April 2, 2008
There is no archaeological evidence that Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt., Egypt’s chief archaeologist said. A well known conservative rabbi, David Wolpe, agrees with him. Read more about Wolpe on our blog.
April 2, 2008
The median net worth for conservative Protestants in 2000 was $26,000, compared to the national median of $66,200, according to Duke University sociologist Lisa Keister. Keister found nearly 2,000 verses in the New Testament that touch on the topic of money. It's those very verses that may be keeping many conservative Protestants from building up long-term wealth, she says.
April 3, 1996
A Hindu group in India offered today to shelter British cows threatened with slaughter because of mad cow disease, but denied it planned to ship 12 million of them to sanctuary in India.
Apr 4, 896
Pope Formosus is best remembered for what happened after his death on Apr 4, 896. His remains were exhumed and put on trial for political reasons by Pope Steven VI. He was found to be guilty (no surprise there) and his corpse was thrown into the Tiber River (and later retrieved by a monk). Click here to see a painting of the trial.
April 5, 1534 (Easter Sunday)
Anabaptist leader Jan Matthys is killed during the siege of Munster on the day he predicted as the second coming of Christ. Matthys attacked the Catholic Army with only thirty followers. He was killed, his head severed and placed on a pole for all in the city to see, and his genitals nailed to the city gate for good measure.
April 6, 2007 (Good Friday)
More than 100 men in the Philippines may have contracted rabies after taking part in a self-flagellation ritual to mark Good Friday. (It's a good idea to bring your own whip to a self-flagellation ritual.) Our blog has a Philippines self-flagellation video.
April 7, 2008 (original story date)
534 women and children were removed from a polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas. All 401 children have been placed in state custody because a judge deemed them in imminent danger of physical abuse. More on our blog.
April 8, 1986
Robyn Twitchell died of peritonitis caused by the perforation of his bowel. His Christian Science parents relied on prayer to cure him instead of doctors. They were convicted of manslaughter. The verdict was later overturned.
April 9, 1985
The first known suicide attack by a woman was carried out in Lebanon. Sana'a Mehaili detonated an explosive-laden vehicle, which killed two Israeli soldiers and injured two more. This was political as well as religious.
April 11, 1823
"And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." --- Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams. Go to our blog for more on Jefferson.
April 12, 1204
Sack of Constantinople by crusaders. Constantinople was an Eastern Orthodox city.
April 12, 2007
Eating pork makes you gay claims Muslim Ahmadiyya sect.
April 13, 1589
The Edict of Nantes was issued by Henry IV of France to grant the Calvinist Protestants of France (Huguenots) substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. This ended the French War of Religion, which cost the lives of between 2 million and 4 million people.
April 14, 1906
The Azusa Street Revival was an historic Pentecostal revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles and was led by William J. Seymour (left), an African American preacher. The revival was characterized by speaking in tongues, dramatic worship services, and inter-racial mingling. Today, the revival is considered by historians to be the primary catalyst for the spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century. Nigerian Pentecostals are now driving the movement in the U.S. Read about it on our blog.
April 15, 2004
A Jonesville, Virginia preacher died after a rattlesnake bit him during the serpent-handling part of an Easter service.
April 16, 2007
GOP presidential candidate Tommy Thompson apologized to a Jewish audience Monday after saying that making money is "sort of part of the Jewish tradition."
April 17, 2004
Christian teens are stealing Jesus music. They're doing it through Internet downloads and CD burnings at nearly the same rate as secular music is being pirated by non-Christians, according to a new study done for the Gospel Music Association.
April 18, 1996
Israeli artillery struck the Unifil Headquarters in Qana (right). One hundred and six Lebanese civilians were killed. See our blog for Arab editorial cartoons on Qana.
April 19, 1993
The government's siege of the Branch Davidians ended when federal agents released CS tear gas into the building, and several fires broke out. 76 Branch Davidians, 21 of whom were children, were killed in the blaze. Autopsies confirmed that many of the victims, including leader David Koresh, had died of single gunshot wounds to their heads.
April 20, 1999 (Wikipedia)
The Columbine High School Massacre occurs. Speaker of the House Tom DeLay (right) entered into the congressional record a statement saying that shootings happened in part "because our school systems teach our children that they are nothing but glorified apes who have evolutionized [sic] out of some primordial soup of mud." (DeLay earned a BS in biology from the University of Houston).
April 20 1999
''With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.''
Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg. See Richard Dawkins interview Weinberg on our blog.
April 21, 2007 - print date
Pope Benedict XVI has done away with the netherworld of limbo, long speculated in Roman Catholic teaching as the destination of babies who die unbaptized. It has been replaced with the “prayerful hope” that they reach heaven.
April 22, 2005 (publication date)
Matisyahu, an hasidic reggae star, is gaining fans, respect and attention for his unusual hybrid of music and religion. See our blog.
April 23, 2007
To settle a lawsuit, the Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to add the Wiccan pentacle to a list of approved religious symbols that it will engrave on veterans’ headstones.
April 24, 1915
Beginning of the Armenia genocide. The Armenians are Christians. The Turks are Muslims. Between one and one-and-a-half million Armenians died.
April 25, 2007
A new poll in four Muslim countries found that a majority of respondents support two of Al Qaeda's chief goals: They want strict Islamic law, or sharia, in Muslim countries and to "unify all Islamic countries into a single state, or Caliphate."
April 27, 2007
A school in Amsterdam halted lessons on rural life because the Islamic children refused to talk about pigs. More Porky News.
April 28, 2002
Religious killing of Christians in Indonesia claim 12.
April 30, 1945 (Adolf Hitler dies)
“I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so.” from John Toland's book, Adolf Hitler, New York: Anchor Publishing, 1992, p. 507.
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