religion

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Moses Got High on Mt. Sinai, Study Says

Mind-altering drugs may have sparked religious visions

(Newser) - Moses was high on mind-altering drugs when he heard God’s word on Mount Sinai, an Israeli researcher said this week. He contends that hallucinogenics were key to Jewish ceremonies and explain Moses' reception of the Ten Commandments and his vision of the burning bush. Benny Shanon, who teaches at...

Internet Activists Target Scientology

Church can no longer control its image

(Newser) - Scientology is increasingly under attack on the Internet, where critics and dropouts are undermining the church's traditionally tight control of its public image, reports the LA Times. Three ex-Scientologists, including the niece of the church's head, launched ExScientologyKids.com last week. Its motto: "We were born. We grew up....

Nepali Goddess Retires at 11
Nepali Goddess Retires at 11
Mar 3, 2008 12:35 PM CST

Nepali Goddess Retires at 11

Kumari briefly deposed last year after traveling abroad

(Newser) - Sajani Shakya, one of Nepal's living goddesses, is officially retiring at age 11, the AP reports. Religious leaders briefly stripped the Kumari of her divine status last year after she defied custom and traveled abroad, but her premature retirement isn't related to the controversy, officials say. She has "come...

Obama Not Making a Connection With Catholics

Clinton's Hispanic-Catholic base may prove key in coming contests

(Newser) - Barack Obama's poor primary showings with Catholic voters could become more problematic in Catholic-heavy states like Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, Politico reports. Despite Obama's string of victories, Hillary Clinton has consistently grabbed a large percentage of Catholics, in part due to her popularity with majority-Catholic Hispanics. Analysts and Catholic politicians...

Women Reclaim Virginity Through Faith, Surgery

Growing number seek to stake a new claim to innocence

(Newser) - Efforts to reclaim lost virginity appear to be gaining steam across the country, MSNBC reports. More young women are declaring a sexual do-over, with some even opting for surgical replacement of the hymen, say doctors who’ve seen an increase in the procedures. “I felt really bad from a...

More Americans Cut Church Ties
More Americans Cut Church Ties
Feb 26, 2008 6:00 AM CST

More Americans Cut Church Ties

50% have switched denomination, and 16% have no affiliation

(Newser) - Americans are swapping  religious affiliations at an accelerating rate, with 50% choosing  a different denomination than the one they were raised in, and 16%—double the number 20 years ago—saying the have no ties to a particular church, a new survey of religious life finds. That doesn't mean they're...

$3.7M Study Questions Origins of Faith

UK researchers will ask if people believe in God naturally

(Newser) - UK researchers will spend $3.7 million probing whether belief in God is a matter of nature or nurture, the Times of London reports. The University of Oxford crew will examine whether faith in a deity conferred an evolutionary advantage, or might be byproduct of other advantageous human characteristics, such...

Church Launches 'Sex Challenge'
Church Launches
'Sex Challenge'
Feb 19, 2008 7:51 AM CST

Church Launches 'Sex Challenge'

Daily sex for marrieds, none for singles, pastor proposes

(Newser) - A Florida church has issued a 30-day "sex challenge" to its members that's likely to be a much bigger hit with those who are married—at least the husbands among them—than the singles, the St. Petersburg Times reports. The Relevant Church wants married couples to have sex every...

Critics Blast Sarkozy's Holocaust School Plan

Prez wants each 5th grader to study a victim

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked a new controversy: The maverick leader is  now defending his plan to have every fifth grader study a French youth killed in the Holocaust. Critics, including Jewish analysts, warn the move could traumatize students. But one historian applauded Sarkozy's "courage" and said what...

Bishop: Heaven a Place on Earth
Bishop: Heaven a Place on Earth
Feb 9, 2008 6:34 PM CST

Bishop: Heaven a Place on Earth

He says common Christian view of afterlife is a misconception

(Newser) - There is no heaven—or at least not the way most Christians think of it, according to Episcopal Bishop N.T. “Tom” Wright, who lashes out at the common angels-and-clouds view of the afterlife. “That’s a very damaging distortion,” the prominent theologian tells Time magazine. “...

Bishops' Bright Idea: Give Up Carbon for Lent

Brits urge faithful to fast to cut emissions, fight global warming

(Newser) - For many Christians, Lent is a time to forgo chocolate or ice cream, but two senior British bishops have a better idea: “fasting” away your carbon footprint. “The poor are already suffering the effects of climate change,” says Liverpool’s bishop. “To carry on regardless of...

Religious Belief Linked to Loneliness

Study also associates love for pets, computers with social isolation

(Newser) - Most people can't stomach loneliness, and they're more prone to believing in the supernatural or creating strong bonds with pets and household objects to compensate, a new study finds. It's a throwback to our ancestors, who relied on group living to survive, LiveScience reports. "Being socially isolated is just...

Obama to SC Blacks: Have Faith
Obama to SC Blacks: Have Faith
Jan 12, 2008 6:10 PM CST

Obama to SC Blacks: Have Faith

Dem puts religion over race in primary strategy

(Newser) - Barack Obama is putting religion over race in the Palmetto State, where almost half of Democratic voters are black—a strategy that has worked for President Bush twice, Politico reports. As in Iowa, Obama has held faith forums throughout the state and even stumped in conservative, white churches. Some sneered...

Huckabee Tests Limits of Faith
Huckabee Tests Limits of Faith
Dec 31, 2007 7:05 PM CST

Huckabee Tests Limits of Faith

Preaching prompted a backlash in Arkansas; in Iowa, will Christian soldiers come out?

(Newser) - Mike Huckabee is banking on his deep Christian faith drawing voters to him in the presidential primaries, but that same passion has proven a liability in the past. As Arkansas governor, Huckabee made several religious molehills into mountains big enough for Moses, the LA Times reports in an examination of...

Priests Brawl With Brooms at Church of the Nativity

Punch-up in Bethlehem injures 5 priests, 2 cops

(Newser) - A holiday cleanup at the church built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born turned ugly Thursday, as Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests came to blows, the Times of London reports. Robed priests pummeled each other with brooms and stones in the Church of the Nativity...

Ill. Bans Natural Hallucinogen
Ill. Bans Natural Hallucinogen
Dec 26, 2007 10:21 AM CST

Ill. Bans Natural Hallucinogen

Defenders tout controversial herbal remedy's benefits as law closes in

(Newser) - An impending ban on a hallucinogenic plant used in religious ceremonies by Mazatec Indians in Mexico has defenders of the herb objecting to the fact that it's about to be illegal in Illinois. Possessing salvia divinorum will be a felony beginning Tuesday. Defenders of the herb insist it offers beneficial...

Catholics Now No. 1 in Britain
Catholics Now No. 1 in Britain
Dec 23, 2007 12:47 PM CST

Catholics Now No. 1 in Britain

Anglicans second to Catholicism for first time in 400 years

(Newser) - For the first time in 400 years, Catholicism has more adherents than the Church of England in Great Britain, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Immigrants from Eastern Europe and Africa have filled the pews of Catholic churches, while attendance at Anglican Sunday services has dipped 20% since 2000, according to a...

In Shift, Clergy Gives More Dollars to Dems

Donations favor Obama, Clinton over Huckabee

(Newser) - In a shift from 2004, Republican presidential and congressional hopefuls are losing clergy support as measured by campaign donations, Politico reports. According to FEC data, clergy and religious groups have given Dem candidates $367,000 but the GOP just $288,000. Of the Dem haul, Barack Obama leads with $107,...

Mike to Mitt: So Sorry About Mormon Jab

Candidates make nice; Romney accepts apology

(Newser) - Surging GOP candidate Mike Huckabee apologized to Mitt Romney yesterday for having asked a reporter if Mormons believed that Jesus and the Devil are brothers. Huckabee said he apologized after the Republican debate in Iowa, and Romney "graciously" accepted. Earlier this week Romney had slammed Huckabee, a former Baptist...

Germany to Try Scientology Ban
Germany to Try Scientology Ban
Dec 7, 2007 10:22 PM CST

Germany to Try Scientology Ban

Lawmakers order domestic spies to gather a decade of data on the group

(Newser) - German ministers accused Scientology of being unconstitutional today and took steps to ban it from the country, Der Spiegel reports. They ordered spies to assemble a dossier on the group, based on 10 years of surveillance, to support the ban. Scientologists were outraged, and called themselves victims of "on-going...

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