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Mary Baker Eddy's religious clarity in English is beautiful: "True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection. Prayer is the utilization of the love wherewith He loves us." "Reject hatred without hating." Mary Baker Eddy's religious clarity in English is beautiful: "True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection. Prayer is the utilization of the love wherewith He loves us." "Reject hatred without hating." "Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should...

For the past seventeen months, my family and I have purposefully and strategically declined to live our lives in fear. Instead, we have lived overwhelmingly normal lives, largely ignoring the milder but still ridiculous and unnecessary COVID restrictions and mandates imposed here in eastern Tennessee. We have traveled, flown twice, visited with family and friends, and haven’t hesitated to go anywhere in public that seemed fun to us at the time, from bowling alleys to jam-packed restaurants and bars. Our view is that God (or fate, if that’s your thing) will determine whether or not we get COVID-19, that highly...

Toppling Ten Fake Facts That Prop Evolution BY BRIAN THOMAS, PH.D.* TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2019 ICR founder Dr. Henry Morris wrote in 2003, “Practically all the media strongly promote evolution and...the general public has been taught only evolution in public schools and secular colleges all their lives.” Yet, according to yearly polls, about half of Americans still distrust at least some evolutionary ideas. Dr. Morris suggested these people may recognize the evidence that counters big-picture evolution. I’ve found that by asking thought-provoking questions about evolutionary arguments, I can help friends recognize enough weaknesses for them to think more about creation...

The Middle Eastern kingdom needs hay for its 170,000 cows. So, it's buying up farmland for the water-chugging crop in the drought-stricken American Southwest.Saudi Arabia's largest dairy company will soon be unable to farm alfalfa in its own parched country to feed its 170,000 cows. So it's turning to an unlikely place to grow the water-chugging crop — the drought-stricken American Southwest. Almarai Co. bought land in January that roughly doubled its holdings in California's Palo Verde Valley, an area that enjoys first dibs on water from the Colorado River. The company also acquired a large tract near Vicksburg, Arizona,...

As a teenager, I remember watching the 1968 televised debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley during the two national political conventions and thinking that they were way more entertaining than any of the TV dramas that were popular at the time. Those debates, unaccountably unavailable for the most part since then, have been resurrected as the centerpiece of the terrific documentary “Best of Enemies,” directed by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon. The film positions those debates as a harbinger of the ideological sword-crossing that has become a staple of TV news. Except what we have now, as opposed...

Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky, who is a candidate for his party's 2016 presidential nomination, has created a national brand as a man unafraid of challenging party orthodoxy. That was on display Wednesday when Senator Paul credited the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group to hawks within his own party. "ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS," Paul said in an interview with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough that aired Wednesday on “Morning Joe.” "They’ve created these people."

Same-sex marriages went forward Monday in Alabama, for the most part, notwithstanding an effort by the Chief Justice of the state’s Supreme Court to prevent probate judges from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples: BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Amid conflicting signals from federal courts and the chief justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court, some Alabama counties began granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Monday in a legal showdown with echoes of the battles over desegregation in the 1960s. In major county seats like Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville, gay couples lined up outside courthouses as they opened, and emerged smiling, licenses in...

Val Kilmer's family 'believe he DOES have a tumor' and is refusing medical treatment 'because of his Christian Science beliefs' He took to his Facebook page to deny reports that he has a throat tumor over the weekend. But now TMZ reports that family members of Val Kilmer believe the actor is in denial over his health, and is refusing treatment due to his belief in the Christian Science religion. TMZ report that members of Val's family have known about the tumor since summer, and urged him to see a doctor, but Christian Science followers are known to believe that...

Religions have surprisingly diverse approaches to the issue of possible extraterrestrial life, David Weintraub found. Below, a quick survey adapted from his book "Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal With It?" and interviews with the author.

The surge in popularity Hamas receives each time it unleashes rockets on Israel is predictable by now. The frustration voiced by Palestinians in Gaza who blame Hamas for pursuing its own interests while their homes get reduced to rubble is less expected.[snip] “Even those, like me, who were all the time criticizing Hamas … now we have to raise up our hats,” [snip] “I feel proud that after 60 years of [Israel] raping our lands we have an army, an army that can hit Israel,” says Ms. al-Lolo, who lives in Gaza City.

Christian Science 1328. What is your judgment of Christian Science? I regard it as a violation of Christian teaching as well as of science and reason. Those good people who take it up so enthusiastically have not lost their attachment to a vague Christian sentiment, but they have lost their grip on the fundamental truths of Christianity, and have no real idea of science and the demands of logic. Mrs. Eddy, the accepted prophetess who gave this new religion to the world in 1875, denied that Jesus is the Eternal Son of God made man. Mr. H. A. L....

Hundreds of students of all ages — including at least one LDS apostle — gathered at locations in Provo and Salt Lake City Thursday and Friday to listen and take notes as 26 scholars examined the extent to which LDS Church founder Joseph Smith was familiar with ancient writings, scriptural or otherwise. “Approaching Antiquity: Joseph Smith’s Study of the Ancient World,” a two-day BYU Church History Symposium, drew capacity audiences to the BYU campus and the LDS Church Conference Center Little Theater. SNIP Another highly attended session on the first day of the symposium featured Dr. David F. Holland, associate...

Oregon is on the brink of ending the legal protection for parents who rely on faith healing instead of seeking medical care for their children. On a 25-5 vote, the state Senate on Monday joined the House in passing a measure that was sparked by the heavily publicized deaths of children whose families belong to an Oregon City church, the Followers of Christ. The Senate added a provision that would make House Bill 2721 take effect immediately after it is signed into law.  It now returns to the House, which is expected to quickly send it on to the governor....

If climate change leads to ice collecting in one general area in the Arctic Ocean, it might be enough to provide a last 'refuge' for many Arctic inhabitants, including polar bears. Polar bears are shown in this undated photograph from UCLA released to Reuters on Nov. 23.By midcentury, the northern islands of Canada and the north coast of Greenland may represent the only remaining region in the Arctic where polar bears and the marine animals that sustain them can survive if greenhouse-gas emissions continue to climb at anywhere near their current levels. Alan D. Wilson/ReutersBy midcentury, the northern islands of...

Should health insurance companies cover prayer as a legitimate medical expense? The Christian Science church is seeking to insert a measure in the Senate’s health care legislation that would encourage private insurance companies to cover prayer and spiritual treatment of the sick, even though both the House and Senate turned down earlier versions. ... The church’s provision says that any insurer offering health insurance on the exchanges that would be created in the health legislation could not discriminate against a health service “on the basis of its religious or spiritual content.” Such content would be defined as medical expenses for...

Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses. The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist. The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments -- which substitute for or supplement medical treatments -- on the same footing as clinical medicine. While not mentioning the church by...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Christian Scientists in Utah welcomed their leaders to the state for the first time this weekend. The group of faithful members invited their leaders, members of a board of directors from Boston who oversee day-to-day operations of a worldwide faith as well as its long-term direction. "We're hopeful that this meeting and the dialogue that we'll have here will strengthen that sense of appreciation for what Christian Science has to offer the community," said Tom Black, a member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Board of Directors. The year 1909 marked the formation of a...

With the aid of a straightforward experiment, researchers have provided some clues to one of biology's most complex questions: how ancient organic molecules came together to form the basis of life. RNA, the single-stranded precursor to DNA, normally expands one nucleic base at a time, growing sequentially like a linked chain. The problem is that in the primordial world RNA molecules didn't have enzymes to catalyze this reaction, and while RNA growth can proceed naturally, the rate would be so slow the RNA could never get more than a few pieces long (for as nucleic bases attach to one end,...

Twenty some years ago I convinced a woman to marry me. Fourteen years and two children later, she decided to divorce me because "she was never 'in love' with me." This woman was reared as a Christian Scientist, but was not practicing when I met her, nor did she during our marriage. Just before this last Chistmas this woman (age 57), who was quite healthy, began to experience shortness of breath, fatigue, coughing and lack of appetite. She is 5'10" and weighed 130ish pounds at that time (slender). Today she weighs 90 pounds, can barely walk from one room to...

American paychecks are rising again at a pace not seen since the 1990s. The pay increase amounts to 4 percent on average over the past 12 months, and it comes at a very helpful time for millions of households. For three years, pay increases haven't kept pace with the rising cost of living. Then came this year's housing slowdown, which has further squeezed family finances. Those setbacks, however, are now being offset by rising income. Four percent may not sound like much, but you have to look back to 1997 to find a calendar year with a gain that big....