Which Church of the Nativity?
The Gate of Humility into the Church of the Nativity is just over four feet high and was added in 1272 A.D. to help repel raiders. Visitors must stoop or bow in submission. Once inside, most tourists –...
View ArticleAnti-war is not enough
It’s no surprise that Johann Christoph Arnold opposes the war in Iraq. The senior elder of the Bruderhof communes in America and England opposed U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, the Holy Week bombings...
View ArticleAn Orthodox parable for today
MIAMI — The elderly husband and wife were screaming at each other as they waited for an audience with the Orthodox archbishop of Tripoli. Metropolitan Theodosius VI could hear them and so could his...
View ArticleCheeseburgers in Jerusalem
It was the night before Melanie Preston’s immigration flight to Israel and the 28-year-old daughter of a Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic father knew exactly what she wanted to eat. “I want a...
View ArticleConnecting Baha’i dots in Iran
Anyone who reads the newspaper Kayhan knows that Baha’i believers are part of a giant conspiracy against Iran that has, at one time or another, included England, Russia, Israel and the CIA. Baha’is...
View ArticleGoing in religion-news circles
Journalists may not know the precise meaning of the word “theodicy,” but, year after year, they know a good “theodicy” story when they see one. The American Heritage Dictionary defines this term as a...
View ArticleDershowitz visits Oslo (sort of)
Ask Orthodox Jews in Norway where one can find a fresh shoulder of kosher beef and they will give the same answer — nowhere. There is more to this obscure fact than a clash between Jewish tradition and...
View ArticleHillary Clinton defends religious liberty — abroad
The U.S. State Department wasn’t surprised last October when Egyptian security forces smashed into flocks of demonstrators outside the state Radio and Television Building, killing 25 and injuring...
View ArticleOld religious realities in a not-so-new Egypt
At the moment, Egypt is operating under a Constitutional Declaration issued soon after the recent military overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. This temporary declaration...
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