The officer charged with killing 13 Fort Hood soldiers told his family and associates he wanted out of the U.S. military because his interpretation of the Quran bans Muslims from participating in the killing of fellow Muslims. In at least one class presentation a few years ago, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan suggested that Muslims like himself be discharged as conscientious objectors because of their beliefs, according to published reports about the Army psychiatrist accused in last week's massacre at the military post.

U.S. Muslim service members say they stand out in both their worlds.  Among fellow troops, that can mean facing ethnic taunts, awkward questions about spiritual practices and a structure that is not set up to accommodate their worship. Among Muslims, the questions can be more profound: How can a Muslim participate in killing other Muslims in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan?

On Saturday, Nov 7, the House of Representatives passed a health-care-reform bill with an amendment sponsored by Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak restricting any of the new government-supported health-care options from covering abortion. Sixty-four Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the amendment.

At least for the time being, the award for the most hysterical overreaction to the Fort Hood murders goes to Bryan Fischer, the Director of Issue Analysis for the American Family Association. Fischer is not among those sticking his head in the sand about Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s Islamic motivations or associations, oh no. Instead, he is taking those and applying them to all American Muslims:

 

Federal authorities on Thursday moved to seize a wide array of U.S.-based properties, bank accounts and religious sites that they allege in court documents are funneling money to an Iranian bank involved in that country's illicit nuclear weapons program.

Yehuda Glick is a 44-year-old American-born Jew who spends most of every day preparing for the arrival of the Messiah in Jerusalem.  Since he became the executive director of the Temple Institute, Mr Glick's main task has been to supervise the manufacture of the utensils the high priests will need when the day arrives.

Author Rick James was in Colonial Hall of Squires Student Center at Virginia Tech to talk with students about his book, “Jesus Without Religion.”   James is also the publisher of Crupress, which sells materials for campus ministries. James took time to speak with the Collegiate Times in a phone interview about reaching out to college students and sharing names with a certain chart-topping funk and 80s R&B singer.

When it comes to America’s most famous Catholic family, no true compass guides the Roman Catholic Church. After Ted Kennedy’s death, that’s clearer than ever.

Will the Southern Baptist Convention step up to the plate and hit the ball out of the park this Christmas? The second largest denomination--and the largest Protestant denomination--in the U.S. is approaching a critical choice point in December 2009. The denomination has announced since 2007 that an additional 2,800 missionaries could help it complete the 2,000-year-old task of global evangelization.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Edmond, Okla., is a new church-plant of the Presbyterian Church in America.

With the recent growth Edmond and Oklahoma City have experienced along with the desire of a core group of people to bring a PCA church to Edmond, the network went forward in developing plans to start a church here. After a couple of years this desire finally came to fruition. 

 

The Louisville-based Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is being asked to approve a statement that “strongly denounces” the Caterpillar corporation for profiting from Israel’s use of its heavy equipment for “clearly non-peaceful purposes.”

Missye Rhee Brickell Breazeale, 57, of Jackson, Miss., died on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, at St. Dominic Hospital, Jackson, Mississippi.  Missye Rhee's life was marked by her commitment to her Savior Jesus Christ, evidenced by a faithful service to her church, First Presbyterian of Jackson, where she served as a Bible teacher and as the Executive Assistant to the Senior Minister.

 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to UWisconsin-Whitewater objecting to the fact that the university invited students to attend a prayer vigil for a student killed in the Fort Hood shootings. Amy Krueger, of Kiel, was a psychology major who had transferred to UW-Whitewater last year. She was one of two Wisconsin soldiers killed in the attack.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned aid agencies about the "perfectly real" dangers of working with faith-based activists and groups in developing countries. Dr. Rowan Williams encouraged secular agencies and NGOs to maintain a "steady vigilance about proselytism, manipulative use of favours, exclusive focus on people of the same faith and other practices that distort the goals of liberation for a whole community".

After a lengthy battle, a San Francisco lesbian is a step closer to being ordained as a clergywoman in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Presbytery of San Francisco voted Tuesday (Nov. 10) to permit the ordination of Lisa Larges, 46, after she stated under a “scruple” policy that she objects to the PCUSA’s rules preventing ordination of gays.

Outrage is being expressed over a speech invitation extended by a major university to a convicted terrorist. Officials at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have extended a speech invitation to Ray Luc Levasseur, former head of the United Freedom Front which carried out several bank robberies and bombings in the 1970s. One bombing of a federal court building left dozens injured and another resulted in the death of a New Jersey state trooper. However, Levasseur was caught and convicted in the 1980s and sentenced to 45 years in prison. He was released after 18 years and remains on parole. 

You’d never know by looking at these four celebrities, but before they entered the limelight they all served in the U.S. military. Most of the stars on the list are known for their music, trend-setting or contribution to society, but their service to the country has largely gone unnoticed. In honor of Veterans Day, Military.com takes a look at four veterans that most of America may have never knew served.

 

Dave Ramsey looks nothing like a televangelist. He’s a little on the short side, neither fat nor thin, and he wears jeans and a sports jacket, not a shiny suit and an oily smile. With his goatee and what’s left of his graying hair trimmed close to his head, he looks mostly like what he is—a well-groomed, middle- to upper-middle-class American professional. But when he runs out onstage and starts dispensing financial advice, you realize that he could have been a great preacher.