Mark Movsesian

In his important new book,  Motherland Lost: The Egyptian and Coptic Quest for Modernity , the Hudson Institute’s Samuel Tadros explores the crisis facing the Coptic Orthodox Church today. The Copts are the indigenous Christians of Egypt and one of the oldest Christian communions, . . . . Continue Reading »

[caption id=”” align=”alignnone” width=”512”] Armenian Church in Istanbul [/caption] This story will strike many readers as odd, but it is nonetheless true. For decades, religious minorities in Turkey, especially Christians, have complained that the state assigns . . . . Continue Reading »

The Hudson Institute’s Nina Shea has  an excellent post  on the campaign of violence currently underway in Egypt against the country’s Christians, especially Copts. Frustrated at the overthrow of the Morsi government and enraged by the military’s campaign to eliminate them, . . . . Continue Reading »

FT readers might be interested to know that the St. John’s Center for Law and Religion  and  Villanova Law School  will host a joint colloquium in law and religion during the Spring 2014 semester. Leading law and religion scholars will make presentations to an . . . . Continue Reading »

For FT readers in the area, I’ll be participating next week in the biannual conference of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, being held this year at the University of Virginia Law School. I’ll present a paper, “Psychic Sophie and the Rise of the Nones.” . . . . Continue Reading »

At the Center for Law and Religion Forum today, Professor Perry Dane has a response to my post last week on the controversy surrounding the re-interment of Richard III . Dane thinks the debate about whether Richard should receive a Catholic burial reflects more profound concerns about the meaning . . . . Continue Reading »

How time flies. It hardly seems possible that almost a year has passed since last September’s  controversy  over an offensive YouTube video, “The Innocence of Muslims.” The video led to protests at American embassies in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East, drew the . . . . Continue Reading »

The  BBC reports  that Pope Tawadros of the Coptic Orthodox Church (below) has cancelled his weekly public Bible study because he fears for the safety of his audience. At these weekly gatherings, Tawadros takes questions on Bible passages from a congregation gathered inside St. . . . . Continue Reading »

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”480”] Yoga Class in Encinitas Public School (NYT) [/caption] Last month, a California state court ruled that  including yoga in an elementary school phys ed program  does not violate the Establishment Clause. . . . . Continue Reading »

Readers of First Things  probably know this already, but here’s a follow up on a story from earlier this year. In February, archaeologists confirmed that they had discovered  the remains of King Richard III  beneath a parking lot in Leicester. Richard died in battle at . . . . Continue Reading »