Atheists 'just as ethical as churchgoers'
9 FEB 2010, The Telegraph - People who have no religion know right from wrong just as well as regular worshippers, according to the study.
     But people who did not have a religious background still appeared to have intuitive judgments of right and wrong in common with believers, according to the findings, published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
     Dr Marc Hauser, from Harvard University, one of the co-authors of the research, said that he and his colleagues were interested in the roots of religion and morality.
"For some, there is no morality without religion, while others see religion as merely one way of expressing one's moral intuitions," he said.    Read the full story....

BBC One to show dramatisation of Nativity
BBC One is to show the first ever television dramatisation of the story of the Nativity - scripted by the man who used to run EastEnders.
30 DEC 2009, The Telegraph - The adaptation, which will be shown nightly in four half-hour episodes in the run-up to Christmas 2010, is promised to be a traditional rendering of the story.
   “Theologically, it’s very beautifully thought out, but it’s also about ensuring that it has dramatic life,” said Ben Stephenson, the BBC’s controller of drama.
 “So it’s about remembering that Mary and Joseph didn’t know that they were in a huge narrative of the world. They were just two people out living their lives, that this thing happened to. It’s trying to find some of that magic.”    Read the full story....

Where We've Seen God This Year
24 DEC 2009 - In 2009, we've endured an economy in shambles, staggering unemployment rates and an ongoing mess in Afghanistan and Iraq. But don't be fooled. It's been a busy year for God. He just happens to work in very mysterious ways and appear in strange places.
     Let's look back at the Lord's unexpected travels:
Jan. 26: Jesus heads to a tree in Millington, Mich., just outside of Flint, in Ron and Marilyn Bielak's backyard. Read the full story....  photos included!!!

Christian teacher lost her job after being told praying for sick girl 'was bullying'
The Mail Online, 20th DEC 2009 - A devout Christian teacher has lost her job after discussing her faith with a mother and her sick child and offering to pray for them.
    Olive Jones, a 54-year-old mother of two, who taught maths to children too ill to attend school, was dismissed following a complaint from the girl’s mother. She was visiting the home of the child when she spoke about  her belief in miracles and asked whether  she could say a prayer, but when the mother indicated they were not believers she did not go ahead.   Read the full story....

Jesus may have visited UK - claim
25 NOV 2009 - A new film suggests Jesus may have come to Britain, as described in the hymn Jerusalem, its director said.
   The documentary, And Did Those Feet, explores the story behind the legend which survives in the hymn, for which William Blake wrote the words.
   The legend claims Jesus visited several places in the West Country, such as the Roseland peninsula and Glastonbury, with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathaea.
   In the film, Scottish researcher Dr Gordon Strachan said it is plausible Jesus may have visited Britain to further his learning.   Read the full story....

Super city, super church
6 NOV 2009 - Leaving no revenue stream untapped, Destiny Church deftly passes the plate on its website by encouraging people to pay to access the site's content through a VIP Club. For a $25 joining fee and $8 a week, members can download all of Bishop Brian Tamaki's messages, gain access to the Pastors Lounge in Auckland, get a discount off merchandise, reserved seating and preferential free parking at the annual Destiny Church conference.
www.destinychurch.org.nz

A Rhyming Bible. Can the Rap Version Be Far Behind?
12 OCT 2009 - 12 OCT 09
No sooner had we finished parsing the merits, and demerits, of a new "neo-con" translation of the Bible when along comes "The Bible in Rhyme." Author Kyle Holt, a software developer in Overland Park, Kansas, gives us a sneak peek from Genesis:

     In the beginning, God created.
     The rules were established.  The physics translated.
     In the nothing God shouted, "Let there be light."
     He created the first day, and thus made the night.
 Read the full story....

Family life breaking down because of texts and emails
21 SEP 2009 - Family life is breaking down because of the emails and text messaging and the church is at risk of becoming a “lifeless, dangerous and useless distraction,” a leading Bishop has warned. The Bishop of Stafford the Rt Rev Gordon Mursell also said that social networking sites had contributed to the demise of the family by replacing traditional conversation.
    "In Britain, 33 per cent of our children hardly ever eat a meal with their parents. In the rest of Europe the figure is 17 per cent.
    “Children do not talk to grandparents or even parents. The art of talking together, of having a good social conversation, has been replaced by texts and emails. Nearly all the talking is done electronically, and almost all of it is carried out between people of the same age and background.    Read the full story....