Rep. Paul Ryan, last year's Republican vice presidential nominee, said Monday that he regretted voting to ban same-sex couples in the District of Columbia from adopting children.

Ryan, who is considered a possible presidential nominee for 2016, was answering questions from his constituents in Janesville, Wis. An audience member asked him about his positions on same-sex marriage, the Employer Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and allowing gay couples to adopt children.

"Adoption, I would vote differently these days," Ryan answered. "That was a vote I think I took in my first term, in 1999 or 2000. I do believe that if there are children who are orphans who do not have a loving person or couple, I think if a person wants to love and raise a child they ought to be able to do that. Period. So, I would vote that way." more >>

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the 2012 GOP vice presidential candidate, says both sides of the abortion issue need to work together to turn America into a country where abortion is not just outlawed, but not even considered.

"We don't want a country where abortion is simply outlawed," Ryan said at a Washington, D.C., gala for the Susan B. Anthony List. "We want a country where it isn't even considered."

Ryan, a Roman Catholic, had campaigned as a distinctly pro-life candidate, whose position on abortion differed even from Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential candidate. While Romney was also pro-life and against abortion, he said that the practice should be allowed in the cases of rape, while Ryan has insisted that all unborn children, regardless of the circumstances, should be protected. The former VP candidate clarified, however, that Romney would have set the policies regarding the issue if he were to capture the presidency. more >>

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has outlined her main priorities in life in her first public interview since taking charge of the corporation, saying: "I think that for me, it's God, family and Yahoo – in that order."

While Mayer has not publicly discussed her personal faith, at the Fortune Most Powerful Women event in Palo Alto, Calif., on Tuesday night, the Yahoo CEO referenced Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers whose Catholic faith played a prominent role in his life, as the inspiration behind the quote.

Mayer was appointed as Yahoo CEO in July after leaving Google, Inc.. which has led to a 19 percent jump in the company's stock. She is currently the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. more >>

An atheist organization has set up its own version of the Nativity scene in Madison, Wis., replacing the traditional Christian depiction of Jesus' birth with figures and objects honored by secularists.

"We nonbelievers don't mind sharing the season with Christians, but we think there should be some acknowledgment that the Christians really 'stole' the trimmings of Christmas, and the sun-god myths, from pagans," said Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor.

Emma Goldman, the goddess Venus, the Statue of Liberty, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Thomas Jefferson replace the magi, or wise men, in the atheist's Nativity version, while the baby Jesus has been replaced by a baby girl. more >>

Televangelist Pat Robertson, while commenting on "The 700 Club" Monday about the Sunday morning shooting at a Wisconsin Sikh temple, suggested that such violence occurs because "people who hate God... take it out on innocent people."

"What is it? Is it Satanic? Is it some spiritual thing?" Robertson questioned during his Christian news program this morning.

"People who are atheists, they hate God, they hate the expression of God, and they are angry with the world, angry with themselves, angry with society and they take it out on innocent people who are worshipping God," he said. more >>

President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney issued statements saying they were praying for the family and friends of the six people who were killed in the mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin on Sunday. The suspected shooter was later killed by a police officer.

"Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin," Obama said. "At this difficult time, the people of Oak Creek must know that the American people have them in our thoughts and prayers, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who were killed and wounded."

Six people were killed and three critically wounded when a gunman opened fire at a Sikh temple in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek on Sunday morning. The suspect, described as heavily tattooed and wearing a white t-shirt and black military BDU pants, later died in an exchange of gunfire with police. more >>