Indian government body wants church confessions banned
World Watch Monitor The Indian government should ban the sacrament of confession in the country, the National Commission for Women has proposed, saying Catholic clergy use it to harass women, AsiaNews reports. The state advisory body said in its statement that confessions can lead to blackmail and that “priests pressure women into telling their secrets”. Cardinal […]
New Zealand offers paid leave to domestic violence survivors
Thomson Reuters Foundation New Zealand has become one of the only countries offering paid leave to domestic violence survivors, after approving a law aimed at protecting victims. New Zealand has one of the worst records for domestic violence among developed nations. Nationwide, police respond to a family violence incident every four minutes and many cases […]
BOOKS: A DETAILED AND TIMELY LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN CHINA
DAVID ADAMS reads the first two books in ‘The China Chronicles’, Paul Hattaway’s history of the church in China…
Fears grip Indian state as millions made stateless
Thomson Reuters Foundation More than four million people left off a draft list of citizens in northeast India on Monday have effectively been made stateless, campaigners said, likening them to the Rohingya minority driven out of Myanmar. Fear gripped the border state of Assam as India’s census chief released the list of citizens in the […]
Military Bible display at centre of religious liberty tussle in US
RNS A Bible placed on a memorial table at a Wyoming Air Force base is at the center of an ongoing battle over what constitutes religious liberty and what violates it. In response to demands by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Colonel Stacy J Huser, commander of the 90th Missile Wing at FE Warren Air […]
GENESIS – HUMANITY
When you compare Genesis to other ancient creation stories there are a number of features that make Genesis stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. PICTURE: Mario Purisic/Unsplash. In virtually all other accounts humans are created as slaves of the gods; cannon fodder to serve and appease angry deities. Genesis places humans in a unique place. They […]
LIBERIA: AS HIGH SEAS THREATEN SLUM, RESIDENTS AWAIT PROMISED HOMES
SALLY HAYDEN, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Coptic bishop found dead
World Watch Monitor A Coptic bishop has been found dead inside a desert monastery in Egypt’s Beheira governorate, with the circumstances of his death still unknown, reports AP. Bishop Epiphanius, 64, was the head of St Macarius Monastery, which is situated near the town of Wadi El Naturn, 100 kilometres north-west of Cairo, and is the […]
ESSAY: WHY THE ARGUMENTS OF THE “NEW ATHEISTS” ARE OFTEN JUST AS VIOLENT AS RELIGION
In an article first published on The Conversation, NICK MEGORAN, a reader in political geography at Newcastle University in the UK, looks at what his research shows about atheists and violence…
SIGHT-SEEING: TRAINS AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
In an article first published by ASSIST News Service, BRIAN NIXON looks at how trains can serve as a metaphor for the Christian life…