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The Lord is my light and my Savior whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalms 27:1
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U.S. Muslim group declines invitation to meet with pope |
04/16/08 18:13:11

      NEW YORK (AP) - Unease with Pope Benedict approach to Islam has led a U.  S.   Muslim group to decline joining in an interfaith event with him Thursday evening.  
     Other U.  S.   Muslim leaders expressed similar concerns about the pope, but pledged to participate in the Washington gathering, saying the two faiths should do everything possible to improve relations.  
     Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Jain and Hindu leaders are to take part in the meeting.  
     But Salam al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said the event seemed "more ceremonial than substantive" and his organization would not participate.  
     The pope has been praised by supporters for his frankness in approaching Islam and interfaith dialogue in general, but critics have called him insensitive.


UN-Pope Visit |
04/16/08 18:12:33

      UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.  N.   Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he's looking forward to a wide-ranging discussion with Pope Benedict on issues ranging from climate change and fighting poverty to disarmament and promoting cultural dialogue.  
     Ban noted that the pontiff will visit the United Nations on Friday, exactly one year after he met Benedict at the Vatican and issued an invitation.  
     He said with all of the world's challenges, "We need really strong spiritual support from the pope.  "
     Benedict is scheduled to meet with the secretary-general before addressing the General Assembly, where all 192 U.  N.   member states are represented.   He also will meet privately with the assembly and Security Council presidents and address U.  N.   staff.  
     The Vatican's U.  N.   observer said last week that the pope will call for dialogue based on fundamental human rights that are nonnegotiable.


North Koreans with religious ties face peril |
04/16/08 18:12:06

      WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal commission says North Korean refugees suspected of meeting with religious groups in China are often marked for harsh interrogation, torture and long detention without trial after Beijing forces them to return to the North.  
     A report by the U.  S.   Commission on International Religious Freedom calls for nations to press China to stop repatriating believers who face persecution.  
     One refugee told the researchers that although freedom of religion is guaranteed by law, "in reality, it is considered as a threat to the system, a hotbed of security problems, and opium" of the people.  
     California Congressman Ed Royce said at a commission hearing that the U.  S.   and others should use the upcoming Beijing Olympics to "leverage focus" on China's treatment of North Korean refugees.


Court: Coach can't kneel, bow head as team prays |
04/16/08 18:11:37

      PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal appeals court has ruled that a New Jersey school board was within its rights to tell a football coach he cannot kneel and bow his head as members of his team pray before games.  
     From the time Marcus Borden became coach at East Brunswick High School in 1983, he was deeply involved in team prayers.   For a time, he even led them.  
     In 2005, school officials received complaints and asked him to stop.  
     He then sued the school board seeking to be allowed to bow his head and kneel when students led their own prayers.   A lower-court judge found that should be allowed.  
     But a three-judge panel of the U.  S.   3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed that decision, with two of the judges finding that Borden's actions would appear to endorse religion.


Hundreds of lawyers working free for polygamist children |
04/16/08 18:10:32

      SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - They don't know where they're staying.   They don't know if there's a courtroom large enough to hold them all.   And they don't know who their clients are.  
     But some 350 lawyers are converging on San Angelo, Texas, to represent the hundreds of children and parents caught up in this month's raid on a polygamist church's compound.  
     They're providing their services free of charge.   One attorney calls it "billable hours for your soul.  "
     A marathon court hearing is set for Thursday in one of the biggest child-custody cases in U.  S.   history.   State officials contend the youngsters were being physically and sexually abused, and they want to place the children in foster care or put them up for adoption.


Rabbi removes prayer notes from Western Wall for burial nearby |
04/16/08 18:09:56

      JERUSALEM (AP) - A senior rabbi and his helpers have removed thousands of handwritten notes placed into crevices between the ancient stones of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.  
     The notes were placed there by visitors who believe their requests will find a shortcut to God by being deposited at Judaism's holiest site.  
     The removal operation is carried out twice each year: before the Passover festival which begins this weekend and at the Jewish New Year in the fall.  
     The Western Wall was part of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount, where the Jewish Temples stood in Biblical times.   Rabbi Shmuele Rabinowitz says the notes will be buried on the Mount of Olives, across a valley from the Old City of Jerusalem.


Rabbi says stones at disputed Jerusalem holy site need repairs |
04/16/08 18:09:12

      JERUSALEM (AP) - The rabbi who oversees Jerusalem's Western Wall says some of its stones need to be restored, but the main Muslim authority at the disputed holy site objects.  
     Judaism's holiest site also is the third most sacred site in Islam.  
     Rabbi Shmuele Rabinowitz says small stone blocks on top of the wall are sliding apart.   He hopes to have them fixed this summer.  
     But the top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, says the wall is part of the attached Al Aqsa mosque.   He warns any Israeli action there would be viewed as aggression.  
     The mosque compound is built atop the site of the Biblical Jewish temples.   Quarrels over the site have set off violence and have scuttled several rounds of Mideast peace efforts.


Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu join to discuss spirituality |
04/16/08 17:54:04

      SEATTLE (AP) - The Dalai Lama has wrapped up his five-day visit to Seattle with a panel discussion on spirituality and compassion with fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.  
     There were no demonstrators outside Tuesday's event, a day after hundreds protested outside the basketball arena where the Tibetan Buddhist leader received an honorary degree.   Monday's demonstration was the largest show of pro-Chinese support during his visit to Seattle.  
     Tutu listed Tibet as one of the troubled areas in the world, and praised the Dalai Lama for keeping a "joyous" nature after 50 years of exile.  
     This weekend, the Dalai Lama is to speak at the University of Michigan and meet with a senior U.  S.   official about the situation in Tibet.


Lawmakers consider specialty license plate for Christians |
04/15/08 17:55:36

      TALLAHASSEE, Fla.   (AP) - Christians could proclaim their faith on their license plates under a bill making its way through the Florida Legislature.  
     The specialty plates would feature a cross over a stained-glass window.   The words "I Believe" would be at the bottom of the plate.  
     Floridians would pay an extra $25 for the plate.   The money would go to a nonprofit group in Orlando called "Faith in Teaching" to support faith-based education.  
     Critics say the Christian message belongs on a bumper sticker, but putting it on license plates would violate separation of church and state.


Florida Schools-Evolution |
04/15/08 17:54:58

      TALLAHASSEE, Fla.   (AP) - Some scientists are urging Florida's Legislature to reject a bill that would protect teachers from being fired if they present information challenging evolution.  
     The legislation comes in response to new science standards that require Florida teachers to present evolution in more detail.  
     The scientists believe evolution is a scientific fact and argue that the "Academic Freedom" bill would let teachers present Intelligent Design or Biblical Creationism as an alternative.  
     Advocates of Intelligent Design say life and the universe are too complex and finely tuned to have evolved by chance.   But critics say Intelligent Design is religion posing as science.


Many mothers forced to leave polygamist sect children |
04/15/08 17:53:52

      SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - Texas officials who took 416 children from a polygamist church compound into state custody have sent many of their mothers away as a judge considers the massive child-custody case.  
     Marissa Gonzales, spokeswoman for the state Children's Protective Services agency, says that of the 139 women who voluntarily left the compound with their children since an April 3rd raid, only those with children 4 or younger have been allowed to remain with them.   Gonzales says, "It is not the normal practice to allow parents to accompany the child when an abuse allegation is made.  "
     She says the other women were given a choice: Return to the Eldorado ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a renegade Mormon sect, or go to another safe location.  
     Gonzales says some women chose the latter.


Safari Park in Israel puts animals on kosher diet |
04/15/08 17:53:20

      TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - A safari park in Israel has changed its animals' diet in preparation for the Jewish Passover, which starts on Saturday.  
     The eight-day Passover begins on Saturday, but officials at Ramat Gan Safari in Tel Aviv have already made the zoo kosher for the holiday.   So instead of foods made with flour, the orangutans are being fed unleavened bread, or matzo.  
     Safari curator Amalia Turkel says the orangutans appear to enjoy the novelty.  
     Passover commemorates the Jewish people's Biblical exodus from Egypt to the promised land.


Jewish Center Shooting |
04/15/08 17:51:03

      SEATTLE (AP) - Prosecutors at the trial of a man accused of shooting up the Seattle Jewish Federation two years ago, killing one woman and wounding five, say he was not insane but had a deliberate plan to make a blood-soaked political point.  
     Naveed Haq has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of murder and attempted murder in the July 2006 attack.   If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.  
     Prosecutor Erin Ehlert played a recording of a 911 call in which Haq, who is Muslim, asked to be connected to CNN and said he was making a point about U.  S.   support for Israel and the war in Iraq.  
     Haq's defense lawyer says Haq believed God sanctioned the attack, which suggests he was insane.


Report: Sikhs in New York suffer discrimination |
04/15/08 17:50:29

      NEW YORK (AP) - An advocacy group says Sikhs in New York City suffer harassment and discrimination.  
     The Sikh Coalition has issued a report surveying cases of bias, racial profiling and other kinds of discrimination against Sikhs.  
     The report says Sikhs have been mistaken for Muslims in the aftermath of the Nine-Eleven terrorist attacks even though they practice a separate religion.   Many Sikhs wear turbans for religious reasons.  
     The report calls for better training for law enforcement officers and educators.  
     Sikhism is several hundred years old and traces its roots to western India.


Ted Turner regrets criticizing religion |
04/02/08 17:30:49

      NEW YORK (AP) - Ted Turner, who once called Christianity a "religion for losers," now says he regrets his past criticism of religion, and sees faith as a positive influence.  
     In the 1980s, the CNN founder wrote his own version of the Ten Commandments and in 2001 asked employees who observed Ash Wednesday if they were "Jesus freaks.  " He apologized at the time.  
     Turner now says he does not consider himself agnostic or atheist, as he had sometimes described himself previously.   He says he prays for sick friends because "it doesn't hurt," and maintains several churches on his properties for employees and others who live nearby.  
     Turner says, "I'm sure God, wherever he is, wants to see us get along with one another and love one another.  "


Ted Turner partners with churches in malaria fight |
04/02/08 17:30:13

      NEW YORK (AP) - Ted Turner has launched a 200-million-dollar partnership with Lutherans and Methodists to fight malaria in Africa.  
     Turner's United Nations Foundation, which he started in 1997 with a 1-billion-dollar donation, launched the anti-malaria project with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the United Methodist Church, which have a combined 15 million U.  S.   members.  
     The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also has provided a 10-million-dollar grant that will help promote the campaign in churches.  
     Turner said he regrets criticizing religion in the past, and now sees it as a "bright spot" in the world.


Pastor who visited pre-war Iraq to pay reduced fine |
04/02/08 17:29:39

      NEW YORK (AP) - The lawyer for a Methodist minister who visited Iraq in 2003 to protest the pending U.  S.  -led invasion says federal prosecutors have agreed to a reduced penalty.  
     His attorney says the Reverend Frederick Boyle, who pastors a church in New Jersey, will pay a small fraction of the $6,700 fine the government had imposed.  
     Boyle says he made the nine-day trip with a Christian peacemaker team to pray with the Iraqi people.  
     At the time, U.  S.   government restrictions effectively barred American citizens from traveling to Iraq except in limited circumstances.   Those restrictions have since been lifted.  
     Boyle, who wouldn't disclose the amount he'll have to pay, said the settlement stipulates that he will face no criminal prosecution for his trip.


Christian Schools-Athletics |
04/02/08 17:29:00

      SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A federal judge has quoted the Bible while rejecting a Christian school's attempt to sue its way into the Texas state league for public school athletics.  
     Cornerstone Christian School of San Antonio -- founded by the Reverend John Hagee -- had accused the University Interscholastic League of excluding it and other private schools out of religious bias.  
     The UIL denied that and noted that Cornerstone was eligible for other leagues.  
     In his ruling, Judge Fred Biery said Cornerstone joining the UIL would be like getting "a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.  " He added, "Having not followed the proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself' nor having treated others as it would like to be treated, Cornerstone has reaped what it has sown.  "


Federal law requires accommodation of employees' faith |
04/02/08 17:27:49

      UNDATED (AP) - Officials say many employers are unclear about religious rights in the workplace.  
     Federal law requires companies with more than 15 people to "reasonably accommodate" an employee's religious beliefs unless they can show that it would cause an "undue hardship" on business.   Examples of accommodation include shift swaps, flexible scheduling or working through lunch to leave early.  
     But employers generally do not have to pay workers for religious time off.   And so long as religious needs are accommodated, the employer is not required to meet specific requests preferred by the worker.  
     Federal officials say workers are not required to provide proof of their religious beliefs to employers, such as notes from a member of the clergy.  
     Last year, there were about 2,900 religious discrimination filings with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.


Catholic scholar notes Benedict papacy's surprises |
04/02/08 17:26:23

      WASHINGTON (AP) - On this third anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II, a Catholic scholar notes that the subsequent papacy of Benedict XVI has been surprising in several ways.  
     George Weigel says Benedict has been more popular than people expected -- more the wise and gentle grandfather than the enforcer that some feared he would be.  
     Weigel says Benedict also has been surprisingly bold, notably in dealing with the Islamic world.  
     A third surprise, according to Weigel, has been Benedict's unwillingness to shake up the Vatican bureaucracy -- a task he may be leaving to his successor.  
     Benedict begins a U.  S.   visit to Washington and New York the week after next.


Court bars belated abuse suit against Catholic order |
04/02/08 17:24:30

      JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.   (AP) - The Missouri Supreme Court has barred a man from suing a Catholic religious order for abuse he allegedly endured as a high school student in the mid-1980s.  
     The court ruled that the deadline to sue had passed by the time Robert Visnaw finally filed suit against the Marinist Province two decades after the alleged acts.  
     Visnaw argued that his lawsuit should be allowed because he did not remember the sexual nature of the abuse by a school official until 2005.  
     But the Missouri Supreme Court said Visnaw had previously recalled other physical details of the abuse, so he could have sued far sooner than he did.


Vermont pays to settle lawsuit filed by Jewish prisoner |
04/02/08 17:23:43

      MONTPELIER, Vt.   (AP) - Vermont's Corrections Department has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a Jewish former inmate who said he was denied traditional food including matzoh at Passover and was blocked from observing the holidays of his faith.  
     Gordon Bock filed suit in 2005, alleging religious discrimination.  
     Bock charged that Corrections Department personnel "knowingly, willfully and maliciously withheld basic religious accommodations that would have facilitated religious observance.  "
     A federal magistrate ruled in November that Bock "produced enough evidence to make a reasonable inference of malice.  "


Federal judge rejects inmate lawsuit over religious items |
04/02/08 17:22:45

      SIOUX FALLS, S.  D.   (AP) - A convicted killer's federal lawsuit seeking ritual items for the practice of an ancient European religion has been thrown out of court.  
     Darrell Hoadley's handwritten complaint asked for a toy sword and 22 other items to fulfill his role as counsel elder of the Asatru religion at the South Dakota State Penitentiary.  
     Hoadley had said he sued prison staff because they denied some of his requests while members of other religions received similar privileges.  
     Prison officials already permit several items for Asatru followers, including a wooden hammer, and a judge ruled that Hoadley's opportunity to practice Asatru was not "meaningfully curtailed.  "


Prosecutor: Woman shot fellow church member out of jealousy |
04/02/08 17:21:15

      COOPERSBURG, Pa.   (AP) - Authorities have charged a charged a church member with fatally shooting another woman in January inside the Pennsylvania church they both attended.  
     Prosecutors allege that 65-year-old Mary Jane Fonder shot 42-year-old Rhonda Smith out of jealousy.  
     Smith was found with a gunshot wound in Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in rural Springfield Township.   She died later at a nearby hospital.  
     Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry says Fonder had "very strong feelings" for the church pastor.   She says the defendant was jealous of the attention the victim was getting from the pastor.  
     Fonder was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder.


Jewish Center Shooting |
04/02/08 17:20:37

      SEATTLE (AP) - A prosecutor says much of a taped statement by a man charged in a shooting rampage at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle will be inadmissible at his murder trial because detectives ignored his requests for a lawyer.  
     King County Prosecutor Don Raz acknowledged at a hearing that nearly two-thirds of the 55-minute interview was obtained in violation of defendant Naveed Haq's constitutional right to counsel.  
     Haq is accused of storming into the Jewish charity in July 2006, killing one woman and injuring five others.   He railed against the Iraq war and Israel during the rampage.  
     Surviving victims have identified Haq as the shooter, and he was arrested outside the building.  
     He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.


Aunt called 911 before girl died of treatable diabetes |
03/28/08 17:44:36

      WESTON, Wis.   (AP) - "My sister-in-law, she's very religious, she believes in faith instead of doctors.  "
     That's what the aunt of a Wisconsin girl told emergency dispatchers in a 911 call last Sunday, just hours before the 11-year-old died from an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes.   The girl's parents had chosen to pray for her instead of taking her to a doctor.  
     The girl's mother says the family believes in the Bible and that healing comes from God.  
     In the 911 call, the girl's aunt said, "We've been trying to get her to take her to the hospital for a week, a few days now.  "
     Police are investigating, but a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice says parents cannot be charged with abuse or neglect if in good faith they selected prayer to treat a child's disease.


Door closed on missionary center gunman as shooting began |
03/28/08 17:43:59

      ARVADA, Colo.   (AP) - Police say the gunman at the Youth With a Mission training center with 45 people inside was able to fire off 15 rounds, killing two, before he was locked outside last December.  
     The center's Dale Lambert says, "Praise God the door closed, more people didn't die.  "
     Details of the shooting by Matthew Murray were contained in investigative documents and 911 tapes released by police in Arvada, Colorado.  
     A separate report released earlier this month by Colorado Springs police documented another shooting about 12 hours later at New Life Church, where two sisters were killed.  
     A former police officer working as a volunteer security guard at New Life shot and wounded Murray, who then committed suicide.  
     Murray had been a missionary trainee at the Arvada center in 2002.


Misidentified crash survivor marvels that God saved her |
03/28/08 17:43:28

      TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.   (AP) - Critically injured in a highway crash that killed five others, mourned as dead by relatives after an identity mix-up, Whitney Cerak wonders why God saved her life.  
     Cerak spent five weeks in a coma after the April 2006 accident while the parents of Laura Van Ryn stood vigil by her side, believing she was their daughter.  
     Authorities in Indiana had confused the two young women following a collision between their Taylor University van and a truck on Interstate 69.   Their blond hair and even some facial features were similar.  
     In the epilogue of a new book written by the families whose lives were intertwined in an ordeal of joy, sorrow and faith, Cerak writes, "I'm the only person I know who's listened to her own funeral.  "
     Cerak's parents had declined to view the body they believed was their daughter's.   The Van Ryns, meanwhile, thought that their daughter's appearance had been altered by facial injuries.   Only when she began slowly regaining consciousness and spoke her name did they realize the mistake.


Conservative Catholic Republican endorses Obama |
03/28/08 17:42:51

      MALIBU, Calif.   (AP) - One of the nation's top conservative Republican Catholic legal scholars has endorsed Democratic Senator Barack Obama for president.  
     Constitutional law professor Douglas Kmiec, who served in the Reagan administration and in Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, says he believes Obama can unite the country and inspire Americans to overcome racial and religious divisions.  
     Kmiec supports the Catholic teaching that abortion is a grave moral evil, but also considers the war in Iraq to be a life issue.   Kmiec says the church was troubled by arguments for a "pre-emptive war" that has proven costly in both lives and treasure.  
     Kmiec, former dean of the Catholic University law school, now teaches at Pepperdine University.


UN body passes Islamic resolution on religious defamation |
03/28/08 17:42:07

      GENEVA (AP) - The top U.  N.   rights body has passed a resolution proposed by Islamic countries saying it is deeply concerned about the defamation of religions and urging governments to prohibit it.  
     The European Union said the text was one-sided because it primarily focused on Islam.  
     The U.  N.   Human Rights Council, which is dominated by Arab and other Muslim countries, adopted the resolution on a 21-10 vote over the opposition of Europe and Canada.  
     EU countries, including France, Germany and Britain, voted against.   EU diplomats have said they want to stop the growing worldwide trend of using religious anti-defamation laws to limit free speech.  
     The document which was put forward by the Organization of the Islamic Conference "expresses deep concern at attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violations.  "


Company to pay Muslim woman for prohibiting religious scarf |
03/28/08 17:41:32

      ST.   LOUIS (AP) - A Missouri collection company has agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former employee, a Muslim woman who claimed she was fired for refusing to remove a religious head scarf.  
     The suit was filed by the U.  S.   Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Mariam Soultan, who formerly worked at Client Services Incorporated in suburban St.   Louis.   The agreement requires a revised dress code policy for the company, informing employees of the right to religious accommodation.  
     The EEOC says Soultan was told no exceptions could be made to a dress code prohibiting head wear.   She asked to be allowed to wear the scarf required by her religion.


Mormon church envoy to meet with massacre descendants |
03/28/08 17:40:57

      SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Mormon church is sending an envoy to Arkansas to meet with descendants of victims of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre.  
     Three months ago, the Mountain Meadows Association, the Mountain Meadows Massacre Descendants and the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation petitioned the church to seek National Historic Landmark status for the site in southwestern Utah.  
     The Mormon church has twice rejected previous appeals to seek landmark status for the site, where 120 members of a California-bound wagon train were killed after being tricked into a fake truce by a local Mormon leader.


Nevada prison chaplain protests being put on leave |
03/26/08 17:44:27

      CARSON CITY, Nev.   (AP) - A Nevada prison chaplain has been placed on paid leave in what she believes is retaliation for her defense of inmates' religious practices and beliefs.  
     The state corrections chief confirmed that Jane Foraker-Thompson is on administrative leave "pending completion of an investigation," but offered no further details.  
     The chaplain said she believes one of the reasons for the action against her may be her response to three lawsuits filed by prisoners alleging violations of their religious rights.   Foraker-Thompson says she refused to deny any wrongdoing by Nevada State Prison administrators.


Saudi King calls for talks among Muslims, Christians and Jews |
03/26/08 17:41:42

      RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is calling for talks between Muslims and Christians and Jews, who he calls "our brothers.  "
     At a seminar on "Culture and Respect of Religions" in the Saudi capital, Abdullah said the three monotheistic religions "all believe in the same God.  "
     It's the first such proposal from ultraconservative Saudi Arabia, which has no ties to Israel and bans public non-Muslim religious services.  
     The king, who met with Pope Benedict in November, said Saudi Arabia's top clerics have approved the talks, which would be aimed at addressing the weakening of the family, increasing atheism and "a lack of ethics, loyalty, and sincerity for our religions and humanity.  "


Activist bishop receives death threats in Brazilian Amazon |
03/26/08 17:41:07

      RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - A human rights group says Brazilian ranchers and loggers have put a $500,000 price on the head of a bishop who defends poor settlers and Indians in the Amazon region.  
     The Indigenous Missionary Council says the shadowy consortium has a detailed plan to kill Bishop Erwin Krautler, an Austrian national who has worked in the largely lawless Brazilian state of Para since 1980.  
     Powerful Amazon business interests have criticized the 69-year-old Krautler, who often protests land grabbing, debt slavery and environmental destruction.  
     A Para state police spokesman says the bishop has been under police protection since last year.  
     Krautler presides over the diocese where American nun Dorothy Stang was gunned down in 2005, following a dispute with ranchers who wanted to develop a piece of land she was trying to preserve.


Bill would let inmates do public service work for churches |
03/25/08 16:35:04

      JACKSON, Miss.   (AP) - A bill that has received final legislative approval would let Mississippi prison inmates do public service work for churches.  
     The final version of the bill passed the state House on Monday after passing the Senate last week.   It now goes to Governor Haley Barbour.  
     State law already allows inmates on work-release programs to perform tasks for city, county or state government or nonprofit charities.  
     The bill that would authorize inmates to work in churches does not specify that they could perform public service duties in synagogues, mosques or other places of worship.


Governor's hate crimes commission vanishes after controversy |
03/25/08 16:34:37

      SPRINGFIELD, Ill.   (AP) - After religious divisions paralyzed a state commission on hate crimes, Illinois lawmakers created a new version.  
     But seven months later, Governor Rod Blagojevich has not appointed anyone to the overhauled Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes.  
     The original commission fell apart over Blagojevich's appointment of Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad, a high-ranking Nation of Islam official.  
     Her appointment went largely unnoticed until she invited fellow commissioners to a speech by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, where he reportedly made disparaging remarks about Jews and gays.  
     Five Jewish members of the commission then resigned in protest.


Church school offers free tuition |
03/25/08 16:34:00

      MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis.   (AP) - A Wisconsin congregation has voted to let families send their children to the church's school for free whether they belong to the church or not.  
     Pastor Tim Lamkin says members of Zion Lutheran Church in suburban Milwaukee hoped to stimulate enrollment, which has declined from about 130 in the early 1990s to 47 students today.  
     The vice chairman of the Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools says many parochial schools offer free or reduced tuition to members of their churches, but few if any have ever offered free tuition to nonmembers.


Baptists-Woman Professor |
03/24/08 17:08:28

      DALLAS (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that leaders of a Southern Baptist seminary who believe women are Biblically barred from teaching men were within their rights when they released a female professor.  
     Sheri Klouda, now a professor at Taylor University in Indiana, was the only female professor teaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's School of Theology when officials decided not to renew her contract in 2006.   Klouda claimed seminary officials breached an oral contract guaranteeing she would remain employed if her performance was favorable.  
     Seminary officials maintain Klouda was not dismissed but was told she would not be granted tenure.   They said their actions were based on ecclesiastical decisions protected under the First Amendment's religion clauses.   Judge John McBryde agreed and dismissed Klouda's claims.


Federal judge prohibits school vote on graduation prayers |
03/17/08 17:12:48

      AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A federal judge has prohibited a Texas school district from allowing students to vote on whether to have prayers at graduation.  
     The ruling by Judge Sam Sparks is included in an agreement reached by the Round Rock School District and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which filed suit after a majority of seniors at three district high schools voted to have prayers at their graduations.  
     Sparks' judgment forbids the school district from holding any vote by students to have a prayer, benediction, invocation "or other religious communication" in any graduation unless the U.  S.   Supreme Court rules that such votes can be held.


Religious Leaders-Environment |
03/17/08 17:11:41

      RICHMOND, Va.   (AP) - More than 60 faith leaders have joined environmental groups in urging Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine to oppose a coal-fired power plant that Dominion Virginia Power wants to build.  
     The ministers, rabbis and theologians signed onto a letter from an environmental group leading the fight against the proposed plant in Wise County.  
     The religious leaders state in the letter to Kaine that speaking out against the coal-fired plant is their moral responsibility as part of their "good stewardship of God's creation.  "
     A spokesman for the power company responded, "Dominion believes we are good environmental stewards and we have a record that


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