pewforum.org Religion News on the Web

Religion News on the Web

Selected religion-related news from around the Web
Wash. Post: Obama urges Supreme Court to overturn California same-sex marriage ban
The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Thursday that California’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection, a position that could also cast doubt on prohibitions in other states.
Houston Chronicle: Bahá'ís to begin fast ahead of new year
The Bahá'í community - known for its outward focus on interfaith relations and community service - turns inward for its annual month of fasting and spiritual devotion, beginning Saturday.
CS Monitor: Israel wields Bible's soft power as far afield as Brazil
On a crisp winter morning in Jerusalem, a group of American Christian leaders with Bibles under their arms walk the hilltop where many believe King David first established the Jewish capital some 3,000 years ago.
NYT: Danish opponent of Islam is attacked, and Muslims defend his right to speak
When a would-be assassin disguised as a postman shot at — and just missed — the head of Lars Hedegaard, an anti-Islam polemicist and former newspaper editor, this month, a cloud of suspicion immediately fell on Denmark’s Muslim minority.
NYT: Interest rises in Islamic bonds
Islamic bonds, or sukuk, have long been popular with investors in the Middle East. Now they are being discovered in Europe and the United States.
AP: Critics: NY gov's abortion bill would hurt women
A coalition of doctors said Wednesday that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's abortion rights bill would hurt women, force many into lifetime bouts of depression and guilt and make late-term abortions more common and more dangerous.
CS Monitor: Gay marriage: why corporations are coming out against DOMA
Wading into the highly emotional but quickly shifting national debate over gay marriage, 278 companies filed an amicus brief Wednesday in support of Edith Windsor, the New York woman whose challenge of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has been taken up by the United States Supreme Court.
Globe and Mail: Call to help Tibetans puts pressure on Canada’s new religion envoy
The political leader of exiled Tibetans is calling on Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom to investigate religious repression and suicide in his homeland, squeezing the week-old post into a tricky diplomatic position.
CS Monitor: Egypt opposition vows to boycott parliamentary elections
Egypt's main opposition coalition announced today it will boycott upcoming parliamentary elections, deepening the political crisis in Egypt and practically ensuring that Egypt's next legislative body will be dominated by Islamists.
USA Today: Brazil turns to Catholic Church to quash crack epidemic
Wrapped in a Persian rug caked in dirt, a man addicted to crack cocaine listened as Elizeu Dias tried to persuade him to take the last spot available in an old Volkswagen van that is taking addicts to drug treatment.
AP: Big push to support gay marriage at high court
Prominent Republicans, retired military leaders and U.S. businesses are among the factions ready to ask the Supreme Court to support marriage equality in two cases up for argument next month.
AP: Arkansas abortion bill vetoed by Governor Mike Beebe
Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe on Tuesday vetoed a ban on most abortions in Arkansas at 20 weeks into a pregnancy, setting up an override fight with a Republican-controlled Legislature that has been pushing for more restrictions on the procedure.
Wash. Times: Calif. gay-rights bill aims to strip Boy Scouts of tax-exempt status
Scouting organizations in California that bar open homosexuals as leaders and members could lose their state tax-exempt status if a bill is enacted.
Reuters: U.N. told atheists face discrimination around globe
Atheists, humanists and freethinkers face widespread discrimination around the world with expression of their views criminalized and subject in some countries to capital punishment, the United Nations was told on Monday.
Wash. Times: Born this way? Five court cases will put focus on gay identity
Lady Gaga may belt out that gays are “born this way,” but questions about the origin and unchangeability of homosexuality are central to at least five lawsuits, including two before the Supreme Court next month.
Korea Herald: Could the next pope be from Asia?
Vatican watchers are abuzz about who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI when he officially steps down at 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 28, including the very real possibility that a cardinal from outside Europe could lead the Roman Catholic Church for the first time ever.
Wash. Post: For China’s Catholics, new pope brings hope
Of the long list of problems the next pope will inherit once the white smoke rises in Rome, few on the diplomatic front can rival the bitter, in­trac­table relationship between the Vatican and the Chinese government.
LA Times: As a new pope is chosen, Latin America hopes for more sway
They represent the region with more Roman Catholics than any other. And their to-do list for the next pope is a long one.
Boston Globe: What American nuns built
When Benedict XVI became the first pope in almost 600 years to resign earlier this month, most of the initial speculation had to do with obscure succession rules, and whether the next pope would be European, African, or even American.
NYT: Church helps fill a void in Africa
The young woman slept soundly on the cool marble floor before the altar, a break from the chaos at home. In the courtyard, neighborhood teenagers filled giant jerrycans with purified water from a stone fountain.
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