A federal appeals court has ruled that a suburban Chicago student should be allowed to wear an anti-gay T-shirt at his high school -- a decision the teen's attorneys describe as a victory for First Amendment rights. In its ruling, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals instructed the district court to order the Neuqua Valley High School to suspend its ban on the "Be Happy, Not Gay" T-shirt while a civil rights lawsuit in the case proceeds. The Sun-Sentinel News

When a 15-year-old girl flashes a hint of her green bra in a playfully naughty photo on the Internet, hardly anyone -- aside from perhaps her parents -- blinks. But when the teen is Miley Cyrus, the face of the billion-dollar "Hannah Montana" Disney Channel franchise, everyone stares. The provocative images risk tainting the squeaky-clean image that's made her a hero for young girls. LA Times

He's one of the biggest box-office draws in history, but in recent years Tom Cruise has become more than just the face of his films. He has also become the face of his religion -- Scientology. A recent video of Cruise -- made for a Scientology event and leaked online -- showed the star's unbridled passion for his religion and piqued the public's interest in a belief system that has long been surrounded by controversy. "I think it's a privilege to call yourself a Scientologist," Cruise said in the video. ABC News

The Southern Baptist Convention is "a denomination in decline" due to drops in baptisms and membership, one of its lead researchers says. Southern Baptist churches reported their third straight annual decline in baptisms last year and are down to their lowest rate of baptisms in two decades. Baptisms dropped five percent to 345,941, while membership dropped less than a quarter of a percent, to 16,266,920, according to newly released figures for 2007. "This report is truly disheartening," said Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, the SBC agency that gathers the statistics. "...We are a denomination that, for the most part, has lost its evangelistic passion." Courier Journal News

John McCain's pastor ends his sermons with an altar call, beckoning any stirred souls to the front of his 3,500-seat``worship center'' to publicly dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ. In McCain's 15 years of attending Dan Yeary's North Phoenix Baptist Church, the pastor says, the Arizona senator has never made that walk. Yahoo News

A group of black pro-lifers joined a protest outside a Planned Parenthood clinic here on Thursday, calling for an end to federal funding of the abortion provider and expressing opposition to Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) pro-abortion stance. As Christians, we cannot vote for a man based on his skin color, but, as Dr. King has said to us, on the content of his character," the Rev. Stephen Broden, pastor of the Fair Park Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas, told Cybercast News Service. CNS News

Effort intenEsifies for same-sex marriage ban -- The battle over same-sex marriage in California heated up Thursday, when supporters of an initiative to ban it in the state's Constitution submitted more than 1.1 million signatures in an effort to qualify the measure for the November ballot. Matthew Yi in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 4/25/08

Rising food prices are hitting home -- Tonya Posk is haunted by history these days. Standing in a long line for free groceries at City Heights' Church of the Nazarene yesterday morning, Posk reflected on her grandparents' stories of bread lines during the Depression. Penni Crabtree in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 4/25/08

Jeremiah Wright says his critics have a political agenda -- The longtime pastor to Barack Obama tells Bill Moyers that media organizations used sound bites of his sermons to paint him as 'some sort of fanatic' and to damage Obama. Manya A. Brachear in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/25/08