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Researchers find that the most common dating method can produce “spuriously old” dates.A team from Europe took a closer look at how uranium-lead ages are determined, and found problems. One of the assumptions going into dating zircons (zirconium silicate crystals encasing uranium that decays to lead) is that the clock is “reset” when the parent rock under goes the high heat and pressure of metamorphism. This team found that nanosphere inclusions of extraneous metallic lead (Pb) can confuse the dating technique, making the rock look older than it is. Writing in PNAS, they say:Zircon (ZrSiO4) is the most commonly used...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on Apr. 6 against the federal government to obtain “documents related to how groups that are awarded government funding contracts are restricting refugee and undocumented immigrant teenagers’ access to reproductive health services, including contraception and abortion.” The lawsuit is seeking the release of documents from the Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families about contracts awarded to religious groups that are helping unaccompanied minors, many of whom have crossed into the United States from Mexico. Brigitte Amiri, an ACLU senior staff attorney, said that...

“Basically, what we are going to be doing is kidnapping a guy for a couple of hours and beating him up and torturing him and then getting him to give the get,” Rabbi Mendel Epstein told two potential clients. It was August 14, 2013, and he was sitting in his home in Lakewood, New Jersey, with a young Orthodox Jewish woman and her brother. She had sought out Epstein because she desperately wanted to divorce her husband, who was refusing to give her a get, the document that formally dissolves a marriage under Jewish law. In Orthodox Judaism, only husbands...

"During the month of Ramadan, clocks are expected to be turned back again one hour around June 18 and forward again around July 18, 2015. According to Law 35 issued in May 2014, Egypt returns to standard time during Ramadan, when Muslims are required to fast during daylight hours"

Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, known as the Diyanet, issued a fatwa that allows Muslims to use toilet paper. However, the department reminded people “that water should be the primary source of cleansing.” “If water cannot be found for cleansing, other cleaning materials can be used,” the Diyanet claimed in a statement. “Even though some sources deem paper to be unsuitable as a cleaning material, as it is an apparatus for writing, there is no problem in using toilet paper.” Islam requires believers to adhere to strict rules regarding bathroom use. When a Muslim enters the bathroom, “one should say...

Denzel Washington is a two-time Oscar winner; however, he isn't afraid to speak out against liberal Hollywood and support his Christian faith. “I read from the Bible every day, and I read my Daily Word,” he told a reporter, adding that it was not difficult for him to grow up as the son of a preacher. “He wasn't a taskmaster, but there were certain things you couldn't do,” Washington said. “He had his own church, and it was a long Sunday, because you had to be there all day.” “Everyone I grew up with didn't have a father,” he continued....

I spent a long time on the phone last night with a law professor at one of the country’s elite law schools. This professor is a practicing Christian, deeply closeted in the workplace; he is convinced that if his colleagues in academia knew of his faith, they would make it very hard for him. We made contact initially by e-mail — he is a reader of this blog — and last night, by phone. He agreed to speak with me about the Indiana situation on condition that I not identify him by name or by institution. I do know his...

The highly anticipated series A.D.: The Bible Continues drew an impressive 9.5 million viewers on its Easter Sunday premiere, proving that there is indeed a massive audience hungry for faith-based programming. According to Variety, A.D.'s first episode, which focused primarily on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, was night's top-rated program, making it the highest-rating premiere since 2011. "#ADtheseries was the #1 show in America last night! #ADtheseries great news!" producer Roma Downey tweeted on Monday morning. In 2013, Downey her husband, Mark Burnett, shocked Hollywood with the success of their 10 hour miniseries, The Bible, which featured the...

While modern leftist academics routinely mock the Judeo-Christian apocalypse prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments (Joel 2; Isaiah 24; Matthew 24-25; 2 Thessalonians 1-2; Revelation 6-19) as something only a deranged literalist could entertain in his own fundamentalist mindset, they remain completely unaware that their most important leftist forefather, Karl Marx, was a false prophet of secular fundamentalism and profane eschatology ...

So I hate comparisons to Nazis as much as the next guy. Especially Hitler. But this recent deal with bakeries, pizzerias and religious freedom has created a line in the sand. Do you stand with fascism, political correctness, and big government, or do you stand with freedom? It’s just that simple. This video reflects that. Here’s Hitler reacting to a business denying him gay wedding cakes. Trust me, just watch it.

book review ___ Why Science Does Not Disprove John Batchelor interviews author Amir Aczel podcasts 39:45

It has happened yet again. President Barack Obama has been plagued by flying insects, and this time they interrupted the commander in chief as he was reading to children Monday morning at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. As the president was reciting lines from the famous book “Where the Wild Things Are,” bees began buzzing around the kids seated on the South Lawn at the White House. “Oh no, it’s a bee!” declared Obama when some children began to scream because of the insects. “It’s OK, guys.” Obama tried to assure the children everything would be fine, saying,...

What Could Be More Appropriate on Easter? Jerry Coyne Challenges Francis Collins on Metaphysics Michael Egnor April 5, 2015 3:15 AM | Permalink National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins, who is a devout Christian, did an interview recently with National Geographic about his faith and his science. Predictably, Jerry Coyne, an atheist biologist from the University of Chicago, took exception to some of Collins's answers about the compatibility of faith in God and science. Collins: [Question asked of Collins] Are science and religion compatible?I am privileged to be somebody who tries to understand nature using the tools of science....

Bombing, beheading, hijacking, mosque sermons — these are just a few of the instances where the proclamation “Allahu akbar” is shouted. But what does it really mean? The mainstream media tells us that the Islamic statement is a pledge of allegiance to the god of the Prophet Muhammad and is an admirable demonstration of faith and piety. It’s portrayed as a humble utterance of praise that is too often misused by jihadists during acts of terror. However, the real meaning behind the most controversial term of our time is much more sinister than the liberal left would have you believe....

.... Yet the focus kept returning to one subject: Was death an inevitability — or a solvable problem? ....

Spring is a wonderful time of year. Despite T.S. Eliot’s line that “April is the cruelest month,” spring is a time of renewal, a good time to remind ourselves to open up to new facets of life. One of the best things about spring, to me, is the opening of the baseball season. I am a fervent baseball fan. To me, there is a good deal of metaphysics in baseball. You start out at a place called home, then you go on a little journey like the Prodigal Son, the aim being to return home. The ones who go home...

Runaway Slave is an American independent political documentary hosted by Baptist minister C.L. Bryant. The film premiered in Los Angeles on January 13, 2012. The film follows Rev. C.L. Bryant as he travels across the United States and speaks with members of the African-American community, various conservative leaders, and different public faces about the belief that the African-American community is immersed in a welfare state and prevented from being successful on their own.[1] Andrew Breitbart, Glenn Beck, Herman Cain and Rep. Allen West are among the notable figures featured in the film who offer their insight and opinion into the...

Yes, this is a Jewish heavy metal song. I don't know what I can add to that. (As always, your feedback is welcome.) The usual blahblahblah: 1. I write and record my music under the name "Hopalong Ginsberg." This is what is known as "plausible deniablilty." 2. I know that my voice is completely unsuited for this kind of music. If Rob Halford or Brian Johnson wants to sing the next one, they've got the the gig. 3. Clicking here or here will get you a free MP3 of my song. Clicking here will not, but it's still pretty cool....

For the last 5500+ years, wedding ceremonies have been sacred—set apart as holy, and reserved only for those who qualify…one man and one woman. Since the beginning of time, it has been the absolute standard as a foundation of families, of our society, and of civilization as we know it. All civilizations that have violated that standard have eventually fallen, often with nothing left to show for their existence but rubble. As the rest of the world looked on in horror, all they had left were the hard lessons to be learned for their neighbor’s devastating mistakes. There is absolute...