Barrier Broken as US Army Graduates First Sikh

In need of personnel with his language skills, the US Army provided a religious exception to Simran Lamba, who was allowed to keep his beard and turban while going through basic training despite those items being prohibited. Graduating yesterday at Fort Jackson in...

Religious Leaders: Expand Conscientious Objector Definition

Under current military policy in the U.S., qualifying as a conscientious objector exempt from a war effort is available only to those who object to all war. Only pacificists, not those who reject a particular war based on religious reasons, are allowed to claim that...

US Officials Reiterate Commitment to Religious Freedom Abroad

In a press briefing Monday, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley suggested that a deadly attack on a Christian church in Iraq should not be construed as a broad campaign of persecution (an argument made more questionable after yet another attack on Christians today),...

Judge Releases Order in Oklahoma’s Sharia Law Injunction

The Judge issuing the temporary restraining order blocking implementation of Oklahoma's Sharia amendment has published her ruling, which is now online. Judge Vicki Miles-Lagrange found merit in the plaintiff's contention that the measure improperly entangles...

Opponents of Church-State Separation Lose at the Polls

The Guardian (UK)'s Sahil Kapur notes that in the recent mid-term elections here in the US, candidates expressing doubt or outright opposition to the separation of church and state in their campaigns did not fare well at the ballot box. Three Republican nominees,...