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Pastor Shi Enhao, the deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance, has been sentenced to a two-year stay in a Chinese labor camp under the accusation of holding “illegal meetings and illegal organizing of venues for religious meetings.” Recent a number of members of the alliance petitioned China’s national congress to desist in its…

One third of the Netherlands’ doctors have refused to carry out a euthanasia request over the past five years, according to a survey of 800 family doctors for the Dutch television program “EénVandaag.” The English-language website DutchNews reports that around half of Dutch general practitioners who were questioned said they had felt pressured by patients or their relatives to…

On “The Five,” a new afternoon panel on Fox News, the group discussed President Obama’s comments last week at the University of Maryland where he talked about the right-left media divide.  “President Obama … blames the media for the divide going around the country,” said liberal commentator Bob Beckel. “He said liberals only read the New York…

The Obama administration announced Aug. 1 that insurance plans must cover without cost to women contraceptives that can cause abortions, reports Baptist Press. Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said last year’s controversial health-care reform law –- dubbed “Obamacare” by its critics — would provide no-cost coverage of drugs…

The daunting statistics about church-going youth keep rolling in. It’s hard to sort through the various reports and find the real story. “And there is no one easy solution for bringing all of those ‘lost’ kids back into the church, other than continuing to pray for them and speaking the gospel into their lives,” writes…

Miley Cyrus has made an indelible mark on her finger supporting marriage. She has a new tattoo of an equal sign. She sent out a Twitter message today with a photo of her newly inscribed finger and the comment “All LOVE is equal.” She later added, “@MileyCyrusLuver where does it say in the bible to judge others? Oh right. It doesn’t. GOD is…

The government of Nepal has rejected a $3 billion offer from a Hong Kong foundation to turn Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, into a tourist mecca. According to the Buddhist Channel website: Less than a fortnight after a Chinese nongovernmental organisation announced its plan for what amounted to a virtual takeover of Lumbini, the…

Thirty-five years after a string of murders in which he taunted investigators, the “Son of Sam” serial killer says he is “in anguish” over the killings and wishes he could take it back. David Berkowitz, serving a 365-year sentence in prison for killing six women, says he has undergone a religious transformation, becoming a born-again Christian. In an interview on…

A British night club named “Religion” opened last week — and the local bishop is not amused. The bar offers alcoholic drinks with names like Angel Wings. The club has special promotions such as “Salvation — the answer to your prayers.” But no sermons are delivered — at least not from a pulpit. No congregation sits in pews or discusses how…

Chiang Khong, Thailand — The 15-year-old aspiring “ladyboy” delicately applied a puff of talcum powder to his nose – an act of rebellion at the Thai Buddhist temple where he is learning to “be a man”. “They have rules here that novice monks cannot use powder, make-up, or perfume, cannot run around and be girlish,” said…

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