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FILE PHOTO: Baltimore Police Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., Officer Edward M. Nero, Officer Garrett E Miller (top L-R), Officer William G. Porter, Lt. Brian W. Rice, Sgt. Alicia D. White (bottom L-R). Courtesy Baltimore Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
 

The U.S. Department of Justice will not bring charges against Baltimore police officers over the fatal injury of a black man in custody in an incident that stoked tensions between African Americans and law enforcement, the Baltimore Sun reported on Tuesday.

the Web Editors 9-12-2017

Image via Shutterstock.com/Martin Podzorny 

"The President of the United States presents himself as pro-life and if he is a good pro-lifer, he understands that family is the cradle of life and its unity must be protected."

"Maybe what surprises me most is how widely the hashtag resonates. I couldn't have anticipated it going this viral. And it's been interesting to see ex-Mormons and ex-Catholics chiming in as well, and in a few cases former ultra Orthodox Jews. As far as I'm concerned, #EmptyThePews is for anyone who finds value in it."

9-12-2017

Image via RNS/Trailers of the East Coast

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is known for its expertise in “case management.” After the initial cleanup — where the Methodists have work crews helping pull mud out of houses — the church sends trained volunteers into the wreckage to help families navigate the maze of FEMA assistance, state aid programs, and private insurance to help them rebuild their lives. UMCOR also trains other non-profits to send their own case managers into the disaster zone.

Pope Francis talks to journalists during a press conference aboard a plane to Rome at the end of his visit to Colombia September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Medichini/Pool. 

"If someone is doubtful that this is true, they should ask scientists. They are very clear. These are not opinions made on the fly. They are very clear. Then each person can decide and history will judge the decisions," he said.

Image via RNS/Baylor Religion Survey

Almost three-quarters of Trump voters said Islam is a threat, compared with 18 percent of those who voted for Hillary Clinton. An even higher percentage — 81 percent — of Trump voters strongly agreed that Middle East refugees are a terror threat, compared with 12 percent of Clinton voters.

“Today, divisions in the American public are stark,” said Paul Froese, a Baylor University sociology professor and director of Baylor Religion Surveys. “We can trace many of our deep differences to how people understand traditional morality, theology, and the purpose of our nation.”

Image via RNS/Washington National Cathedral

But the officials said their decision-making process concerning the windows sped up after the violence in Charlottesville, Va., last month, when neo-Nazis clashed with counterprotesters. But they also acknowledged that the windows’ removal is not sufficient for addressing racial injustice.

the Web Editors 9-08-2017

4. Houston Flooding Always Hits Poor, Non-White Neighborhoods Hardest

“You’re talking about a perfect storm of pollution, environmental racism, and health risks that are probably not going to be measured and assessed until decades later.”

the Web Editors 9-07-2017

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She said the Obama- era directives were created with good intentions, but good intentions in this case are not enough. Her vision, she said, is to return to a system that prioritizes due process rights for students that are accused in an attempt to uncover “the whole truth.”

 

Kimberly Winston 9-06-2017

Image via RNS/Sally Morrow

Almost every Christian denomination in the U.S. shows signs of growing diversity as white Christians, once the majority in most mainline Protestant and Catholic denominations, give way to younger members, who tend to be of different races, according to a study released Sept. 6 by the Public Religion Research Institute.

And American evangelicals — once seemingly immune to the decline experienced by their Catholic and mainline Protestant neighbors — are losing numbers and losing them quickly.

Image via RNS/Johnnie Moore

And while presidents before have consulted with spiritual advisers — evangelist Billy Graham is the best-known example — the current group’s members certainly appear to care not only about Trump’s own spiritual well-being, but also have concrete views about a range of issues and make no secret of wanting policy changes.

But exactly how much influence they wield — and whether they benefit from the association — is a matter of conjecture and debate.

the Web Editors 9-05-2017

Image via Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com

"Our faith is rooted in the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and his teachings claim authority in life and in death.
We reject as false doctrine any other claim on our lives—whether contrived of state or reason—that violates Jesus’ ethic of the equal and inestimable dignity of all people, each created in the very image of God and as such equally created with the divine call and capacity to sustain, protect, and serve the world."

the Web Editors 9-05-2017

FILE PHOTO: Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks at a briefing on leaks of classified material threatening national security at the Justice Department in Washington, Aug. 4, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

As expected, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today the administration is ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects from deportation about 800,000 young immigrants who were brought to the country as children.

the Web Editors 9-05-2017

Gabe Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, is urging evangelicals to defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has given about 800,000 young immigrants protection from deportation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is set to announce the end of the program with a six-month delay.

the Web Editors 8-31-2017

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in Springfield, Missouri, U.S., August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Trump received pressure from many conservatives: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and nine other state attorneys general threatened to sue the administration if he didn’t announce an end to the program by Sept. 5, next week. Trump has not been clear about a decision, but during his campaign promised to terminate the program along with all other immigration executive orders by President Obama

A protester against the Texas state law to punish "sanctuary cities" stands outside the U.S. Federal court in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., June 26, 2017. REUTERS/Jon Herskovitz/File Photo

The judge's ruling temporarily blocks part of the law that would require local law enforcement agencies in Texas to fulfill requests by U.S. immigration agents to hold immigrants in their jails until they can be picked up for deportation. It also strikes down a provision that would have prevented local officials from adopting policies that might limit immigration enforcement in the state.

Maurice Possley 8-30-2017

While there still have been no executions in California since 2006 — largely due to a court battle over lethal injection drug protocols — that could change if the state’s proposed single-drug method for lethal injection passes legal muster. More than 15 of the state’s death row inmates have exhausted all of their appeals, so if it does, prosecutors undoubtedly will be asking judges to set immediate execution dates.

From left, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, White House chief of staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Vice President Mike Pence, Aug. 28, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The State Department will retain its special envoy on anti-Semitism, a position some Jewish groups feared the Trump administration would eliminate. The envoy handling HIV/AIDS will also be retained, but many others will not survive cuts at the department, which plans to scrap 30 of the 66 current “special envoy” positions, including one that handles climate change issues.

Menachem Wecker 8-29-2017

Image via Nicole S Glass / Shutterstock.com

In past weeks — in the wake of Trump comments about white supremacy widely condemned as too late and too soft — disagreements among Jews about the president played out on a very public stage