Controversial Exorcisms Come To Nashville

The exorcisms by the Spiritual Freedom Church came to Music City in September.

More...

Some Christian Pastors Embrace Scientology

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- Some Christian congregations, particularly in lower income, urban areas, are turning to an unlikely source for help -- the Church of Scientology.

More...

'Miracle' Fuel That Made A Mockery Of Mugabe

When Nomatter Tagarira, a spirit medium, claimed that she could conjure refined diesel out of a rock by striking it with her staff, ministers in Robert Mugabe's Government believed that they might have found the solution to Zimbabwe's perennial fuel shortage.

More...

Some Amish Say State Permits Intrude On Religion

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- A small group of conservative Amish who have built modest homes in the town of Albion west of here believe the "English" -- anyone who is not Amish -- are forcing them to violate their faith by requiring them to get state-issued building permits. The permits, at least one supporter claims, "yoke" them with unbelievers.

More...

Christian Groups Claim Pro-Atheist 'Stealth Campaign' In Nicole Kidman Fantasy Film 'The Golden Compass'

The Catholic League has mounted a PR campaign against the movie after researching Pullman's own writings about his series. The organization has published a pamphlet called "'The Golden Compass': Unmasked," which is for sale on its Web site.

More...

Words Spoken In Funeral Flag-Folding Draw Flap

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Flag-folding recitations by Memorial Honor Detail volunteers are now banned at the nation's 125 veterans graveyards because of a complaint about the ceremony at Riverside National Cemetery.

During thousands of military burials, the volunteers have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of every fold to survivors.

The first fold represents life, the second a belief in eternal life, and so on.

The complaint revolved around the narration in the 11th fold, which celebrates Jewish war veterans and "glorifies the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."

More...

Catholic Principal Cited For Prostitution Charge

The principal at a Kentucky Catholic school is taking personal leave from his job after police in Louisville allegedly found him dressed as a woman and wearing bondage gear inside his car in a seedy part of town.

More...

Heavy Fighting Hits Somali Capital

(AP) Nearly 90,000 people have fled Somalia's capital in recent days, a massive surge of displacements following the heaviest fighting to shake the war-battered city in months, the U.N. said Thursday.

The clashes, the worst between Islamic insurgents and Somali and allied Ethiopian troops since April, have emptied entire neighborhoods, sending 88,000 people streaming from Mogadishu over a three-day period starting Oct. 27, the world body said in a statement.

More...

Inside Out-Of-Body Experiences

(WebMD) Scientists may be one step closer to understanding what happens in the brain when someone has an out-of-body experience.

More...

Mysteries From The Red Planet

On the ground, NASA's Opportunity rover is carefully picking its way down a deep crater, sending back a stunning postcard along the way.

More...

Dead Stars Collide, Explode In Deep Space

A massive explosion in the deep reaches of space stemmed not from one dying star, as is typical, but from two dead ones that collided as the climax of a long orbital dance, new research shows.

More...

Jailed 'Prophet' Confessed 'Immoral' Acts

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Sitting in jail awaiting trial, the leader of a polygamous sect renounced his role as a prophet and said he had been "immoral" with a sister and daughter decades ago, newly unsealed documents show.

More...

Sign-Language Chimp Dies

SPOKANE, Washington (AP) -- Washoe, a female chimpanzee said to be the first non-human to acquire human language, has died of natural causes at the research institute where she was kept.

More...

House Cat Makes Scientific History

NEW YORK (AP) -- An Abyssinian cat from Missouri, named Cinnamon, has just made scientific history. Researchers have largely decoded her DNA, a step that may aid the search for treatments for both feline and human diseases.

More...

Huge Black Holes May Hold Keys To Galaxy Formation

For years, astronomers speculated that a giant, mysterious force lay at the center of the Milky Way, but it wasn't until four years ago that UCLA astronomer Andrea Ghez definitively showed what it was.

More...

The Offspring Of 'Jesus Freaks'

David Berg was a small-time circuit preacher whose flocks ran thin until the late '60s, when the sexual revolution and the Jesus movement bloomed at once.

More...

Man Wins Case Against Funeral Protesters

A Baltimore federal jury awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday to the father of a Marine killed in Iraq, deciding that the family's privacy had been invaded by a Kansas church whose members waved anti-gay signs at the funeral.

More...

Faith Plays Complex Role In '08 Race

Candidates' Beliefs Not Well-Known, But Voters Want Them To Be Strong

More...

Catholics Slam Raunchy Spears Shots

Britney Spears has caused outrage within the Catholic community after posing for racy photos for the artwork on her latest album.

More...

Don't Dispense Abortion Drugs, Pope Tells Catholic Pharmacists

Pope Benedict XVI said yesterday that pharmacists have a right to use conscientious objection to avoid dispensing emergency contraception or euthanasia drugs -- and told them they should also inform patients of the ethical implications of using such drugs.

More...