The United Kingdom's Scout Association, which inspired the Boy Scouts of America, has announced that it will consider welcoming atheists into membership, drafting a new pledge for boys and girls who do not wish to reference God when they become members.

As details continue to emerge regarding the man who allegedly killed his teacher mother and 20 of her students (along with 6 other adults and himself) at an elementary school in Connecticut, tonight's overflowing prayer vigil was the first of many responses churches sought to offer.

This weekend, All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, will host the convention of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), marking the first time the national Muslim group has held an event in a Christian facility.

Jesus is getting the Bollywood treatment in a new Indian TV series.

(RNS) A graduate counseling student who was expelled from Eastern Michigan University after citing her faith when she declined to advise a gay client has settled her case with the school.

Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham, is requesting prayer for her husband Dan who is facing an MRSA staph infection—"the very worst and most contagious kind."

"We're in the fight of our lives," she writes. "Please pray that he can overcome the infection. And if not, that God will take him quickly and painlessly."

Michigan lawmakers are set to consider a new adoption bill that would guarantee faith-based adoption agences the freedom to make placement decisions based on their faith.

The United Kingdom's once-a-decade census indicates that the proportion of Protestants in Northern Ireland is declining, dropping below majority status for the first time.

French president Francois Hollande has announced plans to create a new government agency to monitor France's separation of church and state.

Update (Feb. 7): Morning Star News reports that Vietnam's new religion law, which requires a 23-year minimum for new churches to receive legal recognition, could end its house church movement. An attempt by the nation's oldest evangelical denominations to reunite this year after being split by its 1950s civil war has also been blocked.

-----

Vietnam has long been known as one of the U.S. State Department's "countries of particular concern" for its repression of religious freedom. And beginning January 1, a new decree could strengthen its notoriety.

Archaeologist Robert Ballard is best known for discovering the wrecks of the Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck. Now, Ballard has his sights set on proving the existence of a different treasure buried in the deep sea: Noah's Ark.

According to fresh data from the United Kingdom's once-a-decade census, the number of residents of England and Wales identifying as Christians dropped 13 percent since 2001. However, Christians still make up 59 percent of the total population.

The Quebec Court of Appeals has ruled against a private, Catholic high school desiring to teach a global religion course from a Catholic perspective.

In an attempt to placate same-sex marriage activists as well as the Church of England, British prime minister David Cameron has announced legislation that would legalize such marriages yet ban the Church of England from performing them.

The Amish aren't exactly known for mob-style antics: drinking, gambling, blackmail, and so on. But the Discovery Channel's newest show, "Amish Mafia," purports to offer viewers "a first-ever look at the men who protect and maintain peace and order within the Amish community in Lancaster."

The problem? Leading Amish experts say this "Amish mafia" doesn't exist.

A government credit that currently provides adoptive families with a major tax break is set to expire at the end of the month—and although a bill to extend the tax credit permanently has been introduced in both chambers of Congress, lawmakersmay not act in time.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released its annual hate crime statistics data, indicating that crimes motivated by religious bias—which for years have remained steady at 1 in 5 of all hate crimes—were narrowly passed in 2011 by crimes based on sexual-orientation bias.

Cote d'Ivoire has overwhelmingly adopted a new policy that allows women equal rights when it comes to household responsibilities and children; however, many citizens fear that the policy will undermine the more-traditional structure of society in the West African state.

The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear two cases regarding same-sex marriage.

Update (April 10): The Globe and Mail reports that Russian lawmakers have green-lighted the first draft of a law that would "make offences against religion punishable by up to five years in prison ... in the mainly Orthodox country."

The bill comes one year after the band Pussy Riot staged a protest in the country's main cathedral and outraged many in the Russian Orthodox Church, which supports the proposed anti-blasphemy law.

The Moscow Times offers more details.

-----

Pakistan is no longer the only country making headlines for its blasphemy laws. Some European countries are now striking down laws that criminalize offenses against religion. But other countries are strengthening them.

Who do people regard as the most honest and ethical person in their lives? New data from Gallup indicates that, for most Americans, the answer is not a pastor or clergyman; it's a nurse or pharmacist.

According to the New York Times, many Haitian orphans "aren't orphans at all." At least, not in the traditional sense.

During the Middle East's Arab Spring and Iran's attempted Green Revolution, citizens turned to Twitter and other social media to work together for greater freedoms. Such trends have researchers paying close attention to the rise of microblogging in another famously restrictive country: China.

(Update: A group opposed to same-sex marriage has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider this case (without waiting for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to address it first) because they would rather have the high court use this case to rule on same-sex marriage instead of the other cases before it.)

As the U.S. Supreme Court remains silent on whether or not it will hear cases relating to same-sex marriage, a federal judge in Nevada has ruled in favor of the state's existing ban.

Update (May 6): Orthodox church leaders are not the only ones calling for the release of two kidnapped Syrian bishops. Pope Francis and the U.S. government both have issued calls for the release of the two bishops, who have been held hostage in an undisclosed location since their capture on April 22.

In addition, George Conger reports that the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster issued a joint statement on the kidnapping, calling it "another telling sign of the terrible circumstances that continue to engulf all Syrians."
-----

Update (April 24, 2013): Two Orthodox bishops were reported as kidnapped by Syrian rebels while driving from the Syrian city Aleppo toward Turkey on Monday.

Reuters reported that church sources said the bishops had been freed on Tuesday, but later stories have contradicted the original report. As of Wednesday morning, a "source at the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo said the bishops had not been released and he was unaware of any contact with their abductors."

RNS has the latest details.

Many Syrian Christians have flooded into Turkey, which announced last week that it would build two refugee camps for its displaced neighbors.
-----

Deadly twin car bombs in two suburbs of Damascus, Syria's capital, appeared to target two Christian and Druze communities that have not joined the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Most Americans know David DeVore for his starring role in "David After Dentist," a viral YouTube video in which the boy, then 7 years old and heavily medicated after surgery, waxes philosophical on life. Now 12, DeVore still has big thoughts when it comes to drugs: He is urging teenagers to turn to Jesus instead.

According to new data from United Way Worldwide, nearly 8 in 10 Americans indicate that they would be forced to reconsider their giving if the tax deduction for charitable donations were eliminated.

A new poll from LifeWay Research indicates that the majority of Americans favor employer-provided free contraceptives—even if those employers are religious.

Update (April 18): According to the Los Angeles Times, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case challenging the constitutionality of California's ban on gay conversion therapy for minors. The LA Times report also provides a detailed account of the arguments made by lawyers on both sides.
----

Update (Dec. 31, 2012): In the California case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction against enforcement of California's reparative therapy ban until the appeals process is worked out.
-----