israel to win designation from UNESCO as a World Heritage Site is Haifa’s Baha’i Gardens, a place sacred to what may be the least-known religion in the conflict-torn Holy Land. The gardens, which climb from the base of Mount Carmel to its summit, include…

By Daniel Burke c. 2008 Religion News Service CANTERBURY, England — The spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion said the communion will be in “grave peril” if its North American churches ignore temporary bans on gay bishops and same-sex unions. “If the North American churches don’t accept moratoria” on gay bishops and blessings, Archbishop…

By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has appointed a Chicago lawyer as its national coordinator for Muslim affairs. Mazen Asbahi represents Muslim and Arab American businesses in his corporate law practice, reported Politico.com. A community blog on the Obama campaign’s Web site announced July 25 that Asbahi…

By Kate Coscarelli Religion News Service NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) Making jokes and comments about a person’s religion can create a “humiliating and painful environment” and be a form of on-the-job discrimination, New Jersey’s highest court ruled Thursday (July 31). The New Jersey Supreme Court said remarks about someone’s faith — even as a form of…

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