- Even those who have renounced Christianity and attack it, in their inmost being still follow the Christian ideal, for hitherto neither their subtlety nor the ardour of their hearts has been able to create a higher ideal of man and of virtue than the ideal given by Christ of old.

- The most pressing question on the problem of faith is whether a man as a civilized being… can believe in the divinity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for therein rests the whole of our faith.

- I believe there is no one lovelier, deeper, more sympathetic and more perfect than Jesus - not only is there no one else like him, but there could never be anyone like him.

Pope Benedict XVI met with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The reason? The continued violence in the Muslim world over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

The meeting lasted about 20 minutes in private in Benedict’s library before being joined by Siniora’s 12-member delegation, which included his wife and several Lebanese ministers.

Muslims make up at least 60 per cent of Lebanon’s estimated 3.5 million population, with the remainder Christian.

The Pope has singled out Lebanon in some recent speeches, including his Christmas Day message in which he said that signs of hope in the country, as well as in Iraq and the Holy Land, needed to be “confirmed by actions inspired by fairness and wisdom”.

Full story at Scotsman.com

It starts Friday and it will be held at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center on Lake Grapevine with activities such as boot camps, seminars and speakers.

The event will last six days, ending on Wednesday.

Speakers include Jack Graham with PowerPoint Ministries in Plano and Tony Evans, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, a national organization based in Dallas that seeks to bring spirituality to inner-city neighborhoods.

6,000 people from radio, television and other areas of Christian media are expected to attend the conference.

“A Danish paper publishes a cartoon that mocks Muslims.
An Iranian paper responds with a Holocaust cartoons contest.
- Now a group of Israelis announce their own anti-Semitic cartoons contest!” reads the homepage of Boomka.org.

It then proceeds to explains a little further: “Amitai Sandy (29), graphic artist and publisher of Dimona Comix Publishing, from Tel-Aviv, Israel, has followed the unfolding of the “Muhammad cartoon-gate” events in amazement, until finally he came up with the right answer to all this insanity - and so he announced today the launch of a new anti-Semitic cartoons contest - this time drawn by Jews themselves!

“We’ll show the world we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew hating cartoons ever published!” said Sandy “No Iranian will beat us on our home turf!”“.

The website is getting several cartoon submissions but, more important, everyone agrees it’s a great attitude towards the recent holocaust cartoons contest, with humor.

Sounds weird? Definitely.

Superman has been called on to help in the classroom. The subject? Jesus Christ, morality and religious thinking. It may be his toughest assignment

Experts say that using a fictional character, like Superman, can help students learn and focus better.

“Research has shown that the use of films, including Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan and The Matrix, increases pupils’ motivation and helps them to a better understanding of abstract concepts”, says Helen Cook, of Sheffield Hallam University.

Now, the similarities that Hellen Cook finds are very funny yet interesting:

• Both arrive on Earth in unusual circumstances after being sent by their fathers

• Both move from relative obscurity to a prominent adulthood

• Both are able to help the humans they are sent to live with

• Both struggle to stand up for truth against injustice and evil

The Rev Dr John Gay, the Church of England’s spokesman on religious education, said analogies could be a highly effective teaching technique as long as they are used carefully. “They go right back to the parables.”

Source: The Telegraph