WASHINGTON — The House passed a $513 billion defense-authorization bill Thursday that includes language intended to allow chaplains to pray in the name of Jesus at public military ceremonies, undercutting new Air Force and Navy guidelines on religion.

Americans are a religious people. More than nine in ten believe in God or a higher power, six in ten say they pray often, and more than half say religion is very important in their daily lives. But there are also religious questions on which Americans divide – including the literal truth of the Bible, the issue of evolution versus creation, and even on whether or not people with strong religious beliefs are discriminated against in this country. The religious divide has a political side, too. Half of those Americans who attend services nearly every week approve of the way President Bush is handling his job, while most of those who attend religious services less often do not.

New York: Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found.  And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested.  Because it is the most scientifically rigorous investigation of whether prayer can heal illness, the study, begun almost a decade ago and involving more than 1,800 patients, has for years been the subject of speculation.