L.A. Times - Religious News

Aceh's morality police on the prowl for violators

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The only Indonesian province with Sharia, or Islamic law, has a 1,500-member force whose job is to go after women not properly covered and couples engaging in public displays of affection.

The young couple are totally busted. They huddle at a beach-side park, near signs forbidding teens from sitting too close. He has his arm around her shoulder. She isn't wearing her jilbab jilbab , the traditional Islamic head scarf.

A story of shock, chaos and bravery unfolds in Ft. Hood shooting

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Eyewitnesses say the gunman sat and appeared to pray before calmly firing on his comrades. Officials say he got 100 rounds off before civilian officers brought him down in a firefight.

In the end, the shooting rampage at Ft. Hood came down to a gunfight between two civilian base police officers toting standard sidearms and a 39-year-old psychiatrist armed with .357 Magnum and a pistol equipped with laser sighting and extra bullets, officials said.

American Muslims express fear, frustration after Ft. Hood shootings

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The news that the suspect is one of their own brings up familiar feelings. Besides fears of retribution, they're tired of sensing pressure to apologize for someone else's 'maniacal brutality.'

The news made Nihad Awad sick to his stomach.

Messages from the past become easy to read

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

USC researchers are producing crisp images of inscriptions and artifacts from biblical Israel and other Near Eastern locales and putting the pictures online.

Four thousand years ago, a government bureaucrat in Mesopotamia jotted down a tally of slave laborers on a clay tablet.

L.A. rabbis in Israel seek to model tolerance

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The 18 rabbis visit Israel on a trip intended to show that different factions of Judaism can coexist. Their message is exemplified by their behavior at the Western Wall.

The Western Wall is a unifying spiritual magnet for Jews the world over. It is also a place of contention over a rule by its Orthodox custodians that forbids women from standing beside men while praying there.

John Harris Burt dies at 91; former rector at Pasadena's All Saints Episcopal Church

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The retired bishop was a bold supporter of the civil rights movement and a friend of Martin Luther King Jr.

John Harris Burt, a retired bishop who advanced a tradition of social activism at Pasadena’s All Saints Episcopal Church with his bold support of the civil rights movement when he was rector in the 1960s, died Oct. 20 at his home on Lake Superior outside Marquette, Mich. He was 91.

A vibrant hub of Jewish life in the Valley

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The area where the attack occurred is 'like a small Israel,' with kosher restaurants, grocery stores and day schools.

Each Saturday morning without fail, Orthodox Jewish families in North Hollywood emerge from their homes and slowly make their way to the many synagogues along the area's leafy streets and boulevards.

A charity event that always hits its stride

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Crop Hunger Walk, a national interfaith program whose feet-on-the-ground method has been emulated for many other causes, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

One group started walking on Oct. 18 from Cal State Long Beach. The other set out a week earlier from Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.

Pope calls for peace and reconciliation in Africa

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Benedict XVI makes the plea during Mass as he ends a three-week Vatican meeting on Africa.

Pope Benedict XVI ended a three-week Vatican meeting on Africa on Sunday with a call for peace and reconciliation among all people on the continent, regardless of ethnic and religious differences.

Asylum seeker realized her dream but now is missing

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

After years on the run, Gilda Ghanipour stumbled upon a retired immigration judge and his Pepperdine law students, who championed her quest for asylum. She won her case. But she doesn't know it.

Gilda Ghanipour has spent the last nine years on the run.