An Egyptian court has sentenced this week a 17-year-old Coptic student to three years in jail for posting drawings of the prophet Muhammad on his Facebook profile in Dec. 2011. The court ruled that the images were offensive to Islam and mocked the prophet.

"Assiut child's court ordered the jailing of Gamal Abdou Massoud ... for three years after he insulted Islam and published and distributed pictures that insulted Islam and its Prophet," a statement issued by the court read, as reported by Reuters.

The images appeared on Massoud's Facebook page in December of last year, and caused riots and attacks on Coptic Christians in his hometown of Assuit, in southern Egypt. more >>

Media Matters, the liberal watchdog group partially funded by billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros, says it will spend at least $100,000 to run ads in eight cities against conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

The group says its goal is to highlight Limbaugh calling Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" after she made an informal appearance before a group of Democratic lawmakers in defense of President Obama's contraceptive mandate.

Fluke lobbied on behalf of Obama's mandate for employers and their insurance companies to provide contraception and early abortion pills to women free of charge. more >>

The Rev. Dennis Terry of Greenwell Springs Baptist Church never thought his Sunday evening sermon about America being a Christian nation would ignite a media firestorm. But then again, it's not every day a presidential candidate is speaking at your church. In a phone interview with The Christian Post, Terry defended his remarks, saying they don't reflect the intent of his sermon.

"What are seeing on YouTube – all that is a blatant distortion of what I said and the intent of how I said it," Terry said in the interview. "I do love my country and what it stands for, that everyone can worship as they please. But I have as much right to stand and proclaim Jesus as a Muslim does to proclaim Allah."

"Am I a firm believer that America was founded as a Christian nation? You bet I am," he added. "Why is it that Christianity seems to be the only religion under attack – even in America? I'm being told that I am against other religions and that is not true." more >>

A group of lawyer advocates for constitutional rights submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday which seeks to restore the original intent framers of the Constitution had when they penned the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause.

The American Civil Rights Union argues for a new constitutional standard protecting religious freedom in the case of Mount Soledad Memorial Association v. Steve Trunk. The case involves the cross at the Mt. Soledad veterans memorial in San Diego, which the ACLU and other groups want torn down. The Supreme Court may decide to hear the case later this year.

The ACRU's argument – the "Coercion Test" – is that public religious expression does not violate the Constitution's prohibition against establishment of religion unless it involves coercion. more >>

Incoming and transfer students who apply to the University of California system could not only be asked to check boxes that indicate if they are male or female, a veteran or if they have a felony convictions, but also be given the option to declare their sexual orientation.

The system's Academic Senate recommended in January to the UC Board of Admissions that students be given the option of revealing their sexual identity, saying the information would be useful in determining how to meet the needs of entering students.

In December of last year, Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools chairman Bill Jacob, sent a letter to Dr. Robert Anderson, who chairs the systems Academic Council, referencing Assembly Bill 620 that was passed and signed by the governor. The bill requested that the UC system provide students the option of revealing their sexual orientation. more >>

Former Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain said the controversy surrounding conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh's comments about a Georgetown law student is nothing more than an attempt to deflect attention from the issues that are important in the 2012 elections.

"In case our liberal friends have not heard, Rush Limbaugh is not running for anything – he's not a candidate for president of the United States," said Cain in a phone interview with The Christian Post on Thursday afternoon. Cain was touring Alabama with Kathy Peterson, a GOP candidate for the state's Public Service Commission.

The controversy regarding Limbaugh began a little more than a week ago when he referred to Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke as a "slut" and a "prostitute," leading several advertisers to pull their ads on the popular daily talk show with an estimated 15 million daily listeners. He made the comments after Fluke testified before a panel of congressional Democrats in support of President Obama's policy of mandating free contraceptives to all female employees, even at religious institutions (such as hospitals and colleges) that object to such services. more >>