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Bitter Winter, an online publication focused on religious freedom in China, said that the government has gone to great lengths to stop information leaks about official religious policy, while tightening social media and communication censorship. In addition, the Communist Chinese Party has been destroying or altering religious statues, blowing them up, ordering them covered, or in some cases, beheading them and replacing the heads of religious figures with Chinese emperors. The Chinese Communist Party has also said it will choose the Dalai Lama’s successor, part of the CCP’s continuing effort to crush Tibetan Buddhism and culture. When the Dalai Lama named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as Panchen Lama in 1995, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China refused to accept him, charged the head of the search committee with treason and took the young boy into so-called “protective custody.

When a shotgun-wielding man killed two people inside the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, a church deacon and former law enforcement officer killed the shooter with a single shot to the head. Avoid killing, avoid stealing, avoid lying, avoid sexual abuse, avoid drugs and chemicals that pollute the body and mind. Shen Yun Labeled “Falun Gong Cult” by Communist China Americans may not realize that Shen Yun dance troupe performances have hit a political nerve in mainland China. The Communist government has labeled Shen Yun – which was founded in the United States in 2006 by Falun Gong practitioners – an “anti-society cult” and has attempted to undermine support and stop performances around the world.

” Utilizing historical records and comparing them to the gospels, Aslan (who can translate directly from the Greek texts himself) presents a compelling and exceptionally readable history of Jesus, within the social, religious, and political context of the era. The book gives us more background on all the well-known participants, Herod, Pontius Pilot, the high priest Caiaphas, the Apostles, John the Baptist, but presents them all within the context of history and from more sources than just the New Testament. Aslan takes us through hundreds of years of Jewish history, filled with prophets, high priests, and brutal dictators, while also introducing the lives and daily routines of common peasants and workers such as Jesus and his family. Dr. Reza Aslan’s bachelor’s degree is in religious studies, with an emphasis on scripture and traditions (which at Santa Clara University means the New Testament).

The top 10 religious stories of 2019 – as selected by members of the Religion News Association – included: The burning of Notre Dame Cathedral, the massacre of 51 worshippers at a New Zealand Mosque, victims of abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention, a coming schism of the Methodist Church over LGBTQ issues, Sexual scandals by Catholic officials, Christianity in decline, etc. An interfaith crusade including the Salvation Army, the Church of Scientology, the Nazarene Church, The Buddhist Tzu Chi USA, Samaritan’s Purse, the Billy Graham organization, and hundreds of other churches, governmental organizations, businesses and individuals came to help, with donations of money, supplies and sweat. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for example, have been the subject of media attacks for non-support of LGBTQ issues, and detractors even built a website dedicated to rumors and attacks against them. This is the first study that focuses on giving and volunteering practices of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that has been carried out within LDS wards by a non-church-affiliated university,” said the report.