May all your Whatevers be bright!
Dec 15 2006 12:27AM
Hanukkah? Kwanzaa? Winter solstice? What's the appropriate use of public space for holy day observances in our great melting pot?
Pat Boone's America
Dec 15 2006 12:16AM
Long ago it was prophesied by objective observers that America was too strong to be defeated by outside forces, but it could rot and crumble from within, going the way of all the other great nation-states.
Faith of the fearless
Dec 14 2006 02:42AM
What are daredevils made of? Why don't we all have some of that?
Harvard may drop religion requirement
Dec 14 2006 02:36AM
The faculty committee redesigning Harvard University's undergraduate curriculum is now backing off a previous recommendation requiring all students to take a class dealing with religion.
Why the 'many' Gods of Hinduism
Dec 14 2006 02:35AM
The understood process of pilgrimage, whether of the 'sites' of the body or those of the five temples, would mean a deep understanding of being one with the cosmos.
God's gifts vs. the church's rules
Dec 14 2006 02:33AM
Have you ever heard the phrase 'God can even use evil for good'? Have you ever thought about what that means in relationship to church rules?
The greatest story never told
Column: A Heretic in Babylon
Dec 14 2006 02:29AM
There were no stories about Jesus' birth at the beginning. We know that Jesus' earliest disciples knew of no nativity stories, because no stories exist in any of the earliest literature.
Ahmadinejad faces genocide lawsuit
Dec 14 2006 02:27AM
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to become the target of a lawsuit which accuses him of inciting genocide against Israel.
Police seek Baby Jesus thief
Dec 14 2006 02:20AM
The Baby Jesus is missing from several nativity displays in Columbus, Neb.
Column: Spiritual Psychology
Dec 14 2006 02:15AM
Words can't adequately convey the feeling of this experience. The regulars say the feel-good happy high often continues for days. It also makes it easier, they report, to laugh in everyday life.
New Jersey legalizes gay unions
Dec 14 2006 02:04AM
The New Jersey legislature has legalized same-sex civil unions, giving them the same rights and benefits as mixed-sex marriages.
Riding a horse to drink
Dec 14 2006 01:52AM
When it was all over, my father never said another word. He knew I had learned not to run the mule. But I also learned a lesson deeper than simply an old mule is wiser than an 8-year-old boy.
Column: Unclutter Your Life
Dec 14 2006 01:46AM
When we do something for another either from guilt or fear of some kind (often of rejection), then resent doing it, we engage in a form of self-destruction.
Egypt moves against Muslim group
Dec 14 2006 01:44AM
One of the top leaders of Egypt's opposition Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, has been detained.
Pro-family group sues Mass. legislators
Dec 14 2006 01:33AM
Pro-family groups are suing to penalize Mass. lawmakers for failing to vote on a citizen's petition to protect traditional marriage
Exorcism performed during Mass
Dec 14 2006 01:14AM
A Jesuit priest in central Java has performed a traditional Javanese exorcism ritual during a Mass to symbolize purification for 89 mostly teenage Catholics.
Column: Interesting Times
Dec 14 2006 01:09AM
How do I somehow know, am overwhelmingly convinced, that there is room at the inn - that there is a place for all of us in an endless dimension unbounded not only by space but also time?
Column: wavelength
Dec 14 2006 01:08AM
There's an ugly little secret about today's take on the Law of Attraction. People are trying to put a high-finish sheen on an ancient universal law, but you won't conjure up a lifestyle of the rich and famous simply by repeating affirmations.
Column: Our Place in the Universe
Dec 14 2006 12:53AM
During this time of gift giving I will always remember those challenging times, for without them I wouldn't have been able to see clearly the gifts that were given to me by the Heart of the Universe.
Christian video game draws anger
Dec 14 2006 12:41AM
A new Christian video game has sparked calls for a boycott from groups who say it is "training for religious warfare".
Column: Executive Soul
Dec 14 2006 12:23AM
The Christian season of Advent is a season of waiting for God, listening to God, looking for the new thing that God is doing. Advent holds a lesson for all of us in this busy world, especially a lesson for organizational leaders. (Part 2)
Rwandan priest guilty of genocide
Dec 13 2006 02:40AM
A Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in Rwanda's genocide by the United Nations-backed war crimes court.
Column: Bluebonnet
Dec 13 2006 02:38AM
I was 10 years old the Christmas of 1968. We had little money, no income, no home, few clothes and no toys, and we were separated from other relatives.
Ala. hosts Catholic-Baptist ecumenism
Dec 13 2006 02:35AM
Ecumenism between Catholics and Baptists is taking place Dec. 11-15 in Birmingham, Ala., the buckle on the U.S. Bible Belt.
Mayor: Bethlehem faces darkest hour
Dec 13 2006 02:34AM
The birthplace of Jesus is facing one of the darkest chapters in its history, the Bethlehem mayor has said in a Christmas address.
Army brass in Christian video raises ire
Dec 13 2006 02:31AM
The influence of evangelical Christians in the military is again under question after complaints about an evangelical group's promotional video that features several top-ranking Pentagon officers, some in uniform.
Saudis to back Sunnis if U.S. quits Iraq
Dec 13 2006 02:28AM
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah warned Vice President Cheney that if the United States pulled out of Iraq then Saudi Arabia would back the Sunnis, according to a source.
Anger mounts over holocaust forum
Dec 13 2006 02:24AM
Iran has pressed on with a controversial Holocaust conference as international outrage mounted over its hosting of "revisionist" historians who cast doubt on the mass slaughter of Jews in World War II.
Indian students vow to battle AIDS
Dec 13 2006 02:18AM
Concerned about the rising number of AIDS victims in India, 80 students of the Mahatma Gandhi International School in Ahmedebad took a "Pure Love Pledge" on Monday as part of the World Peace Tour organized by the Universal Peace Federation.
Muslim charity sues Treasury Dept.
Dec 13 2006 02:16AM
A Muslim charity accused of aiding terrorism is suing the U.S. Treasury Department to have many of the charges dismissed.
Column: New Houses from Old Bricks
Dec 13 2006 01:50AM
To support people in their vocations means encouraging their attempts to follow, even when those responses seem surprising or even ill-advised. (Part 5 of 6)
God and hairy women
Dec 13 2006 01:48AM
When it comes to body hair and the soul, sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.
Turkish Airline workers sacrifice camel
Dec 13 2006 01:46AM
A job well done is worth celebrating, but Turkish Airlines say staff went too far when they sacrificed a camel.
Column: Roll Down Like Water
Dec 13 2006 01:41AM
Jimmy Carter is catching a lot of flak for the title of his new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." With our current crop of politicians afraid to speak — let alone act on — the truth, it's encouraging to see one man stand up and shout it from the r
Column: Sex and Society
Dec 13 2006 01:30AM
Two out of five American children are now born out of wedlock. Unbelievably, it is not teenage hormones that are driving this disastrous increase.
Texas Baptists reveal fund misuse
Dec 13 2006 01:29AM
The Baptist General Convention of Texas has given authorities information about the alleged misuse of the convention's church-starting funds between 1999 and 2005.
Dec 13 2006 01:19AM
The irony in America is that we are foolishly trying to shut out new people, from a land made up of new people.
Slippery slope of stem cell research
Dec 13 2006 01:14AM
Exploiting humans for medical advancement is unethical. The preservation of life and survival on this earth is the goal genetically imprinted in each and every one of us through natural design.
Advent: a lonely exile pregnant with hope
Dec 13 2006 01:14AM
This year, the themes of Advent especially touch my spirit. So despite commercial pressure, I won't be trading in the plaintive chant for the wild bells and carols any too soon.
Malaysia wary of Islamic sect
Dec 13 2006 12:35AM
In a corner of Rawang, Malaysia, a devout Islamic sect has created a self-contained commune, running businesses from restaurants to schools through a group called the Rufaqa Corporation.
Ga. church purges piggy name
Dec 13 2006 12:19AM
A Baptist church in a rapidly growing part of Georgia is no longer sitting high on the hog, thanks to a recent name-changing vote.
Is 'person' potential isolation or 'God-like'?
Dec 13 2006 12:17AM
Do we lovers share not only our hearts but our very existence? Or can we pretty much get along in isolation?
'Creation museum' to open in Ky.
Dec 12 2006 02:37AM
A new high-tech Creation Museum is due to open in Kentucky next May, aiming to provide the grandest riposte yet to Darwinian evolutionary theory.
Italy police seek 'Satan squad'
Dec 12 2006 02:34AM
Italian police want to set up a special unit to tackle the growth of new religious sects, particularly a violent new breed of home-grown Satanists.
Grateful not to have died
Column: God In Real Time
Dec 12 2006 02:33AM
Only God knows the exact purpose of every twist and turn in your life. Surviving a car accident reminded me that I really do have a wonderful life.
Column: All Paths
Dec 12 2006 02:31AM
Pope John Paul II proposed an inter-religious dialogue that could bridge the big divide between the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Woman demands equality for creche
Dec 12 2006 02:22AM
A Christian activist says officials in one Florida town favor Judaism and the Jewish Menorah over her Christian Nativity display, and she wants the preferential treatment to stop.
Longing to welcome back the sun
Dec 12 2006 02:14AM
It's dark. It's bleak. And winter is only just about to begin. But the consolation is that the sun will soon turn its face toward us and begin its return approach.
Pope criticizes Bush over terror war
Dec 12 2006 02:13AM
Pope Benedict XVI criticised George Bush's handling of the war on terror, declaring states had to set ethical limits in protecting their citizens from terrorism.
Generals appear in Christian video
Dec 12 2006 02:13AM
The Military Freedom Foundation has asked the Pentagon to investigate a video for a Christian group featuring high-ranking U.S. military officers.