LOS ANGELES, Calif., Feb. 6, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — In an era of increased polarization, rising hate crimes, and social and economic challenges affecting all segments of society, religious leaders gathered at the Church of Scientology to review how religions can work together to improve the quality of life for their congregations and the greater community.

The program, held February 3, marked World Interfaith Harmony Week, established by the UN to “promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith” with the conviction that “mutual understanding and...

After leaving the Pentecostal Church, reporter Jess Alvarenga has been searching for a new spiritual home. They takes us on their journey to find spirituality that includes the dining room dungeon of a dominatrix, Buddhist monks taking magic mushrooms and the pulpit of a Pentecostal church.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1198004949/zz-codeswitch-bonusdraft

A member of the second-oldest Black Catholic order in the United States.

A voodoo priestess.

A gay atheist woman.

A new documentary from the National Museum of African American History and Culture explores the range of faith and spiritual expressions of Black millennials and the choices they have made to reject — or embrace — the religious rituals of their childhood.

Source: https://religionnews.com/2023/10/24/documentary-on-black-millennials-depicts-wide-range-of-religion-rebellion/

After School Satan Clubs have been steadily increasing in popularity and are not likely to slow as their supporters rack up media attention and legal wins fighting for free speech. 

The clubs, associated with the Satanic Temple and offered only in primary schools, began at the beginning of 2020 and quickly gained attention from parents who wanted an alternative to religious clubs, according to June Everett, campaign director of the After School Satan Club.

“That’s kind of when things started blowing up. And I anticipate that every year moving forward is going...

The Satanic Temple, a national religious rights organization with chapters in 21 states, has recently erected two billboards in Texas and Florida encouraging followers to challenge state restrictions on abortions conducted during the first trimester by claiming that the restrictions violate their religious beliefs as Satanists. Over 18 states have such restrictions.

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More than a dozen men in Minnesota's Sex Offender Program are suing the state's human services department, alleging the agency has banned the practice of religious gatherings for more than six months in the wake of COVID-19.

Attorney Erick Kaardal, who filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of 15 clients, said the restrictions inside the Moose Lake facility continued even after a June executive order from Gov. Tim Walz that allowed places of worship to reopen at 50 percent capacity.

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The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Alabama’s mandatory religious oath for voter registration.

Alabama is the only state in the country that requires voters to register on a form mandating they swear “so help me God,” without allowing any option of a secular affirmation, the Madison, Wisconsin-based group said.

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A lawsuit filed by the Satanic Temple alleges that an advertising company unfairly refused to display some billboards promoting a ritual offered by the group to help people bypass abortion rules in some states.

The group, based in Salem, Massachusetts, announced Wednesday that it has sued Lamar Advertising in Arkansas state court. The suit accuses the Louisiana-based company of religious discrimination.

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The Satanic Temple is launching a college scholarship for high school students.

The Salem, Massachusetts-based group, which advocates for stricter separation of church and state, among other civil rights issues, said Tuesday that the $500 “Devil’s Advocate Scholarship” is open to any 2020 graduate.

To apply, students must answer one of two questions. One asks applicants to describe what they’ve done to promote the organization’s tenets and mission. The other asks them to describe a teacher who “crushed your spirit, undermined your self-confidence, and made you hate...

Mani was only 16 years old when she discovered her gift of channelling at a Christian camp. "When I went home I told my mum, she told me that she also receives messages," she remembers. "About a year ago, I started integrating astrology with these other spiritual gifts: channeling, intuitive knowledge, and dream interpretation. After that I found the ...

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday filed by a member of the Satanic Temple against a Missouri abortion law.

At issue is a law requiring women, before they can get an abortion, to receive a pamphlet that states: “The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being.”

An anonymous woman, Judy Doe, sued, arguing the law violates her religious freedom as a Satanic Temple member. The Satanic Temple doesn’t believe in a literal Satan but sees the biblical...

More than 90 years ago, on a cold and stormy December night in Kansas, a Christian minister named Charles Sheldon walked into a crowded gymnasium to take in a college basketball game.

Sheldon is best known as the author of “In His Steps,” the 1896 book that popularized the “What Would Jesus Do?” phrase.

But in 1929 Sheldon was not wondering what Jesus would do; he was wondering what his church members were already doing.

As he watched the basketball game play out in front of him, Sheldon began to reflect.

“I couldn’t help wondering, while...

The Lebanon County Correctional Facility’s handbook says no inmate can have long hair unless it is worn in a ponytail or a bun. But for many black inmates, that rule doesn’t apply. Instead, they are placed in solitary confinement if they refuse to cut their hair.

One inmate currently in segregated housing says that policy violates his religious rights. Eric McGill, who is Black, wears his hair in dreadlocks. A practicing Rastafarian, McGill has refused to cut his hair since he was taken into custody more than a...