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Boko Haram pledges loyalty to brutal Islamic State
(RNS) Boko Haram’s leader has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a new audio message, according to a group that monitors extremist activity. In the recording, a man claiming to be Abubakar...
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China says Dalai Lama ‘profanes’ Buddhism by doubting his reincarnation
BEIJING (Reuters) Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is profaning Buddhism by suggesting that he will not be reincarnated when he dies, the Chinese-appointed governor of Tibet said on...
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NC sheriff bans sex offenders from church
ROBBINSVILLE, N.C. (RNS) A sheriff in one of North Carolina’s smallest counties told registered sex offenders they can’t go to church, citing a state law meant to keep them from day-care centers and...
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BLOG: How Betsy Ross became America’s ‘Founding Mother’
Betsy Ross presenting the first American flag to General George Washington, by Edward Percy Moran. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Photo illustration by ToledoFAVS.com with apologies to Mr. Moran. March is...
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Pope Francis: ‘All I want is to go out for a pizza!’
Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 11, 2013. Photo by Paul Haring/Catholic News Service (RNS) The “Pope of the...
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A devotional: Today’s ‘Black Regiment’
For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to...
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Education is a crime – if you’re a Baha’i in Iran
The long-running government-sponsored persecution of Bahá’is in Iran has taken a turn for the worse in the last few years. They have added to their repertoire of human rights violations the denial of...
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BLOG: Would Jesus support the Second Amendment?
Who do you think has supported the idea that folks should “keep and bear arms” more: Jesus or the NRA? In my view, Jesus. I believe this view is supported by the Bible and especially the words of...
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Obama to host Pope Francis at White House in September
(RNS) President Obama bids farewell to Pope Francis following a private audience at the Vatican on March 27, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza, courtesy of the White House via Flickr (RNS) President Obama will...
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Right-to-die bill, advocated by Brittany Maynard, passes California Senate...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) – Physician-assisted suicide would be legal for terminally ill patients in California under a bill passed on Wednesday by a committee of the state Senate. The bill, passed...
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At least 147 killed, hundreds rescued in Kenyan attack against Christians
A Kenya Defense Forces soldier stops a boy from moving in the direction where attackers were holed up at a university campus in Garissa on Thursday (April 2, 2015). Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Noor...
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BLOG: Tomatoes, Religious Freedom Restoration, and the Supreme Court
In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a tomato is a vegetable, even though the dictionary defines it as a fruit. Photo illustration by David Yonke/Toledo Faith & Values Warning! Due to...
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Is the US a model of interfaith harmony for a violent world?
Left to right, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and the Rev. A.R. Bernard Sr. join Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Tuesday (March 31) for a discussion during his weekly radio show. Photo by...
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BLOG: Outrage in Indiana seems like a set-up
Poor Indiana. The state passes a law similar to those of 19 other states and the federal government, then after it’s adopted the outrage hits. Usually disputes of this sort happen during the...
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Five faith facts about Rand Paul: ‘My faith has never been easy for me’
Rand Paul speaking to Tea Party Express supporters at a rally in Austin, Texas, in 2012. Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons (RNS) Sen. Randal Howard “Rand” Paul, the junior...
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COMMENTARY: The quiet, unshakable faith of Hillary Clinton
Former first lady Hillary Clinton departs the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola after fashion designer Oscar de la Renta’s memorial service in the Manhattan borough of New York on Nov. 3, 2014. Photo...
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Kenya cracks down on al-Shabab funding and recruitment after Garissa attack
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) Faced with a fierce enemy driven by Muslim extremist ideology, the government has cracked down on funding for al-Shabab, the Somali group that claimed responsibility for killing...
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India’s Modi eyes Hindu temples’ gold to help boost economy
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) The two-century-old Shree Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai devoted to the Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesha bristles with close circuit cameras and is guarded by 65 security...
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5 faith facts about Marco Rubio: ‘Once a Catholic always a Catholic’
Marco Rubio speaking at CPAC 2015 in Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons (RNS) Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who launched his presidential campaign Monday (April 13),...
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COMMENTARY: Affirmation is not a civil right, and it cannot be coerced
WASHINGTON (RNS) The limiting of religious freedom is a perpetually contested question in American public life. Most recently, as states consider new laws and the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on...
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