WASHINGTON (RNS) — Mark DeMoss, to borrow a line from the U2 song, still hasn’t found what he’s looking for. The veteran Christian public relations executive couldn’t find it last year when he advised Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. It was…
Faith-based mutual insurers worry about health care reform
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As Congress debates whether to mandate health insurance for all Americans, several Christian ministries whose members share each other’s medical costs are hoping the final version of health care reform doesn’t put them out of business. Officials…
Wardens walk fine line on religious materials for inmates
SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (RNS) — For Jarvis Masters, his Buddhist journals bring peace from the panic he feels on death row in California’s San Quentin State Prison. An article titled “Life in Relation to Death” by a Tibetan Buddhist lama…
Documentary-style film asks, How did the gospel become so divisive?
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Even though he always was taught religion and politics shouldn’t be discussed in polite company, Dan Merchant decided someone needed to start the conversation. In his documentary-style film, Lord, Save Us from Your Followers, which hits theaters…
Does Lit 101 lead to unbelief? Do teachers-in-training pray more?
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As college students return to campus, a new study suggests some could be in danger of losing their religion. Economics professor Miles Kimball and researchers from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research determined certain academic…
Virginia jail agrees to stop censoring religious mail
STAFFORD — A Virginia jail will stop censoring religious mail after protests from civil rights organizations that clerks had turned Bible-quoting missives from an inmate’s mother into tattered strips of paper signed “Love, Mom.” Rappahannock Regional Jail authorities agreed to…
Muslims press public schools on observing Islamic holidays
Calculus and chemistry are among the pressures awaiting Mesuka Akter, a senior this year at Long Island City High School in New York City. But unlike past school years, Akter, a Muslim, will not have to choose between missing school…
Jerusalem mayor navigates sacred city’s religious politics
JERUSALEM — When Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat decided to open a municipal parking lot that had been closed on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, his office said he simply was being practical. Extra parking is needed to help ease lines of…
Bible helped set captives free, sheriff says
COVINGTON, La. (RNS) — An Alabama woman used the spine of a Bible to conceal several hacksaw blades that helped her husband and three other inmates escape a maximum-security prison. Claudia Buras was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail…