Canada May Allow Euthanizing Patients and Harvesting Their Organs; Presbyterian Church Formally Approves Gay Marriage...more

ISIS tweets destruction of more Christian sites  The Islamic State (IS) shared photos of the destruction of Christian relics on Twitter on Monday, increasing calls for the terrorist group to be stopped.

Pictures of smashed crosses, statues and other ancient items destroyed in Nineveh led to condemnation from across the globe.

"They don't care what it's called," Middle East Media Research Institute Executive Director Steven Stalinsky said of the destruction. "They are just following their ideology and that means getting rid of churches and minorities. It is the Islamic State, and there's no room for anyone else...

Canada May Allow Euthanizing Patients and Harvesting Their Organs  In my very first anti-euthanasia article, published by Newsweek in 1993, I warned that legalizing assisted suicide would lead to “organ harvesting as a plum to society.”

That dark prophesy has come true in Netherlands and Belgium, aimed specifically at people with “good organs,” such as MS patients and those with mental illnesses...

FactChecker: Are All Christian Denominations in Decline? ...Many Americans, both within and outside the church, share Evans perception of the decline of denominations. But is it true? Are most denominations truly seeing a decline in numbers?

Before we answer the question, we should clarify what is meant by “decline.” We could, for instance, say that Protestantism has been on the decline since the 1970s. That would be true. We could also say there are now more Protestants today than there were in the 1970s. That too would be true.

The fact is that the percentage of people identifying as Protestant has declined since the 1970s while the total number of Protestants has increased (62 percent of Americans identified as Protestant in 1972 and only 51 percent did so in 2010). Yet because of the population increase in the U.S., there were 28 million more Protestants in 2010 than in 1972...

Presbyterian Church Formally Approves Gay Marriage in Church Constitution The Presbyterian Church has formally recognized gay marriage and will allow same-sex weddings.

The Church approved a new definition of marriage in the church, which includes “commitment between two people.” The definition was approved last year by the church General Assembly, but needed approval from a majority of the 171 regional districts. The 86th vote was cast Tuesday night.

The new definition reads: "Marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives."

"So many families headed by LGBTQ couples have been waiting for decades to enter this space created for their families within their church communities," said the Rev. Robin White, a leader of More Light Presbyterians, which supports gay acceptance within the church...

Christians say under siege in Modi’s India after rape, attacks  Christians in India said on Monday that the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not done enough to protect their religion, after a spate of attacks including the rape of a 75-year-old nun at the weekend.

Christians prayed and held vigils across the country to protest against the rape during an armed assault on a convent school, the worst in a series of incidents that followers of the faith say are making them feel unwelcome in their own country...