". . . In drawing up the rules that will govern health care reform, the Obama administration didn't just cross that line. It galloped over it, requiring employers affiliated with the Catholic Church to include free birth control in their health insurance plans. That's contrary to both Catholic doctrine and constitutional guarantees of religious freedom."

Read more: Editorial, USA Today

"We hear so often about Muslims as victims of abuse in the West and combatants in the Arab Spring’s fight against tyranny. But, in fact, a wholly different kind of war is underway—an unrecognized battle costing thousands of lives. Christians are being killed in the Islamic world because of their religion. It is a rising genocide that ought to provoke global alarm."

Read more: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Newsweek

"Backed by a tougher Indiana law, a coalition of Roman Catholic nuns has stepped up efforts to curb the sex trade during this weekend's Super Bowl."

Read more: Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times

"Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was imprisoned and sentenced to death for alleged apostasy, is experiencing renewed pressures to renounce his Christian faith and save his life by returning to Islam, the American Center for Law and Justice, which has been involved in the case, reported Wednesday."

Read more: Luiza Oleszczuk, The Christian Post

"'At a minimum, there should be warning signs posted, stating that some screens may contain adult content. ... I had no idea my girls could be exposed to such images at our local library,' she wrote in her email to the library."

Read more: Erik Lacitis, Seattle Times

(H/T Dick Staub)

"Obama chose to substantially burden a religious belief, by the most intrusive means, for a less-than-compelling state purpose — a marginal increase in access to contraceptives that are easily available elsewhere. The religious exemption granted by Obamacare is narrower than anywhere else in federal law — essentially covering the delivery of homilies and the distribution of sacraments. Serving the poor and healing the sick are regarded as secular pursuits — a determination that would have surprised Christianity’s founder."

Read more: Michael Gerson, Washington Post

"Planned Parenthood says the move results from Komen bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists. Komen says the key reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation in Congress — a probe launched by a conservative Republican who was urged to act by anti-abortion groups."

"Former Ottawa teacher Thomas McCue, who now lives with his male partner in Montreal, alleges Frances Jacques, the former principal of St. Joseph Catholic High School, committed professional misconduct when she refused to allow Leanne Iskander and other teens to form the controversial club, according to the Toronto Star."

Read more: Patrick B. Craine, LifeSiteNews

"While Twitter has already been complying with foreign governments’ requests to censor certain content, this decision certainly appears to make it easier for that to occur."

Read more: "Liberty Chick," Big Journalism

"The Catholic Church is fighting mad with the Obama Administration, and nearly every Catholic sitting in a pew this weekend heard the reasons why."

"'We are talking about a throwaway population that adults think are too far gone,' Sohn says later. 'We’re talking about kids that people have given up on over and over and over again. They don’t feel like anyone is there for them. They may have parents who love them, but they’ve been falling back on themselves for so long that if you come in front of their faces talking, and not backing it up with action, you just become another one of the people who have disappointed them.'"

Read more: Phil Zabriskie, Washington Post Magazine

"Recent gestures by Burma's political leadership offer a glimpse of optimism for future reform. Still, many Burmese remain cautious as fighting continues in ethnic minority regions where most of the country's Christians are located."

Read more: Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Christianity Today