Eleven Old Order Amish families sued a northern New York community Tuesday, claiming that its refusal to grant permits for their traditionally built homes is religious discrimination.

The Amish families claim in the federal lawsuit that the town of Morristown is targeting them for building code enforcement.   SOURCE ARTICLE

The crumpling economy and plunging financial markets have demolished trillions of dollars in stock value, and now they've taken a toll on the pink stucco church on Main Street.

A decision by the three priests of St. Michael's Church - the largest parish in the Archdiocese of Boston - to halt construction of a long-planned $5.2 million pastoral center is one small indicator of the enormous challenges now being faced by religious denominations and congregations throughout the region as their endowments fall, their donors' stock portfolios evaporate, and requests for help grow.

The next few weeks, between Thanksgiving and New Year's, will be a key indicator of how dramatically the nation's financial crisis will affect religious organizations. Contributions to date have been stable or up for many denominations and congregations, but this period is the high season for American philanthropy, in part because people are motivated by the spirit of Christmas to be charitable, and in part because people are try ing to amass tax deductions as the year closes.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

A group that promotes separation of church and state filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the city of Rancho Cucamonga after a billboard on Route 66 that read "Imagine No Religion" was taken down and destroyed.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing the city because it says Redevelopment Director Linda Daniels, who is also named in the suit, contacted the billboard company telling it of the numerous complaints the city had received regarding the billboard and asked if the company could do anything.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

Energized by a comeback win, conservative activists want to apply the same formula they used to outlaw same-sex marriage in California to prevent other states from recognizing gay unions and President-elect Barack Obama from expanding the rights of gays and lesbians.

Leaders of the successful Proposition 8 campaign say an unusual coalition of evangelical Christians, Mormons and Roman Catholics built a majority at the polls Tuesday by harnessing the organizational muscle of churches to a mainstream message about what school children might be taught about gay relationships if the ban failed.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

The largest U.S. Islamic civil rights group was among the first to congratulate President-Elect Democrat Barack Obama, a man who some opponents tried to portray as a Muslim because of the childhood years he spent in Indonesia.

“President-elect Obama’s victory sends the unmistakable message that America is a nation that offers equal opportunity to people of all backgrounds,” the Council on American Islamic Relations said in a statement just minutes after Obama’s victory speech in Chicago.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

Pope Benedict XVI sent a personal message to President-elect Barack Obama Nov. 5, congratulating him and offering his prayers for Obama and for all the people of the United States.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that because the message was addressed personally to Obama, the Vatican did not plan to publish it.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

In synagogues and church pulpits across California the Sunday before the Nov. 4 election, rabbis and preachers admonished their flock on how to vote on Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that would eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry.

In Sacramento, Rev. Rodolfo Llamas told congregants at St. Peter's Catholic Church to vote for Prop 8. "This vote is insulting God," Llamas said at early Mass, the Sacramento Bee reported. "When civil power steps on religious power, then there is a problem." Two hours later, the Rev. Ginny Curinga urged her church members at Sierra Arden United Church of Christ to vote No on Prop 8 as a matter of civil rights. "It has angered me so much to hear the propaganda about Proposition 8," Curinga said. "We need to stand up and vote against this kind of hatred."   FULL ARTICLE LINK

Sikhs invoke the Guru Granth Sahib to justify men wearing turbans instead of hard hats on work sites.

Muslims point to the Qur'an as proof the prophet Mohammed wanted women to dress modestly to avoid the gaze of men.

Christians quote apocalyptic passages from the New Testament to say global warning is unavoidable.

All are examples of how age-old scripture is used - or misused - to dictate behaviour in the modern world, scholars said Thursday at a McGill University interfaith conference on the role sacred texts play in religion.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

An atheist soldier says in a federal lawsuit that his superiors required him to be present for Christian prayers, and that the military allows fundamentalist Christians to proselytize.

Spc. Dustin Chalker, a combat medic with an engineering battalion, alleges he was required to attend three events from December 2007 to May 2008 at Fort Riley in which Christian prayers were delivered. Chalker has served in Iraq and Korea.   FULL ARTICLE LINK