LAST night, in a desperate last-minute search for a Hallowe’en costume, I ducked into La Rosita, an enormous toy emporium in Benidorm which, this year, displayed the largest-ever collection of ghoulish accoutrement I have ever seen. What puzzled me, though, was that priestly garb featured largely among the werewolf, witch and vampire costumes, and, for [...]
THERE have been numerous twists and turns in the case of Yousef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor sentenced to death in Iran for apostasy … or blasphemy … or a breach of security. It’s not clear which. According to the latest news report, Nadarkhani has been given Islamic literature and ordered to read it. Although Nadarkhani [...]
A CALL to ban Elton John’s forthcoming Greatest Hits tour in Malaysia by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) has been met with derision by various artistic bodies. Datuk Freddie Fernandez, President of an association of artists called Karyawan, is quoted here as saying: These people (protesting the concert) should all go and live in a [...]
THE challenge for religious leaders in years to come is to tackle violence and terrorism committed in God’s name … and to reach out to people who have no faith. That was the message brought yesterday by Pope Ratzinger to Assisi, the scene of a global inter-religious junket. There the Pope told a mishmash of [...]
FATHER Laurence Soper, an ex-London abbot accused of sexually abusing children, is reportedly on the run from police after jumping bail. Soper, an abbot in Ealing between 1991 and 2000, was arrested last year on suspicion of sexual assault. He is now the subject of an international manhunt after jumping bail earlier this year. The [...]
A 31-year-old Minneapolis evangelist is facing felony charges for plundering the savings of a former pastor suffering from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and paranoid schizophrenia. According to this report, Gregory Oats, of the Word of Faith Ministries, was entrusted with the “spiritual care” of the ailing 78-year-old, Vern Rollins. Rollins’ daughter, Rachel, said her father [...]
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The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
