Azerbaijan set to raise fines for violations of freedom of religious legislation.

Azerbaijan plans to increase fines for violations of legislation on freedom of religion: for individuals – six times, for officials – up to 16 times, Ali Huseynov, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on legal policy and state-building, said

Vatican Bank hit by financial scandal… again

Investigators are closing in on the Pope’s bank, dissatisfied by claims that it will change its ways

Credit: EPA

The new allegations of financial impropriety could not have come at a worse time for the Vatican, already hit by revelations that it sheltered paedophile priests. The corruption probe has also given new hope to

The World’s Most Famous Atheist Accepts Existence of God.

Move to 3:10 for relevant quote.

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On Ancient Heresies & their Modern Counterpart.

Even a cursery study of historic Christianity reveals that the early Christians were plagued by the onslaught of heresies and false teachings.

Religion doesn’t belong in public schools, but debate over Darwinian evolution does.

Seattle
Critical inquiry and freedom for credible dissent are vital to good science. Sadly, when it comes to biology textbooks, American high school students are learning that stubborn groupthink can suppress responsible debate.

Software Engineer Analyzes the Bible.

MONROE, MI, December 18, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ — Is the Bible filled with scientific and historical errors? Does it repeatedly contradict itself? Indeed, was it written by “pious frauds” centuries after the fact?

A new book says the answers are “No”, “No”, and “No”.

Anything but Orthodox – CATO Institute.

” The Moscow authorities have demonstrated that they don’t care much what foreigners, or even most Russians, think. “

When the Soviet Union sank, human liberty dramatically increased. The great totalitarian tyranny that had consumed millions of its own apparatchiks and tens of millions of its other citizens was gone.

However, the initial years of chaotic liberty have been replaced by ever more stifling authoritarianism. The negative impact has been most obviously felt in the. . . . .
Story here. . .

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Recent Earthquakes – Last 8-30 Days.

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MAG Location
4.9 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
4.9 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
4.8 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
3.9 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
5.3 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
3.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
5.0 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION
5.0 MID-INDIAN RIDGE
5.1 FIJI REGION

A new Gallup poll on evolution.

A new Gallup poll on public opinion about evolution hints at a slightly higher rate of acceptance of evolution in the United States over the years. Asked in December 2010 “[w]hich of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings,” 38% of the respondents. . .
Story here. . .

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FYI – Authorities deny license for critical voice despite court judgment.

https://jwitness.wordpress.com/

Armenia has denied a broadcast license to an independent television station, A1+, despite a European Court of Human Rights judgment that previous denials violated freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today.
Story here. . .

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Merrimack church sues town, claiming discrimination for nixed building project.

The Merrimack Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Goffstown Harvest Christian Church both filed suits Thursday in U.S. District Court, both represented by attorney Michael Tierney of Manchester.
Story here. . .

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Literature banned by the Russian Federation.

See the list and download the literature HERE. . . . .

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Ancient Building Found in Modern Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv, which celebrated its 100th birthday last year, is also the home of a pre-historic building dating back eight centuries, Israel Antiquities Authority archeologists have discovered. They also found flint tools and bones of a hippopotamus they estimate to be up to 100,000 years old.
Story here. . .

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Stone Vessel with ‘Priestly Inscription’ Uncovered In Jerusalem.

Inscription found on Mt. Zion. Israel news photo: UNC

A rare 2,000-year-old ritual vessel made of limestone and inscribed with 10 lines of text has been discovered in an excavation near the Zion Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Story here. . .

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Russia Decides to Search for Sodom and Gomorrah-in Jordan.

Northern Dead Sea Israel news photo: Hana Levi Julian

Russia and Jordan have signed an agreement to search the bottom of the Dead Sea for the remains of the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Arabic news media reported over the weekend.
Story here. . .

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ASH: Compound Cuts Death Risk for Sickle Cell Kids.

A 10-year retrospective study of almost 1,000 children found that the odds of dying were nearly five times higher for untreated children than for those treated with hydroxyurea, according to Clarisse Lobo, MD, of the Instituto Estadual de Hematologia Arthur de Siqueira Cavalcanti in Rio de Janeiro.
Story here. . .

Armenia: Religious groups criticise law limiting religious freedom.

Amendments to the law would require “expert opinion” before religious groups are authorised with the state retaining the right to withdraw permits. “Illegal” religious activities would be severely punished. For the government, the Council of Europe will vet the proposed amendments. However, …
Story here. . .

Russia uses extremism law to target dissenters.

When armed Russian security officers forced their way into Alexander Kalistratov’s home, he hardly imagined they were after his books.

The law — ostensibly aimed at combating potential terrorist threats — was used earlier this year to fine two prominent Moscow curators a combined 350,000 roubles ($11,300) over an controversial Pop Art exhibition in Moscow and to impose a ban on the popular Internet portal YouTube in Russia’s Far East.

Story here. . .

FYI – AZERBAIJAN: “You don’t need a licence to talk about chess or football, but you do about religion”.

More than 15 police officers, as well as journalists with a video camera and a state religious affairs official raided the Saturday morning worship service of the Seventh-day Adventist congregation in Sumgait on 11 December. Police questioned the ten church members present as to how much they were paid to be Christians, Protestants complained to Forum 18 News Service.
Story here. . .

Jehovah’s Witnesses building set on fire in southern Russia.

Vandals had also damaged the Kingdom Halls, the name Jehovah’s Witnesses call their worship buildings, in Lipetsk and in the village of Chunskiy, in the Irkutsk region.
Story here. . .

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Human rights must be integral part of EU-Russia relations.

Following the EU-Russia human rights consultations on 17 November and ahead of the bilateral summit to be held on 7 December, the EP Human Rights Subcommittee on Tuesday took stock of the human rights situation and the rule of law in Russia. These are issues which should be raised at the highest political level, insist MEPs.
Story here. . .

Alexander Amaryan: Jehovah’s Witnesses lead Armenia to downfall.

24 more young people refused the alternative military service, all of them simultaneously, stated Alexander Amaryan, the head of the center for aid and rehabilitation to the victims of destructive cults.
Story here. . .

“The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after widows and orphans in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.”—James 1:2

Jah–Jireh is a charity in which Jehovah’s Witnesses care for elderly & infirm Jehovah’s Witnesses in a loving spiritual environment. If they so wish, brothers and sisters falling into these and other categories of inability who wish their spiritual life to be protected and provided for in a residential setting can come to us for assistance.
Information here

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Defense Dept. funds development of artificial blood for battlefield use.

Ron Koder, an assistant professor of physics at The City College of New York, has been awarded a three-year $1.3 million grant from the Department of Defense to develop an artificial blood that could be given to wounded troops on the battlefield.
Story here. . .

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Armenia: Conscientious Objectors.

Currently, there are 73 Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been charged under the Criminal Code for their conscientious refusal of military service on religious grounds. All 73 have been tried, convicted, and imprisoned; no one is being held in pretrial detention; no one received a suspended sentence.
Story here. . .

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Arson attacks on places of worship in Russia.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia―The harassment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia continued in November 2010 with several acts of vandalism against their houses of worship. In the Irkutsk Region and Krasnodar Territory, arson attacks were carried out on two Kingdom Halls, where Jehovah’s Witnesses meet for religious services. Vandals also caused damage to the religious building in the city of Lipetsk. The total damages amount to over 160,000 rubles ($5,000 US).
Story here

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