pewforum.org Religion News on the Web

Religion News on the Web

Selected religion-related news from around the Web
Tallahassee Democrat: Fla. House debates prayer
By the time Florida House members approved a bill that will allow students to give inspirational messages to their peers in school, supporters had given up saying "message" and were talking about the benefits of prayer.
Straits Times: Same-sex unions: UK in the grip of gay rights debate
A prominent member of Britain's ruling Conservatives has challenged Prime Minister David Cameron to hold a national referendum over plans to allow homosexuals to marry amid a renewed tug of war here on gay rights.
RNS: Mitt Romney trouncing Rick Santorum among Catholics
Mitt Romney has trounced Rick Santorum, an ardent Catholic, among Catholic voters, but Romney's support among evangelicals has wavered thus far in the GOP presidential primary, according to a new analysis of exit poll data.
AP: Abortion insurance bill defeated in Wash. Senate
A bill to link abortion coverage to maternity care was defeated Friday in the Washington state Senate.
Wash. Post: As Super Tuesday approaches, GOP candidates focus on evangelical voters
The cavernous sanctuary at First Redeemer Church was packed on a recent Sunday when presidential hopeful Rick Santorum took the stage to declare religious freedom in jeopardy.
AP: Liberia becomes latest African country seeking to criminalize homosexuality; 2 new bills
Two new bills introduced into Liberia’s legislature would make the country the latest on the African continent to punish homosexuality with possible jail time.
Reuters: Maryland legalizes same-sex marriage; challenge looms
Maryland became the eighth state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday, just as opponents were ramping up efforts to repeal the new law at the ballot box.
Wash. Post: Birth control exemption bill, the ‘Blunt amendment,’ killed in Senate
The Senate Thursday rejected an effort to vastly expand conscience exemptions to the Obama administration’s new birth control coverage rule, even as Republican presidential contenders continued to tussle over the issue.
AP: Dubai bank cuts off business with Iranian lenders
A Dubai Islamic bank with ties to the emirate's ruling family said Wednesday it stopped doing business with Iranian banks in December, shortly before the United States approved new sanctions targeting the country's financial system.
Daily Star: Under Israel’s ‘enlightened’ occupation, apartheid has a face
Last month, in the early evening, as I drove on Jerusalem’s Route 1 in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, I was attacked by several Israeli boys.
BBC: Catholic midwives lose abortion 'conscientious objection' case
TWO Catholic midwives have lost a legal bid to be classed as conscientious objectors and avoid any involvement in abortions.
NYT: Romney sets off furor on contraception bill
Perhaps the question was poorly worded. Or perhaps it was a slip of a tired tongue.
WSJ: Schools navigate state birth-control patchwork
Roman Catholic employers are pushing back against an impending federal mandate on contraceptive coverage partly because the rule would remove an escape hatch that let them opt out of similar state laws that passed in earlier years.
Australian: Somalia's so-called peace does not spare its children's suffering
IN A basic military clinic filled with wounded children, the sour smell of infection hung heavily in the still air.
Morning Post: New controls on religious groups' work
Beijing has tightened controls on religious groups by imposing restrictions on their charitable activities, complicating their efforts to secure foreign aid....
AP: Chicago Muslim leader says police superintendent promises no NYPD-style surveillance operation
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy vowed at a meeting with a local Muslim leader Tuesday to confine his department's surveillance activities to those that pursue "criminal leads," and to avoid the type of widespread spying allegedly carried out by New York police.
LA Times: Republicans keep up birth control battle
Dissatisfied with the Obama administration's compromise on contraceptive coverage, congressional Republicans are fighting to do away with the requirement that insurers provide free birth control — a strategy that might rally their conservative base but risks alienating sought-after independent voters in this election year.
NYT: Syria's sectarian fears keep region on edge
Abu Ali fled his life as a Shiite cleric and student in Homs, the besieged Syrian city at the center of an increasingly bloody uprising, but it was not the government he feared.
AP: Prayers mark 10th anniversary of riots in India
Hundreds of survivors of deadly religious riots gathered in western India on Monday to mark the 10th anniversary of the country's worst sectarian violence in recent years, as rights activists accused the local government of delaying justice.
NYT: As gay marriage gains ground in nation, New Hampshire may revoke its law
As same-sex marriage supporters celebrate victories in Washington and Maryland this month, they are keeping a wary eye on New Hampshire, where lawmakers may soon vote to repeal the state’s two-year-old law allowing gay couples to wed.
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