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In June 1990, Steven Kaboggoza,24, left his home in the African nation of Uganda to attend college in India. His family and kin expected him to return as “a rich businessman with a briefcase,” writes Marjorie Chiew, writing for the Buddhist Channel. Seven years later, he came home with a shaven head, wearing saffron robes,…

For hundreds of years, Catholics abstained from meat on Fridays — just as many do for the entire month of Lent. Then came the Second Vatican Council — which put aside centuries of tradition. Among the traditions was meatless Friday. But now the bishops of England and Wales have reinstituted it for their faithful, writes Emily Stimpson in Our…

Not everybody’s delighted with the New York state legislature’s controversial same-sex marriage law, particularly some of the Big Apple’s ethnic neighborhoods, writes Dan Bilefsky in the New York Times. “The legalization of same-sex marriage in New York State has been embraced by many in the city,” he writes. “But in some neighborhoods heavily populated by…

After scandal-scarred incumbent Anthony Weiner resigned from his seat, Democrats and many political sages confidently predicted that the district he represented — New York’s 9th, a rock-solid Democratic district – would stay in the Democratic fold. “They were convinced that David Weprin, a machine politician who did not live in the district, would bury Republican…

Nearly half of British adults would like to see more demonstrations of faith in their local communities, according to a poll. The survey was conducted by the Congregational & General Insurance Co., which said that out of 1,000 British adults, 44 per cent said they would like to see faith be more prominent in Britain’s public life.  While nearly…

Writing on USA Today‘s editorial page, attorney Jay Sekulow says “New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision not to invite clergy of any faith to commemorate the anniversary Sunday at Ground Zero is a mistake.” The move is deeply offensive to the many Americans who find solace and healing in prayer, notes Sekulow: For many,…

The Australian government may force the Church of Scientology there to pay millions in past salaries to former members who say they were forced to work for free. The move came after Australian labor officials received confidential statements from several former Scientology workers who claim they were underpaid, or not paid, for at least a…

A Christian nurse here has told police she was raped by a Muslim co-worker who filmed the act and showed it to her family in an attempt to blackmail her into renouncing her faith and marrying him. Christians have little legal or societal standing in Pakistan — and Muslim criminals tend to assume they will…

The People Against Poverty and Apathy Festival attended by about 500 free spirits in a field north of Baltimore “is completely outside of what you might see in a typical Sunday morning service,” writes blogger Julia Duin. “In fact, most of the amiable 20- and 30-something people I encounter are involved in church lightly,” she…

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani was just a little sarcastic as he advised Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the microphones won’t melt if plans are changed and clergy are allowed to pray at Sunday’s memorial observances as Ground Zero.  
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