Religion

Catholicism is rising in Vietnam, according to the Christian Science Monitor [http://csmonitor.com/2006/0222/p06s01-woap.html]. It was heavily Catholic under the French, but didn't fare well after the Communist takeover. Relations between the Church and the Party, though, have thawed a bit, according to

John Piper at ROFTERs meditates on the role of mockery in the Christian's road of salvation [http://rofters.blogspot.com/2006/02/being-mocked-essence-of-christs-work.html]. It's pretty good. Excerpt:Â > What we saw this past week in the Islamic demonstrations over

> When I was visiting Westfield Monastery, I told Sister that prostitution is a lot like an addiction. And like many addictions, the struggle to not slide back into that addiction when things in life get rough is an on-going battle. Even now it is something I struggle with

> Freedom from anger is a triumph over one's nature. It is the ability to be impervious to insults and comes by hard work and the sweat of one's brow. . . The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart

> Terror gripped the Buddhist-majority town of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir as clashes between Muslims and Buddhists continued over the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran. Authorities declared a state of curfew and called in the army and the para-military Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to maintain

Article at the Times Online today about private revelations [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3933-2034462,00.html]. I know B16 isn't as receptive to the revelations as JPII seemingly was, but I'm not sure if the harsh picture painted by the article is

Interesting post from Suicide of the West [http://suicideofthewest.com/?p=96]: > Here's a beautiful little piece of Islamiana, two beautiful young girls explaining why martyrdom is preferable to life. This video is from an Israeli site called “Palestinian Media Watch,” which features hate-filled video clips,