The memory of Feb. 25, 2020, remains vivid in Mohammed Tahir Saifi’s mind, as if it occurred only yesterday. He often looks back on that day as the one that turned his life upside down because he had to spend two years in jail for a crime he he did not commit. It was a day when a riot erupted in India’s capital, resulting in the death of over 50 people.
Read MoreCardinal Timothy Dolan defended the priests working at St. Patrick’s Cathedral this week, saying the funeral held there for a transgender activist came as a surprise and that the prelates “knew nothing about this that was coming up.”
Read MoreIn a new poll, less than a third of Michigan voters said they supported a continuation in the fighting to eliminate Hamas in the ongoing war with Israel. How that will impact President Joe Biden’s chances in the Great Lake State remains to be seen.
Read More(OPINION) Modi and former President Donald Trump are hyper-nationalists and Islamophobes. Both push fear-driven campaigns based on historical grievances and aversion to foreign religions and ethnicities. A militant Hindu monk has been elected to lead India’s largest state, and he is rabidly anti-Muslim.
Read More“Towards Jihad? Muslims and Politics in Postcolonial Mozambique” says that although Muslims in Mozambique have become more active in politics in the post-independence period, they have not moved towards jihad, but that only a small group has done so.
Read More(ANALYSIS) No doubt there are those who falsely claim conversion from Islam to claim asylum, and some churches may be too credulous. But such conversions are occurring and such genuine converts face violence, imprisonment and even death if returned back to many countries.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As a rule, evangelists from Texas don’t go shopping for bourbon before a speech. But that’s what Marcel LeJeune and some friends did when the Catholic Missionary Disciples leader spoke at a Franciscan University conference last summer in Ohio.
Read MoreA coalition of Jewish groups and other organizations is fighting an effort to replace guidance counselors with chaplains in public schools in Texas. The chaplains are not required to be licensed as mental health practitioners or have any specific credentials and will be paid with tax dollars.
Read More(OPINION) As leaders in the Body of Christ, nothing is more important than your personal testimony — your hard-earned reputation for soundness in life, faith, and practice. You are a representative of Jesus in a formal and public way, with believers looking to you for guidance and unbelievers looking at you, scrutinizing you for godliness.
Read More“Bob Marley: One Love,” a new movie that chronicles on the life of legendary reggae singer and songwriter — from his rise to fame in the mid-1970s up until his death in 1981 — has put a spotlight on what it means to be Rastafarian. Widely considered an iconic figure in the history of music, he is revered as the pioneer of reggae and a symbol of peace.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A group of independent United Nations human rights experts called on the authorities in Hong Kong to drop all charges against Jimmy Lai and release him. Lai, a pro-democracy and human rights defender, has been detained and subjected to multiple Kafkaesque trials for fighting for freedom of speech.
Read MoreEven before last week’s shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally, Branden Mims was focused on reducing violence in this city that amassed a record 182 homicides in 2023. Mims, the 35-year-old minister for the Greater Metropolitan Church of Christ, leads a nonprofit called Greater Impact that served more than 400 shooting victims last year.
Read More(REVIEW) A new documentary “God and Country” tries to warn against an American political movement that is corrupting both politics and Christianity — but its misrepresentation of the topic only makes its audience less informed and instead gives strength to the movement.
Read More(REVIEW) At the beginning of Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” he describes himself as being in a dark place spiritually. Virgil, the protagonist of the one woman show “Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance,” finds herself in a similar position in the middle of her life: A job she hates, devoid of passion and breaking promises she’d made to herself in youth.
Read MoreIn an effort to care more for nature over the next six weeks, Christians around the world can improve lives through eco-friendly, sustainable lifestyles emphasizing the transformative nature of Lent. A group based in the U.K. hopes Christians across Britain and around the wold will heed that call this year.
Read MoreThe Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral of a transgender leader held last week at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, calling the entire thing “sacrilegious” and that church official had been duped into performing the service. As a result, the cathedral conducted a rare “Mass of Reparation.”
Read MoreJohn Cooper’s straightforward opinions mirror the musical style that has brought numerous awards and nominations over the years. Around 2013, Cooper, by his own description, was an “average, Christian layperson who loved God, loved my church and loved my Bible.” He had a successful music career, and doing anything outside of that could potentially endanger the comfort he enjoyed.
Read More(OPINION) My dad, a minister of the gospel for 60 years, used to tell parishioners there was one thing they should never pray for: patience. “Tribulation worketh patience,” he’d say, quoting St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. “Anytime you ask the Lord for patience, you might as well be praying for trouble.”
Read MoreIranian Christians continued to face harassment, arrests and imprisonment last year for practicing their faith, according to a new report. The 35-page report, issued by four non-profit organizations advocating for persecuted Christians across the world, found that Christians have been deprived of their right to freely practice their faith.
Read More(OPINION) The Jerusalem cross raised bed has four quadrants facing west, north, east and south — each representing one of nature’s four seasons (fall, winter, spring and summer) — and one of the four Christian Gospels (Matthew, Mark, John and Luke/Acts). These will serve as a compass for a journey of inner transformation.
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