Is Trump’s Revised Travel Ban Constitutional?

President Trump signed a new executive order that restricts travel from six Muslim majority countries after a first attempt was shot down by the courts. Will the new order pass legal muster? Jeffrey Brown gets debate from Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general under President Obama, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, about whether it will hold up in court.

Canada Sees Surge in Border Crossings as Thousands Seek Asylum from US

The number of refugees crossing into Canada from the US has soared since late last year.

What's Behind Row between Turkey and Germany? – Inside Story

Trump Issues Revised Executive Order On Travel

After a tumultuous first go, Pres. Trump issues a revised executive order on travel which halts travel from six Muslim-majority countries to the US.

The Dilemma Facing Ex-Muslims in Trump's America

THE ATLANTIC: How to challenge Islam while defending its adherents

“Challenging Islam as a doctrine,” Ali Rizvi told me, “is very different from demonizing Muslim people.” Rizvi, a self-identified ex-Muslim, is the author of a new book titled The Atheist Muslim: A Journey from Religion to Reason. One of the book’s stated aims is to uphold this elementary distinction: “Human beings have rights and are entitled to respect. Ideas, books, and beliefs don’t, and aren’t.”

The problem for Rizvi is that the grain of Western political culture is currently against him. Those in the secular West live in an age when ideas are commonly regarded as “deeds” with the potential to wound. So, on the left, self-critique of Islam is often castigated as critique of Muslims. Meanwhile, the newly elected president of the United States and his inner circle have a tendency to conflate the ideas of radical Islam with the beliefs of the entire Muslim population. So, on the right, the very same self-critique of Islam is used to attack Muslims and legitimize draconian policies against them. » | Simon Cottee | Monday, March 6, 2017

President Donald Trump Set To Roll Out New Immigration Order | Morning Joe | MSNBC

The Trump administration is expected to roll out a new immigration order on Monday. NBC News' Hallie Jackson reports on the revised order, which countries are named and which have been removed.

'Russia's Soul Is Monarchic': Tsarist School Wants to Reverse 100 Years of History

THE GUARDIAN: Patriotic financier known as the ‘Orthodox oligarch’ funds school that seeks to prepare students for the ‘inevitable’ return of monarchy

“We are raising a new elite here,” says Zurab Chavchavadze, the dapper 74-year-old headteacher of St Basil the Great School, sitting beneath a large portrait of Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II. “The students will be morally sound, religious, intellectual and patriotic, and will have every chance of getting into power.”

A collection of grand buildings set around a new cathedral in an upmarket suburb of Moscow, the school harks back to Russia’s tsarist traditions to inculcate a sense of patriotism in its 400 students.

As the centenary approaches of Russia’s 1917 revolution, which deposed the Romanov dynasty after centuries of rule, Chavchavadze is part of a small but influential section of Russians who are looking to the tsarist past for inspiration – and even hope to restore a monarchy one day soon. » | Shaun Walker in Moscow | Monday, March 6, 2017

A 96-year-old Grandfather and Holocaust Survivor Tells His Family He Is Gay

THE TELEGRAPH: The great-grandfather has been married to his wife for 67 years, but only told his family that he was gay last year.

Originally from Poland, Ronald Blank and his wife Ruth moved to the United States after the end of World War II.

Mr Blank spoke to YouTube video creator Davey Wavey about his unique coming out story ahead of a documentary, On My Way Out, that grandson Brandon Gross is directing about him. » | Anna Schaverien | Sunday, March 5, 2017

Evolution & Religion

This is a message for every religious person who thinks that evolution is fake based on his beliefs, how I thought about evolution when I was religious and what did I do to learn about it.

Inside Story - Will France's François Fillon Be Forced to Step Aside?

The Muslim View: Muhammed in the Bible - Sheikh Ahmed Deedat

A lecture by Sheikh Ahmed Deedat. In response to the allegations by Jimmy Swaggart that the Bible mentions nothing about Muhummed. Sheikh Deedat refutes these claims by quoting excerpts from the Bible which nullifies Mr Swaggart's charges.

Full Interview: Marco Rubio with Jake Tapper

Sen. Marco Rubio talks with CNN's Jake Tapper about President Trump's wiretap claims, the controversy around Attorney General Jeff Sessions and more during is appearance on CNN's State of the Union.

Pelosi Pressed on Russian Ambassador Meeting

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-D) talks about a 2010 meeting she had with then-Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev in which Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was present.

Congressman's Controversial Joke about Conway

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi responds to Cedric Richmond's (LA-D) joke about Kellyanne Conway. The Louisiana congressman later said that his joke was not intended as innuendo.

Islam Fastest Growing Religion in US

Video Shows Heated Oval Office Meeting

President Donald Trump is extremely frustrated with his senior staff and communications team for allowing the firestorm surrounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions to steal his thunder in the wake of his address to Congress, sources tell CNN.

Gay USA: Resisting President Trump

Life Of Jesus Christ | New Full Movie | 2013

Killing Jesus: Who Was the Real Pontius Pilate?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The life of Jesus of Nazareth, as recorded in the Gospels, is bracketed by memorable actions on the part of two powerful men: a king and a Roman governor. Upon hearing of the birth of Jesus, an angry and jealous Herod ordered the massacre of young Hebrew children, an event remembered in Christian history as the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents. At the end of Jesus’ life, Pontius Pilate presided over the proceedings that culminated in Jesus’ crucifixion. Although the Roman governor has been the subject of countless sermons over the centuries, typically portrayed as dithering and reviled for posing the temporizing question “What is truth?,” he remains something of a cipher. Working both from the Gospels and from ancient texts, Aldo Schiavone, a professor of Roman law based at the University of Rome La Sapienza, provides a fresh perspective in “Pontius Pilate: Deciphering a Memory” and, in the process, offers new insights into the final days of Jesus. » | Randall Balmer | Friday, March 3, 2017

Interfaith Healer: The Surprising Role of Jesus in Islam

THE NEW YORK TIMES: How did a Jewish preacher who became the Christian Messiah also become one of the most admired figures in the Quran? Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish journalist and contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times, sets out to explore this apparent conundrum.

The result will come as something of a revelation to many non-Muslim readers, since Jesus is revered in Islam’s sacred text as a great teacher and prophet, while his mother, Mary, gets more ink — and praise — than in all four New Testament Gospels put together. » | Lesley Hazleton | Friday, March 3, 2017