More Americans Cut Church Ties

(NEWSER) - The hallelujahs are strained in US churches these days as donations plunge at the same time demand for aid is skyrocketing, reports the Wall Street Journal. Congregations across the nation are slashing budgets and even laying off staff, including pastors. Churches and synagogues usually weather downturns well, but not this time. "There has been significant tightening of budgets," said Rabbi Elliott Kleinman, spokesman for the Union for Reform Judaism, which represents some 900 congregations. "People have less money to give." More»

Students get better education, and allowed to wear headscarf

(NEWSER) - France has Western Europe's largest Muslim population, but its strict separation of church and state means that Muslim girls are forbidden from wearing the headscarves in public schools. In response, many Muslims have turned to an unlikely solution: the nation's large network of Catholic schools. "There is respect for our religion here," said one student at a Marseille Catholic school, where 80% of the students are Muslim. More»

Obama approves language that finds 'common ground'

(NEWSER) - The Obama campaign is reaching out to Catholics, evangelicals, and other anti-abortion swing voters by adjusting the language of the official Democratic platform on the controversial issue, Alec MacGillis writes in the Washington Post. The new party plank moves "closer to the middle ground where most Americans reside—not wanting to criminalize abortions, but wanting to reduce the number performed." More»