This book begins with a description of what it was like to grow up Catholic in the middle part of the 20th century. It then follows the author's journey as a teacher in Catholic Education and describes the different way that modern Catholic children are being educated. It traces her growth into a personal spirituality, which leads her to question many of the Catholic Church's teachings, especially those to do with sexual and reproductive matters. Finally, it asks Catholic women to take on the responsibility of changing the Catholic Church themselves. It is a nostalgic, educational, stimulating and challenging read by a wife, a mother, a teacher and somebody who has thought deeply about spirituality.

An insurgency in Nigeria by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has left thousands dead, shaken Africa's biggest country and worried the world. Yet it remains a mysterious - almost unknowable - organisation. rough exhaustive on-the-ground reporting, Mike Smith takes readers inside the conflict and provides the first in-depth account of the violence and unrest. He traces Boko Haram from its beginnings as a small Islamist sect in Nigeria's remote north-east, led by a baby-faced but charismatic preacher, to its transformation into a hydra-headed entity, deploying suicide bombers and abducting schoolgirls. Much of the book is told through the eyes of Nigerians who have found themselves caught between frightening insurgents and security forces accused of horrifying brutality. It includes the voices of a forgotten police officer left paralysed by an attack, women whose husbands have been murdered and a sword-wielding vigilante using charms to fend of insurgent bullets. It journeys through the sleaze and corruption that has robbed Africa's biggest oil producer of its potential, making it such fertile ground for extremism.Along the way it questions whether there can be any end to the violence and the ways in which this might be achieved. Interspersed with history, this book delves into the roots of this unholy war being waged by a virtually unknown organisation, which is set to shape the destiny of Africa's biggest economy and most populous state - and perhaps affect the future of Africa.

Its publication now in pamphlet form is due to its delivery at Harper's Ferry, W. Va., on Decoration day, 1881, and to the fact that the proceeds from the sale of it are to be used toward the endowment of a John Brown Professorship in Storer College, Harper's Ferry-an institution mainly devoted to the education of colored youth. That such an address could be delivered at such a place, at such a time, is strikingly significant, and illustrates the rapid, vast and wonderful changes through which the American people have been passing since 1859. Twenty years ago Frederick Douglass and others were mobbed in the city of Boston, and. driven from Tremont Temple for uttering sentiments concerning. John Brown similar to those contained in this address. Yet now he goes freely to the very spot where John Brown committed the offense which caused all Virginia to clamor for his life, and without reserve or qualification, commends him as a hero and martyr in the cause of liberty.

The belief that a supreme power guides and embraces humanity has existed since primeval times. How that power is seen has been one of the greatest divisions between peoples and nations. Whether called God or by any other name, how that power is perceived is the theme that makes this work memorable.

'PTSD, A Lesser Known Kind: Surviving Religious Dogma, ' 2013 (formerly titled 'PTSD of a Lesser Known Kind: An Allegory, ' 2011), re-titled its new name in the spring of 2013, is a very unusual and complex hybrid of fiction and nonfiction. Coming from a violent, loveless upbringing, Alan, aka Tokee, took to interstate hitchhiking and train-hopping at an early age. Every city, every town, every village he came upon, deep within his soul there was this tantalizing expectation that maybe this is the place or maybe that is the place where he can finally fit, where he can finally feel the security of true parental love. Oh did he long for that frustratingly elusive love. Ironically, it was that hunger for love which made the young traveler so vulnerable. As the unloved inner child incessantly groaned in screaming silence for love and found it not, Alan, as he was called for most his life, reverted to the thing he had always turned to as a child when violated by his parents, by his uncle and thereafter by sadistic attendants in an institution for boys, namely FANTASY. Truly, fantasy had become Alan's sole refuge, his unfailing source of comfort, his safe haven from the strange cruelness he had known. The insecure 19-year-old hobo then surrendered to the greatest fantasy of all, Christianity. It was a fantasy readymade with a father, virgin mother, supernatural son---the whole fam'. At last Now he had found his place Now Alan had found what he yearned for all his life, family acceptance, and infinitely more, loving parental figures from another world who loved him unconditionally. Yet there is no such thing as 'unconditional love' in the elaborate illusion that is Christianity. Quite the contrary, it is based upon very specific, very conditional demands which absolutely must be met if one is to continue finding family acceptance with "God." When Alan began to recognize that conditional love is not love at all---i. e. "do this or else "---he became overwhelmed with hurt and rebellion. And the more the lies of Christianity became exposed, the angrier he got. This went on till an implosive, irreconcilable end came. The tumultuousness of that severing also resulted in Alan's suffering a form of PTSD, A Lesser Known Kind. This is the fictional lead of this tale. The nonfictional side, roughly half of this book, is the animated polemic against Christianity by the author. And that, rest assured, speaks in no uncertain terms for itself.

This novel is historical fiction. It's setting is the Spanish Inquisition and Spain's reconquest from the Arabs. Described are Spain's monarchs efforts to create a country of pure blood and one faith (Catholicism). To this end non Christians were expelled and their wealth retained. Spain became an elitist society, self-segregated and closed minded religion. Casiano, a Christian knight and Perla, a Converso Jewess are fictional. They are subjected to the cruelties of self-serving Church and Kings. Perla is arrested for heresy but is rescued from the stake by Casiano. They escape to live in freedom, away from Church and Crown.

The report states that Government rhetoric and actions created a threatening atmosphere for nearly all non-Shia religious groups, most notably for Bahais, as well as for Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, Jews, and Shia groups not sharing the government's official religious views. Bahai and Christian groups reported arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, and confiscation of property. Government-controlled broadcast and print media continued negative campaigns against religious minorities, particularly Bahais. All religious minorities suffered varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and housing. Bahais continued to experience expulsions from, or denial of admission to, universities.

Two American families in the not-so-distant future decide to flee their homeland in the wake of new laws that limited their religious freedoms. It seemed that this religious intolerance as well as the moral decay of their society had made them apprehensive about the future of their families and their country and, so, the adventure started. It led them and a number of others who joined them on a dangerous journey filled with challenges and danger to a new land far from their native shores. It is an adventure that you will not soon forget. This book is in the apocalyptic spirit of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkin's "Left Behind" series with the edginess of William P. Young's "The Shack.

Anthony Wane Antolic was born on October 6th, 1973. His parents were, Jerald and Ardith Antolic. Jerald or Jerry to his friends was a Staff Sargent in the United States Army. As a result of Jerry's military cheer, Anthony was shipped off to several schools a year, which exposed Tony to a love for human cultures. Although he was born Catholic, Anthony's family went to whatever church was available at the time. It was his exposure to such a wide range of other Christian Demonstrations that helped Tony realizes that, "any honest search for truth will ultimately lead to the source of all truth {God}" (Saint Augustine). But a brief time studying at Mount Angel Catholic Seminary ha ad Tony asking even more questions about what the rule of human religion is in human culture. When realizing that Aristotle was correct in saying, "Man by nature is a political animal;" Mr. Antolic began to question, "how much of religion is political and what is its purpose in the cultural infrastructure?" In 1988, only six months after Anthony's Grandfather died, the then 15 year old boy got a chance to see firsthand how religion plays into human culture, as well as how political religion truly is. Anthony Antolic used an assumed name and enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. The Legion sent him to Iraq where he saw firsthand how destructive human arrogance coupled with the assumed righteousness of a religious cause could become. However, Mr. Antolic did not need much to convince him of the destructive nature of Zealot. "My family is deeply involved with the Irish Republican Army, I grew up hearing the hate filled remarks of my family towards those who practiced the Protestant faith, so when I decided to study for the Priesthood, I promised myself that I would work to find common ground to use and break down the walls caused by schism between Christian believers." Since then, Tony has dedicated his life to building unity in faith, between all faith traditions by showing people the roots of their own faith and the similarities between others.

Margaret Murray was an anthropologist who upset the comfortable consensus of her day with the idea that Western Europe did not convert 'en masse' to Christianity. Using contemporary accounts she was able to show that, while European rulers and nobles were successfully targeted by Christian missionaries, the majority of the population held tenaciously to the Old Religion. These far older beliefs centred upon the worship of Cernunnos, the figure of a male, horned god. The result was centuries of conflict between Christianity and 'Paganism' in which the adherents of the Cross gradually gained the ascendant. And following the general principle that 'the God of the old religion becomes the Devil of the new', the Christian 'Evil One' was given the characteristics of the pagan deity - horns and all. Those who stubbornly held to the Old Ways were seen as devil-worshippers, witches, followers of the left-hand path who fully deserved the stake and death by purging fire. Margaret Murray gives a convincing account of this God of the witches, and shows how many famous characters in European history - among them William Rufus, Joan of Arc and Thomas a Beckett - must be counted as members of The Old Religion. A book for all those interested in the roots of Wicca and neo-paganism.