By Carol J. Williams (Los Angeles Times) Derence Kernek and Ed Watson live together each day in fear that they won’t be able to pledge “till death do us part” before it’s too late. Watson, 78, is in rapidly failing health, afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, diabetes and hypertension. A federal appeals court ruled last [...]

(Change) Exodus International, the notorious “ex-gay” organization, has just released an iPhone app that, according to its website, is “designed to be a useful resource for men, women, parents, students, and ministry leaders.” The Exodus website further boasts that its app received a 4+ rating from Apple, meaning that it contains “no objectionable content.” No [...]

By Giles Tremlett (guardian.co.uk) They have all taken the traditional vow of poverty, so police and tax inspectors in Spain want to know why the nuns at Zaragoza’s Santa Lucia convent claimed that a robber had stolen €1.5m (£1.3m) in cash from them. The nuns’ unorthodox banking system, using dozens of black bin liners stuffed [...]

By Fiver (Daily Kos) Sounds far-fetched, right?  Well it isn’t.  The anti-choice zealots aren’t content to limiting a woman’s access to safe and legal abortion, they’re now thought police: Ms. Taylor became light-headed and fell down a flight of stairs in her home. Paramedics rushed to the scene and ultimately declared her healthy. However, since [...]

By Ryan Kost (The Oregonian) The Oregon House approved a bill Thursday that would remove legal protection for parents who choose faith healing over medical intervention when treating their children.   The bill passed unanimously, though two Republican representatives raised concerns that the legislation was taking the issue away from juries and sending the state [...]

By Frances Kennedy (The Independent UK) The Catholic Church in Rome made the extraordinary admission yesterday that it is aware priests from at least 23 countries have been sexually abusing nuns. Most of the abuse has occurred in Africa, where priests vowed to celibacy, who previously sought out prostitutes, have preyed on nuns to avoid [...]

By Daphne Bramham (Canada.com) Water torture of babies is one way some members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints instil fear of authority, a former member testified Wednesday. “It’s quite common,” Carolyn Blackmore Jessop said. She was a witness for the B.C. government in the constitutional reference case to determine [...]

By Julie Ingersoll (Religion Dispatches Magazine) David Barton, promoter of “American Christian History” and increasingly popular pundit, thanks in no small measure to Glenn Beck, has a long history of pseudo-scholarship. His work has shaped a generation of Christian-schooled and Christian-homeschooled kids and now that he’s a “professor” in Beck’s “university,” he is poised to [...]

By Julie Ingersoll (Religion Dispatches Magazine) David Barton, promoter of “American Christian History” and increasingly popular pundit, thanks in no small measure to Glenn Beck, has a long history of pseudo-scholarship. His work has shaped a generation of Christian-schooled and Christian-homeschooled kids and now that he’s a “professor” in Beck’s “university,” he is poised to [...]

DES PERES, Mo., Nov. 4 (UPI) –Neal Thompson, who said he visits a different church every Sunday in his Jesus costume to spread the message of his Christian faith, said members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Des Peres refused to allow him to enter, KTVI-TV, St. Louis, reported Thursday. He said he tried to [...]