Pastor Ryan Bell explores issues that American Christians should be aware of as they enter the ballot box in a couple of weeks. Excerpt: s Election Day draws near in the United States, and citizens head to the polls to express themselves and their values, the question of how faithful Christians should vote is again…
Category: Current Events
Oxford University Introduces Journal of Law and Religion
The Oxford Journal of Law and Religion will have a range of articles drawn from various sectors of the law and religion field, including: social, legal and political issues involving the relationship between law and religion in society; comparative law perspectives on the relationship between religion and state institutions; developments regarding human and constitutional rights to freedom…
Pew Forum Reports “Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion”
The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has on September 20, 2012 released the third in a series of reports analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. The new report looks at the extent and direction of change in religious restrictions from the year ending in mid-2009…
God is Not a Torturer: Debunking the Doctrine of Eternal Torment
From the perspective of Edwards and Spurgeon, the depths of hell are inversely proportionate to the heights of Heaven, as an all-powerful God gives eternal life to both the saved and the damned.
Inspiration: If Aristotle Was Right, What Can Make Us Happy?
Sometime in the 4th Century BC, Aristotle wrote Nicomachean Ethics. The broad question of the book is how to achieve happiness.
Adventist Pastor in Togo Imprisoned on Dubious Charges (ANN)
Antonio dos Anjos Monteiro is currently in a Togo prison on what Adventist legal and human rights experts say are unsupported charges. Sep. 27, 2012 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN [dc]S[/dc]eventh-day Adventist lawyers and human rights advocates are calling for the immediate release of an Adventist pastor imprisoned in Togo on what…
Selfish Freedom: The Overreach of the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act
By Jason Hines – [dc]A[/dc]n Illinois appellate court rendered an interesting decision last week.[1] The court upheld a lower court ruling that Illinois pharmacists do not have to sell “Plan B” pills to customers if they have religious objections to the use of the product. “Plan B” is the brand name of a drug that…
Vatican Walks A Fine Line On Trying To Combat Blasphemy In UN (RNS Excerpt)
EXCERPT: In recent years, the Vatican has gone to court to fight images that it considered “offensive” toward Pope Benedict XVI, such as an ad-campaign that portrayed the pontiff kissing a Muslim leader or, more recently, when a German satirical magazine published a photo-shopped image of the pope’s vestments stained with urine. Read the full article…
Celebrating California’s New Religious Freedom Law (Washington Post)
Rajdeep Singh writes in the Washington Post about AB1964, recently signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown. Excerpt: When my Sikh father immigrated to America in 1970 to practice architecture,employers told him that he could have a job only if he removed his turban and shaved his beard. He refused to abandon his faith…
Inside Interfaith Iran (Liberty Magazine)
Martin Surridge describes the status of religious liberty in Iran. EXCERPT: [dc]F[/dc]or the past few months the eyes of the believers around the world have been fixed on an Iranian death row “apostate” who has refused to recant his faith in Jesus Christ. Yousef Nadarkhani was first arrested in his hometown of Rasht, Iran, in…