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Coalition: 80 Taliban killed

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S.-led coalition forces killed about 80 Taliban fighters during a six-hour battle outside a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan Saturday, the latest in a series of increasingly bloody engagements in the region, officials said.

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Bible And Quran Both Bloody, Humanists Say

(Washington, DC) Today Humanists reacted to the news that several Oklahoma lawmakers refused to accept copies of the Quran, which were offered as gifts from the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council. Even though many had welcomed copies of the Bible that had been given them earlier in the year, some were publicly sending back their Qurans.

"When government officials embrace the holy text of one religion and scoff at the holy text of the next, it creates an appearance of religious favoritism that abuses their public role," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.

Lawmakers stated qualms about the violence depicted and advocated within the Quran as justification for their disparate treatment; State Rep. Rex Duncan announced that he refused his copy because the Quran advocated "killing innocent women and children." However, when the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma gave copies of the Bible to Oklahoma lawmakers this past spring, Rep. Duncan said of the gift, "It's one of the nicest things I've received in my three years in the Legislature."

"It's remarkable how few holier-than-thou politicians have even read the Bible that they claim to hold such faith in. Rep. Duncan would apparently be surprised to learn that the violence he abhors in the Quran--particularly violence against women and children--also appears throughout the Bible," continued Speckhardt.

Many passages in the Bible contain and advocate violence. For example, Ezekiel 9:5-6 says: "And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and woman..." Several other passages likewise specifically depict the slaughter of innocents. (See www.americanhumanist.org/press/Biblequotes.php for more quotes.)

"It doesn't make sense to reject one text for violence when you embrace another that's similarly bloody," concluded Speckhardt. "Humanists don't take issue with assertions that the Quran contains violence--clearly it does. But there's something dishonest in the rejection of the Quran for violence while implicitly condoning the violence within the Bible. To do this in their capacity as public servants amounts to an inappropriate bias for one religion over another. To avoid this situation, public officials should either accept similar holy texts out of respect for their constituents, or reject them both."

Link HERE.

Earlier:

Lawmakers refuse copies of Quran

Legislators turn down copies of the Quran

The Evangelical Crackup

The hundred-foot white cross atop the Immanuel Baptist Church in downtown Wichita, Kan., casts a shadow over a neighborhood of payday lenders, pawnbrokers and pornographic video stores. To its parishioners, this has long been the front line of the culture war. Immanuel has stood for Southern Baptist traditionalism for more than half a century. Until recently, its pastor, Terry Fox, was the Jerry Falwell of the Sunflower State -- the public face of the conservative Christian political movement in a place where that made him a very big deal.

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Preacher Arrested Wearing Miniskirt

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) -- A Virginia preacher and radio announcer has pleaded guilty in Johnson City to public indecency and drunken driving charges.

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School Silence Law Kicks Up A Big Fuss

Two weeks after a new law mandated a moment of silence in Illinois public schools, the debate is anything but quiet.

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Church Sues For Right To Run Charter

A Harlem church is suing the state in an attempt to overturn a law that bars religious organizations from running charter schools even if the schools don't teach religion, a move likely to prompt new debate about the separation between church and state.

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Lawmakers Change Church Money Language

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Lawmakers tried Thursday to defuse a lawsuit that blocked state payments to two churches in northwest Louisiana by explaining that the money will be used for tutorial and anti-violence programs, not promotion of religion.

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Muslims, Christians Clash In Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt - Muslims and Coptic Christians clashed after Friday prayers over a land dispute, leaving 20 injured, security officials said.

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Priest Admits Stealing From Parishes

RICHMOND, Va. -- A retired Roman Catholic priest who prosecutors said stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from two rural parishes pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges.

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GOP Lawmaker Wants Capitol Visitors To See 'God'

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) has introduced a bill that would place on permanent display the Pledge of Allegiance -- with its mention of "one nation under God" -- and the motto "In God We Trust." The bill also would prohibit the Architect of the Capitol from excluding exhibits and materials that contain "a religious reference or Judeo-Christian content."

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Plan To Require Evolution To Be Taught In Schools

LAKELAND -- For the first time, standards in science have been written that would require Florida public-school students be taught about evolution.

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One In Three People Believes In Ghosts

WASHINGTON - It was bad enough when the TV and lights inexplicably flicked on at night, Misty Conrad says. When her daughter began talking to an unseen girl named Nicole and neighbors said children had been murdered in the house, it was time to move.

Put Conrad, a homemaker from Hampton, Va., firmly in the camp of the 34 percent of people who say they believe in ghosts, according to a pre-Halloween poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos. That's the same proportion who believe in unidentified flying objects -- exceeding the 19 percent who accept the existence of spells or witchcraft.

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Neanderthals Described As Red-Haired

The image of Neanderthals may be in need of a makeover: scientists say at least some of these extinct hominids could have had fair skin and red hair.

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Suicide Blast Kills 24 In Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suicide attacker targeted a police truck Thursday, killing 24 people -- most of them police -- in the Taliban-dominated area of North West Frontier province, police sources said.

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St. Bernard Study Casts Doubt On Creationism

The St Bernard dog - named after the 11th century priest Bernard of Menthon - may have ironically challenged the theory of creationism, say scientists.

Biologists at The University of Manchester say that changes to the shape of the breed's head over the years can only be explained through evolution and natural selection.

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Police Seize 'World Jihad' Team

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Six suspected Islamic militants were Wednesday arrested in northern Spain on suspicion of using the Internet to recruit for and plot a 'world jihad,' a Ministry of Interior statement said.

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Italy's Padre Pio 'Faked His Stigmata'

Padre Pio, Italy's most-loved saint, faked his stigmata by pouring carbolic acid on his hands, according to a new book.

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Student Jailed For Terror Propaganda

A would-be suicide bomber was jailed for eight years yesterday after he was found guilty of a series of Islamist terrorism offences including amassing and distributing terrorist propaganda.

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The Rockies Get Off Their Knees

Last year the Rockies went public with the news that the organization was looking for players with "character." And according to team management, "character" means players who have chosen Jesus as their personal Lord and manager. "We're nervous, to be honest with you," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said at the time. "It's the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs."

Rockies chairman and CEO Charlie Monfort took it further, saying, "I think character-wise we're stronger than anyone in baseball. Christians, and what they've endured, are some of the strongest people in baseball. I believe God sends signs, and we're seeing those." The team took some heat for its statements, especially when former players spoke of having their lockers searched for dirty magazines and feeling pressure that you had to be down with the God Squad to feel part of the team. It also raised the question of whether the team was discriminating against non-Christian players--would Jewish icon Shawn Green be welcome? What about just straight-up heathens?

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See also:

Rockies Place Their Faith in God, and One Another

Earlier:

Faith binds many on Sox

One In Five Fans Believes In Jinxes

Poll finds superstitious fans will avoid certain colors, avoid watching TV

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Bhutto Receives New Death Threat

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said Tuesday she had received a new death threat but will start campaigning in Pakistani cities in the next couple days, avoiding mass rallies.

Five days after the suicide bombing that killed at least 136 at her homecoming procession in Karachi, Bhutto said her lawyer received a letter from an unidentified "friend of al-Qaeda" threatening to slaughter her "like a goat."

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Purported New Bin Laden Audio Airs

(CNN) -- Al-Jazeera broadcast Monday an audio message purportedly from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden calling on al Qaeda and other groups in Iraq to unify their forces and speak with one voice, that of the Islamic nation.

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22 Charged Over 'Al Qaeda Network'

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A Spanish judge indicted 22 suspected Islamic terrorists Tuesday, charging them with recruiting and sending fighters to Iraq, including one who killed Italian troops there in a suicide attack in 2003, according to a copy of the indictment viewed by CNN.

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Alabama Picks A Bible Textbook

Alabama has became the first state in the union to approve a textbook for a course about the Bible in its public schools, and its surprisingly uncontroversial decision may prove to be a model for others.

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Revised Motto Proposal May Fail

It doesn't look like "In God We Trust" posters are going to go up in every Kern High School District classroom -- even if they're accompanied by other historical documents.

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Evangelicals Lambaste Homosexual Employment Bill

WASHINGTON -- Prominent US evangelical leaders assailed a bill that would give special rights to homosexuals in the workplace, calling it bad policy and denouncing attempts to tie it with the black civil rights movement.

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Religious Leaders Call Holy Land Verdict A Relief

After 14 years of investigation, two months of trial, 19 days of deliberations and four more of waiting, the Holy Land case is essentially back where it started. The judge declared a mistrial on nearly all the charges, and prosecutors can retry everyone.

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Muslims' Dowry Not Binding

On Raghad Alwattar's wedding day, her groom gave her a gold bracelet, a ring and a promise of a $25,000 payment.

Less than two years later, the marriage is over, the pair aren't speaking, and a Franklin County judge has refused to enforce the dowry because she considers it a religious agreement.

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Catholic Condom Ban Helping AIDS Spread In Latam

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The rapid spread in Latin America of the virus that causes AIDS is made worse by the Roman Catholic Church's stand against using condoms, a U.N. official said on Monday.

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Crisis At Crisis?

Deal Hudson, who was forced to resign from the Bush administration's Catholic Project and editorship of Crisis magazine in 2004, is now handing out advice to the Christian right from his perch at The Morley Institute for Church and Culture.

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Obama's Gospel Tour

Senator Barack Obama's campaign announced its latest effort to attract people of faith to the campaign: a gospel concert tour.

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The 'Silence' Mandate: One State Senator Fights Back

"This new requirement of a moment of silence adds another unnecessary item to an already lengthy list of curriculum and other administrative requirements faced by the teachers in District 65. It represents undue interference in the ability of these teachers to manage their own classrooms and has nothing whatsoever to do with improving student performance."

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Religious Right Divides Its Vote At Summit

WASHINGTON -- After an earnest appeal for acceptance from Rudolph W. Giuliani, Christian conservatives ended their two-day summit here Saturday still divided about which of the Republican presidential candidates to marshal their collective might behind.

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Trees And Lights, No Religion In Seattle Airport

SEATAC, Wash. -- Trees, lights and a fake snowbank will be used in a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport winter display designed to be as nonreligious as possible, officials have decided.

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City's Funding Of Prayer Breakfast Questioned

Chandler's $1,000 contribution to "A Morning of Prayer" breakfast Nov. 8 at the Chandler/Gilbert YMCA has some questioning the use of taxpayer money for a religious event - and why the prayers will be delivered only by Christians and Jews.

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Group Tries To Rid City-Parish Of Blue Laws

The blue laws - which stem from honoring Christian Sabbath - prohibit grocery and liquor stores from selling packaged liquor and wine on Sundays and do not allow packaged beer to be sold before 12:30 p.m.

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University Leader Granted Leave Amid Lawsuit

(CNN) -- Richard Roberts said he will step aside temporarily as president of Oral Roberts University as the school fights a wrongful termination lawsuit by three former professors who accuse Roberts and his wife of misconduct.

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Man Wins Right To Have Nativity Scene In Capitol Rotunda

An Olympia man has settled his lawsuit enabling him to place a Christian nativity display in the Capitol Rotunda in December, his lawyers say.

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C Of E Child Abuse Was Ignored For Decades

Child abuse has gone unchecked in the Church of England for decades amid a cover up by bishops, secret papers have revealed.

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Carnage As Suicide Bombers Attack Bhutto Convoy

More than 120 people were feared dead last night and scores more were injured after suspected suicide bombers targeted a convoy carrying former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto following her return from eight years in exile.

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Neanderthals May Have Had Gene For Speech

Neanderthals, an archaic human species that dominated Europe until the arrival of modern humans some 45,000 years ago, possessed a critical gene known to underlie speech, according to DNA evidence retrieved from two individuals excavated from El Sidron, a cave in northern Spain.

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Bush Family Planning Appointee Called Contraceptives Part Of The 'Culture Of Death'

On Monday, President Bush appointed Susan Orr to oversee federal family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Orr, who is currently directing HHS child welfare programs, was touted by the administration as "highly qualified."

But a look at Orr's record shows that her strongest qualifications appear to be her right-wing credentials and endorsement of the Bush administration's failed abstinence-only policies. Before joining HHS, Orr served as senior director for marriage and family care at the conservative Family Research Council and was an adjunct professor at Pat Robertson's Regent University.

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Regent University Student: Pat Robertson Is 'Crazier' Than I Am

Adam Key, a Regent University law student, has been "indefinitely suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation" for posting on his Facebook page an "unflattering photo" of university founder Pat Robertson.

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See also:

Regent suspends student pending psychiatric evaluation

Rice Visits Bethlehem

As she emerged from the Church of the Nativity, she proclaimed the visit "personally for me a reminder the Prince of Peace is still with us, and still with me and still with all of us" and made a religious appeal to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Naked Chocolate Jesus Rises Again

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A life-size chocolate sculpture of a naked Jesus will finally be displayed in New York starting in late October, seven months after an outcry by Roman Catholics forced a different gallery to cancel its exhibition.

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Cherry Creek Schools Illegally Urging Churchgoing

The Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit against Cherry Creek Schools, saying a project aimed at helping students reach their full potential illegally encourages going to church.

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Akron Council Drops Lord's Prayer

''We tried to come to a consensus that makes sense,'' he said. ''There's no need for litigation that we know we will lose.''

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A Rabbi Who Doesn't Believe In God

Rabbi Sivan Maas said she believes God is a literary character - and nothing more.

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$25M Sought From San Diego Catholics

SAN DIEGO - The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego is asking parishioners to donate $25 million to help pay for its $198.1 million settlement with childhood sex abuse victims.

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Rare Creatures Found In "Coral Triangle"

(AP) Scientists exploring a deep ocean basin in search of species isolated for millions of years found marine life believed to be previously undiscovered, including a tentacled orange worm and an unusual black jellyfish.

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Hatred Of U.S. Drives Al-Qaida Recruiting

The Bush administration rejects the idea that the war in Iraq has driven young Arab men into the arms of al-Qaida. But if you believe the young men themselves, the administration is wrong.

At a Baghdad jail for prisoners who have attacked U.S. forces, everyone - to a man - says it was the U.S. occupation of Iraq that drove them to violence. And they are not alone. Across the Middle East and South Asia, the same story can be heard in Internet cafes, mosques, safe houses and prisons.

"The U.S. says this war is part of the global war on terrorism," Saedi Farhan, an Iraqi engineer who took part in an attack on U.S. forces, said in a weekend interview with NBC News. "But people here say that the war has increased fanaticism and brought terrorism to Iraq."

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New Dinosaur Species Unearthed

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- The skeleton of what is believed to be a new dinosaur species -- a 105-foot plant-eater that is among the largest dinosaurs ever found -- has been uncovered in Argentina, scientists said Monday.

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Action Figures Face Competition

Standing 30cm (1ft) tall and boasting a chest circumference of 20cm (7.75in), the talking plastic Jesus is bigger than a Spiderman action figure. But it remains to be seen whether the toy has the commercial clout to outsell the webslinger.

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Is This Pope John Paul II

This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II making an appearance beyond the grave.

The image, said by believers to show the Holy Father with his right hand raised in blessing, was spotted during a ceremony in Poland to mark the second anniversary of his death.

Service director Jarek Cielecki, a Polish priest and close friend of John Paul II, travelled to Poland after hearing an onlooker had photographed the image.

Father Cielecki said he was convinced the picture showed the former pontiff.

"You can see the image of a person in the flames and I think it is the servant of God, Pope John Paul II," he said.

The pictures were being broadcast continuously on Italian TV and also posted on religious websites, some of which crashed as thousands logged on to see for themselves the eerie figure formed by the flames.

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Pat Robertson Says Dividing Jerusalem Risks God's Wrath

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia: Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said Monday that the United States will risk God's wrath if it forces Israel to surrender part of Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

"He that touches Jerusalem touches the apple of God's eye," Robertson said on "The 700 Club," the daily religious news-and-talk television program he hosts from his Christian Broadcasting Network.

"And if we decide we're going to wrest East Jerusalem away from the Jews and give it over to the Palestinians, we're risking the wrath of God on this nation, and I think it's very dangerous," Robertson said.

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Attacks Aimed At Iraqi Shiite Pilgrims Kill At Least 24

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Insurgents in Iraq targeted Shiite Muslims on Sunday -- the second day of the Eid al-Fitr festival -- in separate attacks that left at least 24 dead, Iraqi officials said.

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Bomb Kills At Least Six At Movie Theater In Northern India

NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- A bomb ripped through a packed movie theater in northern India on Sunday, killing at least six people and wounding at least 30 others, authorities said.

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Faith-Based Prison Programs Multiply Across U.S.

RICHMOND, Texas (AP) -- Killer-turned-artist Manny Hernandez on the prison where he's finishing an eight-year term: "It's a blessing to be here."

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Probes Find Improper Use Of Religious Comp Time

When Mark Elengold retired as a top government drug regulator in 2005, he received $18,733 in his final paycheck, on top of his normal salary. The money was not a bonus, overtime pay or compensation for unused vacation hours. Rather, it was for time he had reserved to go to synagogue but had not actually used for that purpose during his three-decade career.

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State Erected Signs For AIG Museum

Some of you might have seen the big brown signs on local highways that let you know you're nearing the Creation Museum in Boone County, Ky.

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Pint-Size Preachers

Samuel is a Baptist preacher at a church in his home town of Brookhaven, a small town in southwestern Mississippi. He also preaches outside in front of the local Wal-Mart, and has preached on the road in Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Washington D.C., and the streets of New York City.

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Vatican To Publish New Documents On Trial Of Knights Templar

ROME (AP) -- The Vatican has published secret archive documents about the trial of the Knights Templar, including a long-lost parchment that shows that Pope Clement V initially absolved the medieval Christian order from accusations of heresy, officials said Friday.

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Spanish Police Foil Bomb Attack By French Muslim

Spanish police say they have foiled a planned suicide bomb attack by a French Muslim.

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Anthropologist Finds Cultural Emphasis On Group Over Individual Might Hinder Democracy

When it comes to establishing democracy, a me-first attitude isn't such a bad thing. In fact, it might be a necessity, according to Northern Illinois University anthropologist Giovanni Bennardo.

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Stretching The Search For Signs Of Life

Astronomers in Hat Creek, Calif., are planning today to switch on the first elements of a giant new array of radio telescopes that they say will greatly extend the investigation of natural and unnatural phenomena in the universe.

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Vatican Official Insists He's Not Gay

A Vatican official suspended after being caught on hidden camera making advances to a young man said in an interview published Sunday that he is not gay and was only pretending to be gay as part of his work.

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Over Air America Radio Freethought Radio Goes National!

"Hello all you godless infidels, out-of-the-closet atheists and happy heathens!"

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See and hear: http://www.freethoughtradio.com/

Federal Fund Provides "Compassion Capital" To Nonprofits For Sixth Year

For the sixth year in a row, the federal government has awarded millions of dollars in grants to increase the capacity of faith-based and community organizations to deliver social services.

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Officials Oppose Return Of Nativity

Mayor, majority of City Council say removing display saved taxpayers money.

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Ann Coulter Shocks Cable TV Show

Slash-and-burn columnist Ann Coulter shocked a cable TV talk-show audience Monday when she declared that Jews need to be "perfected" by becoming Christians, and that America would be better off if everyone were Christian.

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Anti-Gay Movement

Russian-speaking Christian fundamentalists, mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, have formed a ferocious anti-gay movement in the western U.S.

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Christian Clown In Perv Bust

An Illinois man who worked as a "Christian clown" named Klutzo was arrested yesterday on child pornography charges for allegedly taking naked photographs of young boys at a Philippines orphanage. According to a federal criminal complaint, Amon Paul Carlock took the illicit photos during a "clowning" trip to the House of Joy orphanage earlier this year.

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The Rise Of Mosques Becomes Catalyst For Conflict

From London's docklands to the rolling hills of Tuscany, from southern Austria to Amsterdam and Cologne, the issue of Islamic architecture and its impact on citadels of "western civilisation" is increasingly contentious.

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Islamists Damage Giant Rock Buddha

Islamist radicals in Pakistan have attempted to destroy an ancient carving of Buddha by drilling holes in the rock and filling them with dynamite.

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Jihad Camps Were Preparation For Murder, Court Told

An alleged organiser of military-style training camps in Britain for jihadis urged his followers to carry out murderous atrocities and "see how many you can take at the same time", Woolwich crown court was told yesterday.

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See also:

Suspect 'dubbed himself Osama bin London'

Maid Arrested After Saudi Employer 'Bewitched'

RIYADH (AFP) -- Saudi Arabia's religious police have arrested a domestic worker accused of having put a spell on her employer, the Al-Madina newspaper reported on Sunday.

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Anti-Religion Book A Nominee For National Book Award

Provocative author Christopher Hitchens has been nominated for a U.S. National Book Award for his bestselling work, God is Not Great.

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Father Christian, The Priest Who Did The Devil's Work

Christian Von Wernich's story is one of the darkest chapters of the 'Dirty War'. He was the priest who heard the confessions of political prisoners, passed them on to the police, and then stood by as the detainees were tortured. David Usborne reports on the day justice was done.

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Politics And Religion Lose Out To A Soap Opera

RAMALLAH, West Bank: With its tales of brave men and dutiful women in a simpler, long-vanished Middle East, a Syrian soap opera has become the latest rage in the Arab world during the holy month of Ramadan.

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Priest For Trial On 23 Sex Charges

A ROMAN Catholic priest has been ordered to stand trial in Sydney on 23 sex charges involving teenage boys.

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FreeThoughtAction Hero Of The Day - 10/10/07

Julia Sweeney (born October 10, 1959 in Spokane, Washington)

According to Wikipedia, Sweeney "is an American actress and comedian who lives in Hollywood, California....

"Sweeney is an atheist, something she brought to light in a one-woman show entitled Letting Go of God. In it, she discusses her Catholic upbringing, early religious ideology, and the life events and internal search that led her to believe that the universe can function on its own without a deity to preside over it....

"In 2006, Sweeney was awarded the Richard Dawkins Award and the American Humanist Association's 'Humanist Pioneer' award, and joined the advisory board of the Secular Coalition for America. She also does commercials for the Freedom From Religion Foundation on Air America Radio."

Religious Extremists Killing Women In Basra, Iraq

Basra, Iraq - Women in Basra have become the targets of a violent campaign by religious extremists, who leave more than 15 female bodies scattered around the city each month, police officers say.

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Telescope Detects Space Dust

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Astronomers have taken a baby step in trying to answer the cosmic question of where we come from.

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Sunday, October 28, 2007