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The weekly podcast, blog, and video series Unbelievable? from Premier Insight, hosted by Justin Brierley (@unbelievablejb), is a unique meeting place that brings together people of radically different views. It seeks to build bridges and create a space for understanding where hard questions can be asked and discussed. The program believes the truth of the […]The post Why, After 10 Years of Talking with Atheists, I Still Believe in Christianity: An Interview with Justin Brierley appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 12:32pm -

By Ann Wilson Have you ever thought to yourself, This world is so big and so dark and they’ll face so many challenges, so what do I know? What if I don’t get everything right that my kids need to learn? The training stage reveals our perceived deficiencies. We want to impart everything our kids […]The post Escaping the Comparison Parent Trap appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 10:00am -

This is the one-hundred-fifty-first lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here. How do we make Scripture […]The post How to Live the Bible — Becoming a Life Learner appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 3 days ago 7 Apr 21, 5:27pm -

Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, announces that the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (Zondervan, 2018), has sold more than 100,000 copies across all formats. [Sign up for the Dwelling in God’s Presence free email 5-day devotional with insights drawn from the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible] The NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible was […]The post NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible Surpasses 100,000 Milestone appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 3 days ago 7 Apr 21, 3:25pm -

The season of Lent that just concluded invites us to return to God with our whole heart. It’s a theme that runs throughout Scripture and God’s relationship with his people. Throughout this Bible study, which you can read on your own or in a group setting, you’ll find links to Bible Gateway with notes that […]The post Walking with Christ to the Cross, Week 7 appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
- 5 days ago 5 Apr 21, 8:15am -

Pastor and bestselling author Francis Chan has criticized the Western Church for its lack of unity and obsession with busyness, stressing that the power and witness of the Body of Christ hinges on its oneness. 
- 1 day ago 9 Apr 21, 11:45am -

David Nasser, Liberty University’s campus pastor and senior vice president of the school’s spiritual development office, who helped steer students through the “shameful” sex scandal involving the institution’s former president, Jerry Falwell Jr., will resign at the end of the semester.
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 12:00pm -

Five months after making headlines when he tested positive for COVID-19 last October, California megachurch Pastor Greg Laurie says he still hasn't regained his sense of smell.
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 10:09am -

One month after announcing her departure from the Southern Baptist Convention, Beth Moore has apologized for her role in elevating complementarian theology to a "matter of 1st importance."
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 10:00am -

Southern Baptist preacher Voddie Baucham Jr. underwent a complicated quadruple bypass heart surgery Monday, typically reserved for patients with severe heart disease, and now has a “long road of recovery ahead.”
- 3 days ago 7 Apr 21, 10:13am -

Diverse anthology of current Christian research on Islam, the Quran, and Muhammad suggests biblically-faithful paths for better engagement beyond polemics or dialogue.American evangelicals often find themselves frustrated in their approach to Islam.Two options are consistently placed before them: a polemical argument few are educated enough to engage in, or an awkward dialogue urging friendship but emptied of theological significance.Help, therefore, may come from abroad—where evangelicals interact with Muslims everyday.A new book, The Religious Other: Toward a Biblical Understanding of Islam, the Quran, and Muhammad, answers both concerns. An anthology of recent academic contributions to Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS), located in Beirut, Lebanon, the publication delves into the details of the debate over how evangelicals should view the rival religion.But it also promotes a “kerygmatic method,” based on the New Testament Greek word for proclamation and connoting among biblical scholars the core message of early church gospel preaching. The book applies the term to seek a middle ground between polemics and apologetics on the one hand, and syncretistic and common ground approaches on the other.Built on a foundation of academic rigor, this method aims for a tone of love within a spirit of Jesus-centered proclamation.CT interviewed Martin Accad, editor of the anthology and associate professor of Islamic studies at ABTS. Though he remains on faculty, he recently resigned from his leadership positions at the seminary to found Action Research Associates, seeking holistic application of the kerygmatic method within the troubles of sectarian Lebanese society.Accad described the value of the book for evangelical engagement with Islam, but also how its principles can guide interaction with “the religious other” in both Lebanon and the United States:Continue reading...
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Two authors encourage Christians to rededicate themselves to attentive, artful reading.Among many evangelical literature-lovers (and likely many CT readers), Leland Ryken is a familiar name. Longtime (now emeritus) professor of English at Wheaton College, he is the author of numerous books, including The Christian Imagination and How to Read the Bible as Literature. In his latest offering, Recovering the Lost Art of Reading, he teams up with professional writer Glenda Faye Mathes to take on one of the ecclesial crises of our time (though not one that tends to make the headlines): By and large, Christians aren’t engaged in serious reading.Ryken and Mathes set out to provide Christians with the reasons and tools they need to start reading again. Their overriding hope is that readers will find it easier to pick up a book and responsibly—indeed, artfully—lose themselves in it. (In this, their intentions overlap somewhat with those of Karen Swallow Prior in her 2018 work On Reading Well, although Recovering the Lost Art of Reading is a very different book.)Ryken and Mathes describe their project as addressing “first the concept of reading as a lost art, then distinctive features of various types of literature and tips for reading them, and finally, ideas for ways to recover reading.” To put it more plainly, the book asks and responds to three questions: What is literature? Why should Christians read it? And what do they need to know (either about literature or about why they’re not reading it) before they can read it well?While Recovering the Lost Art of Readingisn’t exactly literary criticism, it brings aspects of a literary-critical engagement to would-be readers and provides insight into things like the difference between literary and nonliterary uses of language, the ...Continue reading...
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Why Your Children’s Ministry Leader Needs More Education and Training.As both a professor and ministry coach, pastors and search committees often ask me, “How much education is really necessary for a children’s ministry pastor or director?” On the surface, that can be an easy query to answer by asking a few questions: Is the position full-time or part-time? What are the responsibilities? Does this position require the person to administer the sacraments, (such as baptism), which might require ordination? But the question can also be a complicated one, because behind it is an attitude of value toward ministry with children.A few months ago, Ed Stetzer tweeted a question asking if church leaders should pursue a PhD. A colleague of mine at Wheaton College, Dan Trier, wrote an eloquent response regarding the importance and joy of further biblical and theological studies. But let’s be honest—it’s rare that people ask that question in reference to children’s ministry leaders.In every discussion I have had, churches affirm that ministry with children is important and valued. Why else would the church pursue hiring someone to lead the ministry? But often, leadership in children’s ministry isn’t viewed the same way as leadership in other ministries. Children’s ministry leaders are hired for their administrative skills: ministry organization, volunteer recruitment, curriculum and supply ordering.These needs are real, but, as I pointed out in a recent journal article that surveyed the past 40 years of trends in children’s ministry, we’ve assigned “backseat” status to children and their spiritual development in the church. While churches say they affirm ministry with children, they are more likely to be ambivalent about ...Continue reading...
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President of the Assyrian Aid Society–Iraq (AASI) passes away from COVID-19 complications.Ashur Sargon Eskrya, president of the Assyrian Aid Society–Iraq (AASI), passed away today from COVID-19 complications.A champion of the Assyrian Christian minority, he was also a central figure in US efforts to shelter refugees from ISIS and later rebuild the Nineveh Plains.AASI was honored for its work with a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2016.“Ashur has played a prominent role in being a voice for our people in international forums, speaking on behalf of us all especially on the subject of indigenous rights,” stated the official account of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), of which Eskrya was a senior member.“He will always be remembered for his leadership.”Fellow ADM member Jessi Arabou called him one of the Assyrian nation’s “biggest assets.”Born in 1974, Eskrya was a civil engineer and graduate of Baghdad University. He became a member in AASI in 2003, and assumed the presidency in 2010. Founded in 1991 to respond to the humanitarian crisis following the first Gulf War, the nonprofit is funded through branches of the Assyrian diaspora in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Sweden.“Ashur did much to make [AAS] what it is today. His energy and passion fueled and propelled the work on a daily basis,” stated the Assyrian Aid Society of America.“[His] tireless efforts in bringing international attention to the plight and struggle of Assyrians is commendable and will be remembered and honored for generations to come.”Under Eskrya’s leadership, AASI administered projects for refugee relief, reconstruction, irrigation, and medical clinics. Over 2,600 students in 27 schools were provided with K-12 education, including ...Continue reading...
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He brought archaeological expertise to Israel, Egypt, and North America.If you met Robert E. Cooley, you remember his arresting handshake. If you sat in a meeting with him, you recall a brilliance that stopped committee chatter or—more improbably—made sudden sense of it. If you worked with him, you remember a measured decisiveness that could pull your organization back to its mission or lead a whole new movement.Cooley, a Near Eastern archaeologist and former president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, died Thursday, April 1, at age 91.Best known for his presidency of the seminary from 1981 to 1997, Cooley spent much of his earlier career at archaeological sites in Israel and Egypt. His most important discoveries were made at Tel Dothan, in the West Bank, where he brought to light the burial rituals of the ancient city that speak volumes about how they lived. He played a key role in the founding of the Near East Archaeological Society.His later research of 106 Native American sites while director of the Center for Archaeological Research at Missouri State University became central for the U.S. government’s “cultural resource management studies.”But it was in higher education that he had his greatest impact on American religious life, much of it after he retired from Gordon-Conwell. He helped Tim Laniak, then-dean of the Charlotte, North Carolina, campus, develop that campus and plant a satellite school in Jacksonville, Florida.“Those who knew Dr. Cooley,” Laniak said, “assumed the whole world did.”In 2008, Cooley helped to reorganize the governance of Oral Roberts University at a time when the school had fallen into debt and was on the brink of closing. Mart Green, a co-owner of the Hobby Lobby stores who brought Cooley in to help rescue ...Continue reading...
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The New York Times often ignores developments in religious scholarship, an especially serious deficiency of its Sunday Book Review (where Nash K. Burger, who was hired by fellow Mississippian Eudora Welty, long and carefully monitored the field until he retired in 1974).Thus, hallelujahs should greet a huge article by culture reporter Jennifer Schuessler, posted March 10 and granted two full pages in the Arts & Leisure section of last Sunday's print edition.The piece reports that young Israeli-American scholar Idan Dershowitz may have identified "the oldest known biblical manuscript by far," which offers "an unprecedented window into origins and evolution of the Bible" and, in particular, the Book of Deuteronomy. If substantiated, some say, this "will be the most consequential Bible-related discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947."Or not. Journalists assessing what's hot should consider that across the years, manuscript frauds and ill-supported speculations about the Bible have been rife.The Times is known to sometimes "bury the lede," and in this case it buried the news peg. The piece was nicely timed for Jewish Passover and Christian Holy Week when media often dig into biblical mysteries and controversies. But the news here is the April publication of Dershowitz's book "The Valediction of Moses: A Proto-Biblical Book."The book will fill in the missing element in the Times story and thus provide major fresh substance for reporters to develop: Which portions of Deuteronomy are involved in this discussion, and how do specific wordings and passages in today's Bibles compare with the purportedly ancient texts Dershowitz cites? On that basis, what do the agreements and contrasts tell us and why?Dershowitz seeks to rehabilitate Wilhelm Moses Shapira, whose 19th Century Jerusalem shop sold both tourist trinkets and allegedly valuable ancient manuscripts. He tried to sell these Deuteronomy fragments to a regular customer, the British Museum, but its expert and others declared them forgeries in 1883, based on what Dershowitz considers slipshod study.Shamed, Shapira soon committed suicide in Rotterdam. The leather fragments themselves then disappeared.
- 11 days ago 30 Mar 21, 3:31pm -

Readers with long memories will recall that, when the Internet arrived it had an immediate impact on important subjects that rarely received adequate coverage in mainstream media.Take religion, for example. The lower cost of publishing online led to an explosion of forums, listservs, newsletters, online “radio” channels, podcasts and weblogs. Some failed or evolved into new forms — consider the long and complicated histories of Beliefnet and Patheos — and others became, well, normal.Now, in the “cancel culture” era, it’s clear that another example of online evolution is affecting serious coverage of religion, as well as other complicated topics.I am referring to the controversies surrounding Substack and the myriad newsletters and alternative publications thriving there. For a sample of the fea paranoia surrounding Substack, click into this thread from a professor at the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry or read between the lines of this Washington Post column: “The Substack controversy’s bigger story.” Here is a sample of that: Substack is a start-up for self-publishing email newsletters: Writers decide how often to write and whether and how much to charge; Substack sends the newsletters and collects any fees. The ease of use has made it popular with journalists. … Some of the most prolific users are heterodox political writers who had found mainstream publications an increasingly poor fit. A number quickly rose to the top of the Substack leader boards. This attracted the gimlet eye of the cancelers: Other online writers — some of whom had their own Substack newsletters — have leveled accusations of transphobia and other offenses. A nascent boycott aims to pressure Substack into deplatforming the alleged offenders. Reportedly, their campaign is having some effect.“Heterodox” is an interesting word. It appears, in this context, to define the work of various kinds of conservatives or, even worse, free thinkers (Andrew Sullivan and Bari Weiss, for example) who accuse many “liberals” or “progressives” of turning dangerously illiberal.This brings me to this weekend’s must-read missive from Nancy and David French, care of The Dispatch, an alternative conservative online publication that is thriving in this new online environment. Here is the dramatic double-decker headline atop this long feature: ‘They Aren’t Who You Think They Are’ The inside story of how Kanakuk — one of America’s largest Christian camps — enabled horrific abuse.
- 12 days ago 29 Mar 21, 3:59pm -

Another week.Another mass shooting.Another 21-year-old suspect.Last week's news coverage of Robert Aaron Long, charged in the deaths of eight people — including six women of Asian descent — at three Atlanta-area spas, focused on his ties to a Southern Baptist congregation.Long's arrest sparked a barrage of stories and columns on evangelical theology, racism and "purity culture," including a Religion News Service op-ed headlined "Blaming Christians for the Atlanta shootings isn't persecution, it's prosecution."On the other hand, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa's Muslim background has figured less prominently — so far — in reporting on the suspect in Monday's massacre that claimed 10 lives at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.In profiling the suspect, some major news organizations haven’t mentioned his religious affiliation at all. RNS has emphasized concerns that Alissa's arrest might ramp up "Islamophobia" and spark hate crimes as Muslims gather in congregational settings. (It’s a familiar storyline, going at least back to 9/11.)"I think there definitely is a double standard," said Warren Smith, an evangelical who serves as president of the independent charitable giving watchdog MinistryWatch.com.Smith, a longtime investigative reporter, offers this advice for covering a mass shooting: Stick to the facts. Avoid speculating on the gunman’s motives. Focus on the victims and the helpers."The perpetrator’s story will have an opportunity to come out in the legal process,” Smith said. “Let coverage of that process be the place where the perpetrator’s story is told factually, dispassionately, empathetically."But the facts, not a double standard, are the reason for the different emphases in the Georgia and Colorado cases, said a journalist friend who is reporting on the Boulder massacre."The big difference to me is that police investigators brought up the 'sex addiction' question quickly and directly in Atlanta, which led people to seek where that guilt came came, which led to religious background," my friend said.
- 12 days ago 29 Mar 21, 12:59pm -

After a media firestorm ignited by a Vatican condemnation of same-sex unions -- because God "cannot bless sin" -- Catholic progressives immediately looked for hope in the words of bishops, President Joe Biden and even Pope Francis.In his Sunday Angelus address after the March 15 ruling, the pope stressed that modern seekers want to "see Jesus" in acts of love, not persecution.Catholics must promote "a life that takes upon itself the style of God -- closeness, compassion and tenderness," said the pope. "It means sowing seeds of love, not with fleeting words but through concrete, simple and courageous examples, not with theoretical condemnations, but with gestures of love. Then the Lord, with his grace, makes us bear fruit, even when the soil is dry due to misunderstandings, difficulty or persecution, or claims of legalism or clerical moralism."While Pope Francis gave "his assent" to this ruling, the Jesuit publication America cited anonymous Vatican sources saying the Angelus remarks suggested that he was "distancing himself" from the work of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.That document said God "does not and cannot bless sin: He blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed." As for same-sex unions, it added: "The presence in such relationships of positive elements … cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator's plan."Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp -- who represented Belgium at the 2015 Vatican Synod on Marriage and the Family -- said those words left him "ashamed on behalf of my Church. … I want to apologize to all those for whom this 'responsum' is painful and incomprehensible: faithful and committed Catholic homosexual couples, the parents and grandparents of homosexual couples and their children, pastoral workers and counsellors of homosexual couples," he wrote on Facebook."I know homosexual couples who are legally married, have children, form a warm and stable family, and moreover, actively participate in parish life. A number of them are employed full-time in pastoral work or ecclesial organizations." Why, he added, deny the "similarity or analogy with heterosexual marriage here?"
- 13 days ago 28 Mar 21, 6:30pm -

The purity culture wars continue over on Twitter, where a crucial question — from a journalism perspective — can be seen in the following sequence.There is no question that some church leaders went too far with purity culture themes and rites, including hellish actions by abusive men. Can anyone deny that? However, can journalists (and their academic and activist sources) assume that because evil happened in some cases means that it happened in all cases? And, to be specific, do journalists have on-the-record evidence that the alleged shooter in Atlanta was, in fact, warped by abusive people at an abusive church?GetReligion published two posts linked to these debates. Check out Julia Duin’s post here: “Panning purity culture: What the press doesn't get about basic Christian doctrines on sex.”Then, I raised other basic journalism questions here: “Wait a minute: How is a sermon on the Second Coming linked to shootings in Atlanta?”Before we get to this weekend’s two “think pieces” on this topic — by religious-liberty activist David French and Crossway books executive Justin Taylor — here is a flashback to a key passage in my post, which is linked to some of Taylor’s constructive criticism of the French piece. It’s not enough to say that this or that conservative congregation, or counseling center, or parachurch ministry is “evangelical” and, thus, the public can assume that Christian doctrines were used in manipulative ways. … Ponder this equation: Journalists cannot assume that a specific evangelical flock advocates dangerous doctrine X, simply because there are experts (progressive evangelicals even) who insist that all evangelicals teach dangerous doctrine X and, thus, we know that dangerous doctrine X causes broken, manipulated individuals to do hellish things. At some point, journalists need to find specific people advocating specific ideas and actions — using research methods that are deeper than second-hand reports and the convictions of hostile experts on one side of fights about the Sexual Revolution.This brings us to French’s must-read piece:
- 14 days ago 27 Mar 21, 6:00pm -

Robert Lesslie—the South Carolina physician and author who authorities say was killed, along with three family members and a repairman, by former NFL player Phillip Adams—frequently wrote of the fragility of life and a deep-seated Christian faith that guided him personally and professionally.“I know without a doubt that life is fragile,” the 70-year-old doctor wrote in one of his books, a collection of missives he termed “inspiring true stories” from his medical work. 
- 1 day ago 9 Apr 21, 6:17pm -

A camp director and pastor with ties to a megachurch in western New York has been accused of inappropriately touching more than 20 women when they were teenage girls.The accused, Wayne Aarum, is the director of Circle C Ranch camp in Delevan, New York. Aarum also served as a youth pastor at The Chapel at Crosspoint, one of the largest churches in the Buffalo, New York area, from 1990 to 2000. Aarum currently pastors the First Baptist Church of Arcade. 
- 1 day ago 9 Apr 21, 2:36pm -

Liberty University announced today that Jonathan Falwell—the brother of former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. —will serve as its new campus pastor.The announcement comes one day after David Nasser, former Liberty vice-president for spiritual development, announced his resignation in a video posted online and shared on social media.Nasser has served in his role at Liberty since August 2014.Falwell currently serves as the pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC), the church his father, Jerry Falwell, Sr., founded. 
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 10:09pm -

First she shook the evangelical world by leaving the Southern Baptist Convention. Now Beth Moore, arguably the evangelical world’s most famous women’s Bible teacher, has begged forgiveness for supporting the theology of male headship rooted in many evangelical cultures.In a Twitter thread Wednesday, Moore took aim at complementarianism, the 20th century theological framework that argues men and women were created for different roles and that effectively champions male headship and female submission. 
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 1:12pm -

Authorities in Edmonton, Canada, have fenced off and surrounded a Canadian church that defied COVID-19 restrictions.A chain link fence now surrounds GraceLife Church—a church that’s been at the center of controversy since February. Security guards and police are also patrolling the area, while police cars block entry.GraceLife’s pastor, James Coates, was jailed for more than a month for hosting services at full capacity and without the use of masks. 
- 3 days ago 7 Apr 21, 11:43pm -

Updated financial data for Corporate Chaplains of America, KSBJ, The King’s College, Military Community Youth Ministries
- 1 day ago 9 Apr 21, 2:29pm -

Hope Pregnancy Ministries offers a duo of services that include their Clear Choice Clinic, which serves about 1,000 men and women yearly with pregnancy and STD diagnosis and treatment, and Hope Family Resource Center, which provides training and material goods to expectant parents. All appointments are free. They also added a mobile unit two years ago that provides medical and educational services at the nearby Indian reservation.
- 1 day ago 9 Apr 21, 1:37pm -

On today’s program, more problems in the Bible translation industry, and Christian colleges are named in a lawsuit motivated by LGBTQ activists. We begin today with more news from Kanakuk Camps, a large Christian camp in Missouri. Each week, MinistryWatch brings you news about Christian ministries, as well as the latest in charity and philanthropy, […]
- 2 days ago 9 Apr 21, 2:50am -

In March, the Boy Scouts of America filed a bankruptcy plan to set aside $300-million to evaluate and settle sexual abuse claims.  Lawyers for victims said that amount was “woefully inadequate.”Last week, a committee representing child sex abuse victims asked a judge for permission to file its own reorganization plan.  The committee claims the BSA plan does not fairly compensate victims and it protects the assets of local Boy Scouts councils and sponsoring organizations from liability.
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 3:11pm -

Televangelist Todd Coontz has lost the final appeal of his 2019 conviction on tax evasion charges and begun serving a five-year sentence at a Florida prison.
- 3 days ago 7 Apr 21, 9:56pm -

A study of more than 20,000 United Methodist churches in the U.S. found that multiracial churches had higher worship attendance over time.
- 2 days ago 8 Apr 21, 5:19pm -

Anonymous letters criticizing the appearance of its African associate pastor have led to self-reflection for a Virginia congregation and a “Do No Harm” campaign seeking changes in The United Methodist Church.
- 3 days ago 7 Apr 21, 12:21pm -

The drafters of the Christmas Covenant are leading webinars in the Philippines, Africa and Europe about their proposal for changing the denomination’s global structure.
- 4 days ago 6 Apr 21, 4:11pm -

A traumatic childhood memory, repressed for 40 years, came back to force United Methodist deacon Constance Hastings to confront racism in her upbringing.
- 5 days ago 5 Apr 21, 5:34pm -

The Rev. Derek Kubilus lands on ‘60 Minutes’ after launching his own podcast about conspiracy theories.
- 5 days ago 5 Apr 21, 4:25pm -

Police used water cannons on protesters for the first time in six years on Thursday in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The demonstrators threw stones, fireworks, and gasoline-filled bottles. Thursday’s gathering was smaller than others, but police said 19 more officers sustained injuries. Some 74 have been injured since the unrest began last week.What’s going on? COVID-19 lockdowns and new trade rules following Brexit have fueled longstanding tension between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Despite occasional outbursts of violence, the region has been largely peaceful since the Good Friday agreement in 1998 ended a long stretch of fighting known as “the Troubles.” But Britain’s departure from the European Union has reimposed some trade and border restrictions, setting off old disagreements about the region’s place in the United Kingdom.Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour about how a centuries-old religious divide in Northern Ireland threw a wrench into Brexit negotiations.Image: Category: InternationalArticle Title: Unrest simmers in Northern IrelandKeywords: InternationalNorthern IrelandBritainPolitical UnrestUnited KingdomBrexitAuthor: Rachel Lynn Aldrich
- 20 hours ago 9 Apr 21, 10:07pm -

Congressional budget caps from 2011 expire at the end of this fiscal year, and the White House is proposing a big domestic spending binge. President Joe Biden’s proposed $1.5 trillion partial budget prioritizes education, healthcare, housing, and the environment while leaving defense spending roughly unchanged. The White House is requesting an 8.4 percent increase in discretionary spending, including a 41 percent increase to the Education Department, a 23 percent increase to Health and Human Services, and a 15 percent increase to Housing and Urban Development. That represents about a third of Congress’ annual federal budget, while mandatory spending like Medicaid and Social Security make up the rest.What happens next? The divided Congress is unlikely to approve Biden’s plan as it currently stands. Republicans are already calling for a bigger increase in defense spending: Biden’s budget requests a 1.6 percent increase. The White House will release a more complete budget proposal later this spring, as this first draft does not include mandatory spending, tax revenue, or the president’s new infrastructure plan.Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew on what’s in Biden’s infrastructure bill.Image: Category: PoliticsArticle Title: Biden releases federal budget proposalKeywords: PoliticsWhite HouseBudgetAuthor: Charissa Koh
- 20 hours ago 9 Apr 21, 10:04pm -

Liberal and conservative scholars and members of previous administrations will take 180 days to study potential changes to the nation’s highest court, the White House announced on Friday. Two Obama administration veterans, former White House counsel Bob Bauer and Cristina Rodriguez, a former member of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, will co-chair the 36-member commission. It is not set to provide any recommendations.Will the Biden administration pack the court? After President Donald Trump appointed three conservative justices, creating a 6-3 conservative majority, Democrats began calling for term limits and adding justices to the Supreme Court. During the campaign, Biden refused to say whether he supported those measures and instead promised to create the commission to study the matter.Dig deeper: Read Jamie Dean’s report about the Georgia runoff election that determined the Senate balance of power—and the odds that Democrats could pursue packing the court.Image: Category: Supreme CourtArticle Title: Biden considers changing Supreme CourtKeywords: PoliticsSupreme CourtWhite HouseAuthor: Charissa Koh
- 23 hours ago 9 Apr 21, 7:33pm -

In 2018, Li Yuese spent 10 months locked inside a windowless room in a facility run by the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department. Officials at the “transformation” center beat and tortured him, Li told Radio Free Asia. “I could not sleep,” he said. “After you’ve been in there a week, death starts to look better than staying there.”Authorities detained him during a crackdown on a house church in the southwestern Sichuan province. Li, who goes by a pseudonym, is one of several Christians reportedly held in brainwashing camps because of their faith. Some have compared their detention to the ongoing crackdown on Uighur minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region.Li said officials and plainclothes workers from the United Front Work Department held the prisoners in a basement in a secret location. Many of them, he said, were arrested for church-related activities that didn’t warrant criminal prosecution.People who refused to “admit their mistakes” were taken into solitary confinement for extended periods. Li said suicide attempts were common at the facility: “I bashed myself against the wall to self-harm.”China has continued to crack down on unregistered churches in an effort to “Sinicize” or reshape religion to support the Chinese Communist Party. Authorities criminally detained Zhang Chunlei, an elder at Love (Ren’ai) Reformed Church in the southwest Guizhou province, after raiding a retreat at a privately rented property earlier in March.Beijing has also engaged in systematic oppression in Xinjiang, where some 1 million Uighur Muslims are reportedly in reeducation camps. Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom joined the European Union last month to impose sanctions on senior Chinese officials in Xinjiang.A lawyer in the northern Hebei province who went only by Zhang told Radio Free Asia that he represented several Catholics detained at a similar facility in the city of Baoding. “After the religious affairs officials had arrested the bishops and priests, they didn’t pursue criminal charges—they just disappeared them, sometimes for five, six, or even 10 years at a stretch,” he said. “These brainwashing places were similar to the ones used on the Falun Gong.” Falun Gong is a banned spiritual movement in China based on Buddhism and qigong exercises.China Aid President Bob Fu told me he has received individual reports of Christians who endure such experiences but said he has not seen evidence yet suggesting a systemic targeting similar to supporters of the Falun Gong movement or in Xinjiang.He recalled the case of a young Christian in his 20s who was seized by authorities in Beijing and tortured in a similar facility. “He made three attempted suicides,” Fu said.The repression has had a chilling effect on Christian communities, he said: “Even talking about their cases would be a punishable offense, from a warning to administrative or criminal offense.” Getty Images/Photo by Stringer/AFP (file) Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi (left) and an opposition leader at the National Dialogue in Yaounde, Cameroon, in 2019 Remembering a peace workerCameroon’s Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, who actively sought peace in the country’s Anglophone crisis, died last week. He was 90. Tumi, the only Catholic cardinal in the country, served as archbishop of Douala until 2009.Tumi pressed both separatists and the military in the restive Northwest region to stop the destruction and targeting of civilians. The region is the center of clashes between security forces and English speakers who complain of marginalization. The English speakers have declared the region an independent state named Ambazonia. The group gained momentum after the government violently cracked down on peaceful protests by English speakers in 2016.Tumi helped create the Anglophone General Conference, a dialogue effort between all parties of the conflict.In November, separatist fighters in the region abducted Tumi for a day after he urged them to surrender their weapons and work toward peace. “I will preach what is the truth with pastoral conviction and Biblical conviction,” Tumi said at the time. “Nobody has the right to tell me to preach the contrary because I was called by God.” —O.O. Associated Press (file) Refugees from Palma in Afungi, Mozambique Mozambique retakes PalmaAbout 10 days after insurgents invaded a coastal city, the Mozambican military said it regained full control this week. Islamic State–affiliated insurgents stormed Palma, Mozambique, on March 24, severing communication lines and looting shops and banks. Dozens of people died, including a South African and British national, and at least 11,000 people were displaced.Reporters from Sky News who accessed Palma saw bodies lying on streets littered empty bullet cartridges and a hospital, several offices, and homes vandalized and burned.Military officials on Sunday said they killed several terrorists and noted civilians have slowly started coming back. “The population is returning, but they have nothing to eat because the terrorists have looted almost everything,” said Agostinho Muthisse, a Mozambican military commander. Insurgency in the country’s northern Cabo Delgado province has displaced about 670,000 people. —O.O. Associated Press/Photo by Brahima Ouedraogo (file) Beatrice Stöckli, left, in 2012 Swiss missionary confirmed deadThe Swiss foreign ministry verified the DNA of Béatrice Stöckli last week and confirmed she died after four years in captivity.Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate, abducted the Swiss missionary from Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu in January 2016. In a November video, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) reported Stöckli died during a failed attempt by “French crusaders” to rescue her. Islamists in northern Mali had previously abducted her in 2012, but special forces from Burkina Faso rescued her two weeks later.Swiss Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis said the DNA test provides definitive evidence of her death. “But I am also relieved that we can return the woman’s remains to her family, and I would like to pass on my deepest condolences to them,” he said. —O.O. Putin hangs onRussian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed off on legislation that would allow him to lead for two more six-year terms. His current term would end in 2024.Putin proposed constitutional changes to presidential term limits last year. Some 78 percent of Russian voters backed the proposal in a nationwide referendum. The decision could see Putin lead the country until 2036. He is Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Putin argued the decision would allow his lieutenants to focus on their work without worrying about their successors. —O.O. Image: Deck: Christians and other minorities battle state-sponsored persecutionCategory: InternationalKeywords: InternationalChinaPersecutionChristianityMuslimsUyghursCatholicCameroonMozambiquePolitical UnrestTerrorismMaliMissionsRussiaSlug: InternationalArticle Title: Chinese Christians describe torture at campsAuthor: Onize OhikereDigital Branding: World TourHide from Archive?: 0
- 23 hours ago 9 Apr 21, 7:06pm -

Despite early predictions that the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a homebound baby boom, recent data show the global pandemic only exacerbated an already looming population crisis in many countries around the world. Record low birth rates are expected to continue, and policy makers and demographers searching for explanations and solutions.One proposed fix is work-related benefits, including universal child care and paid parental leave. Experts argue giving tired parents more support as workers will result in more children. But a study released last month by the Institute for Family Studies pushes back on that idea, instead arguing that work-based solutions to fertility declines are counterproductive.The report’s authors, Laurie DeRose and Lyman Stone, studied the concepts of “workism” and “familism”—the values individuals place on work and family. They found that high-income countries that become “workist,” with extremely career-focused attitudes among both men and women, experience large declines in fertility. As societies emphasize personal meaning and value through work, people find less meaning and value in families.The study points to the Nordic nations as a case in point. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden in the past were models of modern fertility success: They had relatively high fertility rates alongside egalitarian values and generous social welfare states. But they are now the fly in the ointment with plummeting birth rates since 2008 despite abundant support for working families. DeRose and Stone suggest a rise in workist attitudes in the Nordic countries is to blame.“People’s values matter,” DeRose said during a recent presentation on their findings. She and Stone differentiate workism from a natural desire to provide for a family or even have a comfortable standard of living. Workism is more of an identity shift than a desire to put bread on the table. As men and women increasingly see their personal identities tied to their value as workers, they are having fewer babies or none at all. “The desire for meaningful or important work, not simply well-compensated work, is powerful, and has significant and negative implications for childbearing,” DeRose and Stone wrote.DeRose told me she doubted workism contributed to last year’s pandemic baby bust but rather uncertainty in general and the economic recession in particular. Workism might have accelerated the inevitable, she said: “We would expect a COVID baby bust, but in a workist society, it might be on steroids.”DeRose and Stone argue government policies that try to boost fertility with benefits aimed at workers may “undermine their efforts as they strengthen a ‘workist’ life script rather than a ‘familist’ one.” Benefits such as free child care and paid leave result in more work and less family. DeRose and Stone propose cash allowances, a cheaper solution than funding child care and one that gives families the option of working less instead of only getting benefits through their jobs.Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, recently introduced a plan that would give U.S. parents direct payments each month. Proponents say the proposal removes the current disincentive for marriage in the welfare system and could close the so-called fertility gap—the difference between how many children women say they want and how many they actually have. In another article for the Institute for Family Studies, Stone praised Romney’s plan because it could give some parents the option to stay home with their young children instead of working.But some conservatives argue a child allowance would have a negative effect on work, marriage and fertility rates.“Romney has good goals, but his plan moves existing money around in a way that is anti-work and will undermine marriage,” said Robert Rector, a welfare expert and senior research fellow for the Heritage Foundation. He noted that welfare programs that gave parents larger benefits without work requirements historically led to fewer marriages and babies.Image: Deck: Study ties work obsession to low birth ratesCategory: Family & SocietyKeywords: FamilySocietyChildrenFertilityEmploymentCoronavirusSlug: FamilyArticle Title: More work, less familyAuthor: Kiley CrosslandDigital Branding: RelationsHide from Archive?: 0
- 1 day ago 9 Apr 21, 4:20pm -