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Religion and Oral History

BY MICHAEL PASQUIER I’m not a professional oral historian. However, I use oral histories in the classroom to introduce students to the intersection of memory and history in the United States. Based on my limited but growing experience, this is no easy task. Show More Summary

Against Christian Music (or “Destroying the Soul One Chord at a Time”)

Yesterday, Mackenzie attempted to defend “Christian Music.” For what it is worth, I’ve listened to a lot of the bands he mentioned. I grew up with each of them, in fact, save the O.C. Supertones. I’m not even here to tell you that he’s entirely wrong. Those artists will absolutely give you the the sort of [...]

Boy Scouts Decision to Accept Any Sexual Orientation a Rejection of Values, Says Christian Law Group

A Christian legal group described the Boy Scouts of America Executive Committee's decision on Thursday to change its longstanding membership policy and allow Scouts to be of any "sexual orientation or preference" as a rejection of its freedom to promote values that the group has held for the last century.

From The Under 35 Project: “If I Met Buddha on the Road”

Marie Rose White on what being ”Buddhist” really means to her. If I met Buddha on the road, would he care whether or not I called myself a Buddhist? Would it matter whether I identified as Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Zen, Tibetan, Pure Land…… Would he care if I chanted sutras correctly or whether I practiced [...]

Protecting Religious Freedom: A Reminder From the Ga. Bibles in State Cabins Debate

When I served as a missionary in Asia for more than 20 years, I entered a world ripe with challenges for religious freedom. Imagine being in a world where you hesitate before saying "God bless you" to the person in line behind you at the grocery store or "I'll be praying for you" to a colleague battling a terminal cancer. Show More Summary

9 Things You Didn’t Know About The Prophet’s Mosque

Seeing a scene of impeccable beauty, we often hear the term “Heaven on Earth!” But there is only one place that literally has the right to proclaim itself heaven on Earth. There, deep in the mosque of the Prophet (SAW) (masjid Nabawi), covered by green carpets and the tears of millions, lies a “garden from... Show More Summary

The Importance of Conscience

We have a hypersensitive smoke alarm in our house. It goes off all the time. But I think it is better to have a smoke alarm that is too sensitive than to have one that isn't sensitive enough.

Pastoral Pratfalls!

Materialism: A Cramped Perspective

Are American Christians 'Unashamed' of Their Faith?

A new report from LifeWay Research reveals that many churchgoers are not open or transparent about their faith.

Comments, Spam and the Art of Self-Promotion

Everybody seems to have a cause for which to speak Loudly from the rooftops they proclaim the thing they seek… -o-o-o- Long before starting this blog, I was a regular reader of others. I’m not sure when I had the first impulse to leave a comment, but there was no doubt some issue on which […]

Mom in Labor Amid Okla. Tornado Names Son Immanuel, Credits God for Survival

A pregnant woman and the nurses with her held hands and prayed in preparation for the worst as a tornado bore down on Moore Medical Center in Oklahoma on Monday. Seconds later, the young woman, already experiencing contractions, opened her eyes and saw the highway — the tornado had demolished walls, torn off the roof and shredded the top floor of the medical center.

Pentecost Pilgrimage in Río de Janeiro

Fresh off heels of the news and photos of the famed Chartres pilgrimage in France, one of our readers sends in news of another Pentecost pilgrimage, the "Peregrinación Totus Tuus", which begins at the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Loreto and finishes at the church of Nuestra Señora de la Peña in Jacarepaguá, Río de Janeiro, Brazil. Fr. Show More Summary

Oakland to debut “Champions of Humanity” statue including Thich Nhat Hanh

Next week, the city of Oakland, California will officially dedicate a massive bronze statue called “Remember Them: Champions for Humanity.” Created by sculptor Mario Chiodo, it features 25 humanitarians from around the world — along with Thich Nhat Hanh, other honorees include Abraham Lincoln, Harvey Milk, Maya Angelou, and Mahatma Gandhi. Click here to see [...]

The Boy Scouts Should have Seen it Coming: The Gay Agenda Certainly Did

Sixty percent of the 1,400 voting members of the Boy Scouts voted to allow openly gay members, but not leaders yesterday, in a predictable change to the 103 year-old civic organization. What are the possible outcomes? Litagation? Most likely. Defections? Definitely.

Atlas Shrugged: Unfortunate Implications

Atlas Shrugged, p.54-55 I’ve said that Ayn Rand, although she never misses an opportunity to tell us that her characters are bold and heroic, only rarely shows us what it is they actually do on a day-to-day basis. We have to glean what her worldview would mean in practice from the little details that slip [...]

Separation of Church and IRS

Amidst the flurry of recent reports that a large number of Tea Party non-profits had been mercilessly grilled by IRS agents as part of a mine sweep for conservative organizations, news has also surfaced that National Religious Broadcaster member groups had also been caught up in this dragnet.

Are Dolphins Persons?

India has banned holding dolphins captive for entertainment purposes. The act doesn’t concern me, at this point; I’m unsure how to tease out our relationship with creation, especially in terms of captivity or the ‘taming’ of animals. Christians may be able to encourage captivity of animals under the clause of “[ruling] over the fish in the [...]

Bail hearing for parents charged in son’s faith healing death

The parents charged with murder in the faith healing death of the 8-month old son face a bail hearing today. And jury deliberations in the trial of Malcolm John Fraser, assistant pastor of the Sound Doctrine Church in Enumclaw, Washington, may begin Tuesday. Full story: Bail hearing for parents charged in son’s faith healing death

How to perform Annaprashan Ceremony? – How to do first rice eating ceremony of baby?

Annaprashan is the first rice eating ceremony of a child in Hinduism. How the annaprashan ceremony is performed varies from region...