The Christian Century

c. 2012 USA Today (RNS) The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights group that has frequently drawn fire from conservatives, has regained its tax-exempt status.

Lani Gerson left the Mormon church long before Mitt Romney decided to excommunicate her.

c. 2012 Religion News Service SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) Whether churchgoers realize it or not, the trees in their churchyards have religious roots.

Those tall, thin-branched trees on the corner of this city's Episcopal Church Center of Utah, Purple Robe Black Locusts, were probably named after a biblical reference to John the Baptist eating locusts and honey.

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS/ENInews) Scotland has announced it will allow same-sex weddings as early as 2015, becoming the first country in the United Kingdom to do so.

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Most Americans who know that Mitt Romney is Mormon say the presumptive GOP nominee's faith doesn't concern them. But a new poll indicates there may be an "enthusiasm gap" for Romney among white evangelicals, a crucial GOP constituency.

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) For the second time in less than a year, the Gallup poll reports that a majority of Americans would vote for an atheist for president.

c. 2012 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Neither Mitt Romney's trip to Israel Saturday (July 28) nor President Obama's Middle East policies will have much effect on Jewish voters this fall, according to a new report that says Jewish voting patterns are predictable and unchanging.