pewforum.org Religion News on the Web

Religion News on the Web

Selected religion-related news from around the Web
Daily Star: Christians, Muslims affirm common values
Muslims and Christian leaders from across the Middle East and Denmark wrapped up a three-day conference on religious understanding Thursday in Beirut by highlighting values, such as mercy, respect and caring for the weak, which both faiths share.
National Post: Whipping boy
In the summer of 2011, a horrendous mass murder occurred in Norway, with more than 90 people, most of them teenagers and even children, being slaughtered in a co-ordinated bomb and gun attack.
LA Times: Russian gay activist fined for promoting homosexuality
The founder of the Moscow gay pride movement was convicted Friday of promoting homosexuality and fined $167 in the first prosecution under a controversial new St. Petersburg municipal law that human rights activists have denounced as homophobic.
AP: Trial postponed for fugitive Iraqi VP
The terror trial of Iraq's fugitive Sunni vice president was postponed Thursday as his lawyers appealed to have parliament create a special court to hear the case that has touched off a political crisis and could deepen the nation's sectarian divide.
Australian: Senator caught in Muslim slur row
A MALAYSIAN newspaper has quoted independent senator Nick Xenophon as declaring Islam is a "criminal organisation", after it misreported excerpts of a parliamentary speech in which the South Australian MP attacked the Church of Scientology.
AP: Billy Graham backs NC anti-gay marriage amendment
The Rev. Billy Graham urged North Carolina voters Wednesday to support an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage, a move that an observer said was highly unusual but another said was in keeping with the minister's moral beliefs.
Tennessean: Foes of Vanderbilt's nondiscrimination policy point to Harvard
When Vanderbilt wanted its freshmen students to learn about ethics, the school turned to the late Rev. Peter Gomes to teach them. Gomes’ book, The Good Life, was required reading for the Vanderbilt class of 2015.
Guardian: Indonesia's atheists face battle for religious freedom
When Alex Aan picked up a copy of Karen Armstrong's Holy War from his local library in west Sumatra in 2005, he had little inkling of his own religious battle to come.
Reuters: Texas pastor drives support for Chinese dissident
Only a few hours after blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng left his sanctuary in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the United States' declared it had won concessions over his future from the Chinese government, a soft-spoken 44-year-old West Texas pastor was questioning the official version of events.
AP: Mormon church girds for landmark political race, with Romney as prominent face of the faith
As 20,000 Mormons streamed from the church conference center, a ragtag group of protesters stood across the street shouting that the Latter-day Saints were going to hell.
Wash. Post: Tunisian court case exposes rift over free speech in new democracy
Outside the courthouse, 16 armed police officers screen all comers, including hundreds of lawyers in flowing black robes.
AP: In N. Mali, Islamists flex muscles, banning booze, uncovered women and whipping violators
In one town in northern Mali a man has been whipped for drinking alcohol.
NYT: Methodists vote against ending investments tied to Israel
The United Methodist Church, the nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination, voted against two proposals on Wednesday to divest from companies that provide equipment used by Israel to enforce its control in the occupied territories.
Wash. Times: From Bill Gates to Thomas Aquinas: Bible software company spreads the Word
Logos Bible Software might seem an odd company to bring the previously untranslated works of Thomas Aquinas to the masses.
Irish Times: Bill proposes full legal status for humanist weddings
THE GOVERNMENT is expected to agree today to back legislation giving humanists the same status as organised religions and civil registrars in conducting marriage ceremonies.
Irish Times: West looks to the East for growth as Islamic finance comes centre stage
WITH WESTERN financial markets still suffering the after-shock of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the resulting credit crunch and Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, attention is now turning to the Middle East.
The Times: Why more women are becoming nuns
Until recently, nuns in Britain had fallen out of the habit. In parts of the country, years went by without any women seeking to get themselves to a nunnery.
Independent: Vatican 'accepted one billion lire' to bury crime boss in basilica next to former popes
The Vatican is facing a deepening controversy over the burial 22 years ago of a notorious crime boss, with reports emerging that the church accepted a one billion lire (£407,000) payment from the mobster's widow to allow his interment in a basilica.
WSJ: Syria attacks seen as sign of extremists' rise
Suicide blasts on Monday and a series of other bombings across Syria have renewed concerns that unrest there is giving extremist Islamist groups room to grow, a scenario Western officials fear will make it more difficult to contain the crisis.
Wash. Post: Geert Wilders of the Netherlands reveals a resurgent far right in Europe
Europe’s most controversial politician lives in a government safe house fitted with a panic room and guarded round the clock.
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