(RNS) World Vision tested its boundaries three months ago when it announced it would allow its employees to be in so-called homosexual ‘marriages’. The policy, however, was short-lived; the relief group reversed it within 48 hours after supporters threatened to pull donations. In the past, World Vision has requested that it be known as a […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a 35-foot protest-free zone outside abortion clinics in Massachusetts. The justices were unanimous in ruling that extending a buffer zone 35 feet from clinic entrances violates the First Amendment rights of protesters. Chief Justice John Roberts said authorities have less intrusive ways to deal with […]

In a reversal, an apostate Pennsylvania pastor who was defrocked last year for violating United Methodist law after he officiated at his son’s so-called same-sex wedding has been reinstated. Frank Schaefer learned Tuesday (June 24) his ministerial credentials will be restored after the United Methodist’s Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals voted 8-1 in his favor. […]

(RNS) What do self-styled atheists ‘pray’ for? Municipalities around the country are finding out, as various nonbelievers of all stripes, including so-called atheists, humanists, agnostics and others, begin offering “prayers” to nothing at local government meetings. That’s the result of Greece v. Galloway, the Supreme Court decision handed down in May that upheld the right for […]

WASHINGTON – Nearly 170 victims of child sex trafficking, many of whom had never been reported missing, were rescued in the last week as part of an annual nationwide crackdown, the FBI said Monday. Besides the 168 children rescued from the sex trade, 281 pimps were arrested during the same period on state and federal […]

WASHINGTON (BP) — Google is cracking down on sexually graphic content with two recent policy changes, one implemented in March and one that started in June. The new rules take steps to eliminate explicit material in Google’s advertisements and apps. Google will no longer accept advertisements through Google AdWords that promote graphic depictions of sexual […]

(RNS) A small Baptist college now led by Ergun Caner, the outspoken evangelical who stirred controversy over his story of conversion from Islam, has lost its accreditation. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges recently voted to remove Brewton-Parker College in Georgia from membership one year after it placed the school on […]

KHARTOUM, Sudan (RNS) – A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to convert to Islam has been freed after an appeals court canceled the death sentence, according to the state-run news agency SUNA. Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Roman Catholic and mother of two, had been sentenced to hang in April […]

NEW YORK – A federal appeals court last week pressured an atheist group to better explain why what has become known as the ‘Ground Zero Cross’ should be kept out of the National September 11 Memorial Museum and why the artifact, which was removed from the rubble of the 2001 attack on the World Trade […]

DETROIT — The 1.8 million-member Presbyterian Church (USA) voted Thursday (June 19) to allow homosexual ‘weddings,’ making it among one of the largest religious groups to take an embracing step toward openly supporting homosexuality. By a 76-24 percent vote, the General Assembly of the PCUSA voted to allow their pastors to perform homosexual “marriages” in states where they are […]