All posts tagged: Pray

‘I certainly pray’ Trump’s prediction on Iran war ending after midterms is ‘right’

‘I certainly pray’ Trump’s prediction on Iran war ending after midterms is ‘right’

Published by Sam Flores

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Speaker Johnson says he’ll work with Trump on $5k checks, but won’t guarantee them: Full interview 14:27 Pete Buttigieg believes GOP candidates are trying to ‘shake off this Trump stink’: Full interview 13:58 AI whistleblower calls for ‘global coordination’ to mitigate AI risks: Full interview 07:31 Speaker Johnson calls for AI ‘guardrails’ but won’t set a pre-election timetable 03:02 Pete Buttigieg: It’s ‘deeply dangerous’ for Congress to ‘sit on its hands’ over AI regulation 02:51 Now Playing Speaker Johnson: ‘I certainly pray’ Trump’s prediction on Iran war ending after midterms is ‘right’ 02:53 UP NEXT Pete Buttigieg says ‘of course’ America is ready for a gay president 02:21 Sept. 13 — Speaker Mike Johnson, Pete Buttigieg and Jacob Coxon 47:30 Post Game: ‘Congress has never demonstrated it can regulate tech, big and small’ 09:24 Former Bush & Clinton chiefs of staff push to preserve memory of 9/11 for young Americans 10:50 Bill de Blasio says it was ‘painful’ to see …

Tory MP left furious as Muslims pray outside MoD ‘it’s domination!’ | Politics | News

Tory MP left furious as Muslims pray outside MoD ‘it’s domination!’ | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

A Conservative MP has expressed outrage at what appears to be a group of Muslim worshippers praying outside the Ministry of Defence’s base in central London. Nick Timothy posted video of some six or seven people bowing and kneeling in prayer on his X account on Monday (June 15). He said the religious observance was being performed near a memorial to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The MP for West Suffolk wrote: “As I have said before, choosing to pray in this way in public is a political act. It is a social statement and, yes, it is an act of domination.” Mr Timothy said there was “quite obviously no need” to pray in that location, adding the decision to do so was “symbolic”, “pointed” and “not welcome”. He added: “We have freedom of religion in this country, which is why there are mosques. But we are not a Muslim country and this is not welcome. It should be stopped.” The Shadow Lord Chancellor, who was an adviser to former prime minister Theresa May, …

Cambodian villagers honor guardian spirits to pray for rain and good fortune

Cambodian villagers honor guardian spirits to pray for rain and good fortune

Published by Sam Flores

PHUM BOEUNG, Cambodia (AP) — Hundreds of Cambodians on Thursday morning honored their village’s guardian spirits by holding a colorful centuries-old ceremony to pray for good fortune, rain and prosperity. The “He Neak Ta” ritual has been celebrated annually for several hundred years by the villagers in Phum Boeung, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. The ceremony, which has become increasingly rare in modern times, coincides with the onset of the summer monsoon as farmers prepare for planting rice, a particularly water-intensive crop. Although most Cambodians are Buddhist, the ritual reflects a widespread faith in animism, the belief that spirits can inhabit all types of living and inanimate objects. Chamrouen Ratha, a 26-year-old blacksmith, said he was taking the day off from work to join other villagers in honoring the same spirits celebrated by his ancestors. “The significance of this ceremony is to pray for happiness and prosperity for all the villagers in this area and the participants who have joined this ceremony,” he said. Villagers of all ages congregate …

How to Pray Without Believing

How to Pray Without Believing

Published by Sam Flores

When someone you care about is in trouble, there’s a line people reach for almost automatically: “I’ll pray for you.” It’s a small sentence, but it carries a lot. As a humanist, I’ve never quite known what to say instead. Humanists don’t pray, at least not in the traditional sense, because we don’t believe anyone is listening. We still wish, and we still hope. But those aren’t quite the same thing. A wish imagines a better version of reality without really engaging with whether it will happen. “I wish it were Friday” is more preference than commitment. You can’t quite hope it’s Friday, unless you’re confused about the date. A wish can ignore reality. You can’t really pray it’s Friday either. Prayer, like hope, only makes sense when the outcome hasn’t yet been determined. We use “wish” in a lot of ways, but in this sense, it’s a way of imagining a better version of reality without committing to how it might happen. Hope is different. Hope takes uncertainty seriously. Hope favors a preferred outcome …

Christian nationalists pray for a return to America’s “Christian roots”

Christian nationalists pray for a return to America’s “Christian roots”

Published by Sam Flores

Thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington on Sunday for “Rededicate 250,” a massive 8-hour prayer rally blending worship music, patriotic imagery, political figures and prominent Christian leaders in an event supporters described as spiritual renewal and critics viewed as another step toward the normalization of Christian nationalism in American politics. This included a conservative author who believes that God “raised up” President Trump to “build the ballroom.” checking in for a brief moment on the Rededicate 250 blasphemy fest and yep, it’s beyond parody pic.twitter.com/4peT5WPnUL — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 17, 2026 The event, tied to upcoming celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary, featured speakers repeatedly invoking themes about restoring America’s “Christian roots” and reaffirming the United States as “One Nation Under God.” Organizers, called Freedom 250, framed the gathering as a national rededication of the country to God through prayer, worship and public faith. The lineup included Trump allies and administration figures alongside influential evangelical and Catholic leaders, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former HHS Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, pastor Paula …

Kate Middleton Is Taking the Royal Version of An Eat, Pray, Love Trip to Italy

Kate Middleton Is Taking the Royal Version of An Eat, Pray, Love Trip to Italy

Published by Sam Flores

When Kate Middleton arrives in Italy on Wednesday, it will mark the first time in four years that the Princess of Wales has carried out a solo trip. Sources close to Princess Kate tell Vanity Fair that she feels “energized and excited” about going overseas to a country she has always loved. While on her gap year, before going to the University of St Andrews, she spent time in Italy learning to speak Italian. Kensington Palace has said the two-day trip will “focus on early child childhood development and forms part of a high-level fact-finding mission to explore leading international approaches to supporting young children and those who care for them.” It will also, sources say, be used as a “road test”’ for a possible second tour later with Prince William later this year. “Catherine is feeling better than she has in two years. She is super excited to not only go on this visit, but to test herself back in the arena of full-time royal duties,” Russell Myers, the author of William & Catherine: …

As Jerusalem holy sites reopen, Jews, Muslims and Christians flock to pray

As Jerusalem holy sites reopen, Jews, Muslims and Christians flock to pray

Published by Sam Flores

JERUSALEM (RNS) — Thousands of Jews, Muslims and Christians flocked to the Old City of Jerusalem on Thursday (April 9) to pray at the Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the day after a two-week ceasefire was announced in the war between the United States, Israel and Iran. On Feb. 28, Israeli authorities closed all three holy sites to everyone but the clergy who work there, out of fears that Iranian missiles or a siren-triggered stampede could harm large numbers of worshippers. Some Muslim and Christian leaders had demanded that Al-Aqsa and the Holy Sepulchre be open to the public, despite there being no bomb shelters in the immediate vicinity. But on Thursday, for the first time in 40 days, Old City merchants opened their shops in the hopes of making a few sales, while local people and some tourists appeared more interested in reaching the holy sites than buying jewelry or souvenirs — which included hats with images of President Donald Trump and the words “Make Israel Great Again.” …

‘Muslims can pray without fear but I may be arrested for giving Easter sermon’

‘Muslims can pray without fear but I may be arrested for giving Easter sermon’

Published by Sam Flores

A Christian preacher has claimed that he is scared to deliver a public Easter sermon for fear of being rearrested. Dia Moodley, a 58-year-old evangelical pastor, was arrested for “inciting religious hatred” in November last year after giving a street sermon in Bristol that criticised Islam and transgender ideology, according to his legal counsel. The father of four claims that Avon and Somerset Police interviewed him under caution and asked him why he had chosen to preach near Bristol city centre, where he knew Muslims would be present. He also claimed that police had questioned whether it was right for him to criticise transgender ideology. Having refrained from preaching during Christmas for fear of being rearrested, Mr Moodley is planning to deliver a public sermon in Bristol on Saturday for the first time since his detention as he believes it is his “Christian duty”. Dia Moodley was arrested for ‘inciting religious hatred’ last November in Bristol. He fears a repeat this weekend “I’ve been arrested for something which is absolutely ludicrous. I did nothing [wrong], …

My mom, the cult leader: ‘She told us what to wear, when to pray, how we would have sex. We were prisoners’ | Religion

My mom, the cult leader: ‘She told us what to wear, when to pray, how we would have sex. We were prisoners’ | Religion

Published by Sam Flores

Sarah Green realised things weren’t right in the religious community where she was raised when her mother forced three of its members to live in a locked shed. All three were women, disowned by their husbands, and forced to live off scraps of food. Her mother, Deborah Green, said they had been judged by God and this was their punishment. One of the women, an old family friend called Maura, was made to wear a white sackcloth dress and renamed Forsaken. The other two women were renamed Barren and Despised. Sarah is a strong, striking woman with a keen sense of irony and a joyous cackle of a laugh. But now she’s in tears. “I felt sickened to my gut. Even though I’d been groomed and my mom told me, ‘I’m God’s oracle, so therefore I hear what God wants for everybody, and this is what they have to go through because they’re sinning’, it didn’t make sense to me.” She sniffs back her tears. “Sorry, I’m getting emotional. So when they locked the people …

During all-night vigil, Muslim students pray, connect and unite in solidarity for Palestinians

During all-night vigil, Muslim students pray, connect and unite in solidarity for Palestinians

Published by Sam Flores

(Fort Worth Report) — In the early morning hours of March 7, the sky above the Dar El-Quran mosque was pitch black. Most of North Texas was asleep. But in a grassy field behind the building, a few dozen students from the University of Texas at Arlington gathered under the gleam of floodlights. Young men in the group sat together on the ground, singing a floating melody in Arabic — a nasheed, or Muslim worship hymn. It was not long past midnight, and the students were just over halfway through their vigil. They were pulling an all-nighter, not to cram for a college exam but to observe Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month. The practice of praying between the obligatory sunset and sunrise prayers is referred to as Qiyam al-Layl — Arabic for “standing in the night.” “I feel very connected to Allah when I’m with a community of people who are focused on ibadah, or worship,” nursing student Zahara Mohamedou said. The qiyam was her first. Although she enjoys the community of a mosque, she lives …