Two communities dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its jailed leader Warren Jeffs have been sued by the federal government for alleged religious discrimination against citizens who don't belong to the polygamous sect.
In what have become known as the "Jesus pencil" and "candy cane" cases, the Supreme Court refused Monday to consider appeals from the families of elementary school students over distribution of religious-themed gifts on campus.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This is the first line of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Professor Carter Snead and Catholics United member Samantha Groark discuss the lawsuits filed against the Obama admin.
Muslims in Europe face discrimination in education, employment and religious freedom, an Amnesty International report said.
A Muslim civil liberties group filed a lawsuit Friday against the federal government for allegedly violating the First Amendment rights of Michigan Muslims and violating a 1993 federal law that upholds the free practice of religion.
Sen. Rick Santorum, who is campaigning to become America's second Catholic president, disagrees from the bottom of his gut with the first Catholic to hold the office.
Poor Rick Santorum. He is very frustrated and apparently now a bit nauseous.
A fact check on Rick Santorum's statements about the president's push for college, and religious practices of students.
Democrats hold a contraception hearing in stark contrast to a GOP effort that included no women. CNN's Dana Bash reports.
Seven states on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the federal government requirement that religious employers offer health insurance coverage that includes contraceptives and other birth control services.
Mitt Romney attacks Rick Santorum's background on lobbying and earmarks.
On the eve of the last debate before crucial primaries, Republican presidential challengers Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich battled for conservative support by targeting President Barack Obama in increasingly strident attacks Tuesday.
Welcome to the culture wars 2.0, where the front lines now are religious freedom and contraceptives. Abortion? Gay marriage? Those are so last year.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton take Rep. Darrell Issa to task over his denial of their witness.
A pair of female Democratic lawmakers had a simple question Thursday about a controversial hearing on Capitol Hill.
President Obama outlines the compromise reached with religious groups over the debate on contraceptives.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops denounced President Barack Obama's compromise over whether to require religiously affiliated institutions to provide contraception to female employees, saying the proposal raises "serious moral concerns," according to a statement posted on its website late Friday.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops denounced President Barack Obama's compromise over whether to require religiously affiliated institutions to provide contraception to female employees, saying the proposal raises "serious moral concerns," according to a statement posted on its website late Friday.
After weeks of tangling over new Health and Human Services guidelines requiring contraception services in new health insurance plans, the White House has offered what it describes as a "common sense accommodation." It is aimed at ending the confrontation between the Obama administration and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
A former teacher at a Michigan religious school lost her workplace discrimination claim at the Supreme Court Wednesday, as the justices deftly avoided the larger questions raised in the church-state dispute.
In March 2009, when I was detained in Evin Prison in Iran, two evangelical Christians were arrested. I never met them but spotted them a few times through the barred window of my cell as they walked back and forth to the bathroom down the hall.
As Zoroastrian funerary processions enter the graveyard overlooking the Tehran suburb of Ray, their sobriety is often shattered by the sound of explosions and gunfire. Frequently, the way forward is blocked by Islamic Revolutionary Guards conducting a combat exercise among the tombs. According to Zoroastrian custom, burial needs to take place within 24 hours, and the Revolutionary Guards will not halt their training activities there for the funerals.
The Supreme Court has passed up a chance to get involved in a dispute over memorial crosses erected along Utah public roads to honor fallen state highway troopers, and one justice is not pleased that his colleagues are staying out of the church-state fight.
Iranian media outlets have "systematically stirred up" widespread contempt toward the country's 300,000-strong Baha'i religious minority, the group says.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, the head of a network of Christian house churches in Iran, could be executed as soon as midnight Wednesday in Tehran for refusing to recant his religious beliefs and convert to Islam, said the chair of a commission that monitors religious freedom around the world.
The White House Thursday condemned the conviction of an Iranian pastor, who may be executed in Tehran for refusing to recant his religious beliefs and convert from Christianity to Islam.
A church called the Phoenix Goddess Temple has been accused of being a house of prostitution, and a six-month undercover investigation has resulted in the arrests of 20 women and men who worked there, Phoenix police said Friday.
Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs frequently objected to witness testimony as he faced sexual assault charges during his trial Tuesday in Texas.
Warren Jeffs requests legal assistance so he can properly format his "writing" as he represents himself.
A Texas judge warned Warren Jeffs against calling "for the jury's destruction" shortly after the polygamous sect leader said Friday during his sexual assault trial that those who prosecuted his church would face "sickness and death."
Should France ban the wearing of veils covering women from head to toe?
Dennis Dwyer, a Vietnam veteran, author and tattoo artist, shares why he loves the Fourth of July.
As America celebrates its birthday on July 4, the timeless words of Thomas Jefferson will surely be invoked to remind us of our founding ideals -- that "All men are created equal" and are "endowed by their Creator" with the right to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." These phrases, a cherished part of our history, have rightly been called "American Scripture."
Violence erupted in the Cairo neighborhood of Maspero when pro-Coptic protesters clashed with unidentified men, leaving at least two people dead and 60 injured, state TV reported early Sunday.
The ban imposed by French President Sarkozy on wearing a face-covering veil, or niqab, is simply dangerous gesture politics, representing little more than pandering to the far right in France.
French police arrested two veiled women protesting the country's law banning face-hiding Islamic burqas and niqabs Monday, just hours after the legislation took effect.
CNN's Atika Shubert on the controversial burqa ban that has divided opinion in France.
Police in Paris arrested dozens of people for trying to hold an unauthorized demonstration to protest a ban on the wearing of Islamic veils such as burqas, they said Sunday.
When Sen. Richard Durbin called a hearing on anti-Muslim bigotry, his office insisted it was not a response to a controversial House hearing that recently examined the threat of home-grown terrorism.
Watch or record "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door" when it airs on CNN on Saturday, April 2 at 8 p.m. ET. By recording the documentary, you agree that you will use the program for educational viewing purposes for a one-year period only. No other rights of any kind or nature whatsoever are granted, including, without limitation, any rights to sell, publish, distribute, post online or distribute in any other medium or forum, or use for any commercial or promotional purpose.
Almost two weeks after the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on radicalization in the Muslim community in America, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has announced he will hold a hearing in the Senate. But, rather than focus on the problem of radicalization in the Muslim community, Durbin's panel will be directed to another subject: anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States.
Meet Kevin Fisher, who is leading the fight against a new mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Soledad O'Brien reports.
France's law banning the burqa and other Islamic face coverings in public places will go into effect on April 11, the prime minister's office said.
In his annual "State of the World" address to the Vatican diplomatic corps, Pope Benedict XVI spoke Monday about religious intolerance and discrimination toward Christian minorities around the world.
With the recent deadly attacks on Christian churches, the maniacal terrorists of al Qaeda seem to be aiming at unraveling the neighborliness among Muslims, Jews and Christians throughout the Middle East that has existed for centuries.
Body scanners that peer through clothes are deployed in airports across the country. Travelers who object are subject to "enhanced" pat-downs. Parents watch as their children are groped before boarding a plane.
Sen. George LeMieux of Florida is bothered by pat down screenings at airports.
A bombing in northern Iraq killed a Christian man and his 6-year-old daughter Tuesday, the latest in a series of strikes targeting the country's dwindling Christian population.
A wave of bombings and mortar attacks strike Christian areas across Baghdad. CNN's Arwa Damon reports.
An expert on Middle East affairs discusses obstacles and solutions to resolving Iraq's sectarian problems.
All Christians in the Middle East are now "legitimate targets," al Qaeda in Iraq announced Wednesday, as the group's deadline for Egypt's Coptic church to release alleged Muslim female prisoners expired.
The French Senate approved a law banning veils that cover the face, including the burqa, worn by some Muslim women.
France's law banning the burqa and other Islamic face coverings in public places is legal, top constitutional authorities in France ruled Thursday, clearing the final hurdle before the ban goes into effect.
The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert for U.S. citizens in Europe, based on information that suggests that al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks. Americans are warned to be aware of their surroundings and protect themselves when traveling.
The U.S. State Department is expected to issue a travel alert to Americans in Europe in light of recent terror threat information, U.S. officials said Saturday.
The French Senate approved Tuesday a law banning any veils that cover the face -- including the burqa, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women -- making France the first European country to plan such a measure.
Opponents of a planned Islamic Center gather for a rally in New York.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is fighting fire with new Qurans.
The imam at the center of an ugly controversy over an Islamic center near New York's ground zero broke his silence Tuesday, just hours after a broad coalition of Christian, Jewish and Islamic leaders denounced what they described as a rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry across the United States.
Muslim women are more high profile than ever in 2010. However, a problem remains: news stories about them are fixated on appearance.
Throughout my short life, as I've witnessed the inhumane treatment of others, a sense of outrage and injustice has grown in my heart.
Opponents of an Islamic community center and mosque planned to be built near ground zero say it would desecrate hallowed ground. But suspicion has greeted proposed mosque projects in places less hallowed than ground zero -- in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Temecula, California; and elsewhere.
TIME's deputy international editor discusses a new cover story that delves into that very question.
A group of 60 interfaith leaders in California called for Americans "to rise above the rancorous shouting match" as they spoke out Friday in favor of a controversial Islamic center near "ground zero" in New York.
President Obama said Wednesday that he has "no regrets" about his comments last week supporting the rights of Muslims to build an Islamic center and mosque two blocks from the site of the September 11 terror attacks in New York.
Memorial crosses erected along Utah public roads to honor fallen state highway troopers have been found unconstitutional by a federal appeals court.
Was it a political mistake for President Obama to have taken sides on the NYC mosque debate?
At a White House dinner last week -- an iftar on the occasion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan --President Obama delivered what many rightly considered a courageous speech in which he weighed in on the controversy surrounding the proposed construction of a mosque near ground zero.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux says President Obama's comments supporting a New York City mosque are drawing heat.
Republicans tried mightily Sunday to make a political flash point out of President Barack Obama's defense of plans to build an Islamic center and mosque near ground zero in New York.
By wading into the issue of an Islamic center and mosque near ground zero, President Barack Obama provided Republicans with an emotion-ridden attack vehicle while diverting attention from campaign themes of fellow Democrats.
President Barack Obama told CNN Saturday that in defending the right of Muslims to build a community center and mosque near ground zero in a speech on Friday night, he was "not commenting on the wisdom" of the project.
President Obama threw his support behind a controversial proposal to build an Islamic center and mosque near New York's ground zero, saying Friday that "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country."
CNN's Allan Chernoff interviews Sharif El-Gamal, developer of the Islamic community center planned near ground zero.
Almost everybody has heard about the protests against the mosque and Islamic center planned to be built about two blocks from ground zero in Manhattan. But most people are still unaware that these anti-Muslim political campaigns are spreading throughout our beloved country as a new wave of Islamophobia hits.
Some lawmakers have urged the State Department to rethink plans to sponsor the imam behind a controversial mosque on a trip to the Middle East.
Akbar Ahmed, a professor of Islamic studies, spoke to CNN about his year long study of Islam in America.
The proposal by the Cordoba Initiative to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero has drawn major media attention and engendered fierce debate. Right-wing political commentators, politicians, hard-line Christian ministers, bloggers and some families of 9/11 victims have charged that it is insensitive to 9/11 families, dishonors memories of the victims and will be a "monument to terrorism."
CNN's Allan Chernoff talks to the man behind an ad aimed at keeping a mosque from being built near Ground Zero.
The French National Assembly has just done a huge favor to those elements in the Muslim world that thrive on anti-Westernism. By voting to ban the veil in public places -- a move that brings a draft bill closer to becoming law -- it has transformed a minor social irritant for a section of the French public into a major political issue. In doing so, it is feeding worldwide Muslim resentment against the West almost on par with the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the invasion of Iraq.
A proposed mosque and Islamic center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is dividing the city about 35 miles southeast of Nashville, Tennessee. Residents are battling about whether the center should exist, and if not, why not.
A demonstration against a planned mosque in Tennessee included protesters and counter protesters. WTVF reports.
France's lower house of parliament Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a ban on any veils that cover the face -- including the burqa, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women.
Steve Perry visits Overland Elementary School in Los Angeles to discuss how to involve parents in child's education.
U.S. education issues in 2010 boil down to two questions: how to fund cash-strapped state universities and how to fix so-called high school "drop-out factories."
Four gunmen opened fire in a hospital in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Monday, killing five people in an attempt to get to a suspect in last week's attacks on a religious minority, authorities said.
CNN affiliate Geo TV is reporting that two mosques belonging to the Ahmadi religious group have been attacked.
Pakistani authorities are blaming Friday's deadly attacks in Lahore on militants with ties to the Pakistani Taliban.
The death toll from Friday's attacks on a religious minority in Lahore has risen to 98, officials said Saturday.
Changes to social studies curricula introduced by conservative members of the Texas State Board of Education were approved Friday after months of ideologically driven debate.
The Texas Board of Education votes on changes to public school curriculum. News 8 Austin's Karina Kling reports.
The Supreme Court narrowly ruled Wednesday that a white cross, erected as a war memorial and sitting on national parkland in the Mojave Desert, does not violate the constitutional separation of church and state.
The numbers are shocking: 12,000 people killed in a cycle of violence between Christians and Muslims stretching back more than a decade.
Rep. Randy Forbes and Freedom from Religion Foundation's Annie Gaylor debate the legality of a national day of prayer.
The Obama administration will fight to preserve the law establishing an annual National Day of Prayer, the Justice Department confirmed Thursday.
A federal judge on Thursday struck down the federal statute that established the National Day of Prayer, ruling that it violates the constitutional ban on government-backed religion.
The State Department condemned Iran's persecution of religious minorities on Friday following the Iranian authorities' detention of Baha'is and Christians in recent months.
As France moves closer to a partial ban on the burqa, a leading European lawmaker declared Wednesday that the full Muslim veil is a symbol of political Islam and has no place in Europe.
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