Tag Archives: god

‘Daughter of the Struggle’

*Ayanna Gregory celebrates heroes of civil rights movement*

Wearing a mauve-colored dress with flared sleeves that flowed with each dance step, soul singer, educator and activist Ayanna Gregory celebrated the history of the American civil rights movement with an evening of song and spoken word before an enthusiastic audience on Wednesday evening, Feb. 15, in the Gore Recital Hall of the University of Delaware’s Roselle Center for the Arts.

During her performance, “Daughter of the Struggle,” Gregory recalled what it was like growing up as one of 10 children of Lillian and Dick Gregory, the standup comedian who used his comic skills to tell Americans that segregation and racial bigotry were no laughing matter. (more…)

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Good Intentions Ease Pain, Add to Pleasure: UMD Study

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A nurse’s tender loving care really does ease the pain of a medical procedure, and grandma’s cookies really do taste better, if we perceive them to be made with love – suggests newly published research by a University of Maryland psychologist. The findings have many real-world applications, including in medicine, relationships, parenting and business.

“The way we read another person’s intentions changes our physical experience of the world,” says UMD Assistant Professor Kurt Gray, author of “The Power of Good Intentions,” newly published online ahead of print in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. Gray directs the Maryland Mind Perception and Morality Lab. (more…)

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Examining The Changing Face of Christianity

U of T leading centre for study of global Christianity

A century ago, 80 per cent of the world’s Christians lived in Europe and North America; today, nearly 70 per cent live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, making Christianity a predominantly non-Western religion.

A critical mass of scholars who are looking into the implications of this shift has made the University of Toronto a leading centre for the study of global Christianity.

Christianity today has more than 2.2 billion adherents worldwide. The majority are overwhelmingly poor, displaced from rural villages into overcrowded cities in search of work, and adhere strictly to the word of Scripture, which can command their loyalty far more than state or society. (more…)

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From the Man Who Played God, a Vampire and a Statesman: Don’t quit

Woolsey Hall was packed with his fans on Nov. 8 when Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman took the stage for an “Actor’s Studio”-styled interview with Ron Gregg, a senior lecturer and programming director in Yale’s Film Studies Program.

Among those who came out to see the 74-year-old-actor — visiting the campus as a Chubb Fellow —was a 95-year old woman who listened as Freeman described his acting career and his history on television, in theater and in film. When given the opportunity to ask a question, she simply gushed, “Morgan Freeman, I love you. I’ve seen every movie you’ve been in.” She then told him, “I don’t want to show you any disrespect” for being so bold. (more…)

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Religion: Convergence of Cultures or Clash of Creeds?

With the beginning of Ramadan, the Ninth Month of the Islamic Calendar, come hot debates, as to whether Moslems should be allowed to slit the throats of sheep in public, to make the call to prayer (Adhan) in non-Moslem communities, to build a Mosque near Ground Zero.

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