(RNS) Is it a sin not to vote? Or a virtue? Some disappointed Christians on both sides of the aisle -- especially evangelicals and Catholics -- are advocating the merits of boycotting the ballot box on Nov. 6. By David Gibson.

BERGHOLZ, Ohio (RNS) A month after a federal jury convicted a rogue Amish bishop and 15 followers of hate crimes for beard-cutting attacks, the tiny Amish community here continues on, tightly bonded and unwavering, yet troubled by fears of the future. By John Caniglia.

(RNS) About 300 churches are preparing for a new tradition: Election Day Communion, when people of every political stripe will leave their respective partisan bunkers and line up side by side to receive the sacrament on Election Day. By G. Jeffrey MacDonald.

(RNS) The questions posed by the new film "Hellbound?'' -- does hell exist and if so, who goes there? -- are no longer so anxiety-producing for filmmaker Kevin Miller. His faith journey has taken him to embrace a gentler view of hell that isn't a place of eternal torment, and holds that all souls will be saved. By Lauren Markoe.

CLEVELAND (RNS) A federal judge has given defense attorneys until Thursday (Sept. 27) to convince him that nine Amish defendants convicted of hate crimes should not be imprisoned until their sentencing Jan. 24. By James McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Amish bishop Samuel Mullet was convicted Thursday of federal hate crimes and conspiracy for exhorting followers to forcibly shear the hair and beards of those who opposed his breakaway Ohio sect. By James F. McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Law officers testified Wednesday about the chaotic and bizarre scene they discovered when they arrived at the Holmes County home of Raymond Hershberger, a 79-year-old Amish bishop. By James F. McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Defense lawyers say a compassionate desire to help wayward brethren return to strict Amish ways was what fueled a series of beard-cutting attacks. By James McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS)  The law of God will collide with the law of man this week in a crowded federal courtroom in Cleveland, where 16 Amish defendants -- 10 men with full beards, six women in white bonnets -- will stand trial on charges related to a series of beard- and hair-cutting attacks against fellow Amish men and women last year. By James F. McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Federal prosecutors will be allowed to question witnesses about Amish leader Sam Mullet’s sexual activities when the hate-crime trial of Mullet and 15 followers begins next week, a federal judge ruled Monday. By James McCarty.

(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.