"Can Islam undergo a 'Reformation"? - Ayaan Hirsi Ali wants to see it happen.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has written a remarkable book, "Heretic - Why Islam needs a Reformation Now".

She "she fled an arranged marriage as a very young Somalian Muslim woman and abandoned her faith, going first to Germany and then to the Netherlands. She began her new life as a factory cleaning lady and rose to be a Dutch member of parliament and a prominent activist for the victims of militant Islam. She is now a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the wife of eminent Anglo-American historian Niall Ferguson"

You may be interested in an evaluation of her book. I found the topic of 'Reformation' useful and I am also appreciative of this book review. The difficulties facing an "Islamic Reformation" seem overwhelming.

Read More.

Water in the Middle East - Is the decline of water a worse nightmare than ISIS?

Evening on the Nile River in Cairo

"The water war is a ghost threatening the Middle East.

Though the poor populations of this region are the only ones paying for the price of the oil conflict, the water wars will not spare anyone."

These dire words are found at the end of an important article about the declining water resources in one of the most conflict-prone regions of the world.

Water in the Middle East: this topic doesn't make the headlines every day, but it is an extremely urgent issue.

Recently, Egypt had to use its limited reserves in the Aswan Dam to generate electricity for the growing population of a nation that exists on either side of one single river. Read more.

Egypt and Ethiopia are at logger-heads over Ethiopia's new dam on the Blue Nile. Read more.

Water shortages affect Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Israel, not to mention the nations of North Africa.

Iran's water shortage may be one of the worst crises, but we do not hear much about that, since our preoccupation seems to be taken up with geo-political issues, especially the issue of a possible treaty to "solve" the urgent concern surrounding the "nuclear deal".  For an excellent article on the desperate shortage of water in Iran, read here.


 

"The Real but Overstated Decline in American Christianity" - Russ Douthat in NYT

A church in South Bend, Indiana

The recent Pew survey covering American Christianity showed a decline in the number of people calling themselves "Christian".

What does this mean?

Are the facts and figures correct?

Is there any good ne
ws for Christian churches in the data?

Russ Douthat makes some interesting comments in the New York Times on the Opinion Pages.

Read more and find links to other writers, too.

"Seniors who exercise add five years to their lives" - BBC

We, who graduated in the '50s and '60's, owe a lot to science.

We, who graduated in the 1950's and 1960's, owe a lot to scientific studies on aging. Many of us will be living close to a 100 years.

This affects retirement and planning for the funds we will need to live longer - (hmm, finances for many more years is a whole different topic!)

Various life choices may add several years to ones' life.

Cutting out smoking (and other drugs) can add five years, or more.

Being happily married, according to McLean's magazine, (quoting significant sources) can add up to 15 years. (Hint No. 1: Seniors look out for each other). (Hint No 2: Men, especially, benefit from the nutritious meals they might otherwise not enjoy!)

Obviously, a healthy diet can extend a person's life. This SINGLE topic probably adds a trillion bits of data to the web every day!

BBC posted a useful hint for seniors, especially men. Exercising 150 minutes per week can add, on average, five years of life to men between the ages of 68-77 year olds, as compared to the same age group that lives a sedentary life. (This is not such a popular topic, unfortunately.)

(Note: simply knowing facts about a healthy life style doesn't guarantee that it gets translated into practice. Forming habits is a choice - sometimes painful, but worthwhile.)

Read more about how exercise affects how long we live.

"Chango Unchained": The Economist on the Ancient Yorba religion growing in Cuba

While the President of Cuba visits the Pope in Rome, many common people go elsewhere for their spiritual comfort.

"In Cuba: "Santería is a blending of the Yoruba religion, which acknowledges 401 orishas, or deities, with the Catholicism of the Spanish colonisers. Although at least 60% of Cubans today call themselves Catholics, far fewer are regular churchgoers.

Many see no reason not to incorporate Santería rituals into their spiritual santero might foretell their destiny and, later on, counsel them on how to revive their flagging sex life."
lives. A Catholic priest will marry a couple, but a

Read more.
 

Generosity: How much giving counts as "charity"?

Donna Maria, a widow, and 8 children, a very generous woman

C.S. Lewis didn't talk about percentage giving.
He said the only safe
rule is to give more than we can spare.
Our charities should pinch and hamper us.

If we live at the same level of affluence
as other people who have our level of income,
we are probably giving away too little.

Obstacles to charity include:
greed for luxurious living,
greed for money itself,
fear for financial insecurity,
and showy pride.

Kathryn Ann Lindskoog in
Hymns for the Family of God,
Paragon Associates, Nashville, Tennessee, 1976

 

Understanding Isis: Research, Failed states and slaughter of Ethiopian Christians

Here is a short collection of links on ISIS and conflicts, from Iraq to Libya:

1. Research on Isis is found here.

2. Five states have effectively ceased to function in the past five years. Iraq, Syrian, Lebanon, Yemen and Libya. How Iran is influencing this is found here.

3. The Al Qaeda group in Yemen is gaining strength. The war in Yemen is helping Al-Qaeda.

4. The tensions in Egypt's Sinai continue with violence, many Egyptian security guards dead. Tension in Egypt's Sinai - read more.

5. 30 Ethiopian Christians were killed in Libya, called "worshipers of the cross belonging to the hostile Ethiopian Church." Is the Ethiopian Church hostile, or is this just propaganda? Read more.

6. ISIS is growing in Syria, but struggling in Iraq. Isis pushes further into Syria.
 

Oldest copy (2,000 years) of the Ten Commandments on Display: Jerusalem

The oldest copy of the Ten Commandments is on display for two weeks in Jerusalem. The document is brittle and sensitive to light and moisture, so it is always kept in a secure, humidity-and-light-controlled location.

You may disagree with the estimated dates of the other objects being viewed in the "Through the Ages of Human Civilization" display.

Read more.

Lebanon is caught in the jumble of Middle Eastern woes

Peaceful villages, such as this one in the mountains, are rare.

Lebanon, in some ways one of the more fragile countries in the Middle East, is being squeezed yet again because of conflicting loyalties. Perhaps about 50% or less of the population is Christian (various traditions). Perhaps 50%, or more, are Muslim, with the views from Iran, Shia Islam, prevailing among the Palestinian refugees.

This carefully written article sheds light on how we might pray for the increasingly desperate situation in Lebanon, the need for a stable government, the refugee crisis with hundreds of thousands coming over the border from Syria, and the still developing situation in Yemen and how it affects the politics in Beirut.

Read more.

 

"Armenian Church files law suit against Turkey seeking reparations" - Zaman

The province of Adana- rich lands and some bitter memories

The Armenian Church of Cilicia has filed a law suit in Turkey's Constitutional Court, seeking damages for a piece of land in Turkey.

The law suit states that the authorities in the town of Kozan, located in the province of Adana, was seized by the Ottoman Authorities in 1921.

As if the "Armenian Genocide" question was not complicated enough, ... now comes a new situation in which Payam Akhavan  prepared the lawsuit on behalf of the Armenian Catholicosate.

He says that the lawsuit is an effort by the Armenian Church to use the Turkish legal system to recover property seized 100 years ago.

Of further note, 20 states, including Germany, Austria, Russia and Bulgaria, plus the EU, officially recognize the "Armenian Genocide".  Also, Pope Francis described those events as “the first genocide of 20th century” during a Sunday Mass in the beginning of April.

Read more.