Balancing or pitting First Amendment freedoms against each other is tough work.
Akin to asking a parent which child is the favorite, seeking to favor one or two of the five freedoms religion, speech, press, assembly or petition over the others creates an inherent contradiction.
But thats exactly the dilemma for First Amendment advocates, along with the U.S. Supreme Court and Washing
Pagan weddings, in many cases performed by a recognized druid, will now be allowed in Ireland.
Following a five-year campaign the Irish state has now recognized the right of the Pagan Federation Ireland to perform weddings.
Couples will now be able to be legally married after a ceremony that concludes with jumping over a broomstick to mark crossing over from an old life to a new one.
Ray
Bobby Wells has lived all his life in this remote Alaska village, where the Eskimo dancing of his ancestors was banned by Quaker missionaries a century ago as primitive idolatry.
Now Wells, 53, and other residents of Noorvik have wholeheartedly embraced the ancient practice outlawed in the Inupiat Eskimo settlement, which was established in 1914.
“This is the way God made us, to express our
The State Religious Department has been urged to set up a vigilante group to check and eradicate black magic activities that are purportedly rampant at a cemetery in Bukit Tunggal, Kuala Nerus, near here.
These people have been trespassing into the cemetery at midnight to engage in necromancy, Bukit Tunggal assemblyman Dr Alias Razak said here yesterday.
These black magic practitioners
During the past decade, most Americans have accepted and embraced the need to go “green.” For some, this simply means a commitment to composting or using natural cleaning products. For others, it runs deeper.
Starhawk is a well respected writer on the topic of modern Earth-based spirituality and an activist for environmental issues.
Starhawk, who lives part-time in San Francisco with her par
Fears that 20,000 people will descend on a village for a summer solstice festival have been allayed.
People living in Brompton, North Yorkshire, were worried about the number of people expected to attend the Willowman Festival which, pending a successful licence application, will be held at Lenthor Farm, in the village.
But organiser Steve Williams and landowner and host Derek Plews said the
Robyn Stroll, who has been dressing up in costumes since she was a kid, has found inspiration in the steampunk movement.
Two years ago, the 31-year-old Montrealer started to notice an eclectic mix of Victorian sensibility, magic and steamship-era science creeping into everything from literature to fashion.
As she studied the trend, she learned it had a name: Steampunk.
“There’s a wondrous
So far, God and religion haven’t come up in the media coverage of the Vancouver Olympics, unless you count jokes about praying for snow.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any religious input into these Games. Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral (Anglican) is staying open 12 hours each day of the Olympics as a sanctuary for visitors.
In a letter to the Vancouver Sun, Rev. Peter Elliott, the d
Barely 18 hours after an earthquake devastated Haiti on Jan. 12, the Rev. Pat Robertson supplied a televised discourse on the nations history, theology and destiny. Haiti has suffered, he explained, because its rebellious slaves swore a pact with the devil to overthrow the French two centuries ago. Ever since, he went on, they have been cursed by one thing or another.
Crude and harsh as Mr
A suburban Philadelphia school district used school-issued laptop webcams to spy on students at home, potentially catching them and their families in compromising situations, a family claims in a federal lawsuit.
Officials at the school district can activate webcams on the computers without students’ knowledge or permission, the lawsuit alleges. Plaintiffs Michael and Holly Robbins suspect the
