What Makes People Tick?

CNN writes an encouraging and heartbreaking story about life in modern Afghanistan that made me want to share with this blog's readers some of the everyday, the crazy and the amazing that makes Afghanistan what it is today. While many in the west might think of Afghanistan as a war-torn dusty country stuck in the Middle Ages, a country that  oppresses women  and  destroys ancient Buddha statues , it turns out that Afghanistan has left the past behind and has been living right here in the 21st Century for a while now... and  cares more about those statues than I thought ! Burqa-clad women |  Shutterstock The CNN article, appropriately called  The Afghan Voice that won't be silenced , talks about Shabana Faryad, the first female contestant on  The Voice of Afghanistan  and features an interview with Aryana Sayeed, the first female judge. It highlights the lives of women in Afghanistan today and looks at the differences between life before, ...

The Guardian reported yesterday (25 May 2014) that the head of the worldwide Catholic Church, Pope Francis, visited the security barrier separating Israel from Palestine at Bethlehem to speak and pray there. "It is an image that will define Pope Francis's first official visit to the Holy Land. Head bowed in prayer, the leader of the Catholic church pressed his palm against the graffiti-covered concrete of Israel's imposing "separation wall", a Palestinian girl holding a flag by his side. It was, as his aides conceded later, a silent statement against a symbol of division and conflict." Source :  Pope Francis offers prayers at Israeli separation wall in Bethlehem The Guardian

Source: Countries with Sharia Rule Intellectual Takeout The Sultanate of Brunei is a tiny oil-rich country in East Asia with a population of about 440,000 people. Roughly seventy percent of it's inhabitants are Muslim. Brunei's ruler announced in 2013 that the country would be gradually adopting Sharia law. Sharia is the Islamic code of law based on the social and religious rules as laid out in the Muslim holy book, the Koran (Qur'an). CNN reports that during a ceremony last week "the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanel Bolkiah, announced the commencement of the first phase of the sharia-based penal code, according to the government's official website."

With Hollywood's new movie Noah causing a flood of reactions both positive and less so, I decided to investigate the new movie and the flood story for myself. I've not yet seen the movie, however this Time Magazine article by Ken Ham has definitely made me curious! The movie is indeed about a man named Noah who builds a huge ark, however that's about as far as the story sticks to the Biblical account, apparently. Now the movie may not be faithful to the Biblical account about Noah, but is it faithful to any other accounts?