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Minnesota is comparatively religious, but less so than it was 30 years ago.

New data compiled and released by the Association of Religious Data Archives indicates that Minnesota is one of the most religious states in the country, with 56.3 percent of residents claiming some sort of religious affiliation.

SEE ALSO:
-- Mary Franson on DNC "God" debacle: "Peter denied Christ 3 times also" [VIDEO]
-- Catholics walk out of mass as anti-gay marriage letter from Archbishop Nienstedt is read
-- St. Paul Saints to become St. Paul Aints on Minnesota Atheists night

That percentage is ninth-highest in the nation. The most religious state is Utah, with 79.1 percent of residents claiming affiliation, followed by second-place North Dakota at 67.1 percent. Maine, with only 27.6 percent of residents claiming an affiliation, is the least-religious state.


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The Rev. Gary LaMoine believes there's no room for debate about gay marriage in the Catholic Church.

After coming out in support of gay marriage on Facebook last month, Lennon Cihak's priest told the 17-year-old he wouldn't be allowed to complete his confirmation.

SEE ALSO: Lennon Cihak, 17, denied Catholic confirmation after coming out in support of gay marriage

Late last week, the Rev. Gary LaMoine of Barnesville's Assumption Catholic Church shed a bit more light on that decision, telling the Fargo Forum that Lennon "could be confirmed, but he'd have to change his mind about some things, and I don't know if Lennon is going to do that."

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Lennon and his family need to find a new church after he was rejected for supporting the Vote No cause.

Last month, Lennon Cihak, a 17-year-old living in Barnesville, Minnesota, posted a picture of himself holding an altered 'Vote Yes' sign on his Facebook page.

SEE ALSO:
-- Catholic school teacher forced to resign after disagreeing with church's gay marriage stance
-- MN for Marriage's concession: "God has defined marriage as between one man and one woman"

Lennon markered out the 'Vote Yes' text and replaced it with 'Vote No!' He also changed the sign's slogan to read, 'Equal Marriage Rights!' Shortly thereafter, Lennon's mother, Shana Cihak, was called into a meeting with Rev. Gary LaMoine, the priest at Assumption Church, the Catholic church the Cihak family attends. LaMoine informed the family that Lennon would no longer be able to complete his confirmation because of his gay marriage stance.

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Muehlhauser's church issued a statement expressing sadness about the allegations and asking any other victims to contact authorities.

Ryan Muehlhauser, the 55-year-old senior pastor at Lakeside Christian Church in Cambridge, faces eight felony counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly sexually assaulting two young men who were seeking ex-gay therapy.

SEE ALSO:
-- Gary Elg, Red Wing pastor, busted in St. Paul prostitution sting, resigns
-- Minnesota Lutherans demand change following pastor sex scandal

Muehlhauser, a pastor at Lakeside since 1989, is accused of sexually assaulting the men at least eight times from 2010 through October 31 of this year.

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Oliver White lost most of his congregation and his church after speaking in favor of gay rights.

The Atlantic magazine has included St. Paul minister Oliver White in its annual list of 21 "Brave Thinkers."More »

Rev. Brandon is the head pastor at Berean Bible Baptist Church in Hastings.

In recent weeks, Rev. Brad Brandon, the director of church outreach for Minnesota for Marriage, has traveled the state giving a presentation where he compares same-sex marriage advocates to Nazis.

SEE ALSO: Rev. Brad Brandon wants his GOP endorsements to be tax exempt

Minnesotans United for All Families secretly recorded a talk Brandon gave in Brainerd (some of the footage is embedded below), and after they released the video to the media, both Minnesota for Marriage and the reverend apologized. But despite calls for Minnesota for Marriage to sever ties with Brandon, he's staying on as the organization's director of church outreach.

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At Anshe Emet Synagogue, you can't have a yarmulke and Chick-fil-A, too.

For the second time in just over a week, Michele Bachmann (or political operatives working on her behalf) has unwittingly enriched Jim Graves' campaign to take her job.

SEE ALSO:
-- Michele Bachmann waves bag of gay-unfriendly Chick-fil-A [VIDEO]
-- Michele Bachmann becomes a Swiss citizen, hilarity ensues [CARTOONS]

Late last month, an outrageous pro-Bachmann attack ad helped Jim Graves raise $8,000. Then, last week, her appearance at a Lakeview, Illinois synagogue caused a 400 percent week-over-week increase in Chicago-area contributions to her opponent's campaign, according to Adam Graves, Jim's son and campaign manager.

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This guy plastered a handful of Buffalo churches with 'Jesus was gay' posters.

Police are looking for the young man responsible for vandalizing five Buffalo churches between Saturday and Monday.

SEE ALSO: MN for Marriage seeks removal of fair vendor who said she spit in Vote Yes guy's lemonade

In four of the cases, church doors were plastered with handmade posters that said something to the effect of, 'Jesus was gay.' The posters also depicted the Christian son of God engaging in homosexual acts.

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Bachmann blasted Obama for not being tougher on Islam.

SEE ALSO:
-- Bachmann and Jim Graves now neck and neck as Michele's favorability tanks
-- The Onion's "Bachmann Thankful No Americans Died In Sikh Shooting" story dupes dozens
-- Michele Bachmann on Ellison: 'He has long record of association with Muslim Brotherhood'

Over the past couple months, Michele Bachmann has solidified her standing as Congress' leading anti-Islam crusader.

She again upped the ante during a speech this morning at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, where she accused Obama of ordering that U.S. security agencies "be brainwashed in political correctness toward Islam."


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Franson thinks Democrats and Peter have an unflattering thing in common.

SEE ALSO:
-- Rep. Mary Franson infuriated by Earth Day, calls it "Pagan holiday" [UPDATE]
-- Bachmann says there's "a spiritual hurricane in our land" as Tropical Storm Isaac approaches [UPDATE] [VIDEO]

The most painfully awkward moment of last week's DNC came when Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reinserted language about God and Israel's capital back into the party's official platform.

Reinserting the provisions required a two-third voice-vote approval. But when DNC Chairman Villaraigosa held a voice vote and asked all delegates who disapproved to say "No," the roar was at least as loud as those roaring "Yes." Villaraigosa ending up calling for three votes, and each of them featured large numbers of delegates yelling "No!" in response to the possibility of "God" being included in the platform. Remind you of a certain Bible story?

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