Amanda and Davey Blackburn’s family and church were beginning to grow, family friend said.
CHR Comment: This extensive, heart-breaking story describes the family’s plans to plant a church in Indianapolis and the horrendous outcome of a robbery. Lord, have mercy.
See Sunday’s best news pictures.
CHR Comment: The ninth photograph is a wonderful photograph of mourners at St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. They are lighting prayer candles in commemoration of those who died in the recent plane crash.
There is no question that the document Nostra Aetate (“In our Time”) — promulgated by the Second Vatican Council in October 1965 — changed the discourse in the field of Jewish-Christian dialogue in particular, and interreligious dialogue in general, in the contemporary period.
CHR Comment: The article notes the fifty year anniversary of the papal document that spurred interfaith dialogue as a modern feature of religious life. The author believes that ignorance remains the most important obstacle to overcome as Christians and others interact with one another.
Source: 50 Years of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue — The Way Forward | Ron Kronish
The media inform us Christians are upset about Starbucks cup for making Christmas even less religious than normal. The evidence is sorely lacking.
CHR Comment: Mike Tokars, a staff reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, raised the question of whether Christians were outraged about Starbuck’s new cups, extending an online discussion. Mollie Hemingway’s article “Nobody Is Actually Upset” corrects the record and includes some helpful history about holy day/holiday “wars.” The news reports about Starbucks started from a lampoon on a blog and not from any Christian uprising against the colored cups.
Source: Nobody Is Actually Upset About The Starbucks Cup#.VkMpXXd1I0U.email
German magazine says targets included the U.S. Interior Department and U.N. offices.
CHR Comment: The article briefly mentions that Germany spied on the Vatican by monitoring communications. The Vatican is an independent state, though it is only 109 acres and has a population of about a thousand people, as the second link below describes.
Source: ‘Der Spiegel’: Germany spied on U.S. embassies, Vatican
http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/is-the-vatican-really-a-country
By agreeing Friday to hear a new case on the Obama contraception mandate, the Supreme Court will consider a different aspect of religious freedom and workers’ rights.
CHR Comment: This case represents an important decision about religious rights in the United States since the burdens imposed by the government are so difficult for small religious organizations, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, to oppose. The case will likely set an important precedent as the United States has moved toward large government programs and policies that can easily tramp individual and small group rights.
Source: Why Supreme Court is taking up Obamacare contraceptive mandate again – CSMonitor.com
LGBT Americans are looking for more protections, and so are religious conservatives. The challenge, legal experts say, is to find a way out of all-or-nothing politics. Utah might show one way.
CHR Comment: Efforts to pass new measures were hindered by problems in the legislation, which religious conservatives pointed out to the voters. Christians in Houston are concerned for their religious freedoms. The article references the “Utah Compromise” as a way of passing protections for homosexuals and also protecting religious freedoms.
Source: Houston’s angry debate over gay rights can be avoided. Here’s how. – CSMonitor.com
Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.
CHR Comment: The infamous gunpowder plot of 1605 is still widely remembered and observed in England though the activities are less about faith than frolic these days. The town of Lewes also remembers the martyrdom of 17 Protestants at this time by hosting huge bonfires.
Source: Q&A: Remember, remember the fifth of November. Who is Guy Fawkes anyway?
Israel’s antiquities body claimed Tuesday to have solved “one of Jerusalem’s greatest archaeological mysteries” by unearthing an ancient Greek citadel — the Acra — buried under a car park.
CHR Comment: The citadel built by Antiochus IV Epiphanes during the time between the testaments was likely buried when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Source: ‘Ancient Greek citadel’ discovered under Jerusalem car park
‘Church of Spies’ by Mark Riebling tells the gripping history of the Vatican’s covert operations during World War II.
CHR Comment: An extensive article about Vatican activities during World War II.
Source: When the Pope Ordered the Death of Adolf Hitler | Mental Floss
church history review 