"Render unto Caesar....." In 325 AD, a council of bishops was convened at Nicea, in Turkey. The decisions of that council would effect the future of religion in the West for centuries to come. Constantine had become Emperor in 323 AD, after defeating the Emperor Licinius in battle. Constantine would end the persecutions against the Christians and would, on his deathbed in 337, accept conversion to Christianity becoming the first Christian Roman Emperor. But in 323, he was still a paga...

Russian Intelligence has confirmed that traces of explosive were found in the wreckage of one of the two planes that crashed Tuesday. Two Russian passenger planes that had departed from Moscow's Domodedova Airport crashed within minutes of each other. At least 89 people died in the crashes. Terrorism was suspected, of course, but could not be confirmed initially. A radical Muslim web site claimed responsibility, connecting the acts to Russia's struggle against the Chechnyan separtists....

"These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke, and which the twin (Didymos) Judas Thomas wrote down (recorded.)" These are the opening words of the Gospel of Thomas, first discovered in the 1890's and also included in the documents that comprise the collection known as the Gnostic Gospels. It begins in the desert. It always begins in the desert. The year is 1945. An Arab named Muhammed Ali al-Samman and his brothers had gone to collect sabakh , a soft soil used to fert...

We have seen how Christianity emerged from Judaism. But how similiar are the two religions? Here is a quick comparison: Judaism Tribal religion, believing that the Jewish people are “Chosen” by God. Before 70 AD, Judaism was centered around Jerusalem and the Temple. Although there are some conversions, Judaism is passed on as birthright Long history, stretching back to Abraham. The God of the Jews meted out punishments to the enemies of the Jews. Christianity ...

In Part I, I discussed how Judaism is a tribal religion. That is to say that it elevates one people above all others. It was an effective force in uniting twelve tribes into one people, distinguishing them from others by circumcision and the Ten Commandments and by the laws of kashruth or kosher eating, by establishing common tradition and more. It enabled the Jewish people to carve out a kingdom in middle of hostile neighbors. It established the need for a single leader, from Moses to the Ki...

This is the first of a series of articles that are largely intended for the JCS (Jewish Cultural Society) 7th Grade Class and is an overview. The general orientation is secular, that is that I espouse a "real world" view focusing on recorded events rather than traditional comparisons of belief systems. I feel that it is important to give this disclaimer at the beginning, but let me also differentiate between secularism and atheism of agnosticism. I believe that every individual must find ...

RealNetworks, developer of the RealPlayer technology, has announced that it will offer songs from its on-line music store for half the price of Apple and that the songs will be playable on Apple's iPod devices. Real will use a new technology called Harmony to make the songs playable on the iPod, eliminating one of Apple's advantages. And that technology has raised serious issues. Real has not licensed Apple's technology. A spokesman for Apple said Real had "adopted the tactics and ethics o...

Yesterday, I read that, influenced by friend and soul-kiss mate Madonna, Britney Spears has accepted Kaballah as a force in life and is rumored to be planning a Jewish wedding. My first thought, as a Jew, was haven't we suffered enough? (Its a joke! Just kidding!) Now the Kabbalah Centre is an organization based in LA. Their webpage is at http://www.kabbalah.com/kabbalah/home.html. This should not be confused with any orthodox Jewish group. (That is strictly my opinion, but Kabbalah is co...

A. Chernopup, was on board an Aeroflot domestic flight from Moscow to the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk. (No, don't ask me to pronounce that. Just sneeze in the middle and it will sound right.) He noticed that the crew was somewhat intoxicated and not performing their duties. So he complained. He asked to be served by a competant and sober attendant. As I am sure that you will agree, such a request goes against the spirit of Russian aviation! At that point, two male crew members set upon...

A. Chernopup, was on board an Aeroflot domestic flight from Moscow to the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk. (No, don't ask me to pronounce that. Just sneeze in the middle and it will sound right.) He noticed that the crew was somewhat intoxicated and not performing their duties. So he complained. He asked to be served by a competant and sober attendant. As I am sure that you will agree, such a request goes against the spirit of Russian aviation! At that point, two male crew members set upon...

A. Chernopup, was on board an Aeroflot domestic flight from Moscow to the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk. (No, don't ask me to pronounce that. Just sneeze in the middle and it will sound right.) He noticed that the crew was somewhat intoxicated and not performing their duties. So he complained. He asked to be served by a competant and sober attendant. As I am sure that you will agree, such a request goes against the spirit of Russian aviation! At that point, two male crew members set upon...

A. Chernopup, was on board an Aeroflot domestic flight from Moscow to the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk. (No, don't ask me to pronounce that. Just sneeze in the middle and it will sound right.) He noticed that the crew was somewhat intoxicated and not performing their duties. So he complained. He asked to be served by a competant and sober attendant. As I am sure that you will agree, such a request goes against the spirit of Russian aviation! At that point, two male crew members set upon...

At last, some good news from the Middle East. On BBC Newsnight, King Abdullah of Jordan offered to send troops to Iraq to help with security if asked by the new government. "If the Iraqis ask us for help directly, it will be very difficult for us to say no," he told BBC's Newsnight. "And my message to the president and to the prime minister is: tell us what you want, tell us how we can help and we have a 110 percent support for this. If we don't stand with them, if they fail, then we all p...

The Detroit Pistons shock the world by beating the Lakers in the fifth and decisive game of the NBA Finals! Pistons 100 LA Lakers 87 The Pistons win the series four games to one. Go Pistons! The Pistons have a slogan over their tunnel entrance: "Hard work pays off." In four words, that summarizes this Detroit team. They played hard every possession of every quarter. Here's to the Great Wall of Wallace. (Big Ben and Ra-SHEED!) Here's to Richard "Rip" Hamilton. Here's to...