Showing titles in Religious Intolerance

This book fundamentally changes the game for the Church of the Nazarene. A growing number of people are calling for fresh conversations about sexuality and gender. And many want fundamental change. This book gives voice to those people. There are strong reasons the Church of the Nazarene should become fully LGBTQ+ affirming. The writers of these essays – whether queer or straight – lay out those reasons, share their experiences, and explain why change is needed. Love rests at the heart of the denomination’s view of God. And yet its statement about human sexuality does not support the ...

Johnnie Moore, like many American Christians, didn't fully appreciate the extent of Christian persecution in other parts of the world - until he witnessed the graduation of theology students in India. Unlike graduation ceremonies in America - where feel-good speeches made by visiting celebrities are common - this one featured a remarkable oath. It wasn't an oath to excel or succeed. It was an oath to be willing to die, if necessary, for the cause of Christ. This was no empty promise. This was a choice, choosing the eternal over the temporal.

"Raymond; or, Life and Death" by Sir Oliver Lodge is a captivating and thought-provoking exploration of the boundaries of existence, taking listeners on a profound spiritual journey that delves into life, death, and the realms beyond. The book is rooted in the World War One death of the great physicist's son, and how the dead young man apparently gets back in touch with his living family. A true-life event, "Raymond" is a gripping masterpiece.

In deed Rabbi Jesus (Yeshua) is a model for everyone.Rabbi Yeshua, that religious Jew who walked this earth two thousand years ago, is presented anew through the refracting lenses of the four gospels and the picture of the dynamic, turbulent, then-contending various ‘Judaisms’ (plural intended) of his time. In presenting this emergent image of Yeshua: Jesus the Jew a Model for Everyone, now in its third edition, Leonard Swidler speaks as a modern Christian theologian—not so much about Christ, but about the historical Jesus, or rather, Rabbi Yeshua ha Notzri (Rabbi Jesus the Nazorean)....

Thousands of Jews forcibly converted to Christianity in Spain and Portugal were subjected to religious persecution for continuing to adhere to their ancestral faith. The Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions lasted for centuries, and when their attention on Judaizers ended, they switched to other concerns, including Protestantism, bigamy, and blasphemy. The Inquisition typically conjures up images of intolerance, persecution, and violence, and rightly so. Many people think of it as a reflection of the spiritual, scholastic, and scientific darkness of the medieval period.

In our increasingly secular world, holy texts are at best seen as irrelevant, and at worst as an excuse to incite violence, hatred and division. So what value, if any, can Scripture hold for us today? And if our world no longer seems compatible with Scripture, is it perhaps because its original purpose has become lost? Today we see the Quran being used by some to justify war and terrorism, the Torah to deny Palestinians the right to live in the Land of Israel, and the Bible to condemn homosexuality and contraception.

In a world where not everyone believes in God, "blasphemy" is surely a concept that has passed its use-by-date. And yet blasphemy (like God and religion) seems to be on the rise. In this Very Short Introduction Yvonne Sherwood asks why this should be the case, looking at factors such as the increased visibility of religious and racial minorities, new media, and engines of surveillance (which are far more omniscient than the old gods could ever be), and the legacies of colonial blasphemy laws.

This small audiobook provides two insightful biographical glimpses into the life and ideas of one of the great thinkers in Roman Catholic history. Sound interesting? The authors thinks so too! Listen to Giordano Bruno and Infinity and learn about Christianity and history.

This is the true story of one man’s continuing fight for a world free of religious persecution. Majed El Shafie was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to die after he converted from Islam to Christianity. His dramatic story, and those of others worldwide who are suffering persecution, are told in shocking, yet sensitive detail. Especially startling is the true story of rescuing a very young Pakistani girl who experienced horrific sexual abuse - because her family would not convert to Islam.

God wants only good relationships, health, and prosperity for you. So if those aren't happening in your life, there can be only one cause - hidden spirits of harm, like locusts destroying the harvest God wants you to have.

Drawing inspiration from philosophy, history, and literature, Martha C. Nussbaum takes us to task for our religious intolerance, identifies the fear behind it, and offers a way past fear toward a more equitable, imaginative, and free society, through the consistent application of universal principles of respect for conscience.

Never has this book been more timely. Religious intolerance, the resurgence of fundamentalism, hate crimes, repressive laws, and mass shootings are pervasive in today’s world. Selina O’Grady asks how and why our societies came to be as tolerant or intolerant as they are; whether tolerance can be expected to heal today’s festering wound between Islam and the post-Christian West; or whether something deeper than tolerance is needed.

Cathy Otten tells the story of the ISIS attacks, the mass enslavements of Yezidi women and the fallout from the disaster. She challenges common perceptions of Yezidi female victimhood by focusing on stories of resistance passed down by generations.

Persecuted gives documented accounts of the persecution of Christians in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and former Soviet nations. It contains vivid stories of men and women who suffer abuse because of their faith in Jesus Christ, and tells of their perseverance and courage.

An American, secular, diasporic Jew, Lis Harris grew up with the knowledge of the historical wrongs done to Jews. In adulthood, she developed a growing awareness of the wrongs they in turn had done to the Palestinian people. This gave her an intense desire to understand how the Israelis’ history led them to where they are now. However, she found that top-down political accounts and insider assessments made the people most affected seem like chess pieces.

In Crucible of Light, Elizabeth Drayson pulls together the epic interwoven history of the Muslim and Christian worlds over an eight-hundred-year span, taking in the conquest and re-conquest of Spain, the meteoric rise of Arabo-Norman Sicily, the Ottoman renaissance of the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the ebb and flow of Balkan history and the fate of contested islands like Cyprus and Malta, with their very different outcomes.

Do you want to learn about the development of religion in Colonial America but don’t have the time or patience for a thick book? Then this is the short, concise book for you!! The book “Religion in Colonial America: A Short History” looks at the formation and spread of the different religions in colonial America. To illustrate the story there are pictures of the people, places, and events that are part of this historic movement. In addition, the book contains a list of reference books for further reading, a timeline of the development of religions in that period, and short ...

When a murderous psychopath goes on a killing spree, law enforcement officials and the media never make his religion the central issue - unless he happens to be a Muslim. Then it sets off another frenzied wave of commentary about the inherent evils that lurk within the Muslim faith. From Fox News talking heads, who regularly smear Muslim leaders as secret terrorists, to Bill Maher, who has made Islam a routine target, it has become widely acceptable to libel a religion with a following of over 1.5 billion people.

In the post-9/11 West, there is no shortage of strident voices telling us that Islam is a threat to the security, values, way of life, and even existence of the United States and Europe. In this fearless, original, and surprising book, Anne Norton demolishes the notion that there is a "clash of civilizations" between the West and Islam. What is really in question, she argues, is the West's commitment to its own ideals: to democracy and the Enlightenment trinity of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

"Escaping the LGBTQ Christian Closet hit home for me. It's like Chase Faulkner is speaking directly from my own experiences—dealing with the pain that comes from growing up in a non-affirming faith environment. This book is filled with truths that are hard to face but impossible to ignore." Is it OK for me to be both LGBTQ and Christian? If I accept my LGBTQ sexual identity, am I living in sin? Chase Faulkner, an experienced pastor, crisis counselor, and LGBTQ advocate, shares his personal journey of struggling with the intersection of faith, sexuality, and identity through the lens of ...