(ANALYSIS) Freedom of religion means that religious beliefs, or irreligious ones, can be criticized, even mocked, as happens frequently in Sweden to, for example, Christian sentiments. In an open society, people of different faiths — Christians, Muslims, Jews, agnostics and secular humanists — must be able to live side by side in freedom and security. But they may be critically scrutinized, even ridiculed.
Read MorePresident Donald Trump is calling for federal prosecutors to push for the death penalty in capital cases involving undocumented people. The move was one of dozens of executive orders the president signed on day one of his second term. The order encourages the Justice Department to pursue the death penalty and prioritizes two sets of cases: Those involving the murder of a law enforcement officer and those for crimes for which the death penalty is an option and the defendant is undocumented.
Read MoreThe church’s initiatives involve venturing into coffee farming to transform unused land into productive agricultural spaces, mass registration of untitled church land, issuing spiritual warnings and pursuing legal action against land grabbers. The plan will safeguard property and contribute to economic growth — ensuring that church land remains a valuable resource for future generations.
Read MoreThe partisan divide between how Americans view family and the importance of marriage is growing — although most agree that economic challenges continue to be a major concern, a new survey reveals. The annual American Family Survey found that 71% of respondents identified the economy as one of the most important issues affecting families today.
Read MoreTen Catholic priests and a seminarian were murdered during the six-year term of former Mexican President López Obrador that ended Sept. 30, the Catholic Multimedia Center said in its 2024 annual report.
Read MoreMinnesota Christian parents are challenging a state law that blocks certain Christian colleges from a program that allows colleges to enroll high schoolers in tuition-free college credit courses.
Read MoreDuring another divisive political season, preachers across the nation are expressing messages that put “politics in perspective.” While many permit or even encourage participation in the political process, they advise church members to measure their political beliefs against the Gospel.
Read MoreLocal residents and the Catholic order have engaged in a years-long court battle after the church tried to evict them from their ancestral land on the outskirts of the capital Harare. The more than 1,000 families, however, were relieved when a court agreed to halt, for now, a move by the Jesuits to evict them from their land that the church wants to turn into an urban residential area.
Read More(EXPLAINER) Riots have erupted across the United Kingdom over the past week as far-right groups launched attacks against hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques. A heavy security presence on Wednesday and a series of arrests across Britain has prevented a repeat of widespread rioting involving racist attacks targeting Muslims and other migrants that started late last month.
Read MoreA specified Protestant version of the Ten Commandments must be displayed in all public schools in Louisiana by January 2025, the mandate of a bill Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law on June 19.
Read MoreAccording to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, conditions for Christians and Christian ministries in India have worsened over the last several years. It recommends the United States designate India as a “country of particular concern” because of its “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
Read MoreRecently, the Chronicle of Philanthropy published an article saying that “rage giving” to abortion advocacy groups after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 has dropped off. MinistryWatch spoke to several pro-life ministries to see how giving has been for them in the last year, and all reported that donors remain generous in the cause of protecting the unborn.
Read More(PHOTO STORY) On Nyepi, which is the most special day of the year in the Balinese Saka Calendar, the island of Bali turns off all lights and sounds, stops all traffic, renounces all worldly activities, and meditates while silence and serenity reign over the entire island.
Read MoreThe gangsterism style of rape dwindled when South Africa gained its freedom on April 27, 1994. Yet, rape is coming to a rise in a different dimension. Many homes are affected by fathers and brothers who are victimizing and raping their own wives, mothers, daughters and sisters. What is now appalling is the reported recurring incidents of rapes that women and children suffer at the hands of some of the clergy.
Read More(TRAVEL) In the beginning of Revelation, John issues letters of encouragement, admonition and warning that he says Jesus instructed him to write to seven church communities in the Roman province of Asia Minor, which is now Turkey. The churches were: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.Remnants of these cities from the New Testament can still be found on Turkey’s Western coast, hundreds of miles across the country from where the devastating earthquake occurred in February.
Read MoreThe caste system's historical legacy has prohibited dalits from owning land nationwide, and this pattern remains prominent in India's Sikh-majority state of Punjab, which has a population of about 30 million.
Read MoreThe perilous state of The King’s College in New York City developed over decades, hit turbulence in the past two years, then turned into a stunning death spiral in the spring 2023 semester.
Read More‘’The town is free, but my mind is not free, and I am still traumatized and remember the pain and punishment meted on women by al-Shabaab Shariah police,” Suleqha Mahat said. Her story is an example of the kind of displacement and migration experienced by many Somalians forced to leave their home country by radical Islamists.
Read More(ESSAY) It’s impossible not to notice St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in case you pass by the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. That’s not because it is particularly tall — especially near a much taller buildings that define New York City’s essence — but because something just profoundly sets it apart from the city’s usual mundane, gray backdrop.
Read MoreGiving and taking dowry and lavish weddings are totally banned in this tiny hamlet of 6,000 people in central Kashmir. Local officials realized the insidious effect of high-rolling dowries on young people pursuing marriage and families.
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