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By Jan Moller BATON ROUGE, La. (RNS) A Republican gubernatorial candidate accused Louisiana Democrats of reaching “a new low” with TV ads that accuse him of insulting Protestants, and demanded the ad be taken off the air. Democratic Party officials continued to defend the spot, as did its two leading candidates for governor, despite cries…

RNS By Pat Shellenbarger Blanchard, Mich. — Glen Mast doesn’t own a computer and doesn’t want one, but he and other Amish farmers complain the Michigan Department of Agriculture is insisting they tag their cattle with electronic chips in violation of their religious beliefs. State agriculture officials say the radio frequency chips are necessary to…

New York – August 20, 2007 – Friends and foes of an embattled public school whose curriculum will be taught in Arabic raised the volume of their rhetoric Monday, with critics warning students could be “indoctrinated” with radical Islamic beliefs and supporters calling such statements “racist.” The Khalil Gibran International Academy – named after a…

Jefferson City, Mo. – August 20, 2007 – Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to strike down a new Missouri law that it claims could eliminate abortion services in large parts of the state by subjecting clinics to stringent state oversight. The federal lawsuit contends that the law, which takes effect Aug. 28, would…

RNS By Ron Cammel Portage, Mich. – After 40 years, a “simple, quiet, sedate liturgy” brought the landmark Episcopal Cathedral of Christ the King to a close. The building, which resembles a fortress-like castle, has been the bishop’s seat for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan since its construction in 1968. The diocese sold it…

RNS By Daniel Burke Evangelist Billy Graham is in “fair and improving” condition at a North Carolina hospital after he was admitted Saturday (Aug. 18) for intestinal bleeding, a spokesperson said Monday. Graham, 88, is alert, walking around and visiting with family, said Graham spokesperson Melany Ethridge. The evangelist remains near his home, at Mission…

RNS by Daniel Burke U.S. officials deported illegal Mexican immigrant and activist Elvira Arellano Sunday (Aug. 19) in Los Angeles, days after she left her refuge at a Chicago church to launch a national immigration-reform campaign. Arellano, 32, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs officers “without incident” and transported to San Ysidro, Calif., where…

RNS By Robert Schwaneberg Luisa Paster and Harriet Bernstein of Ocean Grove, N.J., say they were not trying to start a federal case when they complained last month to the state’s civil rights agency. “All that we were trying to accomplish was to have our civil union in the boardwalk pavilion” in Ocean Grove, a…

RNS By Susan Finch New Orleans – The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal court here Monday (Aug. 13) to stop Louisiana from making taxpayer-financed donations to two churches. The gifts targeted in the case — $100,000 to the Stonewall Baptist Church in Bossier City and $20,000 to Shreveport Christian Church — are…

Associated Press WASHINGTON – A career U.S. diplomat indicted this week for sending threatening messages to an Arab political organization has retired from the foreign service, the State Department said Thursday. Patrick Syring retired last month, about a year after he allegedly left racist and intimidating phone and e-mail messages with the Arab American Institute…

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