Sunni Sheikh Killed In Suicide Attack

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An influential Sunni sheikh active in the reconciliation movement against al Qaeda in Iraq died early Thursday evening in a suicide attack in Khalis, a village about 50 miles (85 km) north of Baghdad, police said.

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Ore. High Court Weighs Circumcision Case

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- The father of a 12-year-old boy told the Oregon Supreme Court on Tuesday that circumcision is a decision best left to the custodial parent while his ex-wife argued a trial judge should have given more consideration to her concerns about the effect on her son.

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Nativity Proposal Defeated

There won't be a nativity scene displayed on the Berkley City Hall lawn this year, after voters rejected a fiercely debated ballot proposal Tuesday.

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Ruling Has 'Quick And Dramatic' Impact On Church-State Cases

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Legal experts say a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has quickly weakened taxpayers' ability to sue government for violating the separation of church and state.

The court ruled in June that the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation did not have legal standing to challenge President Bush's faith-based initiative.

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Ten Commandments Posted At State Capitol

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- On the eve of the general election, a federal judge ruled yesterday that a display of historical documents containing the Ten Commandments may be posted on state property.

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School Board Approves Amended 'In God We Trust' Posters

BAKERSFIELD - Kern High School District trustees have given the green light to posting the nation's motto "In God We Trust" in high school classrooms.

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Priest Arrested For Stalking Conan O'Brien

NEW YORK - A priest has been arrested on charges of stalking late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien by writing him threatening notes on parish letterhead, contacting his parents and showing up at his studio, prosecutors said Wednesday.

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Duo Disputes Use Of 'Under God' In Schools

CONCORD -- A California man whose challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court three years ago has joined a Hanover couple to take up the same fight in New Hampshire.

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Monk Jailed For Schoolboys Abuse

An 80-year-old monk has been sent to prison for 15 months for sexually abusing boys at a Roman Catholic school more than 30 years ago.

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Oral Roberts' Son Accused Of Misspending

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A Beverly Hills house and country club membership. Vacations in Palm Springs and the South Seas. A closet as big as an apartment, stuffed with hundreds of pairs of shoes, suits, dresses and golf shoes.

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Iran: Two Journalists Stabbed By Islamic Extremists

Tehran, 8 Nov. (AKI) -- Two Iranian journalists, known for their criticism of the government and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been stabbed in the past 24 hours.

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General's Troops Routed By Zealots

Dozens of Pakistani security forces policing a former tourist haven surrendered to militants yesterday, raising the stakes in the country's political crisis. The police officers and troops, outnumbered and demoralised, laid down their arms before hundreds of pro-Taleban extremists who are imposing Islamic law in an area beloved of Western hikers.

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Five MPs Among Up To 50 Killed

A suicide bomber killed up to 50 Afghans yesterday, including five MPs and several children, in one of the bloodiest incidents since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

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Georgia Plans Service To Pray For Rain

ATLANTA -- What to do when the rain won't come? If you're Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, you pray.

The governor will host a prayer service next week to ask for relief from the drought gripping the Southeast.

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Convicted Priest Faces New Abuse Charge

CHICAGO (AP) - A retired Jesuit priest convicted of molesting two boys was taken into custody Friday on a charge that he molested a boy he took on a trip to Switzerland and Austria seven years ago, prosecutors announced.

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GodTube Competes With YouTube

PLANO, Texas (AP) -- GodTube is among religion-based Web sites that closely copy popular secular models. MyChurch.org is similar to the social networking site MySpace, and Conservapedia.com is the religious right's response to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Similar sites target Muslim and Jewish audiences.

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12% - Secular Americans

The number of Americans who say they are atheist or agnostic, or choose not to identify with a religious tradition has increased modestly over the past two decades, with Pew surveys since the beginning of 2006, finding that 12% of U.S. adults identify themselves as secular or unaffiliated with a religious tradition; that compares with 8% in the Pew values survey in 1987. This change appears to be generational in nature, with new cohorts coming of age with lower levels of commitment to a religious tradition. Among respondents born before the baby boom (that is, prior to 1946), only about 5% are secular or unaffiliated compared with more than double that number among Baby Boomers (11%). The most secular Americans are those 30 and younger -- sometimes called "Generation Y" -- 19% of whom do not identify with a religious tradition. Pew surveys taken over the past 20 years show that, within each age cohort, the size of the secular group has remained constant over time indicating that people have not become less secular as they have aged. For example, 14% of members of "Generation X" (born 1965-1976) did not identify with a religious tradition in 1997, about the same as in 2007. Democrats and independents are less likely than Republicans to identify with a particular religious tradition, and the gap has widened over the past two decades. Currently, 5% of Republicans say they are atheist, agnostic, or decline to state a religious preference, which is the same percentage that did so in 1987. But the number of Democrats in this category is now 11%, up from 7% in 1987; currently 17% of independents are classified as secular, an increase from 9% in 1987.

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Mounting Federal Earmarks Fund 'Scores' Of Religious Groups

Earmarks setting aside federal funds for religious organizations -- including Christian groups openly focused on conversions and missionary work -- are on the rise in appropriations bills in both the US House and Senate.

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Appeals Court Orders Legislative Prayer Suit Dismissed

INDIANAPOLIS - The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana lost the latest round in its fight over prayer. A Federal Appeals Court dismissed the lawsuit against the ceremonies that opened sessions of the Indiana House.

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Former Pastor Sentenced To Five Years For Molesting Boy

DALLAS (AP) -- A former pastor was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of probation for molesting a 10-year-old boy whose family he had known for more than 50 years.

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