Exodus from the mountain; Gaza's tiny Christian community; Christian sexual morality in ssm...more

Exodus from the mountain: Yazidis flood into Iraq following U.S. airstrikes ...How many are left behind also is difficult to say. The United Nations estimated that 50,000 Yazidis had fled Sinjar. But there also are villages in the mountains, an arid, 100-mile-long stretch of peaks spanning the Iraqi-Syrian border. Thousands of those living on the southern edge remain trapped by the extremists, some of them still under threat of death, said Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International...

20,000 Yazidis Taken to Safety as US Launches More Airstrikes in Iraq; Lebanese Patriarch Calls for Protection of Christians ..."We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic States have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar," Sudani said. "Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar."...

Gaza's tiny Christian community under siege
...Their number has declined by nearly a fifth in under two decades, according to the first ever survey of the small embattled population. More than half are "refugees", a third of these have no income and many are suffering chronic illness...

Alice C. Linsley: The Feminization of Anglican Orders
The decision of the Synod of the Church of England to consecrate women bishops has widened the gap between those who hold to historic Anglican orders and those who seek “adventure” - to employ the Archbishop of Canterbury’s apt term. Consider the meaning: “ad” – facing or toward, and “venture” – to move into dangerous territory...

Tracking Christian Sexual Morality in a Same-Sex Marriage Future
Churchgoing Christians who support same-sex marriage are more likely to think pornography, cohabitation, hook-ups, adultery, polyamory, and abortion are acceptable. And it’s reasonable to expect continued change in more permissive directions...