As a Presbyterian pastor, I'm often approached by people who are on a search for truth, and as I attempt to help them, I draw on my religious tradition, sacred Scriptures and theological training. Unfortunately, more and more people are taking their quest directly to the Internet, surfing for religious as well as political insights.
Read moreIn its charter, the URI describes itself as "a growing global community dedicated to promoting enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, ending religiously motivated violence and creating cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings...The URI, in time, aspires to have the visibility and stature of the United Nations."
Read moreA group of evangelical Christian pilgrims take part in a baptism ceremony in the Jordan River, near the Sea of Galilee October 1, 2007. Some 600 Evangelical Christian pilgrims from Brazil attended a baptism ceremony at the Jordan River on Monday. REUTERS/Yonathan Weitzman (ISRAEL)
Read moreThere is nothing in what Ann Coulter said to a Jewish interviewer on CNBC that indicates she hates Jews or wishes them ill, or does damage to the Jewish people or the Jewish state. And if none of those criteria is present, how can someone be labeled anti-Semitic?
Read moreMen and women bring diversity to parenting; each makes unique contributions to the rearing of children that can't be replicated by the other. Mothers and fathers simply are not interchangeable. Two women can both be good mothers, but neither can be a good father.
So here are five reasons why it's in the best interest of children to be raised by both a mother and a father:
Read moreRichard Dawkins: I believe that the question of the existence of God or Gods, supernatural beings, is a scientific question, whereas other scientists will say it's nothing to do with science, science and religion occupy two quite separate majesteria and don't overlap. I think they do overlap, I think they both attempt to answer the same kinds of questions. The difference is that religion gets the answers wrong.
Read moreIn the eyes of those who long for Muslims to know Jesus as they do, the unprecedented trickles-and in a few cases, floods-of Muslims who have chosen to follow Christ in previously evangelistically arid lands undoubtedly constitute the "best of times." In the late 1960s, there was a major turning to Christ among the Javanese in Indonesia, following a conflict between Muslims and communists. We have seen similar movements in North Africa and South Asia, along with smaller ones elsewhere.
Read more"The 'slippage' Dr. Williams speaks of is precisely what Pope Pius XI warned of in the Papal encyclical, Castii Conubii, issued in response to Lambeth, and what Pope Paul VI reiterated in his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae. These popes said that the widespread use of contraception would lead to 'a general lowering of morality'. By now we see this in our entire society. On the social as well as the personal levels, contraception and abortion are two sides of the same bad penny." Fr.
Read moreIn "The Protestant Establishment," E. Digby Baltzell chronicled the "growth and decay" of the WASP aristocracy, describing its patrician families, elite boarding schools and Ivy League universities and noting their waning influence. Writing in 1964, Baltzell saw the election of John F. Kennedy, an Irish Catholic, as a hopeful sign. And, indeed, later researchers documented the opening of the elite to Catholics and Jews.
Read moreLaser -- who has worked for abortion-rights groups in the past -- introduced a group of evangelical leaders at a press conference announcing the project, titled "Come Let Us Reason Together." Sponsored by Third Way and Faith in Public Life, the effort began with a paper outlining reasons why both sides believe they can have civil conversations -- and perhaps even cooperate -- on social issues as controversial as abortion and homosexuality.
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