Singapore prime minister says religion threatens stability

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's prime minister said in his National Day speech that "aggressive preaching" by religious groups and evangelizing threaten the tiny city-state's stability.

Lee Hsien Loong, a Buddhist by birth, said his education at the island's Roman Catholic High School was an example of how different religions can coexist peacefully.

"The most visceral and dangerous fault line (in Singapore) is race and religion," Lee said.

Singapore's majority Buddhist Chinese, Malay Muslims and Indian Hindus have largely avoided conflict since race riots between Chinese and Malays left about 40 dead in the 1960s.

"Christians can't expect this to be a Christian society," he said last Sunday. "Muslims can't expect this to be a Muslim society, ditto with the Buddhists, the Hindus and the other groups."

In the most recent census in 2000, 43 percent of Singaporeans said they were Buddhist, 15 percent Muslim, 15 percent Christian, 8.5 percent Taoist and 4 percent Hindu.

Lee cited the case of a Christian couple jailed earlier this year for distributing religious pamphlets deemed offensive to members of other faiths, and he condemned those who try to convert ailing hospital patients "who don't want to be converted."

"You push your religion on others, you cause nuisance and offense," he said.

He said the government must remain secular because Singapore's authority and laws "don't come from a sacred book." Lee's People's Action Party has ruled Singapore since independence 50 years ago.

Lee said there has been a global surge in religious fervor, including in the United States and Islamic countries.

"There is a wave of revival, megachurches and televangelism," Lee said. "Religion and politics are supposed to be separated in America, but in reality they are closely entangled."

Gayle Haggard plans book about surviving husband's sex scandal

CAROL STREAM, Ill. -- Gayle Haggard, wife of disgraced pastor Ted Haggard, plans to write a memoir titled, "Why I Stayed," according to Tyndale House Publishers.

"This is my story of choosing to love my husband through some of the most difficult challenges any marriage could face," Gayle Haggard said in a statement.

Ted Haggard resigned as pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Co., and as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after a male prostitute from Denver alleged a cash-for-sex relationship with him in November 2006. Haggard confessed to "sexual immorality."

Haggard has since said that he has worked with counselors and no longer has sexual desire for men.

Gayle Haggard's book is scheduled for release in January.

Idaho panel rules against school's Bible plan

BOISE, Idaho -- A state education panel has blocked a school's plan to teach about the Bible.

The Idaho Public Charter School Commission said in a statement last week that the state Constitution "expressly" limits use of religious texts.

The Nampa Classical Academy, in southwestern Idaho, had said it planned to teach about the literary and historic influence of the Bible -- not to teach religion.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund, a religious liberty group, represented the academy and had argued that the writers of Idaho's Constitution "sought assurances that the right of public schools to use the Bible as a teaching tool would be protected." Nampa Classical Academy has a statutory right to choose its own curriculum, the defense fund argued.

Kyle Borger, chairman of the academy's board, said the school will follow the commission's directive. The school serves more than 550 students and is scheduled to open Sept. 8.

Civil rights group sues city after it denied Muslims use of building as mosque

PORTLAND, Maine -- The Maine Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit claiming city officials violated the rights of Afghan Muslims who want to use a building as a mosque.

The former TV repair shop property is zoned commercial. Conditional uses for religious purposes are permitted, but rules require such properties be at least an acre. The site is one-third of that size.

The MCLU argued in the suit filed Aug. 13 that laws protecting religious rights supersede local zoning. Plaintiffs are the Portland Masjid and Islamic Center, the building's owner, Sadri Shir, and her husband, Nawad Shir.

City spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said officials have met with the plaintiffs and expect to continue talks.

Workers replace lightning-charred angel on new South Jordan Mormon temple

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah -- Workers have replaced the iconic gold statue of a trumpet-blowing angel that was scorched by lightning atop a new Mormon temple in South Jordan last month.

The statue of the angel Moroni sits on the 60,000 square-foot Oquirrh Mountain Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was hit and damaged during a June 13 rain storm.

It took three hours to replace.

3D Art Inc. owner Bruce Wallgren says the replacement has two grounded lightning rods -- one on the head and one sprouting from the trumpet.

The temple opens for use by church members later this month.

Felician sisters create new province for about 850 women religious in western Pennsylvania

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- The Felician Sisters in the United States and Canada are setting up a new headquarters in western Pennsylvania.

The Roman Catholic sisters have organized a new province in North America that includes about 850 women from Moon Township, just west of Pittsburgh; and others in Rio Rancho, N.M.; Livonia, Mich.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago; Lodi, N.J.: Enfield, Conn.; and Mississauga, Ontario.

The women's religious order had said the merger was needed to deal with its diminishing ranks and aging membership.

Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik plans a Mass Nov. 21 to celebrate the reorganization, which will bring the sisters under the authority of a single province in North Sewickley Township in Beaver County, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

The Felician Sisters were founded nearly 154 years ago.

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