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Governor Orders Bibles Back To Georgia State Park Lodging In Church State Battle

Nathan Deal argued that if the state didn't pay for them, it can't be seen as endorsing them. (AP)

'Act of faith' costs track team a win, trip to state championships

As he was crossing the finish line, Derrick Hayes pointed up to the sky (KHOU)

In Atlanta, Two Churches Lie in New Stadium’s Path

The mayor is championing a new stadium as an engine for construction jobs and a way to transform an impoverished section of downtown. (The New York Times)

Mosque conversion raises alarm

Christian art in Byzantine church-turned-museum is at risk after controversial court ruling (The Art Newspaper)

Painting of Jesus coming down in Jackson school

Sallman "Head of Christ" had hung in school hallways in Jackson since 1947. But the district voluntarily ordered its removal out of fear of legal fees if it lost a lawsuit brought by two parents and a student (The Columbus Dispatch)

NY judge tosses lawsuit over Sept. 11 steel cross

A judge has tossed out a lawsuit that sought to stop the display of a cross-shaped steel beam found among the World Trade Center's rubble, saying the artifact could help tell the story of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Associated Press)

Kazakhstan: Court-ordered religious book burning a first?

In what may be the first such instance in Kazakhstan, a court has ordered religious literature to be destroyed. A total of 121 books confiscated from a Baptist, Vyacheslav Cherkasov, were ordered destroyed in the northern Akmola Region (Forum 18)

Benefits changes will push children into poverty, says archbishop of Canterbury

Iain Duncan Smith hits back at Justin Welby's criticism with claim that existing system is 'not moral or fair' (The Guardian, UK)

Arizona House stalls new tax exemptions for churches

House leaders moved to stall a vote Thursday on the measure that would allow properties not used for religious worship to avoid taxation. Under the expansion, student dormitories, staff housing and shelters would be spared from taxation. (Associated Press)

Who Gets Religious Exemptions and Why

Under revised rules of the Affordable Care Act, religious groups can be exempt from paying their employees' insurance coverage for birth control. Religious exemptions are nearly as old as the nation and have been on the rise in recent decades (Talk of the Nation, NPR)

Persecution

The Perils Of Religious Persecution In Iran

Increasing political opposition to the regime has intensified religious persecution. Christians are high on the regime’s enemies list. (Forbes)

When Christians become a 'hated minority'

Evangelical Christians say they are the new victims of intolerance - they're persecuted for condemning homosexuality (CNN)

Muslim-Christian relationship fuels row in Egypt

Police fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing Muslims who surrounded a Coptic church in anger over an alleged inter-faith relationship (Associated Press)

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Faith-Based Initiative

U.S. government's faith-based initiative moves ahead while dodging controversy

Broadening the definition of doing business with government beyond granting money has effectively deflected much of the controversy that dogged the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in its early years. (Deseret Morning News)

Quiet fade-out for Obama’s faith council

Three years into his presidency, Obama’s marquee council of faith advisers has gone dark — a little-noticed postscript for a panel that he rolled out with fanfare and high expectations during his first weeks in office but ended up playing only a limited role in West Wing deliberations. (Politico)

Opinion: Faith-based farce

It seems George W. Bush’s “armies of compassion” have become Barack Obama’s armies of contraception. (Jim Towey, The Hill)

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Lawsuits

Appeal by photographer in gay bias case is heard

Questions from the Supreme Court justices during the hearing centered on how to differentiate between photography being a business or protected artistic expression (Associated Press)

No new trial for conservative U of I worker

Wagner argued that she was denied a promotion at the U of I law school’s writing center because of her conservative history, including work with the Family Research Council (The Des Moines Register)

Christian school in Thousand Oaks files religious liberty lawsuit

A Christian school in Thousand Oaks and two former teachers are fighting over the school's demand that its employees provide proof of faith (Ventura County Star)

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Free Speech

Dearborn ordered to apologize for arrests of Christian missionaries at Arab Fest

The city of Dearborn accepted a settlement agreement that includes a public apology to three Christian missionaries who claim their Constitutional rights were violated during the annual 2012 Dearborn Arab Festival. (MLive.com)

When Christians become a 'hated minority'

Evangelical Christians say they are the new victims of intolerance - they're persecuted for condemning homosexuality (CNN)

Kazakhstan: Court-ordered religious book burning a first?

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Symbols

Texas a battleground for church and state issues

National advocacy groups have focused much of their efforts in Texas, most recently over Hays County commissioners opening their meetings with prayer, the Cedar Park Police Department putting a cross on its chaplain’s seal and Kountze High School cheerleaders carrying Christian signs at football games (Austin American-Statesman)

Christians Claim Workplace Discrimination in Landmark Case

Four Christians went to the European Human Rights Court this week to complain that their faith was under fire in the workplace. Do believers have an absolute right to religious expression at work, or do the requirements of employers and the rights of other members of society come first? (International Herald Tribune)