Posts in Conflict
Amritpal Singh: A Rebel Seeking a Separate Country for Sikhs In Drug-Plagued Punjab State

Amritpal Singh was born in Jullupur Khera in the Amritsar district of Punjab. He reportedly enrolled himself in a polytechnic college before moving to Dubai to join a transport business in 2012. In 2022 he returned to India to take over the leadership of “Waris Punjab De” after founder Deep Sidhu died on Feb. 15, 2022 in a vehicle accident.

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New Probe Of Origins Of Islam's Quran Resembles 200 Years Of New Testament Conflict

(OPINION) “Creating the Quran” will certainly offend believers in the orthodox view that between 610 and his death in 632, Muhammad, guided by the angel Gabriel, received God’s verbatim words, memorized them, dictated them to scribes and confirmed the entirety of the Quran’s revelations as they exist today.

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How Muslim Women Are Reconciling Gender Justice And Islam

(ANALYSIS) As a Muslim-Pakistani woman who is also a journalist, I find myself unable to turn off from such news. In these cases, what set me off more is that unlike previous instances of violence against women where a certain amount of support and discussion helped me deal with the fear and anger that accompanies such news, Khan’s and Muhammad’s untimely deaths were met with silence. 

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Was Esau-Edom White? Demolishing Hebrew Israelite Lies (Part 1)

(OPINION) One of the most common (and pernicious) Hebrew Israelite lies is that Isaac and Rebekah’s son Esau, also known as Edom, was White and that Whites today are his descendants, vilified as “White Edomite Devils.”

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How Easter Eggs Represent Ukrainian Women's Power to Reclaim Religious Freedom

(ANALYSIS) Spiritual motherhood is brought to life through sacred, ancient myths like the Ukrainian women who co-create the world anew each morning through their perpetual creation of pysanky eggs. And particularly now, spiritual mothers like Zielyk are inviting each of us to step into our own individual and collective sacred stories through art, beauty and creativity.

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On The Front Lines: In War-Torn Kherson, Church Is A Symbol Of Hope And Resilience

Christians like Stanislav Syniy are living in war times on adrenaline as they volunteer to provide, food, clothing and other supplies to people in need. They pray as they go, hoping for an end to a conflict that has destroyed parts of their homeland and left an estimated hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers dead.

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Is Pope Francis ‘The Only One Who Can Make A Difference’ In Uganda’s Anti-LGBTQ Bills?

Reuters reported that more than 30 African countries, including Uganda, already ban same-sex relations. But the new law emerging in Uganda would be the first to outlaw people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, according to Human Rights Watch.

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Why Are The Church And Hollywood At War?

(ESSAY) For almost a century, two of the most powerful and culturally influential institutions in the West — the church and Hollywood — have lived in near constant enmity with each other. Why is this? Does it have to be this way? Is there hope for unity? Much like Scripture, I was taken with the wonderful narratives I was invited into through film. But it was confusing to see an inspiring and entertaining movie on Saturday night and then be told how evil it was on Sunday morning.

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Why Hinduism Is Being Molded Into A Monotheistic Religion Like Islam And Christianity

(OPINION) Politically, rallying Hindus around one overarching religious figure has been a key component of the BJP’s strategy to create a new pan-Hindu identity that transcends its myriad traditions and caste hierarchies, which are considered a roadblock to Hindu political unity. 

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Interview With Author Bradley Onishi On What Created The Religious Right

Religious studies scholar Bradley Onishi traces the modern history of Christian nationalism and how it relates to current events in his new book “Prepping for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — and What Comes Next.” He starts with how a select group of Supreme Court cases led to the creation of the modern religious right and how they moved to support right-wing populist leaders. Onishi connects this history to the Donald Trump presidency and the attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Israeli Earthquake Rescue Team Returns 200-year-old Scrolls of Esther to Turkey

The goodwill Israel earned when she sent a team of nearly 700 emergency medical responders to Turkey following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated Hatay province on Feb. 6 evaporated after the revelation that the search and rescue team secretly exported two 200-year-old Scrolls of Esther from Antakya at the end of its six-day mission there.

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5 Prayers For Ukraine A Year After The First Russian Bombs Fell

Christians from around the world gathered online Feb. 23 to pray for Ukraine — just hours before the grim anniversary of the Russian invasion. But the ‘rough year’ has also been a year of growth and opportunity.

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Why Businessman Peter Chung Is Key Player In The Future Of The King’s College

(ANALYSIS) It would be smart for religion reporters, business reporters and education reporters to dig more into Canadian businessman Peter Chung and his involvement with King’s in the past two years as well as his other business ventures through Primacorp Ventures Inc. and the Emanata Group.

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From Catholicism To ‘Jew-ish’: How George Santos Pulled Off His Religiously Intersectional Fraud

(OPINION) Santos’ intersectionality worked perfectly in a congressional district that is itself exceedingly diverse and arguably somewhat tribal. I write from experience as I lived in that district for several years and understand the dynamics firsthand. 

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LDS Church And Investment Fund To Pay $5 Million To SEC For Failing To Disclose Equity Investments

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Ensign Peak Advisers Inc. and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agreed to pay $5 million in penalties to settle charges against the investment fund operating inside the nonprofit entity of the church.

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The Crisis Of Schism In The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

(ANALYSIS) The schism in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, one of the most ancient and largest churches in the world, is another symptomatic evidence of the twin threats that Ethiopia is currently facing, namely ethnocentrism that results from fusing ethnicity with politics and religious extremism that results from fusing ethnicity with religion.

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A Surging ISIS Threat Endangers Africa’s Christians

(ANALYSIS) Tragic reports about the killing of Nigerian Christians have become all too common. And the recent account of a Catholic priest being shot and burned alive in his church just before Christmas was particularly gruesome — in that same incident, 40 worshippers, including children, also lost their lives.

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Excerpt From ‘The FIFA World Cup: A History Of The Planet’s Biggest Sporting Event’: ‘Hand of God’ Made Maradona An Idol

The Argentina versus England quarterfinal matchup at the 1986 World Cup will forever be remembered as the game where Diego Maradona scored twice, one of them a controversial goal he later dubbed the “Hand of God.” The game, a mix of political tension and faith, cemented Maradona’s place as one of soccer’s greatest players.

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Conflicts In Global Anglicanism Become Black And White

Global South Anglicans are experiencing a "volcano of growth" and remain "at loggerheads" with the shrinking churches of the United Kingdom, North America and other Western nations. While most Global South bishops serve growing flocks — roughly 75% of active worshippers in the 77-million-member Anglican Communion — many Western bishops lead what Goodhew called "micro-dioceses" with under 1,000 active members or "mini-dioceses" with fewer than 5,000.

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Beyond The Abortion Debate, Author Joshua Prager Explores ‘The Family Roe'

Joshua Prager’s book, “The Family Roe” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction and received broad acclaim for Prager’s painstaking research into the life of the Roe v. Wade plaintiff — Norma McCorvey in real life and “Jane Roe” to the court — and many people connected to her, including the daughter born to her before abortion was legalized.

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