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By JANET FILLMORE 2007 Religion News Service CLEVELAND — When the Ven. Shih Ying-Fa parks his 5-foot-10 frame before the computer in his home office, he never knows who will be seeking his help. It could be a high school student in Baton Rouge, La., who asks the difference between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism for…

Associated Press – December 12, 2007 BOSTON – Republican Mitt Romney retorted to questions about his faith by surging rival Mike Huckabee on Wednesday, declaring that “attacking someone’s religion is really going too far.” In an article to be published Sunday in The New York Times, Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks, “Don’t Mormons…

Associated Press – December 12, 2007 NEW YORK – A suspected bias attack on four Jewish subway riders in New York City has resulted in a friendship between the Jewish victims and the Muslim college student who came to their aid. Walter Adler is calling Hassan Askari a hero for intervening when Adler and three…

By Kevin Eckstrom Religion News Service With megachurches come mega crowds, mega money, and increasingly, mega security concerns. The crowds — anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 worshippers each weekend — can be an attractive target for a deranged shooter. Overflowing offering plates are tempting to thieves, and well-known preachers can become high-profile targets. Sunday’s (Dec.…

Associated Press Washington – President George W. Bush recognized Hanukkah on Monday by remembering the kidnapping and murder in 2002 of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl at the hands of Islamic militants in Pakistan. “His only crime was being a Jewish-American – something Daniel Pearl would never deny,” Bush said as he celebrated the…

Associated Press Washington – A book on interfaith relations by a Georgetown University theologian does not accurately reflect Roman Catholic teaching, a U.S. bishops’ committee said Monday. The Rev. Peter C. Phan, in his book “Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue,” writes that the terms “unique” and “absolute” when referring to Christ may…

Associated Press – December 10, 2007 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The deadly shooting sprees at a megachurch and a missionary training school were believed to have been carried out by the same person – a 24-year-old suburban Denver man who “hated Christians,” a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official, who spoke on…

Associated Press Colorado Springs, Colo. – Authorities searched a home in suburban Englewood early Monday, seeking any link between two deadly shooting sprees at Christian religious centers that left both communities stunned on a day of worship. Five people, including a gunman, died in the attacks Sunday at a megachurch in Colorado Springs and at…

Associated Press San Francisco – The conservative Diocese of San Joaquin voted Saturday to split from the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church, becoming the first full diocese to secede from the denomination in the debate over the Bible and homosexuality. Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention…

Associated Press – December 7, 2007 WASHINGTON – Mike Huckabee has vaulted from nowhere into second place in the Republican presidential race, riding a burst of support from evangelicals, Southerners and conservatives, a nationwide poll showed Friday. The surge by the former Arkansas governor has come largely at the expense of Fred Thompson, according to…

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