This weekend, hundreds of ministers will speak up for presidential candidates, flouting a law that prohibits tax-exempt organizations from political campaigning.

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An Islamist militant group in Somalia held a Koran trivia contest for children; the top prizes were AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades.

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A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected the claim of a San Diego-area mathematics teacher that his 1st Amendment rights were violated when the school’s principal ordered him to take down classroom banners that referred to God.

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Human rights lawyers and victims of clergy sexual abuse filed a complaint on Tuesday urging the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate and prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and three top Vatican officials for crimes against humanity for what they described as abetting and covering up the rape and sexual assault of children by priests.

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An evangelical blogger is spending 12 months following the Bible’s instructions for women.

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A few conservative Roman Catholics are pointing to a dozen Bible verses and the church’s original teachings as proof that Earth is the center of the universe, the view that was at the heart of the church’s clash with Galileo Galilei four centuries ago.

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Does the Texas governor believe his idiotic religious rhetoric, or is he just pandering for votes?

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New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, in addressing the issue of early Christian forgeries, writes that there is a history of “lies and deception in the history of the Christian religion” and “irony in the fact that lies and deception have historically been used to establish the ‘truth.’” It is beyond contestation, as he points out in his recent book, Forged (2011) that pious Christians practiced deceit on a large scale.

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Pat Robertson, natural disaster interpreter extraordinaire, said on Wednesday’s 700 Club that the earthquake that struck the Washington region Tuesday “means that we’re closer to the coming of the Lord.”

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As the city of New York prepares to remember the 10th anniversary of 9/11, religious leaders are raising concerns over the lack of clergy participating in the anniversary events.

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An emerging Christian movement that seeks to take dominion over politics, business and culture in preparation for the end times and the return of Jesus is establishing a presence in American politics. The leaders are considered apostles and prophets, gifted by God for this role.

Evolution has become a touchstone issue for Republican presidential hopefuls.

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Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, to his followers a prophet who speaks directly with God, is likely to continue to lead his church from behind bars after being sentenced to life in prison on child sex assault charges.

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The economy is not what ails us today. No, what ails Americans is what Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and their artistic spawn have wrought in the culture, starting 500 years ago. The Renaissance has dragged us all down.

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Now some conservative scholars are saying publicly that they can no longer believe the Genesis account. Asked how likely it is that we all descended from Adam and Eve, Dennis Venema, a biologist at Trinity Western University, replies: “That would be against all the genomic evidence that we’ve assembled over the last 20 years, so not likely at all.”

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Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny criticizes the Vatican for its efforts to frustrate the Cloyne inquiry, accusing it of downplaying the rape of children to protect its power and reputation.

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Critics say Gov. Rick Perry’s prayer service on Saturday is muddying the lines between politics and religion.

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In Holland, the reverend of a mainstream Protestant church preaches that God is not a supernatural being, there is no after-life and the Bible is mythological

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A Malaysian television station axed a series of commercials to mark the Muslim month of Ramadan after angry viewers complained the ads insulted non-Muslim ethnic minorities.

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The diffuse nature of evangelical charitable giving makes fundraising figures elusive, but anyone who spends a little time reading, talking, or worshipping with evangelicals can’t miss the fact that they have a zeal for honoring martyrs and connecting with persecuted Christians abroad. They love a good sermon on the afflictions of the righteous. Their churches sponsor persecuted congregations abroad and screen movies with titles like Tortured for Christ. To give the youngsters a more vivid taste of virtual martyrdom, one organization offers an activity kit called “Locked Up,” “a 12-hour simulation of a prison-like setting” to challenge youth groups “to live their role in God’s great story of the Church around the world.” Although homegrown martyrs are scant these days, American evangelicals never stop feting the few they have: One of the most famous evangelical women of the 20th century is ex-missionary Elisabeth Elliot, whose 1957 account of her husband’s martyrdom at the hands of a hostile Ecuadorean tribe is still selling briskly a half-century later.

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