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By H.A. Hellyer of The Washington Post’s “On Faith” Learning lessons is always hard – especially when you’re in a higher position of power than everyone else. Paradoxically, its usually those in power that are in need of learning from the lessons of the past, more than anyone else – because if they repeat those…

“Having followed the debates on religion and freedom of expression at the United Nations over the last several years, I have become accustomed to passing on bad news, such as a decade of resolutions by the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly ‘combating the defamation of religions,'” writes Austin Dacey in Religion Dispatches. “Now…

For the first time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has collected national life expectancy data for the Hispanic population, and backed up the surprising findings of past studies: the average life expectancy of a Hispanic baby born in 2006 was 80.6 years. That’s 2.5 years longer than the life expectancy for whites,…

“Here we go again,” writes Lisa Miller for the Washington Post. “The Republican primaries are six months away, and already news stories are raising fears on the left about ‘crazy Christians.'” One piece, she notes, connects Gov. Rick Perry with a previously unknown Christian group called “The New Apostolic Reformation,” whose main objective is to “infiltrate…

A Muslim woman told to remove the veil covering her face to pose for a jail mugshot has prompted Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall in Nashville, Tennessee, to revise his policy regarding religious headwear. The woman complained to the American Civil Liberties Union, which took up her cause. As a result, “beginning Friday,” reports Erin Quinn of the…

Two Indian Christians of a thriving Pentecostal house church in Saudi Arabia are back in their home country after being unexpectedly released from a Saudi prison, a church official has confirmed. Vasantha Sekhar Vara, 28, and Nese Yohan, 31, members of Riyadh’s “Rejoice in the Church of the Lord” congregation, were detained in January while organizing a Bible…

  Spain’s young “Swiss guards” welcome the Pope “Do not be ashamed of the Lord, ” proclaimed Pope Benedict XVI to an estimated 1.5 million kids who have packed Madrid, Spain. The teens have filled Madrid’s hotels, hostels, campgrounds and parks to capacity for the six-day World Youth Days — now in its third day. This is…

“I am a tree hugger,” confesses Beliefnet’s Kirsten Jackson. “I’ve never understood why some people find that offensive. Truly, if someone liking trees challenges your political stance, you may be taking your politics a bit too far.” “I celebrate that citizens and firefighters in Rockport, Texas. share my passion,” she shares in today’s column: Right outside…

“Fasting, feasting and spiritual contemplation define Ramadan for Muslims, but some not-so-religious residents say it’s a time of traffic jams, late-night noise pollution and judgmental stares for them,” reports Özgur Ögret in Turkey’s Hürriyet Daily News. The social pressure goes both ways, fasters and non-fasters say, calling for tolerance and respect for pious and secular practices…

A Christian youth summer camp run by one of China’s “house churches” in Anhui province was surrounded by 100 police, who detained the pastor and three ministers, the China Aid Association has learned. In China, it is illegal to teach children about Jesus. State-run Three-Self Patriotic Association churches do not allow anyone under age 18. The…
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