Religion_Belief

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A 'hostile' culture is leading Christians to leave the U.S. armed forces, The Washington Times reported. (Associated Press)

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Illustration on Israel as a haven for Christians in the Middle East by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

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A prominent Cuban artist was arrested ahead of a planned protest in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution. (associated press)

Pope Francis touches the Western Wall as holds an envelope before placing it in on of the cracks between the stones of the wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, in the old city of Jerusalem, Israel, Monday, May 26, 2014. The Vatican hasn't said if the contents of Francis' prayer would be released. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)

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Orthodox priests pray as they stand between pro-European Union activists and police lines in central Kiev, Ukraine, early Friday, Jan. 24, 2014. A top Ukrainian opposition leader on Thursday urged protesters to maintain a shaky cease-fire with police after at least two demonstrators were killed in clashes this week, but some in the crowd appeared defiant, jeering and chanting "revolution" and "shame." (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

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Bishops attend the beatification ceremony of Pope Paul VI, and a mass for the closing of of a two-week synod on family issues, celebrated by Pope Francis, in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

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Ultra-Orthodox Jews attend the funeral of Mosheh Twersky, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. Two Palestinian cousins armed with meat cleavers and a gun stormed a Jerusalem synagogue during morning prayers Tuesday, killing Twersky and three others in the city's bloodiest attack in years. Police killed the attackers in a shootout. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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A Pakistani Christian girl buys a cross at a shop outside a local church on Christmas Day in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

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Illustration on the order of the universe and the existence of a Creator by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

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In this Saturday, May 4, 2013 file photo, thousands of Roman Catholics take part in a Rosary Procession at Knock Shrine, Ireland. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)

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A coalition of women's groups stage a protest in Nigeria, demanding the release of the hundreds of schoolgirls abducted in Nigeria by the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram. More than 200 days later, the missing girls have faded from public attention. (Associated Press)

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (Associated Press) **FILE**

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In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, Larisa Alonso talks to a reporter at Our Lady of Charity Catholic church in Miami. Many Catholics have expressed pride in seeing Francis stirring hopes of progress in communist Cuba, but some Cuban-Americans say their spiritual leader betrayed them (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

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Stephen and Pauline O'Brien, foreground, holding Catholic rosary beads as they march through Ireland's capital, Dublin, in an anti-abortion protest. Ireland is debating its constitutional ban on abortion again because of a case involving a brain-dead pregnant woman on life support. Irish media reported Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, that family members want to turn off the woman’s life support systems but doctors are refusing because the law requires them to defend the right to life of her 16-week-old fetus. Fetuses typically cannot survive outside the womb until around 24 weeks. (AP Photo/Shawn Pogatchnik, File)

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Image: Twitter, The Islamic State group

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Hoping to wrangle last-minute shoppers for the Jan. 1 deadline, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell met with religious leaders Friday on Capitol Hill. (Associated Press)

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Attending religious services regularly is associated with being "very happy," says a new study from the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture in Texas. (AP Photo/The Muskegon Chronicle, Tommy Martino)

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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan, is shown in this March 1, 2003, file photo. (AP Photo, File)

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Abigail Ramirez, 1, center, dances in the middle of the Danza Guadalupana dance group in the annual St. Peter Claver Parish Virgen de Guadeloupe parade in Tyler, Texas. Virgen de Guadalupe, also known as Our Lady of Guadeloupe, is the patron saint of Mexico. Catholics around the world celebrate Virgen de Guadeloupe each year on Dec. 12. It is said that in 1531, an image of the Virgin Mary, a young woman surrounded by light, appeared to an indigenous peasant named Juan Diego outside of Mexico City. (AP Photo/The Tyler Morning Telegraph, Sarah A. Miller)