Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO – Before he transferred to San Francisco State University, Emo Loredo knew only a few other openly gay students. So he was pleasantly surprised when he discovered his new college offered not only dozens of classes on gay issues, but an undergraduate minor in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies. “One…

Religion News Service Ken Thorbourne KEARNY, N.J. – The high school student who blew the whistle on a history teacher who was proselytizing in the classroom is slated to receive an award that puts him in distinguished company. The New York Society for Ethical Culture plans to give 17-year-old Matthew LaClair its “Ethical Humanist Award,”…

Religion News Service Daniel Burke LANCASTER, Pa. – Wearing the bushy beard and black vest common to Amish men, Steve Lapp stood near the pulpit of a Pentecostal church on a recent Sunday night and offered his services as a healer. For the next half-hour, according to the handful of Christians who accepted his offer,…

United Press International YANGON, Myanmar – A group of Buddhist monks ended a tense standoff with authorities Thursday in Myanmar by releasing 20 government officials they had taken hostage. The situation at the monastery in Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, began Thursday morning when the monks took a government delegation hostage as part of a…

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