Religion News on the Web
Selected religion-related news from around the Web
February 14, 2013
- The New York Times
NYT: A laboratory for revitalizing Catholicism
At one new megachurch in São Paulo, a Roman Catholic priest who was a personal trainer before joining the clergy energetically belts out songs, rock-star style, before 25,000 worshipers.
February 13, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Ohio school board votes to keep Jesus portrait up
An Ohio school district decided Tuesday night to keep a portrait of Jesus hanging in the school where it's been 65 years, denying a federal lawsuit's claim the portrait's display unconstitutionally promotes religion in a public school.
February 13, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: House passes Sandy aid for houses of worship
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill to allow houses of worship damaged by Superstorm Sandy to receive federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
February 13, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Ohio town latest focus of religion legal debate
Since just after World War II, a portrait of Jesus has hung in a Jackson City Schools building, attracting little discussion and no controversy that anyone seems to recall.
February 09, 2013
- The Economist
Economist: A meaty question
Keeping the government’s nose out of anything with a religious whiff is one of America’s founding principles.
February 08, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Assisted suicide on legal agenda in several states
A push for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is under way in a half-dozen states where proponents say they see strong support for allowing doctors to prescribe mentally competent, dying individuals with the medications needed to end their own lives.
February 07, 2013
- The New York Times
NYT: Bishops reject birth control compromise
The nation's Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday rejected the latest White House proposal on health insurance coverage of contraceptives, saying it did not offer enough safeguards for religious hospitals, colleges and charities that objected to providing such coverage for their employees.
February 05, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Push for assisted suicide comes to Connecticut
A push for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is under way in at least three Northeastern states including Connecticut, where proponents say they see strong support for allowing doctors to prescribe mentally competent, dying individuals with the medications needed to take their own lives.
February 04, 2013
- The Associated Press
AP: Catholic hospital takes surprise stance in lawsuit
It was a startling assertion that seemed an about-face from church doctrine: A Catholic hospital arguing in a Colorado court that twin fetuses that died in its care were not, under state law, human beings.
February 04, 2013
- The New York Times
NYT: Vote to eliminate ban on gays in Boy Scouts is on agenda at board meeting
A proposed shift by the Boy Scouts of America to drop its national ban on gay leaders and scouts, and allow local scout units to decide for themselves, was the center of attention as the organization’s national board gathered here on Monday for a three-day meeting and a vote on the issue.
February 04, 2013
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Journal-Constitution: Churches fret as Scouts debate ending gay ban
While the Boy Scouts of America faces increased pressure to admit gay Scouts and gay Scout leaders, some of the churches that host Scout troops are also in the front lines of the battle and could lose their troops.
February 01, 2013
- The Washington Post
Wash. Post: The White House’s contraceptives compromise
The Obama administration proposed broader latitude Friday for religious nonprofits that object to the mandated coverage of contraceptives, one that will allow large faith-based hospitals and universities to issue plans that do not directly provide birth control coverage.