OPEN BOOK: PAUL’S FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY – PAUL AND THE LAW
BRUCE C WEARNE looks at what Paul has to say in I Timothy about the Law – and how he uses his own history to illustrate God’s grace…
A Pope Francis gargoyle now watches over Cologne cathedral
Paris, FranceRNS It took about a week for visitors to the massive Catholic cathedral in Cologne, Germany, to notice a small addition to its ornate Gothic entrance – a carved stone figure of Pope Francis leaning forward like a gargoyle. The new gargoyle is smiling and there’s no water spouting out of his mouth, so […]
#ShameOnWho campaign uses art to change Lebanese attitudes to rape
Beirut, LebanonThomson Reuters Foundation The hashtag #ShameOnWho? is being deployed as part of a new street art campaign in Lebanon to try to change attitudes to rape in a country where victim shaming remains common. The group behind the campaign, which launched this week, said it wanted to “shake” Lebanese society out of misconceptions about […]
White House expands birth control exemptions for employers with religious objections
RNS The Trump administration has issued new rules it says will “provide conscience protections for Americans who have a religious or moral objection to health insurance that covers contraception methods.” The final rules follow interim regulations issued a little more than a year ago by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury […]
FGM rates drop for African girls but teens still at risk
Thomson Reuters Foundation Female genital mutilation has dropped drastically among African children this century, research shows, but campaigners said on Wednesday that teenagers and young women remained at risk of the harmful practice. Known as FGM, female genital mutilation is a ritual that usually involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, including […]
Bangladesh’s PM says anyone who offends Islam will be prosecuted
World Watch Monitor Bangladesh’s Prime Minister has pledged that anyone who offends Islam or its prophet will be prosecuted. Sheikh Hasina said the religion of Bangladesh “is Islam”. “Anyone who pronounces offensive comments against it, or against the Prophet Muhammad, will be prosecuted according to the law,” she said, as reported by Asia News. Her comments […]
UGANDA: CATHOLICS PROTEST AS ARCHBISHOP ASKS GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE TITHE
DOREEN AJIAMBO, of Religion News Service, reports on moves in Uganda to have the government collect a tithe from Catholic worshippers…
Asia Bibi released from prison in Pakistan – reports
Christian woman Asia Bibi, last week acquitted on charges of blasphemy after eight years on death row in Pakistan, has been released from prison, her lawyer has reportedly said. Lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook, who is seeking asylum in the Netherlands, was quoted on numerous news outlets saying that Bibi, who had been held in a prison in Multan, […]
ESSAY: AS US EVANGELICALS WIN WITH TRUMP, LITTLE “GOOD NEWS” IS LEFT IN THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
US religion commentator JACOB LUPFER, in an article first published on Religion News Service, reflects on the US midterm elections…