State threatens to close Christian ministry

A Christian ministry filed a lawsuit yesterday in federal court against the state of Tennessee for forcing it to obtain a license in order to continue.

Girl, 17, sentenced to no sex

A judge in Sherman, Texas, prohibited a 17-year-old girl from having sex as part of her probation.

Societies worse off ‘when they have God on their side’

Religious belief can cause damage to a society, contributing towards high murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide, according to research published today.

Judge Motley, key civil rights figure, dies at 84

NEW YORK – Federal Judge Constance Baker Motley, who as a young lawyer represented Martin Luther King Jr. and played a pivotal role in the nation’s civil rights struggle, has died. She was 84. First black woman on federal bench represented Martin Luther King Jr.

Senate confirms John Roberts as chief justice

WASHINGTON – With support across party lines, chief justice nominee John Roberts was confirmed Thursday as President Bush’s selection to replace the late William H. Rehnquist.

Senator: God judging U.S. with disastrous hurricanes

An Alabama state senator says the reason why the Gulf Coast is suffering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is because God is judging Americans in that region for sinful behavior.

Katrina exodus reaches all states

Hurricane Katrina has dispersed 1.3 million Gulf Coast households to communities in every state from Maine to Hawaii, according to the first official accounting of the disaster’s unprecedented ripple effect.

Army Investigating Web Postings of Grisly War Photos

U.S. Army officials are looking into allegations that soldiers have been trading gruesome digital pictures of war victims in Iraq and Afghanistan for access to an amateur pornography Web site, but officials said yesterday that there is insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges.

An Islamic guide on how to beat your wife

MADRID — An imam who wrote a book on how to beat your wife without leaving marks on her body has been ordered by a judge in Spain to study the country’s constitution.

Joan Baez Tests TV’s Language Limits

NEW YORK — Another musician has tested the tolerance level for bad language on prime-time television, but she’s no raucous rock star. Would you believe it’s Joan Baez?

FEMA closes Houston relief center due to heat, crowds

HOUSTON (AP) — Saying they were caught off-guard by the number of people in need, FEMA officials closed a relief center early on Wednesday after some of the hundreds of hurricane victims in line began fainting in triple-digit heat.

1,200-plus churches vow to adopt damaged churches on Gulf

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–More than 1,200 Southern Baptist churches have committed to help SBC churches in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The Adopt A Church partnership was initiated by the North American Mission Board the week after the hurricane destroyed thousands of homes and business along the Gulf Coast including hundreds of SBC [...]

Arkansas Clinic Offers Free Abortions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Sep 28, 2005 — A doctor has offered to perform free abortions on hurricane evacuees, saying it may be too dangerous for them to wait until they return home.

Don Adams of ‘Get Smart’ dead

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Don Adams, the wry-voiced comedian who starred as the fumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s TV spoof of James Bond movies, “Get Smart,” has died. He was 82

Smith gave alleged courthouse shooter drugs

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — Ashley Smith, the woman who says she persuaded suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols to release her by talking about her faith in God, discloses in a new book that she gave him methamphetamine during the hostage ordeal.

Crime Fighting – Aiming for shame

Facing incessant prostitution on city streets, St. Louis police have added shame and humiliation to their crime-fighting arsenal.

U.S. crime rate holds at 30-year low

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s crime rate was unchanged last year, holding at the lowest levels since the government began surveying crime victims in 1973, the Justice Department reported Sunday.

‘Intelligent Design’ Court Battle Begins

HARRISBURG, Pa. — “Intelligent design” is a religious theory that was inserted in a school district’s curriculum with no concern for whether it had scientific underpinnings, a lawyer told a federal judge Monday as a landmark trial got under way.

Georgia Closes Schools for 2 Days to Save Fuel

ATLANTA Sep 26, 2005 — The governor’s request that Georgia public schools take two “snow days” and close to conserve fuel did not sit well with parents who had to scramble to find baby sitters and day care for their children.

Gov. Rick Perry : Texas ‘in Pretty Good Shape’ After Rita

PERRY, La. — For the storm-shattered Gulf Coast, the images were all too familiar: Tiny fishing villages in splinters. Refrigerators and coffins bobbing in floodwaters. Helicopters and rescue boats making house-to-house searches of residents stranded on the rooftops.