pewforum.org Religion News on the Web

Religion News on the Web

Selected religion-related news from around the Web
Reuters: Election candidate hopes to draw Israeli Arabs out of shadows
One Israeli Arab election candidate aims to lead his community out of the margins of Israeli politics - saying their interests have been overshadowed for too long by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Reuters: Islamic banks to expand, compete for mainstream clients: study
Islamic banks are set to expand as they compete increasingly with conventional lenders in attracting mainstream customers, according to a report by consultancy Ernst & Young released on Monday.
Toronto Star: Women waiting to be heard in post-Mubarak Egypt
Women’s voices were some of the loudest in the Tahrir Square protests that drove Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from office nearly two years ago.
Post-Dispatch: Fate of Baptist pastor accused of abuse is in the hands of his flock
Last Sunday, the Rev. Travis Smith paced First Baptist Church’s sanctuary, decorated for the holidays with poinsettias and a Christmas tree.
Wash. Post: Case reviews could test Obama’s ‘evolution’ on same-sex marriage
The Supreme Court gave itself plenty of room to maneuver when it agreed Friday to review the issue of same-sex marriage.
LA Times: Supreme Court showdown expected over gay rights decisions
For more than two decades, the defining battles within the Supreme Court over social and moral controversies have been fought between two devout Catholics appointed by President Reagan.
Reuters: Supreme Court takes up same-sex marriage for first time
The Supreme Court stepped into the gay marriage debate for the first time on Friday by agreeing to review two challenges to federal and state laws that define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
AP: Charter enshrining Shariah at core of Egypt crisis
One of Egypt's most prominent ultraconservative Muslim clerics had high praise for the country's draft constitution.
WSJ: When an idol divided India
This week, India marked the 20th anniversary of one of the most virulent acts of religious aggression in its history as an independent nation: The destruction of a mosque, the Babri Masjid, by thousands of Hindu activists in the northern town of Ayodhya.
WSJ: Terror fight shifts to Africa
Military counterterrorism officials are seeking more capability to pursue extremist groups in Africa and elsewhere that they believe threaten the U.S., and the Obama administration is considering asking Congress to approve expanded authority to do it.
LA Times: California's gay-conversion ban up in air after 2 judges disagree
The fate of the state's new law banning gay-conversion therapy for underage Californians is uncertain after a federal judge said it may infringe on free-speech rights — and a second jurist disagreed.
CS Monitor: Watch your tongue: Prejudiced comments illegal in Brazil.
In an amateur online video, Afonso Henrique Alves Lobato describes how he and fellow members of his Evangelical church snuck into a spiritual center of Umbanda, an Afro-Brazilian faith that venerates deities originating from Africa in services led by a religious figure called a pai de santo.
LA Times: For Mormon feminists, progress 'with an asterisk'
When the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently reduced the age requirement for missionaries by one year for men, to 18, and by two years for women, to 19, the number of women applying to serve jumped five-fold.
NYT: Orthodox leader deepens progressive stance on environment
At a conference near Istanbul last June, the chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall spoke about the endangered habitat of what she called “our closest relatives.”
NYT: Pakistan reels with violence against Shiites
Calligraphers linger at the gates of an ancient graveyard in this brooding city in western Pakistan, charged with a macabre and increasingly in-demand task: inscribing the tombstones of the latest victims of the sectarian death squads that openly roam these streets.
Newsweek: Rick Warren's Resurrection
“Have you hugged a pastor today!?”
SF Chronicle: Evangelicals may boost immigration shift
Richard Land endorsed Mitt Romney, opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights, and is a leader in one of the nation's largest organizations of Southern Baptists.
NYT: Missouri bishop’s conviction leaves clergy divided
In the three months since Bishop Robert W. Finn became the first American prelate convicted of failing to report a pedophile priest, lay people and victims’ advocates have repeatedly called for his resignation.
Reuters: Russia may soften religion law over Putin concerns
Russian lawmakers are reworking a draft law introducing prison terms for religious offences after signs that Vladimir Putin is concerned it could undermine the delicate balance between the country's many religions.
Wash. Post: In foiled Jordanian terror plot, officials see hand of resurgent al-Qaeda in Iraq
The plan was to unleash mayhem across an entire city and “bring Amman to its knees,” in the words of one security official.
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