The Vatican seminar was organised in response to a Muslim call for dialogue issued in October 2006, a month after Benedict's controversial speech in Regensburg, Germany.Read the full story here.
The call titled "A Common World" was signed by 138 Muslim religious figures and scholars.
The Regensburg lecture sparked days of sometimes violent protests in Muslim countries, prompting the head of the Roman Catholic Church to say that he was "deeply sorry" for any offence and to attribute Muslim anger to an "unfortunate misunderstanding."
The closed-door discussions at the Vatican will focus Tuesday on "God's love" and Wednesday on "loving your neighbour," a theme that touches on two Vatican priorities, human rights and religious freedom.
The Vatican is however cautious over opening a purely theological dialogue, with Tauran telling La Croix: "We'll see ... how far we can go together."
Christians and Muslims differ in their concept of God, and follow "different paths to reach this God," said Tauran, the Roman Catholic Church's pointman for dialogue with Islam.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — In a bid to improve strained Catholic-Muslim relations, the Vatican hosted scholars, imans and clerics from both religions Tuesday as it opened a three-day religious conference.Read the entire article here
The forum aimed to counter the effects of a speech two years ago by Pope Benedict XVI that angered many in the Islamic world.
The meetings will culminate in a papal audience and is intended to help the two faiths find common ground. The closed-door forum, which gathers 29 scholars and clerics from each religion, started Tuesday and will last through Thursday.
The Vatican said in a statement the first day was dedicated to the "spiritual and theological fundamentals" of the two religions, and the second will focus on "human dignity and mutual respect."
New research suggests that teens who spend the most time watching sexually charged television shows are twice as likely to become pregnant or impregnate someone else.Really? Is this really all that new of information?
The findings, reported in the November issue ofPediatrics, don't prove that sexy programming leads directly to pregnancy.
Still, parents should pay close attention to what their kids watch, said study author Anita Chandra, a researcher with Rand Corp.
"Not a lot of content on TV talks about the potential negative consequences of sex," Chandra said. "Characters engage in sexual talk or activity, give positive attributes to sex, and there's little discussion about the risks and contraceptive use."
As a result, she said, kids might become interested in sex without realizing the potential pitfalls.
I kissed a girl and I liked it.
Those lyrics have made Katy Perry's pop song a big hit on the radio.
But when a local church put the song lyrics on its marquee -- followed by the words then I went to hell -- some people got angry.
People driving by Havens Corners Church in Blacklick yesterday morning noticed the sign, aimed to warn people about what the church says is the sin of homosexuality.
"It's not something that is really a shock if you're a scriptural person," said the Rev. Dave Allison, pastor of the 100-member church at Havens Corners and Reynoldsburg-New Albany roads. "We meant that as a loving warning to teens. … The Scriptures tell us that you should not do what the song tells you to do. The Scriptures are not ambiguous on this issue."
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Lynne Bowman, director of Equality Ohio, a gay and transgender advocacy group, said every church has a right to its beliefs. Havens Corners has made it clear to everyone who drives by that it is not a welcoming place that accepts all people, she said.
A survey of 305 students at one campus found that 40 percent of cell phone users said they walked somewhere after dark that they normally wouldn't go. A separate survey found that about three-quarters of students said that carrying a cell phone while walking alone at night made them feel somewhat or a lot safer.Folks, I carry a gun to most anyplace I am legally allowed to. Even when I do, you won't see me darking the doorways of a shady establishment or a dark alley.
"Students seem to feel less vulnerable when they carry a cell phone, although there's no evidence that they really are," said Jack Nasar, co-author of the study and professor of city and regional planning at Ohio State University.
"If anything, they are probably less safe because they are paying less attention to their surroundings."
A tiny Texas district will allow teachers and staff members to carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings when classes begin this month, provided the gun-toting employees follow certain requirements.I've been a fan of this for a while, a long while.
The small community of Harrold in north Texas is a 30-minute drive from the Wilbarger County Sheriff's Office, leaving students and teachers without protection, said David Thweatt, superintendent of the Harrold Independent School District. The lone campus of the 110-student district sits near a heavily traveled highway, which could make it a target, he argued.
"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog," Thweatt said in a story published Friday on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Web site.Hmmm... you don't say?
