Free Republic

A New Hampshire mother has been banned from praying at her kids' high school. Lizarda Urena has two children enrolled at Concord High School in Concord, N.H. She started praying on school grounds in 2011 after two bullets were found in a restroom at the school. Urena said she prayed aloud as students entered the school every morning. She was recently told by school officials that the prayers were not welcome after someone filed a complaint with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. "They told me, no, no more," the mother of two said, with tears in her eyes. "I stand...

France herds Muslim faithful off streets after prayer ban World Sep. 17, 2011 - 07:15AM JST ( 13 ) PARIS — A ban on praying in French streets came into effect on Friday, with thousands of the nation’s Muslim faithful being moved to temporary alternative spaces for their day of prayer. From Paris to Marseille, Friday’s midday prayers will be led from disused barracks or other temporary buildings, after the question of Islam’s visibility became a political issue under right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy. France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim population, this year banned the face-covering burqa and earlier this week...

Hundreds of Muslims defied a French ban on outdoor prayer -- which came into force Friday --and took to the streets and sidewalks of Paris to pray. The French government announced Thursday it was banning praying outside, with officials pledging to enforce the ban from Friday. But 200 Muslims ignored the ban and prayed on the streets in the neighborhood of La Goutte d'Or, Le Parisien newspaper reported. French interior minister Claude Gueant said he had nothing against Islam but wanted it out of the public eye because France was a secular state. Muslims gathered on a street in Paris...