One disturbing aspect is that the founders of Ateizm.org are at a great disadvantage. They cannot fight this effectively in the Turkish legal system because they have what appears to be a well-justified fear of the consequences if they reveal their true identities. As the individuals responsible for the most extensive criticism of Islam on the internet in Turkey, they may well be targets for attack by extremists - and they are clearly in no position to hire expensive security for themselves as Ayaan Hirsi Ali is forced to do outside of the Netherlands.

In a speech to foreign ambassadors in Paris, Mr Sarkozy said the “return of religion in most of our societies” was a reality and that “only sectarians do not see it”. The difficulty, he said, was ensuring that a religious revival did not come in the form of fundamentalist, closed and exclusive faiths.

Nicolas Sarkozy’s speeches on religion, last month in Rome and last Monday in Saudi Arabia, fuel a lot of controversy. In his Rome speech the French president defended the notion of a “positive laïcité,” and recognized the importance of religion in the daily lives of men who continue to hope and to aspire to a transcendent meaning of life. In Saudi Arabia he hailed Islam as “one of the greatest and most beautiful civilizations the world has ever known” and said that France and Saudi Arabia “share the same objectives of the politics of civilization.”

It is as hard to know how much of what Mr. Sarkozy says he believes himself as it is to define his terms. The total confusion in which the French find themselves on the question of religion and state confirms the belief held by some that the 1905 law separating Church and State is more of a handicap than an asset, now that Islam is one of the religions that has to be accommodated by “laïcité,” a legal structure originally meant only to separate the Catholic Church from the State.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is discouraging its employees and volunteers from making anonymous reports of sexual abuse of minors, a policy change that appears to be unique among U.S. dioceses and has outraged church watchdogs. However, it has the support of the local prosecutor's office.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian has won a battle to give his dead wife a Christian funeral after Islamic religious authorities dropped their claim to the body on the grounds of her conversion to Islam.

This last week I had an interesting conversation with one of my coworkers. He was talking about his church and its importance in his life. I demurred, preferring not to get into a long theological conversation at work. He would not let it rest. After about five minutes of conversation, he let one drop which I could not let pass – “Religion has never done anyone any harm.” I actually laughed in his face.

Twice in three days, PA religious leaders have openly called for the genocide of Jews. Broadcast on official PA TV, both called for the murder of Jews until the Jewish people are annihilated. Both presented the killing of Jews not merely as the will of Allah, but also as a necessary stage in history that should be carried out now. To support these mandatory killings, both cited the same Hadith - Islamic tradition attributed to Mohammed - expressing Allah’s will that Muslims will kill Jews, before the “Hour” of Resurrection.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Almost three-quarters of Americans who haven’t darkened the door of a church in the last six months think it is “full of hypocrites,” and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than about loving God and people, a new survey revealed.

Almost half the people surveyed—44 percent—agreed with the statement: “Christians get on my nerves.”