Free Republic

A group of unmarried couples were whipped in Indonesia's Aceh province on Thursday after they were caught behaving amorously -- a crime under the conservative region's Islamic law. Flogging is common for a range of offences in the region at the tip of Sumatra island, including gambling, drinking alcohol and having gay sex. It is the only province in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country that imposes Islamic law. The five couples flogged Thursday received between four and 22 strokes from a rattan cane outside a mosque in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, after they served several months in prison. Religious...

Owner Jerry Jones joined his team in taking a knee. The Cowboys then stood up and linked arms for the national anthem. The Dallas Cowboys all took knees on the field and the Arizona Cardinals linked arms across from them before their Monday Night Football game, a move that followed a closely-watched Sunday in which NFL teams and their owners rebuked President Donald Trump’s criticism of athletes protesting during the national anthem.

COVINGTON, Ky. - Bishop Roger Foys of the Covington Diocese decreed that parishioners should not hold hands during the Lord's Prayer. In his decree Bishop Foys writes: Special note should also be made concerning the gesture for the Our Father. Only the priest is given the instruction to "extend" his hands. Neither the deacon nor the lay faithful are instructed to do this. No gesture is prescribed for the lay faithful in the Roman Missal ; nor the General Instruction of the Roman Missal , therefore the extending or holding of hands by the faithful should not be performed. "I'm...

US State Dept. delays action against Saudi Arabia Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 30, 2005 The United States is delaying considering punishing Saudi Arabia a year after censuring the Arab kingdom for "particularly severe violations" of religious freedom. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice notified Congress last week that she had authorized a 180-day waiver of action "in order to allow additional time for the continuation of discussions leading to progress on important religious freedom issues." The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal agency established by Congress in 1998 to promote religious freedom around the world, disclosed...

I have a general question for the Catholics here. How many of you live in a Diocese that openly encourages holding hands for the "Our Father"? Not in the parishes but the Diocese. I know that St. Louis and Charlotte discourage this practice. How about yours?