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Religion & Politics (Religion)

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  • Militant Islam Greatest Threat to Middle Eastern Christianity, Says Think Tank

    12/26/2012 7:29:05 PM PST · by ReformationFan · 15 replies
    Christian Post ^ | 12-26-12 | Michael Gryboski
    A British think tank has released a lengthy report claiming that militant Islam is the greatest existential threat to Middle Eastern Christianity, bringing Christian communities in the region "close to extinction." The London-based Civitas, also known as the Institute for the Study of Civil Society, published the report in December. "Christianity is in serious danger of being wiped out in its biblical heartlands because of Islamic oppression," reads a statement from the group issued Sunday. "But Western politicians and media largely ignore the widespread persecution of Christians in the Middle East and the wider world because they are afraid they...
  • Anglican Head Rowan Williams Backs Gun Control in US

    12/26/2012 4:26:34 PM PST · by ReformationFan · 28 replies
    The Christian Post ^ | 12-23-12 | Anugrah Kumar
    The outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, talked about the recent Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Conn., discounting the argument put forward, including by many Christians in the United States, that "it's not guns that kill, it's people." "People use guns. But in a sense guns use people, too. When we have the technology for violence easily to hand, our choices are skewed and we are more vulnerable to being manipulated into violent action," the leader of the world's 80 million-strong Anglican Communion said, delivering BBC Radio 4's "Thought for the Day" on Saturday.
  • The Church and the Mandate

    12/26/2012 7:59:21 AM PST · by marshmallow · 5 replies
    The National Review Online ^ | 12/19/12 | George Weigel
    The strategic situation after a year, and the terrain aheadAs the Catholic Church and the Obama administration approach the first anniversary of what has become the most serious confrontation between the Church and the federal government in U.S. history — a confrontation caused by a regulatory mandate implementing Obamacare — a review of the strategic situation is in order, with an eye to the terrain ahead. But given the confusions about this struggle that were sown in many minds during the presidential campaign (not least by the vice president of the United States), it is important to begin by remembering...
  • In India, All Religions Join In 'The Big Day' (Christmas)

    12/25/2012 2:53:08 PM PST · by entropy12 · 65 replies
    npr.org ^ | December 25, 2012 4:00 AM | July McCarthy
    India, the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, marks the birth of Jesus with a national holiday. Indians call Christmas bara din, or the Big Day.
  • Roman Catholic Bishop Links Push for Gay Marriage to Nazi Attack on Religion in Christmas Sermon

    12/25/2012 10:00:58 AM PST · by marshmallow · 11 replies
    The Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 12/23/12 | Daniel Martin
    Right Reverend Mark Davies will use his midnight Mass to say marriage can only be between a man and a woman The Bishop of Shrewsbury will say that both Hitler and Stalin challenged Christianity with the notion that what they were doing was ‘progress’A senior Roman Catholic will today use his Christmas sermon to liken plans for the legalisation of gay marriage to the way the Nazis and Communists tried to undermine religion. The Bishop of Shrewsbury will launch a vociferous attack on the Coalition’s decision to fast track a vote on same-sex marriage in the New Year. The Right...
  • Christianity 'Close to Extinction' in Middle East

    12/25/2012 9:01:00 AM PST · by marshmallow · 19 replies
    The Daily Telegraph (UK) ^ | 12/23/12 | Edward Malnick
    Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group. And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”. It warns that converts from Islam face...
  • The Unholy War on Christmas

    12/24/2012 11:33:08 AM PST · by CHRISTIAN DIARIST · 17 replies
    The Christian Diarist ^ | December 24, 2012 | JP
    My company, a major metropolitan newspaper, used to host an annual Christmas party for employees. But, this year, the paper broke with tradition, hosting instead a “holiday party,” so as not to offend the sensibilities of those that do not believe Christ the Son of the God. Well, I respect the Constitutionally-protected right of every American to practice a religion other than Christianity, the faith of this nation’s founders. Or to practice no religion whatsoever (which I suspect of many, if not most of my journalistic peers). What I find objectionable, though, is the insistence of non-Christians that the holiday...
  • Blaming God for tragedy nothing new

    12/24/2012 8:09:40 AM PST · by SeekAndFind · 3 replies
    Associated Baptist Press. ^ | 12/24/2012 | Jeff Brumley
    Why do the innocent suffer? It's a question as old as the Book of Job and as current as today's headlines. Many criticized prominent evangelicals like James Dobson and Mike Huckabee for claiming last week's Connecticut school massacre was God’s punishment of a morally disobedient nation, but don't expect such views to change. Scholars say the belief in divine retribution for personal and national transgressions not only goes back as far as the Bible's Book of Job, it’s also a concept fused into the American worldview. “This is a recurring pattern in American history since the Puritans,” said Barry Hankins,...
  • Pray for our American Heroes

    12/23/2012 5:27:50 PM PST · by Kitty Mittens · 8 replies
    12-23-12 | Kitty Mittens
    Psalm 103:1-5 Bless the LORD, O my Soul: and All that is Within me, Bless His Holy Name. Bless the LORD, O my Soul, and Forget not All His Benefits: Who Forgiveth All thine Iniquities; Who Healeth All thy Diseases; Who Redeemeth thy Life from Destruction; Who Crowneth thee with Lovingkindness and Tender Mercies; Who Satisfieth thy Mouth with Good Things; so that thy Youth is Renewed like the Eagle's.
  • It's Not Just a 'War on Christmas' - It's a War on Christianity

    12/23/2012 4:59:40 PM PST · by InHisService · 21 replies
    Consequential Commentary ^ | 12-23-2012 | Mary C. Kirchhoff
    There was a time when 10 Commandment displays sat untouched in government halls and schools, when Nativity scenes were placed in parks and in front of government buildings, and when children sang traditional Christmas songs at holiday concerts. I remember my elementary school calendar, which read, “Christmas Vacation” marking a week or so off for the Christmas season. Slowly and methodically, it’s all disappearing thanks primarily to two organizations that are on a mission to eradicate any vestige of God – particularly Jesus Christ – from the public square. The Madison, Wisconsin based Freedom From Religion Foundation, (FFRF) and American...
  • Newtown, Gun Laws, Peace & the Abortion Connection?

    12/22/2012 12:53:05 PM PST · by NYer · 6 replies
    Courageous Priest ^ | December 22, 2012 | Sister Mary Rose Reddy, DMML
    Rochester, NH – It is the time of our visitation as a nation. We are grieving the brutal murders of the children in Newtown. Who could refrain from crying—seeing their beautiful pictures? Even the president cried; yet consider this terrible irony: After the Federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act had passed the Senate 98-0 and the House by an overwhelming majority and was signed into law on August 5, 2002, then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama voted against an identically worded Act in the Illinois Senate (SB 1082) in March of 2003. From 2003-2008, Barack Obama dishonestly insisted that he...
  • Benedict XVI on the destructive evil of “gender” confusion (Analysis by Fr. Zuhlsdorf)

    12/22/2012 4:16:52 AM PST · by NYer · 4 replies
    WDTPRS ^ | December 21, 2012 | Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
    The Holy Father today provided insight into how evil and destructive the homosexual agenda is.Each year shortly before Christmas the Roman Pontiff exchanges greetings with and addresses the members of Roman Curia. He gives them what some call a “State of the Church” address. He reviews key events and then focuses on a few themes. Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the Roman Curia in 2005 was one of the most important acts of his pontificate so far.This morning, His Holiness received the Curia and gave his address.Among the few themes the Holy Father addressed was that of the crisis of...
  • Jindal teaches the Catholic Church a lesson

    12/21/2012 3:19:14 PM PST · by SeekAndFind · 26 replies
    Religious News Service ^ | 12/21/2012 | Mark Silk
    Bobby Jindal, the conservative Catholic governor of Louisiana, attracted some attention last week for a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which he advocated making oral contraceptives available over the counter without a prescription. And for his pains, he received a slap on the wrist from his local archdiocese.Jindal made his case on libertarian and partisan grounds: People should have a right to buy products free from government restrictions, and letting them do so in this case (as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommends) will take contraception out of the political arena (where the Democrats are using...
  • God's gender divides German government

    12/21/2012 2:56:23 PM PST · by SeekAndFind · 20 replies
    Yahoo News ^ | 12/21/2012
    BERLIN (Reuters) - A minister in Angela Merkel's government has sparked a pre-Christmas row among Germany's ruling parties by suggesting God be referred to with the neutral article "das" instead of the masculine "der". Family Minister Kristina Schroeder made the comments when asked in an interview with German weekly Die Zeit how she explained to her young daughter the use of the masculine form for God. "The article is not important," she responded, adding that it was fine to use "das" instead of the traditional "der" when referring to God. The remarks were immediately denounced by members of Schroeder's own...
  • Pray for our American Heroes

    12/21/2012 12:24:39 PM PST · by Kitty Mittens · 10 replies
    12-21-12 | Kitty Mittens
    Psalm 89:13 Thou hast a Mighty Arm: Strong is Thy Hand, and High is Thy Right Hand.
  • Expect More Catholic Caveats about Government

    12/20/2012 7:08:28 AM PST · by marshmallow · 1 replies
    Catholic Culture ^ | 12/19/12 | Dr. Jeff Mirus
    I found some extraordinarily important distinctions in Pope Benedict’s recent address to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. These distinctions ought to affect significantly how we approach the Church’s social teaching regarding governmental authority in general, and world governmental authority in particular. Recent popes have called for the exercise of administrative authority at the global level to deal with those problems that are global in scope, and therefore not amenable to solution at lower levels. This would seem to be an extension of their call for intervention and collaboration by national governments to address widespread...
  • A Man for This Season, and All Seasons

    12/20/2012 6:48:09 AM PST · by marshmallow · 14 replies
    The Witherspoon Institute, Public Discourse ^ | 12/19/12 | Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
    There is only one Thomas More: A man of tender nobility, subtle intellect, and forceful conviction, all rooted in profound fidelity to the larger commonwealth of Christendom outside and above Tudor England.A day after the 2012 Summer Olympics closed in London, Joseph Pearce wrote that he felt like his “body had been covered in slime. I also felt a great sense of gratitude that I had shaken the smut and dirt from my sandals and had left the sordid culture of which I was once a part.” Given the grand sweep of British history, those are harsh words from a...
  • A "Major Victory" in Federal Court for Those Opposing the HHS Mandate

    12/19/2012 7:21:26 PM PST · by marshmallow · 5 replies
    Catholic World Report ^ | 12/19/12 | Catherine Harmon
    Big news from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the law firm representing those challenging the Obama administration’s contraception mandate:Today [Tuesday, December 18], a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. handed Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College a major victory in their challenges to the HHS mandate. Last summer, two lower courts had dismissed the Colleges’ cases as premature. Today, the appellate court reinstated those cases, and ordered the Obama Administration to report back every 60 days—starting in mid-February—until the Administration makes good on its promise to issue a new rule that protects the Colleges’ religious freedom. The new rule...
  • Italian Parliament Grants Offical Recognition to Hinduism and Buddhism

    12/19/2012 4:22:34 PM PST · by Jyotishi · 5 replies
    Hinduism Today Magazine ^ | December 15, 2012 | articolotre.com and Hindu Press International,
    Italy, December 14, 2012 (articolotre.com): [HPI notes: This article is a translation of the original Italian language article. The Hindu population of Italy is at least five times greater than the number mentioned here.] A new milestone for religious freedom and equality between religions in Italy: The parliament has finally approved an agreement with the Italian Hindu Union (Sanatana Dharma Sangha) and the Italy Buddhist Union. These religions will now have the ability to open schools and have access to limited state funding. Article 8 of our Constitution provides for freedom for all religions that do not conflict with Italian...
  • Compulsory Abortion for Down’s Syndrome Foetuses, Says UKIP Kent Candidate

    12/19/2012 11:55:05 AM PST · by marshmallow · 42 replies
    Gravesend Reporter ^ | 12/18/12 | Anna Dubuis
    Mothers with foetuses detected to have Down’s syndrome and other disabilities should be forced into a compulsory abortion, according to a UKIP candidate’s ‘personal manifesto’. Geoffrey Clark, who is running in a by-election on Thursday (20) for the Gravesham Rural seat on Kent County Council and the Meopham North seat on Gravesham Borough Council, was labelled ‘abhorrent’ by disability charities and parents. His ideas, published on his website, state: “Consider compulsory abortion when the foetus is detected as having Downs, Spina Bifida or similar syndrome which, if it is born, will render the child a burden on the state as...