Updated Feb. 24 to add Catholic link. This just in: President Obama has ordered the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage, against lawsuits challenging it as unconstitutional. Check out the Justice Department’s statement from Attorney General Eric Holder here, and the…

As Religion & Ethics Newsweekly reported on PBS this week, proposed government budget cuts have prompted heated debate between religious groups morally opposed to cutting aid to the poor and limiting the rights of labor unions, and conservatives who consider America’s debt a moral concern. (And, of course, there’s also the small matter of public funding for Planned…

It’s awards season, so there’s lots of celebrity news — and the religion beat is no exception. Recent headlines include music superstars like Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga using their fame to weigh in on contentious values issues like abortion (Bieber is extremely pro-life) and homosexuality (Gaga, who campaigned for the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal, is…

A new poll has asked Americans how they feel about U.S. Rep. Peter King’s plans for a Congressional hearing on the threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism. In my story for Religion News Service, I noted that most Americans haven’t heard about the hearings yet, but a slim majority likes the idea — though a larger…

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