pewforum.org Religion News on the Web

Religion News on the Web

Selected religion-related news from around the Web
NYT: Cardinal in Los Angeles is removed from duties
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, who retired less than two years ago as the leader of the nation’s largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, was removed from all public duties by his successor, Archbishop José H. Gomez, as the church complied with a court order to release thousands of pages of internal documents that show how the cardinal shielded priests who sexually abused children.
Wash. Post: Russian anti-gay bill sets off furor
On Friday, Ilya Kolmanovsky, who is straight, stood outside Russia’s lower house of parliament to protest an anti-gay bill.
NYT: Catholics mobilize to defeat Philippine politicians who backed reproductive law
After a stinging, high-profile defeat in December, Catholic groups in the Philippines are organizing an effort to influence congressional elections that could put the church’s political power to the test.
Journal-Constitution: Chick-fil-A keeps growing despite uproar
Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s controversial comments on “biblical” marriage last summer and the uproar that followed didn’t dampen the Atlanta company’s annual sales.
NYT: In shift, an activist enlists same-sex couples in a pro-marriage coalition
David Blankenhorn, a traditional-marriage advocate and star witness in the Proposition 8 trial in California in 2010, shocked his allies with an Op-Ed article in The New York Times last June announcing that he was quitting the fight against same-sex marriage.
Reuters: Exclusive: Gay marriage foes suffer from fundraising shortfall
Foes of same-sex marriage are laboring to pay the tab for an epic legal case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, as the movement suffers from fundraising shortfalls that could sap its strength in future battles.
AP: Washington casts wary eye at Muslim Brotherhood
President Barack Obama begins his second term straining to maintain a good relationship with Egypt, an important U.S. ally whose president is a conservative Islamist walking a fine line between acting as a moderate peace broker and keeping his Muslim Brotherhood party happy with anti-American rhetoric.
NYT: Israeli secularists appear to find their voice
Speaking to a group of ultra-Orthodox men shortly before he officially entered politics, Yair Lapid, a proudly secular talk-show host, declared that in a century-long competition to define Israel’s character, “we lost and you won.”
AP: Testimony scheduled on VT assisted death proposal
Two Senate committees are slated to take testimony this week on what has become a perennial issue around the Vermont Statehouse: legislation that would allow doctors to help terminally ill patients end their own lives.
AP: Boy Scouts could face division and defections if it proceeds to end mandatory ban on gays
The Boy Scouts of America’s proposed move away from its no-gays membership policy has outraged some longtime admirers, gratified many critics and raised intriguing questions about the iconic organization’s future.
NYT: Thousands rally in Paris for same-sex marriage
Thousands of people marched in Paris on Sunday to show their support for a same-sex marriage bill that lawmakers will begin to debate on Tuesday.
NYT: Jihadists and secular activists clash in Syria
The tensions had been simmering for months in the northern Syrian town of Saraqib.
Economist: The road to renewal
THE sleep has been long and deep. In 2005 Harvard University produced more scientific papers than 17 Arabic-speaking countries combined.
NYT: A flood of suits fights coverage of birth control
In a flood of lawsuits, Roman Catholics, evangelicals and Mennonites are challenging a provision in the new health care law that requires employers to cover birth control in employee health plans — a high-stakes clash between religious freedom and health care access that appears headed to the Supreme Court.
Times of India: For atheist China, religion is no longer a poison
Worried about the rise in people's interest in spiritualism six decades after the early Communists declared it to be evil, China's atheist government is calling for use of religion as a patriotic tool to rejuvenate the nation.
CNN: 'None' leaders to chart path for more political, cultural power for religiously unaffiliated
The religiously unaffiliated  the "nones"  – have noticed their ranks are growing.
AP: Critics of Jordan's king perform well in election
The surprise victory of 37 Islamist and other government critics despite an election boycott injects a degree of dissent into Jordan's newly empowered parliament.
AP: Pope on social networking: the virtual is real
Pope Benedict XVI put church leaders on notice Thursday, saying social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter aren't a virtual world they can ignore, but rather a very real world they must engage if they want to spread the faith to the next generation.
AP: Ark. clergy split on allowing guns in church
A proposal to allow concealed handguns in Arkansas' houses of worship is dividing religious leaders on whether easing the firearm rules would offer more protection to congregants or disrupt the sanctuary that they try to offer every week.
Roll Call: Unlikely coalition fights contraception mandate
Abortion opponents rallying by the thousands Friday in Washington at the annual March for Life have lost some political battles lately but won a string of court victories, thanks in part to a diverse coalition challenging a contraception mandate in the health care overhaul.
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