The FRC gunman was reportedly a Nietzsche fanatic. A Tale of Two Catholics. Half of Christian women feel under-utilized and resigned to low expectations. 

(RNS) When U.S. diplomats are looking to improve the image of the U.S. in the Muslim world, are they spending too much time overseas? Some experts say the opinions of Muslim immigrants and students here at home are far more influential. By Omar Sacirbey.

(RNS) Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has formed a three-member committee to look into reports that nearly 250 Hindus fled to India to escape harassment and discrimination. By Anto Akkara.

WASHINGTON (RNS) A security guard was shot Wednesday morning (Aug. 15) in the headquarters of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian lobbying group. By Chris Lisee.

SAN FRANCISCO (RNS) While the recent Atheist Film Festival is the only explicitly atheist festival in the U.S., it is part of a larger trend of Humanist and Freethought film festivals taking their place along Jewish and Christian ones. By Kimberly Winston.

(RNS) A Vermont jury found an Amish-Mennonite pastor guilty Tuesday (Aug. 14) of abetting an international kidnapping to keep a child from her lesbian parent. By Lauren Markoe. 

(RNS) New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan defended his invitation of President Obama to the annual Al Smith Dinner in October, saying he's trying to encourage civility and dialogue amid a bitter battle over abortion rights and access to contraception. By Chris Lisee.

(RNS) Vice president Joe Biden sits to the left of Catholic doctrine on abortion and other life issues. Fellow Catholic Paul Ryan, the newly minted GOP vice presidential candidate, sits to the right of his church on fiscal policy. If the 2012 presidential campaign proves anything, it's that there is no perfect Catholic politician. By Daniel Burke.

WASHINGTON (RNS) A new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Service finds that Americans are generally divided about gun control, but certain religious groups are far from ambivalent. By Lauren Markoe.

LOS ANGELES (RNS) The ACLU is suing The Walt Disney Co. on behalf of a Muslim woman who claims the company discriminated against her by not allowing her to wear a headscarf while working in a Disney restaurant in Anaheim. By David Finnigan.

(RNS) Nellie Gray, the octogenarian who founded the annual March for Life to protest the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, has died. By Adelle M. Banks.

This week on the Religion News Godcast: Azariah Southworth, the evangelical-turned-agnostic who outed evangelical writer Jonathan Merritt.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Members of a fringe Amish group charged with committing hate crimes against fellow Amish have requested that certain words, including "cult," "splinter" and "rogue," be banned from their upcoming trial in U.S. District Court. By Brandon Blackwell.

(RNS) Comparing today with yesterday is a popular yet pointless pastime. We rarely remember yesterday accurately, and yesterday was so, well, yesterday -- different context, different players, different period in our lives, different numbers, different stages in science, commerce and communications. By Tom Ehrich.