Dan Savage spoke, and the Internet exploded. He rejected the Bible as “bullshit” in a keynote address to high-school journalists, and then described students who chose to walk away as “pansy-assed.” Since being uploaded to YouTube on April 27, the video of his speech has received over 600,000 views. In describing those who had the…
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“We don’t do God,” his spokesman, Alastair Campbell, insisted while he was Prime Minister. But since leaving office, Tony Blair has converted to Roman Catholicism, launched a faith foundation and yesterday gave his strongest endorsement of the church yet. Speaking at a conference in London organised by the Holy Trinity Brompton Church, Mr Blair warned…
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When asked by The Barna Group what words or phrases best describe Christianity, the top response among Americans ages 16-29 was “antihomosexual.” For a staggering 91 percent of non-Christians, this was the first word that came to their mind when asked about the Christian faith. The same was true for 80 percent of young churchgoers.…
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Not long ago I reread The Pilgrim’s Progress in order to write commentary on it for my book blog. Reading slowly for notes and questions made me wonder if John Bunyan might have eavesdropped on the 21st century somehow, particularly in his description of Vanity Fair. The thing that struck me most on this reading…
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The Middle East is known to be the both the birthplace of Christianity and the current home to some of the world’s most ancient Christian communities. But Christianity’s rich history in this region is not enough to secure its future. In the past decades, a combination of low birth rates, extensive emigration and growing persecution…
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The pulpits of the nation’s black churches took measure Sunday of President Obama’s decision to support gay marriage, and the result was conflicted. Some churches were silent on the issue. At others, pastors spoke against the president’s decision Wednesday — but kindly of the man himself. A few blasted the president and his decision. A…
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The global 12 million member United Methodist Church, now likely the world’s 9th largest communion, is no longer a predominantly liberal U.S. denomination. Its quadrennial governing General Conference, which met for 10 days in Tampa ending May 4, refused to alter the church’s official disapproval of homosexual practice. Some news stories huffed disapproval and surprise.…
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President Barack Obama might have known better than to have picked a fight with Catholics. History would tell him that they rarely lose. During the 1920s, Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles found that out the hard way. As this year’s historical epic For Greater Glory shows, Catholics don’t give up without a long and bloody…
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In the past week, I’ve been called a bigot, a hater, had people wish I died, and had people wish Christians had died, been rounded up and killed, or experienced their own personal holocaust. All this came from proponents of gay marriage. The media won’t cover most of this. The media sees most stories as…
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Long a lightning rod for conservative criticism, the Girl Scouts of the USA are now facing their highest-level challenge yet: An official inquiry by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. At issue are concerns about program materials that some Catholics find offensive, as well as assertions that the Scouts associate with other groups espousing stances…
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