(ANALYSIS) Earlier this month, 45 Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders were sentenced to years in jail for “subversion” following a controversial National Security Law trial. The group of human rights defenders, scholars and lawmakers were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion for taking part in an unofficial primary to select opposition candidates in July 2020.
Read MoreChina has tightened its control of religion, creating such crimes as genocide, mass arrests and enforced disappearances, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a new fact sheet, days after China released long-imprisoned American Protestant pastor David Lin.
Read MoreThe Alliance of Christians in Cuba (ACC) denounced the country’s human rights and religious freedom violations at its 2024 meeting, the third time it has done so since its 2022 founding and the latest in a string of such statements internationally. The ACC, a multi-denominational group of about 60 Christian leaders, called for the immediate release of religious prisoners and prisoners of conscience, the protected legal right for new churches to organize and function, and other rights included in Article 18 of the International Bill of Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Read More(REVIEW) The new series “3 Body Problem” is a secular show that wrestles with how the failures of the secular project have threatened the modern world and wrestles compellingly with nonreligious answers on how to solve them. Hollywood has recently begun to spotlight the evils of overtly atheist regimes. This year, “3 Body Problem” takes on Maoist China.
Read MoreYou’ve seen the train ads and massive billboards for years featuring colorful performers posing with pastel-colored ribbons. You might have even considered buying a ticket to see this dance troupe as they move from one to city to the next. So what exactly is Shen Yun, how do they define their religious ties and why do some even call the group a cult?
Read More(EXCERPT) Whenever we pivot in life, freedom from fear requires either a colossal ego or a colossal God. Ego leads us to grab what is not ours. The path to contentment starts with faith in God. In this sequel to “Lament for a Father,” Marvin Olasky first describes his journey from Judaism to atheism to Marxism to Christ and then his adventures in evangelical, conservative, compassionate, and journalistic circles.
Read MoreIn his new book, Ian Johnson features Chinese historians who record the darkest episodes of Communist Party rule. The current president of China, Xi Jinping, calls alternatives to the state-sponsored narrative of Communist rule “historical nihilism.” For Xi, Chinese Communism is “the conclusion of history.”
Read MoreIt is ironic the Czech Republic, a place where religious monuments are enmeshed with public life, that people seem to have little place for faith in their daily routine. In fact, according to the most recent data, almost 50% of the Czech population does not identify with any religious tradition.
Read MoreThe United States military has become increasingly partisan in recent years. The Armed Forces have become a new political battleground and the forefront of a cultural war between the political left and the right. That’s where Jace Yarbrough, a lawyer and Space Force reservist, found himself as this ideological and religious conflict worsens.
Read MoreItalians will vote in national elections on Sunday. If polls are correct, then history could be made once the votes are counted. Giorgia Meloni, who heads the Brothers of Italy party, could become the country’s first female prime minister since the nation became a republic in 1946. Here’s everything you need to know about her faith and politics.
Read MoreThe humanitarian activist and religious freedom fighter Cardinal Zen, who had previously served as bishop of Hong Kong from 2002 to 2009, was detained, along with four others, in connection with his role as administrator of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which supported pro-democracy demonstrations by paying for the legal and medical fees of protesters.
Read More(OPINION) There’s nothing pious about the modern Olympic Games. The modern version, organized by the International Olympic Committee, is more spectacle than spirit. The looming Winter Games, however, have triggered a reaction among some that has large moral implications — are you a bad person for watching the Olympics?
Read More(OPINION) Part III of a series. Many who claim to be anti-fascist don’t understand the historical implications of the term. Fascism manifests itself on both ends of the political spectrum.
Read MoreMonday marks the centennial birth of Karol Wojtyla, who became Pope John Paul II and was canonized a saint following his death. John Paul II was one of the longest-serving pontiffs in church history, the first non-Italian elected pope in 455 years and spent much of the 1980s ending communism in Eastern Europe.
Read More(OPINION) It’s an old debate. American attitudes about the country’s economic system are shifting. The issue isn’t black or white, and religious thinkers are weighing on from a variety of denominations and worldviews.
Read MoreThe French Father Choux helped his colleagues in normalization-period Czechoslovakia, a time following the 1968 Soviet invasion of the country marked by secret police and threats to clergy. He died at age 74 on April 10, after suffering with a neurodegenerative disease.
Read More(OPINION) Who’s to blame for the coronavirus pandemic? It’s not really a difficult whodunit to figure out. Just look to a system that rejects God and freedom: China’s Communist Party for the culprit.
Read MorePaying for prayers, bishops with ties to the Kremlin and communist structures built around ancient churches — the society ruled by the Byzantines, then the Ottomans and then the Soviets is now reckoning with finding faith on its own.
Read MoreWilliam Buckley’s ability to articulate a strong national defense, need for small government and a devotion to God and traditional values became the bedrock of the modern American conservative movement. It was Buckley’s Catholic faith that proved central to his life and ideology. He was a man who not only lived his devotion daily, but one that helped to inspire future generations of politicians, thinkers and broadcasters.
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