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World News

Israel_Iran

How much can U.S. influence Israel on Iran?

There is new drama this morning over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Iran is ready to retaliate against any action taken to halt that program – this after Israeli leaders issued unusually blunt warnings about possibly striking Iranian nuclear sites. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reportedly believes that could…

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MahmoudAhmadinejad

Denying Jerusalem Temple is denying Christianity

A few weeks ago, the great ‘philosopher,’ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered one his historical speeches in front of an assembly of ‘enlightened’ Islamic clerics in which he vowed to fight against what he called “the Judaization of Jerusalem.”  This in itself would have been treated as another foolish statement from the master of the…

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ethiopia

Ethiopian convert from Islam tells of Paul-like conversion

A Christian convert from Islam who fled hostilities in his native Ethiopia has faced attempted murder and ongoing death threats in Kenya. Somali Muslim extremists in Kenya kidnapped and tried to kill Barack Hussein Kedir in July 2010, and most recently Kenyan-born Islamic extremists in contact with their co-religionists in Ethiopia sent a death threat…

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brucecockburn

The Longevity of Bruce Cockburn

After more than 40 years of songwriting, 66-year-old Bruce Cockburn shows few signs of slowing down. A member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame—he even has his own postage stamp!—Cockburn keeps making great music and piling up awards. In early December, he nabbed two Canadian Folk Music Awards for Contemporary Album of the Year…

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archives

Vatican’s Secret Archives turn 400 years old

Within the walls of Vatican City is stored one of the most important treasures in the world, the Vatican’s Secret Archives. Only a limited number of people can access documents kept here by the Catholic Church. It’s free to gain access, but only academics and historians are allowed and they must request authorization from the…

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vitruman

Did Leonardo da Vinci copy his famous ‘Vitruvian Man’?

Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Vitruvian Man is famous for its unique representation of the symmetry of the human body. The 1487 drawing of a man inside a circle and square, which explores the geometry of man and the universe, is based on the teachings of ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. But it has now emerged that…

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macedonianchurch

Macedonian Orthodox Christian church set alight

An Orthodox Christian church famed for its valuable icons was set alight in southern Macedonia overnight, authorities said Tuesday, as religious tension between Christians and minority Muslims grew over a carnival in which men dressed as women in burqas and mocked the Quran. Firefighters extinguished the fire late Monday in the two century-old Sveti Nikola…

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globalchurch

Culture War and the Global Church

Global Christianity is thriving, with one out of every 3 people on earth professing Christian faith, according to a Pew study released last month. But Christianity is shifting south. Two percent of global Christians 100 years ago lived in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, nearly a quarter do, equal to Europe’s percentage, and soon surely to surpass…

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fanatics

Two Kinds of Fanaticism: Religious and Secular

The Muslim world is threatened by religious fanaticism. The Western world is threatened by secular fanaticism. Both seek to dominate society and to use state power to do so. Both seek to eliminate the Other — for Islamic fanatics that means non-Muslim religions and secularism; for secular fanatics it means Christianity and virtually any public…

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