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Outside a lepers’ colony in Navi Mumbai, India, is a small chapel. Painted in both Hindi and English on the outside of the chapel, it reads: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples”. The chapel welcomes people of all faiths, and is visited by lepers who have been rejected from Read more
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Baby boomers do not lack in spirituality, according to Right Reverend Ray Coster, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand. He says they just expressed it in different ways. He said while baby boomers and their children were the ones most likely not to belong to a church because they struggled with the Read more
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We are halfway through the season of Advent, when Christians look forward to the return of Jesus Christ and also start celebrating Christmas, his first time on Earth. Unfortunately, according to the 2011 Census results just released, there are more than four million fewer Christians celebrating now than ten or so years ago. It seems somewhat Read more
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A cracked voice, an empty bank account, a tour of duty. Who would have thought so much light could still get in? Leonard Cohen’s autumnal years have been afflicted, and his writing nuanced, by more than a simple awareness of his own mortality. The Canadian singer-songwriter spent most of the 1990s in a Zen monastery Read more
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A warning from Pope Benedict XVI about lack of faith among Catholics in France has coincided with new research revealing a decline in fervour among Catholics in the United States and a weakening of belief among Catholics in Ireland. Speaking to visiting French bishops, the Pope described ignorance of religion, even “among the Catholic faithful”, Read more
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The United States does not have a Protestant majority for the first time since being founded by the Puritans as ever-growing numbers of Americans say they have no religious affiliation, according to a new study. The country is now only 48 per cent Protestant, with one in five of the population saying they no longer Read more
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About 20 percent of the American people say they are unaffiliated with any religion, making them almost as numerous as Catholics, who accounted for 22 percent of participants in a new Pew Research Center study released Oct. 9. The survey of 2,973 adults conducted this summer found people who say they are atheist, agnostic or Read more
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Humanism in its most virulent form tries to make science into a religion. It is awash with the intolerance of enthusiasm. For a start, there is the near-hysterical repudiation of religion. To quote Richard Dawkins: “I think there’s something very evil about faith … it justifies essentially anything. If you’re taught in your holy book Read more
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A rising tide of restrictions on religion spread across the world between mid-2009 and mid-2010, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Restrictions on religion rose in each of the five major regions of the world – including in the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, the two regions Read more
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The Dalai Lama has told his Facebook followers that “religion is no longer adequate” to satisfy all the ills of the world. The Tibetan Buddhist leader, who has 4.3 million Facebook fans, posted this status update on Monday last: “All the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness can Read more
