Religious US Broadcaster Pat Robertson Dies Aged 93 - BBC News

Jun 8, 2023 | Evangelical Christian leader Pat Robertson, who ran for president as a Republican, has died at the age of 93. He was one of the driving forces of a movement to increase the influence of the religious right in US politics. He founded the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in 1960 and helped grow it into a cable media empire. CBN announced the news of his death on Thursday. No cause was given.

Pat Robertson, Who Gave Christian Conservatives Clout, Is Dead at 93: A Baptist minister and a broadcaster, he turned evangelicals into a powerful constituency that helped Republicans capture Congress in 1994. He had earlier run for president. »

How Pat Robertson Created the Religious Right’s Model for Political Power: The celebrity minister, who died Thursday, built a media empire and openly sought to leverage his popularity among evangelicals to influence government and the culture. »

An Indian Priest in Germany | DW Documentary

May 22, 2023 | Germany's Catholic Church has had trouble finding new clergy for years now. Again and again, priests from other countries have taken over German parishes. It's not always easy for them to get on their feet in Germany.

Father Shitjo was sent from a Catholic parish in Kerala, southern India to southern Germany by his bishop as emergency assistance amid Germany's chronic shortage of priests. German churches are losing members en masse and are also finding it increasingly difficult to recruit young pastors. After an online German course in India, Shijo arrived in his new parish in the Trier diocese and immediately found himself in the thick of it: He had to preach sermons, give spiritual guidance and prepare children for their First Communion. And then there were the typical German customs like waste separation - and the unaccustomed hearty food. A report by Almut Röhrl.

Evangelicals for World Domination (1/3) | ARTE.tv Documentary

Apr 14, 2023 | In the beginning there was Billy Graham. In the midst of the Cold War, the US preacher established himself at the ‘pope’ of the evangelicals - a conservative Christian movement that aims to expand the social influence of religion in society. His great crusade was then appropriated by a powerful political-religious lobby in the following decades.

Evangelicals for World Domination (1/3) | ARTE.tv Documentary
Available until the 02/06/2023


Part 2 | Part 3
Die deutsche Version von dieser Dokumentation kann man hier zusehen.

Seth Andrews: Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot | Reupload

Jun 20, 2017 | Seth Andrews gave this speech June 3, 2017 in Toronto at the Imagine 7 conference. It's a humorous (and perhaps therapeutic) romp through Seth's religious past...and the often bizarre words and attitudes that reflected his Christian faith.

Christopher Hitchens and Andrew Sullivan - On Gay Marriage and Christianity

Jun 25, 2013

England and Wales Now Minority Christian Countries, Census Reveals

THE GUARDIAN: Data shows Leicester and Birmingham have become UK’s first ‘minority majority’ cities in new age of ‘super-diversity’

England and Wales are now minority Christian countries, according to the 2021 census, which also shows that Leicester and Birmingham have become the first UK cities to have “minority majorities”.

The census also reveals a 5.5 million drop in the number of Christians and a 44% rise in the number of people following Islam. It is the first time in a census of England and Wales that less than half of the population have described themselves as “Christian”.

Meanwhile, 37.2% of people – 22.2 million – declared they had “no religion”, the second most common response after Christian.It means that over the past 20 years the proportion of people reporting no religion has soared from 14.8%. » | Robert Booth,, Pamela Duncan and Carmen Aguilar García | Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Less than half of England and Wales population Christian, Census 2021 shows: Fewer than half of people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christian for the first time, the 2021 census has revealed. »

The Thinking Atheist Interview: The Triumph of Christianity

Mar 21, 2018 | Seth Andrews, host of The Thinking Atheist podcast interviews Dr. Bart Ehrman on his book "The Triumph of Christianity: How A Forbidden Religion Swept the World." The program was aired on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 6:30 am.

The Triumph of Christianity combines deep knowledge and meticulous research in an eye-opening narrative that upends the way we think about the single most important cultural transformation our world has ever seen—one that revolutionized art, music, literature, philosophy, ethics, economics, and law. The book tells the story of how Christianity grew from a religion of twenty or so peasants in rural Galilee to the dominant religion in the West in less than four hundred years. …

Marketing the Messiah | Christianity | Documentary | Bible | Jesus | Faith | New Testament | God

Apr 27, 2021 | Marketing the Messiah - How much do you really know about how Christianity got started? Whether you are a Christian, atheist, or member of another faith, it's impossible to ignore the impact that Christianity has had on Western civilization.

Jesus, Christianity, and Homosexuality

MARK ALEXANDER – ESSAY: Christians make such a big thing about homosexuality and often, if not usually, try to deny a homosexual’s right to love and be loved. Christians always cite Biblical teachings for their aversion to homosexual love. Fact is, however, that Christian teachings, as we all know, should be based on Jesus Christ’s teachings. In truth, however, Jesus Christ uttered not a single word condemning homosexuality; he said absolutely nothing about it.

For a Christian to condemn homosexuality, he/she must look back to Leviticus in the Old Testament, to Genesis, and to Sodom and Gomorrah–hence the use of the word ‘sodomy’—and to Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Regarding Leviticus, if we were to follow the proscriptions in that book in the Old Testament, one of the books which forms the basis of Jewish law, we would be forbidden from doing many things. Leviticus proscribes tattoos, the eating of shellfish (bottom feeders in the oceans, hence they eat all the crud that falls to the bottom of the oceans rendering them unclean), and it proscribes many other things besides. Isn’t it strange how Christians cherry-pick the things that they dislike and which do not pertain to their own lifestyles and then conveniently ignore the rest of the proscriptions?

Further, the Bible proscribes men and women from sleeping together and making love/having sex before marriage. It is surely an abomination unto God. But how many straight people do you know that abide by this Biblical proscription? Most straight people I have known in my life have almost invariably slept with their husbands/wives before marriage. So why the big deal about two men or two women loving and sleeping with each other? What’s sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. Such hypocrisy!

However, I should like to add one very important fact about Jesus’s silence on homosexuality. Jesus lived in Palestine. At that time, Palestine was part of the Roman Empire. And the harsh reality about the Roman society at that time is this: Homosexuality was rife in the Roman Empire. It was commonplace for upper class Romans to surround themselves with pretty, young boys. Apparently, it was a status symbol, and they would often be paraded openly in Roman society, too. So that makes it even harder to understand why Jesus did not utter even one single word about this behaviour. Surely, if Jesus had thought it was such a sinful activity in the eyes of God, he would have said plenty against it.

What Paul had to say on the matter interests me far, far less. Paul, previously Saul of Tarsus, was a convert to Christianity. (In actual fact, it wasn’t even called Christianity in those days.) We all know the nature of converts, or reformed people, anyway.

In any case, Christian teachings should be based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, not on the teachings of Paul. It is what Jesus thought that is important, not what Paul taught.

Isn’t it high time that we in the West came to terms with the fact that homosexuals, just as heterosexuals, deserve an opportunity in life to pursue their own happiness? We all, gay or straight, deserve to be able to love another and be loved by another. It is time to stop making heavy weather of this. Furthermore, for believers, if it is truly unacceptable to God, then God will sort it out on the Day of Judgment. It is not for man to play God.

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Khaleej Times: An Ancient Monastery Possibly Pre-dating Islam Found in Umm Al Quwain

Nov 4, 2022

A New Crusade: Poland's Embrace of Catholicism and Anti-LGBT Ideology | Foreign Correspondent

Apr 28, 2020 • When Poland’s Archbishop of Krakow talks about fighting a plague, he’s not talking about the new coronavirus. He’s talking about gay rights.

“A certain ideology is a threat to our hearts and minds…so we need to defend ourselves just like against any other plague”, says Archbishop Jedraszewski.

In the 1980s Poland played a central part in liberating the world from communism. Now there’s a push to wind back many of those hard-won freedoms.

The Catholic church and the Polish government are forming a holy alliance, joining forces to denounce Western-style liberalism as the new enemy.

“From the very beginning the history of the Polish state and Polish nation were connected with the history of Christianity”, says Archbishop Jedraszewski. “Christianity, nation and state were so tightly connected, they were almost inseparable.”

In today’s Poland, the church is supporting government moves to discriminate against gay people, wind back sex education and outlaw abortion.

But feminists, gays and liberals are fighting back.

Foreign Correspondent’s Eric Campbell reports on a deeply divided nation in the throes of a culture war.

He meets the Archbishop of Krakow who likens gay activists to the much-reviled Soviets who occupied Poland after the Second World War.

“This time it is not a red but a rainbow plague”, says Archbishop Jedraszewski. Regional governments across Poland have declared about a third of the country ‘an LGBT free zone’.

Eric interviews critics of the current government, including Lech Walesa, the father of Polish democracy, who warns “our Constitution is being broken, the separation of powers has been violated and we have to do something about it.”

He meets a gay mayor in a small town who says the rhetoric from church and state is leading to an “increase in hatred spreading against homosexual people.” And he films at a far-right rally in Warsaw where Catholic extremists are co-opting the church in their bid to push their nationalist agenda and vision of Poland as a new theocracy.

While many Poles believe a religious revival will lead their country to the light, others fear it is opening the gates to something darker.

Everything Changed When I Left Christianity: Dee the Humanist

Apr 7, 2022 • Dee escaped fundamentalist religion, and she's working to help others do the same.

Please note that I am not pushing any ideas here. I am posting this merely out of interest. For me, it is always interesting to learn how people cope with faith and also how they cope when they lose their faith. – Mark

Genesis, White Jesus, and Debating the Resurrection (with Dr. Bart Ehrman)

Mar 29, 2022 • Dr. Bart Ehrman is a New Testament scholar, author, and educator. In advance of his upcoming debate with apologist Dr. Mike Licona, he joins us to talk about the Bible, Christ, and the April 9th online debate: "Did the Resurrection of Jesus Really Happen?"

Gay and Christian? : A documentary / Homosexuell und Christ? : Ein Dokumentarfilm

Oct 14, 2016 • Gay and christian? - a documentary Hardly any other topic is so controversial and heats the minds of Christians more than the subject of homosexuality. The arguments against homosexuality are quickly at hand.

Even more problematic is when a homosexual claims to be a Christian. Can you be gay and Christian? Are these not two completely opposite identities? Few bother to conduct their own research on the subject. Not many take the time to listen just once what the homosexuals, who often are judged so hard, have to say and how their life is like. This film wants to do exactly that: it gives gays, lesbians, transgender and their parents a chance to speak.

What is it like to be in her shoes? Why are they gay? Was it a conscious choice? Have they ever tried to change? How can they find peace with their sexuality, with the Church and with God? A challenging documentary which does not condemn, but calls for mutual respect, love and reconciliation.

Übersetzt ins Deutsche:

Homosexuell und Christ? - Ein Dokumentarfilm Wohl kaum ein anderes Thema ist so kontrovers und erhitzt die Gemüter der Christen mehr als das Thema Homosexualität. Die Argumente gegen Homosexualität sind schnell zur Hand.

Es ist eine Wahl.
Es ist eine Sünde.
Die Bibel ist klar gegen Homosexualität.
Durch Therapie können Homosexuelle geheilt werden.

Noch problematischer wird es, wenn ein Homosexueller behauptet, Christ zu sein. Kann man denn homosexuell und Christ sein? Sind das nicht zwei völlig gegensätzliche Identitäten? Nur wenige machen sich die Mühe, eigene Nachforschungen zu dem Thema anzustellen. Nicht viele nehmen sich die Zeit, sich einfach mal anzuhören, was die Homosexuellen, über die so oft so hart geurteilt wird, zu erzählen haben und wie ihr Leben aussieht.

Dieser Film will genau das tun: Er lässt Schwule, Lesben, Transgender und ihre Eltern zu Wort kommen.

Wie ist es, in ihrer Haut zu stecken? Wieso sind sie homosexuell? War es eine bewusste Wahl? Haben sie je versucht, sich zu ändern? Wie können sie Frieden mit ihrer Sexualität, mit der Kirche und mit Gott finden?

Ein herausfordernder Dokumentarfilm, der nicht verurteilt, sondern zu gegenseitigem Respekt, Liebe und Versöhnung aufruft.

When Belief Dies #51 - 'Manuscripts and Ancient History' with Bart D. Ehrman

Jesus Statue Smashed in Spate of Attacks on India’s Christian Community

THE GUARDIAN: Amid growing intolerance to India’s Christian minority, several Christmas events were targeted by Hindu right wing groups

Christian devotees pray at a Church to celebrate Christmas in Guwahati, Assam. Violence against Christians is growing in India Photograph: David Talukdar/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
Festive celebrations were disrupted, Jesus statues were smashed and effigies of Santa Claus were burned in a spate of attacks on India’s Christian community over Christmas.

Amid growing intolerance and violence against India’s Christian minority, who make up about 2% of India’s population, several Christmas events were targeted by Hindu right wing groups, who alleged Christians were using festivities to force Hindus to convert.

In recent years, Christians have increasingly faced harassment around Christmas but this year saw a notable surge in attacks.

In Agra in Uttar Pradesh, members of right wing Hindu groups burned effigies of Santa Claus outside missionary-led schools and accused Christian missionaries of using Christmas celebrations to lure people in. » | Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi | Monday, December 27, 2021

No Ho Ho: Italian Church Apologises over Bishop’s Claim about Santa Claus

THE GUARDIAN: Antonio Stagliano was trying to focus on the story of Saint Nicholas when he told children Santa did not exist, says church in Sicily

A man dressed as Santa Claus rides past a crowd in Rome. An Italian bishop was forced to apologise after telling children there is no Santa. Photograph: Matteo Nardone/Pacific Press/REX/Shutterstock
A Roman Catholic diocese in Sicily has publicly apologised to outraged parents after its bishop told a group of children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist.

Bishop Antonio Stagliano didn’t mean the comments, and was trying to underline the true meaning of Christmas and the story of Saint Nicholas, a bishop who gave gifts to the poor and was persecuted by a Roman emperor, said the Rev Alessandro Paolino, the communications director for the diocese of Noto.

Italian news reports quoted Stagliano as saying during a recent religious festival that Santa doesn’t exist and that his red costume was created by Coca-Cola for publicity. » | Associated Press | Saturday, December 11, 2021

‘Make It a Christian Town’: The Ultra-conservative Church on the Rise in Idaho

THE GUARDIAN: Increased influence of Christ Church, whose leader wants to create US ‘theocracy’, comes as social conservatives aim to gain traction

Members of Christ Church sing a hymn during ‘psalm sing;’ in September, outside city hall in Moscow, Idaho. Church members were protesting against an order that requires people to either socially distance or wear a face mask in public. Photograph: Geoff Crimmins/AP
A Guardian investigation has revealed that a controversial church whose leader has openly expressed the ambition of creating a “theocracy” in America has accumulated significant influence in the city of Moscow, Idaho.

Christ Church has a stated goal to “make Moscow a Christian town” and public records, interviews, and open source materials online show how its leadership has extended its power and activities in the town.

Church figures have browbeaten elected officials over Covid restrictions, built powerful institutions in parallel to secular government, harassed perceived opponents, and accumulated land and businesses in pursuit of a long-term goal of transforming America into a nation ruled according to its own, ultra-conservative moral precepts.

The rise of Christ Church may be playing out in a small Idaho city but it comes at a time when the US is roiled by the far right, including Christian nationalism, and when social conservatives are seeking to roll back basic tenets of US life such as legal abortion, as well as dominating powerful national institutions, such as the supreme court. » | Jason Wilson in Moscow, Idaho | Tuesday, October 2, 2021

God and the Gay Christian | Matthew Vines | Talks at Google

Jul 10, 2015 • Matthew Vines visits Google's Mountain View office to discuss The Reformation Project and his book 'God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships'. You can find Matthew's book on Google Play here: https://goo.gl/p1xK6j

Matthew Vines is the founder and president of The Reformation Project, and the author of God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. The Reformation Project runs conferences across the country for Christians who want to advance the inclusion of the LGBT community in their churches. TIME has written that Vines “represents new momentum to change the evangelical tide,” and he has been featured on CNN, NPR, MSNBC, and in The New York Times.

Matthew Vines: "For the Bible Tells Me So: Hermeneutics and the Debate About LGBTQ Inclusion"

Mar 6, 2020 • One of the most important issues for Christians to understand in our interpretation of the Bible is the role of hermeneutics—not just what the text says, but how we most faithfully understand and apply the text today. In this talk from our Reconcile and Reform conference in Seattle, TRP's Executive Director Matthew Vines explains how the tools non-affirming Christians already use to interpret the Bible can and should be applied to the conversation around LGBTQ inclusion in a way that leads to an affirming conclusion.

This talk was given on November 8, 2019, at Plymouth Church United Church of Christ in Seattle, Washington.