Whenever Hasmik Takoushian walked into a church in her native Armenia, the scent of incense and burning candles inspired her soul.

No getting around it:  Our religious identity cannot be separated from who we are.  A student in a classroom does not suddenly suspend his or her religious being and detach from a set of spiritual training and values.

State senators have voted to protect the religious liberties of students, a measure foes said will let them harass others who don't share their beliefs, especially homosexuals.

Temple Kol Ami, 15030 N. 64th St., Phoenix,  will host an interfaith parenting workshop 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday   in the social hall. “Talking to Children about Jewish Identity in the Interfaith Family” is the focus of the free seminar.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has told the Dalai Lama of his "strong support" for preservation of Tibet's identity and encouraged talks between the exiled Tibetan leader and China.

August 3, 2004

Schools can't refuse to accept fund-raising messages solely because they refer to the Almighty, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Arizona lawmakers are condoning injustice by failing to join other states that have banned workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, a Democratic representative says.

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Devers was heralded as an outstanding role model in his community, a devout Mormon, who stood up to the Obama administration, and was a tough sheriff more than willing and able to enforce all the laws of the land. Well, it turns he did not enforce the laws on himself.

State senators refused Wednesday to let employers cite religious reasons to refuse to provide coverage for birth control for their workers.

At first, it seems strange for Christians to jump into the firestorm surrounding the Nov. 8 ballot initiative in San Francisco to ban circumcisions. After all, the issue of whether gentiles had to be circumcised when converting to Christianity was -- literally -- settled in the age of the apostles.

A unique partnership between the Gila River Indian Community and Salt River Project is slowly bringing the Gila River back to the community.

Gov. Janet Napolitano will not order the removal of the Ten Commandments from a state-owned park, paving the way for a court battle.

America's level of religious tolerance appears to be better than we had thought it was. In fact, it seems there aren't as many claiming possession of the definitive truth about God and salvation.

Dan K. Thomasson, guest commentary

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge declared the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional Wednesday, a decision that could put the divisive issue on track for another round of Supreme Court arguments.

Overturning its own local superintendent, the National Park Service on Wednesday ordered the reinstallation of three plaques containing Bible verses at Grand Canyon National Park.

To Edward F. Murphy regarding his comment about the Mormon church being populated with hypocrites: I just wanted to let you know that not one of the members of the LDS church is perfect. In fact, that is true of every religion. I hope you are not that naive to think so. Like yourself we are tempted and make wrong decisions and mistakes. We are each individuals, free to make our own decisions hopefully trying to be better each day. I hope you would be doing the same. To accuse an entire religion of being “the epitome of hypocrites who populate... the Mormon church” is exactly what’s wrong with our society. Although I do not condone drunk driving in any way, I’m not sure what’s worse, driving drunk or judging others? And it doesn’t matter because all I need to worry about is me and being the best person I can be without belittling others since I am far from perfect myself. I guess what I’m saying is lets all try to be a positive contributor to society, since I’m sure we’ve all done hypocritical things in our life too. Especially when a family is grieving over the loss of a loved one and want to remember them in a positive way. You would want others to be kind if it was your loved one.

Most Catholic nuns are feminists whose education and savvy provide them the freedom and confidence to walk out of their convents tomorrow for jobs and outside opportunities, argues the writer of a new book, "Unveiled: The Hidden Lives of Nuns."

The parent company of Mercy Gilbert Medical Center and Chandler Regional Medical Center has a new name and new governing structure, both reflecting changes to its relationship with the Catholic church.

MADISON, Wis. — The nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block an architect from engraving "In God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington.

As journalists began digging into the who, what, when, where, why and how of Anders Behring Breivik, the deputy police chief of Oslo faced a media scrum and served up the day's hottest sound bite about the suspect in the twin attacks in Norway that killed 77 people.

Arizona State University placed a resident assistant on probation four days after he objected to a diversity training exercise that he said reinforced negative stereotypes and portrayed Christians as hateful and narrow-minded.

Arizona State University senior Ryan Visconti was told “his kind” wasn’t welcome — that he was an abomination and an unforgiveable sinner. He pleaded to join the “church,” which was set up Jan. 10 as part of diversity training for ASU dormitory employees.