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Faithful voters: Religion and the 2006 Election
As the Democrats wrested control of Congress from the Republicans for the first time since 1994, exit polls revealed some changes in the pattern of faith-based politics, but also much continuity....
Texas Baptists hit by financial scandal: Leader Charles Wade feels heat
Rank-and-file Texas Baptists are angry about a huge financial scandal in the Rio Grande Valley that has marred their reputation....
Progressive groups say war, poverty topped voter concerns: Broader moral agenda needed
Moral concerns about poverty and the war in Iraq drove the religious vote more than abortion and same-sex marriage in the midterm elections, according to an exit poll released November 15 by two pr...
Catholic bishops issue guidelines on gays: Condemn bigotry, accept baptism of gay couples' children
The U.S. Catholic bishops have approved new statements on controversial sexual subjects amid a culture that several bishops noted is not always receptive to traditional church teachings....
Marines change course, will take Jesus dolls: Toy company inundated with requests
A 12-inch talking Jesus doll may find its way to needy children this Christmas after the U.S....
Secular colleges attend to Mormon studies: Role in spiritual history of America noted
Two American universities with no ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have plans to endow professorships in Mormon studies, making them the first secular schools to establish ch...
Conservatives decry FCC ruling on cursing: Definition of "news" at issue
A Federal Communications Commission’s ruling to allow profanity in a CBS news broadcast sets a dangerous precedent, the Parents Television Council has warned....
North Carolina Baptists adopt strictest ban on gay-friendly churches: Deny membership to gays or face expulsion
Baptist churches in North Carolina will have to deny membership to gays or face expulsion from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina....
NBC said to ease up on Veggie Tales edits: More references to God included
Fans of VeggieTales and its animated singing and talking vegetables may notice a change in the episodes aired in NBC’s Saturday morning cartoon lineup: they are not so heavily edited....
ELCA apologizes for persecution of Anabaptists: Lay foundation for international cooperation
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has formally apologized for Lutheran persecution of Anabaptists in 16th-century Europe....
Methodist court upholds right to bar gays from membership: Rejects attempts to evade 2005 decision
The United Methodist Church’s top court has rejected two separate attempts by regional conferences to evade a 2005 decision that allows pastors to bar gays and lesbians from joining the church....
Religious leaders in Arab nations launch AIDS response group: Network of Muslims and Christians collaborate
More than 300 religious leaders have signed up to form a new network of Muslim and Christian groups from 20 Arab countries, responding as a “united force” to the mounting prevalence of HIV/AIDS in...
Nepal to probe role of living goddess: Inquiry ordered into possible exploitation
The Supreme Court of Nepal has ordered an inquiry into whether the centuries-old tradition of worshiping a virgin girl as a “living goddess”—called the Kumari Devi—has led to the exploitation of yo...
Vatican speaks out on Muslim women's veils: Joins chorus of European leaders
Top Vatican officials have added their voice to a chorus of European leaders critical of Muslim women who wear veils that conceal their faces....
Just war: Second thoughts on Iraq
Like many Americans, I decided in early 2003 that a war with Iraq was increasingly necessary....
Slow-motion grace: Shaped by faith and hope
Toward the end of Wendell Berry’s novel Jayber Crow, the title character reflects on his life as a barber in a small Kentucky town: “I am a man who has hoped, in time, that his life, when po...
Ethics reform bills may restrict or ban travel gifts: Lobbying opportunities during travel at issue
When Representative Walter Jones (R., N.C.) made a one-day trip to speak to a Columbus, Ohio, congregation in 2005, he and aide William Moore didn’t have to spend time in airports waiting for conne...
Muslim neighbors: A French monk's testimony
A few days after Christian de Chergé’s death on May 21, 1996, his mother opened a sealed letter and read what he had written three years earlier....
Toward home: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Reinhold Niebuhr once wrote, “The human spirit is incapable of ridding itself of an abiding sense of homelessness.” It is as if we never feel quite at home anywhere but are always seeking that sweet place. We yearn for the day when the distance between time and eternity will be finally and fully bridged; until then, we understand exile.