in a word, christian zionism. so this is the interpretation of the hebraic account of human destiny that i emphasize in the book. it turns out, as i've suggested, that this way of thinking goes back a long time. even farther, actually, than the international zionist movement associated with theodore hertzel which was organized only at the end of the 19th century. i'll mention just a few major figures in this tradition beginning with woodrow wilson himself, since we are here at the wilson center, and who told rabbi stephen s. wise, the american zionist leader, that he as a son of the mass, that is to say, as the son of a presbyterian minister was delighted and honored that he should play a central role in the restoration of the jewish people, according to wise, at least. i'm relying on the accuracy of his account. wilson said this after he determined that he and his administration would affirm and support the british balfour declaration in 2014. i don't think wilson was a christian zionist in any deep religious sen

christians also need an infrastructure to enforce those behaviors. >> we tend to think about christianityall these basilicas around the world. but before that, what you had were basically house churches. and if you had a series of small house churches, you needed somebody to be over that. >> christians were trying to set up an organized community so that people would recognize who the members of that church were. a kind of hierarchy. sort of modeled on the roman army. >> bishop of the most senior churchman in that particular city. >> because rome is the capital and center of the empire, the bishop of rome becomes the leader of the other bishops. a position that will eventually become known as pope. the 200 years after peter's crui cruise fiction, they are persecuted by roman emperors until an unlikely hero emerges. >> constantine was a great military commander. and when it was his turn to become a junior emperor, he decided to fight his competition. >> constantine, the payingan commander declares woar on the commander of the east to decide who will become emperor of rome. and the day befo

christian culture. >> the st.churches even today follow the ancient biblical practice of men and women sitting separately. and women covering their heads. >> most remarkable of all, elements of the thomas christian liturgy are performed in the language of earliest christianity. >> there are still priests in carola who have the narrative, this is my body, this is my blood, in the language, just the way jesus did at the last supper. >> what's compelling about the oral tradition, about thomas going to india, is just how similar all of the stories are. we don't often find these kinds of similar traditions in any particular region, particularly a region so far away from where thomas started. the fact that everyone tells the same story about thomas for 1500 years suggests that there might be a historical kernel of truth here. >> according to the oral tradition, thomas sets off from carola on what will be his final journal. the acts of thomas also says the apostle moves on. >> thomas moves to another kingdom. this one ha

antiquity the latter returned in full force into the christian world. in the immense scope of st peter's we find the legend of its foundation expressed in the sentence and so i say to you peter and upon this rock i will build my church. the new building claim to be nothing less than the greatest monument in the history of the world time and again the builders dishpan it and down to it whether the immense vault would be capable of bearing the enormous coppola but will. the spirit of the age demanded a massive triumphant. as an old man received a commission from pope clement the nine to design the entrance to the cast as some tangent of. the building was the most a limb of emperor hadrian and the triumphant entrance way over the bridge was lined with statues of the classical dogs of victory many replace these with angels converting a pagan monument and who christian. the angels honed the instruments of the passion. in their hands the road becomes a symbolic way of the cross or via dolorosa like the one walked by the pilgrims in jerusalem many converted it

history has taught us that the christians of lebanon and the christians of the middle east in general flourish and expand in an environment of order and statehood. in the failed states, the future is bleak. the recent success of idc in achieving the recognition of the genocide perpetrated by isis is a very important step in establishing justice. and in supporting the christian presence in the middle east. unfortunately, that will not be enough to preserve the ethnic and religious diversity of the middle east. i strongly believe that we should direct all our efforts now to fignding an immediate solution for the syrian refugees in lebanon outside lebanon and to embark on the complex task of supporting state building initiatives. productive, professional and corruption-free public service to all citizens with no discrimination should be our next goal in our quest for rooting the christians in their homeland. this is a completely new dimension. this is a difficult and challenging task. we can do it. we can do it if we believe that our duty is to be the salt of the earth and the yeast in t

wins the battle and becomes the first christian emperor. >> christianity is very much a minority cult, probably no more than 10% of the empire's population, if that. >> it's almost impossible to under estimate the impact of constantine's conversion to christianity. before that, the empire had been persecuting its christians. >> it was illegal. by penalty of death to be a christian. after that, you were free. >> constantine legalizes christianity throughout the empire. 14 years later, his mother is on her way to the holy land. >> i think that she was sent by the emperor constantine. he felt that the cross was very important, and he wanted to send her there to do something special. >> there is potentially a darker side to helena's journey. it follows on from a scandalous episode within the house of constantine. >> constantine abandoned his first wife to marry the noble woman fausta. fausta has given him three young sons. but her husband's likely successor is his eldest son crispus. >> he was the golden boy. he had a successful military career. he had been made cesar by his father. >> on

philosophy and the christian doctrine of salvation was developed. did drive that model of a citizen of youth as a simple way to get this tired of you have a number three is normally reserved as a symbol of the day it is this but in the old testament we also have an angel often a sightly and a prophet izzy kill all eyes are allowed to look up to heaven they see being surrounding got all the fit they either ordered in groups of four or have four facets for example eagle like lion like all human like beings and all of figures are equal or few it is something that was imported from the babylonian iconography and integrated into christendom god is surrounded by groups of four figures when seated on her. throne and that's why alongside the number three which symbolizes gaunt there is a number for an extension symbolizing his rule in all four worldly speeches and era so i figure since that's also why the derivatives of three and four twelve and twenty four or so endowed with a holy systematic significance systematically toy to. the oldest most acts of chri

this affects not just christianity clearly. christians are like the ca nary clearly. mind, if they are being persecuted you know that other minorities are being persecuted. in india and pakistan. the sheer numbers would suggest christians need some form of priority and the fa ct need some form of priority and the fact they are unsafe in hindu nations and muslim nations and british nations when you think about the persecution of christian asylum seekers in thailand, would suggest to me that without a doubt the world needs to recognise christians need a safe haven. what are you hoping this review would achieve? it will change the stance of many western nations. already america seems to be moving in the right direction and hive blog migration from certain countries depending on the type of persecution. a commission recently asked for nigeria and pakistan to be included to that list and i think pakistan has been added to that list. it will hopefully change the un position and make them realise persecution of christians does exist but in particular i would talk about un ca

we thank you for all that you have done for the protection and preservation of christians and christianity in the middle east. the righteous shall flourish like the banyon tree and grow like the cedar in lebanon. the only bad news now is that i walk to work in the morning, which means i walk home. so if you see a strange man carrying a tree down 14th street -- thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] >> c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up this morning, we will open the phones and take your calls and reactions to the government shutdown and the top news stories of 2018. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern this morning. join the discussion.

for the christians of the middle east. our success has been largely due to the commitment of many of the religious rights, freedom rights and human rights for those of you who were with us last year, you've heard vice president pence promise more and direct support to the persecuted christians. [ applause ] >> i'm happy to tell you that the trump administration has delivered on their promise. already $300 million has been pledged into the recovery and persecution response program provided directly to organizations that are making an immediate difference to the people who are mostly in need. [ applause ] >> we have been working with, along with our partners, and supporters in the u.s. legislation and other policymakers and the administration to focus on decisions which have an immediate relief result for suffering people as well as policies and resolutions which are aimed to improve the state of religious minorities in the middle east to prevent recurrences of the recent crimes. 2018 marked a year of legislative success for

however, i'm a christian, and so here is the jesus, here is the christianity i believe in. and basically we all do things like that, whether we're christians or jews or nonbelievers. i mean we have our -- my father was a -- has been a catholic all his life but i never once remember him going to church. people make their accommodations. the founding father that i have studied the most is washington. and washington, his mother was very devout, but she was idiosyncratic to say the least. she was kind of a backwoods woman. she would go to a place of rocks and trees and pray. so she would kind of -- you get this feeling of her own kind of deism almost. washington himself, when people observed him, he belonged to church, he went to church. irregularly, but he went throughout his life. and yet he wouldn't kneel. he always stood. he wouldn't take communion. his wife would go to communion but he wouldn't go to communion. so he had his accommodations, which, again, i think are his way of trying to square this circle, of trying to have it both ways. >> daniel, i must ask more about ch

>> up north many of those christians we would've called fundamental christians. in my experience it is an often used by the fundamentalists themselves. >> you have heard it as a pejorative term, which lines up with my personal experience. there are exceptions. i have met some proud, independent baptists who claim the term fundamentalist. but generally it seems to be used as an insult. it is not a label that most christians will apply to themselves. i think that the history of that connotation, that kind of negative sense in which we hear the word today, really became crystallized in one historical episode and that is the infamous or famous depending on your view, the trial of 1925. the monkey trial that dominated newspaper headlines in the summer of 1925. the scopes trial has a certain status in popular culture. you are probably vaguely aware of what it involved. let me tell you the basic facts of this trial. the state of tennessee passed a law forbidding the teaching of the theory of evolution in tennessee public high schools. the aclu, the american civil libert

however, i'm a christian and so here is the jesus, here's the christianity that i believe in and basically we all do things like that. whether we're christians or jews or nonbelievers. my father was a -- has been a catholic all his life but i never once remember him going to church. people make their accommodati s accommodations. washington was the one i see the most. she was a backwoods woman and she would go to a place of rocks and trees and pray. so you get this feeling of, you know, her own kind of diesm almost. washington himself when people observed him. he went to church all his life. he wouldn't kneel. he wouldn't take communion so he had his accommodations which again i think are his way of trying to square this circle. of trying to have it both ways. >> so he just said, you know, he was the protodiest and say more about this incredibly provocative suggestion that it was in the sense of the first representative democracy. >> though obviously jewish i don't specialize in the jewish founders or anything of that sort. they made it observant in their ways but they were also products o

the christianity bit. if you read the notes of the debate which is not what you said, if you read, and we will do a framer but out of the convention, james madison and the memorial. what was his greatest fear? and this goes to the greatest concept that assault and abuse of religious believers. one of the most important lives is madison's ear of colonialism. his deep fear of the inquisition. what he said was it is impossible to create the inquisition in the united states. that's basically what he said, it is an amazing section that no one wants to talk about because it's scary. and what he is saying is too much power to religious entities is a problem. so what i would look at accounts through convention and what they feared the most was a union of power between church and state. and i fear that we are now getting incapable of talking about the separation of church and state. the framers got it. they had to get this check separation of church and state because many of them had escaped. the problem is for the

specifically christianity. and i think you answered part of my question with respect to some of the pagan groups that are pushing back against this, but specifically christianity, because -- specifically christianity in the sense that basically making it clear to these people what they are doing is completely contrary to the teachings of christ. how does this escape them? i would be interested in your response on that one. >> i think about the election coming up in brazil and i think about the sort of frame of global catholicism. and i think about other parts of europe that are also technically catholic. and i don't know, it's a good question. i think there's interesting ways in which maybe they have decided it's not something they should address or discuss. i mean sometimes it's mind boggling because as a catholic you're sort of thinking this is for me when i look at some of the alt-right material, this is from the 14th and 15th century. this is not post vatican two and any kind of doctrinal or orthodox or the

well, christian women have a really untenable situation. 700 christian girls are kidnapped, raped andmillion christians are working as slaves in the brick yards of pakistan, despite pakistan having adopted anti—slavery laws in 1992, the bonded labour abolition act. we have attacks on churches, 11 attacks on churches in the last seven years. we have a death count of over 500, an injury count of over 3000. these are significantly demoralising aspects of life as a christian pakistan. this isn't a new issue. why do you think it is that we tend not to talk about it as much as we perhaps do others? is it perhaps there is a case that we are too concerned political correctness is taking over. i spoke at a meeting and the idea was made that we alter the way we put our focus across four the way christians are persecuted... for me, it still beggars belief that countries, wealthy countries in the middle east like to buy are unable to provide to muslims and hindus. we think about the risk profile for christians, the only place they can safely is the west. —— can safely go. syrian state media says

>> from up north many people who are just christians down here we would have called fundamentalist christians as a path orive and don't think this is used by the fundamentalists themselves. >> so you've heard of more of a path orive that lines up with my experience. there are exceptions. i've met some proud independent baptists what claim the term fundamentalism but it is an insult but not a label most christians would want applied to themselves and i think that the history of that connotation, that negative sense in which we hear the word today really became crystalized in one particular historical episode and that's the infamous or famous, depending on your view, scopes trial. there we go. of 1925. the monkey trial that dominated newspaper headlines in the summer of 1925. now the scopes trial has a certain status in popular culture. you're probably at least vaguely aware of what it involved. but let me tell you the basic facts of this trial. the state of tennessee passed a law forbidding the teaching of the theory of evolution in tennessee public high schools. now the aclu, the american civ

version of christianity, but most of the advocates of the enlightenment will say, of course, we're christian. christianity is the best religion of all and it accords with rationality and modern learning. they wouldn't have seen a tension between those things. one of the ways this place out is there's a growing tendency to explain things naturally. for sure when you compare the mentality of americans from, say, 1692 when the salem witchcraft trials happened, to say 1800 and the years after the american revolution, something has definitely changed on a popular level. then there are still people who believe in strong super naturalism, even in things like witchcraft, but if you go from 1692 to 1700 to 1750 to 1800, there's a declining tendency to see things in exclusively supernatural terms. so say your cow dies unexpectedly. your cow is fine one day, and then the next day the cow is frothing at the mouth and keels over and dies. what do you think has happened? right. in 1692, you might think, especially if you have had a recent argument with a spooky neighbor, that a spell has been cast on your

in a christian after conversion. what they called the second blessing. this feeling of spiritual power, and the total suppression of sin by the holy spirit. john wesley had argued that since scripture demands that humans fulfill god's law, the state of what he called christian perfection must be obtainable. even if it takes up a whole lives. you remember that from what you read of wesley. holiness christians really focused on this. and, they took leslie's idea and they kind of ran with it and said, well, sin must not be inevitable then. it must be possible to totally suppress it in the course of this second blessing. and, they came to really hold this experience of the second blessing as being almost as significant for a christian as conversion. because it could bring to you what they called entire sanctification. god's grace can free one, not just of the kind of perversion of original sin, but dependent -- the tendency to connect individual sins. they had a much higher view of what the holy spirit could do. the holi

christian women have a really untenable situation. 700 christian girls are kidnapped, raped and forced million christians working as slaves in pakistan despite pakistan having adopted anti—slavery laws in 1992. we have attacks on churches, 11 attacks on churches in the last seven years with a death count of over 500 and an injury count of over 3000. demoralising aspects as a christian in pakistan. this is not a new issue. why do we tend not to talk about it as much as we do others? is it a case, there is speculation that we are concerned political correctness is taking over? of course it is political correctness. i spoke to an appg for international and religious freedom, working with lord alton andjim shannon, and i remember at the meeting lord alton came up with a wonderful idea of altering the way we put our focus across for christians who have been persecuted by calling for genocidal victims to be regarded as a priority for asylum in the west. it beggars belief that countries, wealthy countries, in the middle east, like dubai and qatar, are unable to provide asylum to muslims and h

the christian old testament. now she says -- do i make -- anything much in my book about a -- a distinction made by traditional readers of the qur'an between those -- or portions of that were written when muhammad was living in medina versus when he was in mecca? and answer is, no. [laughter] i don't. it doesn't come up -- behind her. one more this last question. okay. >> often think about when i'm reading whether it is a christian text or the qur'an is from a scholar standpoint in having lived in asia by largest muslim country in the world, how do you -- differentiate the cultural side of it versus the pure text of it? i mean how does that play into your analysis of -- you know that -- >> the question is how does the cultural context of the qur'an questioner has in mind of the difference between islam as it might be practiced in a country like indonesia versus say -- small country like tunisia? and does that affect my writing of my book? it doesn't. and that would be a good example of a historical approach to sc

according to christian tradition, he did. >> >> this is st.lined with large statutes of angels on either side. but if you go to the end of the bridge, you see that there's a big statue of peter there. that shows him in a very traditional way. and he's holding a set of keys. these are the metaphorical keys of the kingdom of heaven that jesus gave peter when he entrusted him to build his church upon this foundation. of all the apostles, peter is the most important one. he comes to be emblematic of this city. his statue, his image is at every key juncture. and it's right there at the center of st. peter's, as well. peter symbolizes this in an unbroken tradition that goes back about 1800 years in this city. and furthermore, it's uncontested. no other city claims the connection to peter that the city of rome does. >> but for centuries, physical evidence proving peter came to the eternal city eluded scholars. but in the 1940s, everything changes when beneath the vatican, archaeologists discover the bones of an ancient man. ♪ he eats a bowl of hammer

will they remain a small jewish sect or will christianity stand alone?y the death and resurrection of christ that also extends to gentiles, and he brings a "saved" christian to jerusalem in order to try to prove his point. >> here is my friend, a greek. >> paul brings with him titus, an uncircumcised greek, as a sort of symbol of the gospel that he's preached, and he's really bringing him there to say to everyone, so what are you going to do about this? >> the only thing that counts is faith. >> when we read the acts of the apostles, it is quite clear that there's tension and there's especially tension between james and paul. >> so if you were jesus's brother and this upstart came along, preaching and teaching a different message from the one that you had learned from your brother, i imagine you would have felt immense frustration. >> narrator: what the council are witnessing -- >> my brothers -- >> narrator: -- is the birth of early christianity. >> the process by which christianity and judaism become two different things is a process that takes centuri

for many christians the facts that he has been freed is a christmas miracle only could not. and even though she remains in hiding in the festive period provide some seasonal change and hobson is in for what the future holds. for more now we're joined by wilson sheltering from the british pakistani christian association a warm welcome to you first can you give us some background why are christians being targeted why are they being persecuted in pakistan. well this stems from the intolerance in pakistan because that has one of the most hard line approaches to the ideology of islam in the one thousand nine hundred and all saudi funding help build a network of which now the majority of the schools that children in deprived children go to and in these madrassas is taught. for its obvious form of islam and cherry and children indoctrinated by that well still even in public schools. you will fly that the national curriculum textbooks demonizing caricature minorities this very easy for muslims in pakistan to be treated to pardon because they perceived to be demons in their midst. wh

they tended to see islam as a christian heresy they saw that as a diversion from christianity now they're completely wrong about that. ok little children will still modify and the polish shaab. she will have several will then. if you was as a them again if you have a douche a cease with mother of police and if you added me then we'll assist them so i'm either growing up to fail in death was to become a gay man a possible to have concluded. and then i left that area hope that he so for the boy. pope gregory died than twenty five. before turning his project into reality. however three years later an even more ambitious pope took the post urban the second or had woman. and also lost another one possibility i mean but those didn't messy hair cuts are ok. to harry been messy hey i. you've been doing so see will soon false the dog we don't insult it exactly but up about on the down i'm called the bees also even concede there was he meant to do to likely county you could see deficit in his first sort of the walk. in november ten monte five in clapham or france. pope urban the catholic church cou

the christian church is invisible.elievers everywhere and the pope has no particular claim to be the leader. he took that reformation thought and then he entirely corrupted it by saying, the pope is not the leader of the christian church, i am. which was not at all what the reformers had in mind. >> henry viii says i'm going to do an act of supremacy and i'm going to declare myself over the church. >> henry says, i'm not a king, i'm an emperor, and emperors are accountable to nobody. >> narrator: in 1534, four years after henry viii's initial request for an anullment, he denounces the papacy, removing himself and his country from the ju jurisdiction of the catholic church. he proclaims himself the leader of a new church, the church of england. >> henry says, i decide that i'm not married to catherine. >> he divorces his nice, catholic wife and marries anne boleyn and now he's the head of a church. so he can take down catholic priests, he can put down people who don't follow his particular faith, the anglican faith, and

that's why you can't just say well, do you believe, are you a christian. somebody stood up and asked me at one point, i was talking about the other gospels, do you believe jesus is the son of god. i said i wasn't sure what he was getting at so i said what do you mean by that? he looked totally puzzled. i thought is he saying are you a member of my club or do you know the secret handshake? it becomes -- >> but people do define themselves as i'm a christian or i'm a jew or i'm a muslim. >> right. >> that means something very specific to them in terms of what they believe in. do they believe in god, do they believe in certain practices. >> yes. and i'm not claiming to be neutral on that at all. i grew up in christian tradition and i find that very familiar. i participate in it. there are many things i love about it and some things i don't love about it. i feel rooted in that. that matters, particularly the values of it. after our son died, in the book "beyond belief" i said i don't think i believe in anything at that point. but there were deep values about th

deadly tsunami in indonesia as authorities warned of more high tides to come and the rats shrinking christian community celebrates christmas with the government declaring it an official public. hello thank you for joining us we begin the program in sudan where police fired tear gas and live ammunition to the spurs crowds of protesters in the capital to. thousands are attempting to reach the presidential palace as they continue their call for longtime leader omar al bashir to step down they blame his government for economic mismanagement and rising food and fuel costs official government figures say twelve people have died since the unrest began a week ago the international groups say that the real figure to be as high as thirty seven allowed to see has he been more again was on the sidelines of the protest and hard to hear is what she saw. the curfew days now if. you can the amount of huge number of people protesting this saying that it's a peaceful protest they want the government to go they've been chanting things like down with the government this is the seventh day of protest against the

they tended to see islam as a christian heresy they saw that as a diversion from christianity now they're completely wrong about that. modify and the polish shaab. will then. well after a. few was as i'm with them again if you have a douche a cease fire of police and if you are ahead of me then we'll assist them so i'm either grown up to. interfere was to demand a man of possibly to move can meet with. them dead to react hope that he so for the boy. pope gregory died than twenty five. before turning his project into reality. however three years later an even more ambitious pope took the post urban the second or had woman. and also lost another one possibility i mean but those didn't match the haircuts are ok. to harry been messy hey i. you've been doing. to false the don't we don't insult it exactly as a part of a pullback on the don't unplug the bees also even consider it will see metal due to likely county you can see deficit on his first solo the walk. in november ten monte five in clapham or france. pope urban the catholic church counts. but what started as a religious gathering. took

but there is christian privilege around the world in many ways. it's not bashing christianity.t's raising issues of the ways in which christians automatically have this unearned privilege just by being christian in the united states. there are a lot of ways that privilege manifests itself. in the 19 -- the 1840s, a theorist went around the united states and he wrote this great book called democracy in america. and he discover twhrd is a paradox that the united states positioned itself around the world as this country which promoted itself as religious pluralism. but he found the christian church had so much power that in many ways it could be considered the first institution of politics because it had so much power and so much weight on politics in the united states. jesse: i don't think anymore that the christian church has that power it's a religiously. you can't say merry christmas at the courthouse. at school you can't have a christmas tree, they call it a holiday tree. >> we are talking about religious pluralism. the school year kiss founded on the christian calendar. if i

and under stress because of their fake christians in pakistan preparing for christmas but they're interesting like the target of deadly attacks we found found out how one family has suffered but survived. i'm brian thomas thanks so much for being with us american defense secretary jim natus has resigned over president trump's decision to withdraw american troops from syria the four star marine general has been defense secretary since the president took office in his resignation letter said my views on treating allies with respect and also being clear eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues let us also said he was resigning because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects. i reports indicate that not has resigned after a last ditch attempt to persuade the president to reverse course on syria white house press secretary sarah sanders tonight suggestions that trump had asked maddest to resign secretary mabus has served the

also coming up christians in pakistan living in fear of blasphemy laws targeting religious minorities now with christmas approaching bill a high profile court ruling give some families the gift of hope and then you go. home we always live in fear because of this we feel insecure. so when we talk about your future i think what kind of future can we have. the law and policies here need to be implemented properly. i've. we begin the day with yet another departure from the trump cabinet u.s. defense secretary jim mattis as handed in his letter of resignation it was done in protest of president donald trump's decision to withdraw american forces from syria a move done without consultation with the pentagon or u.s. allies now the search is on for a successor to mattis who many believe was the last check on the president's impulsive foreign policy decisions. here with secretary of defense james mattis has been widely viewed as a stabilizing force in u.s. president donald trump's cabinet. many had hoped that the four star marine general would help the president mike good policy decisions on m

they tended to see islam as a christian heresy they saw that as a diversion from christianity now they're completely wrong about that. ok a lot of children will still modify and the polish shop. will then. well after a. few is thousand of them again if you have a douche a cease and more of police and if you are ahead of me then we'll assist them so i'm either grown up to. death was to them and gave that man a possible to move can you put it. and then i left that area hope that he so for the boy. pope gregory died then turn eighty five. before turning his project into reality. however three years later an even more ambitious pope took the post urban the second or had woman. and also lost another one possibility i mean but those didn't mess ahead. the had he been messy hey i. what ben do is so secret to sue false the dog we don't insult it exactly as a part of a pullback on the don't unplug the bees also even concede there was the metal due to likely county you could see deficit in his first sort of the walk. in november ten monte five in clapham or france. pope urban the catholic church co

christmas is a favorite time of year for this christian family in islamabad. appreciate being together especially as their lives were completely turned upside down seven years ago short of course good was falsely accused of blasphemy jailed and acquitted five months later in that time he lost his job and home but is grateful he didn't lose his life to a free man now shot his detention continues to haunt him. we always live in fear because of this we feel insecure. so when we talk about your future i think what kind of future can we have. the law and policies here need to be implemented properly. blasphemy is an extremely dangerous and emotive subject in pakistan and our name will forever be associated with it the catholic laborer spent eight years on death row after being accused of insulting islam she was recently acquitted of charges respond to violent protests across the country some hardliners called flossie and the dishes involved in the ruling to be hanged. no one convicted of blasphemy has ever be legally its accusers about to start but there are plenty

with roots in the christian over to christian social liberals in the world. in our name a christian understanding of what it means to be a human being and aiming to be the popular party in the center of germany c.d.u. and c.s.u. together right. city what we have seen where and constant struggle of and by and fighting leads to see do you see a seems to me all to you need me so much thank you notes i need and yet we have also seen one theory where unity leads the studio and you see that as soon as the book nearly seventy years of the federal public of german history fifty years we have this consul in which to present to the german chancellor fifty years the other parties on the twenty most thanks. and that's also moved on from fifty years of all leadership in the government to know that this is the last beyond this current term of office that is what this party congress is going to decide to do thank you does syria want syria and wants it the fact that seventy years is a federal crime because germany the c.d.'s yes you have been in the government stores fifty y

for many christians the fact that he has been freed is a christmas miracle only could not. and even though she remains in hiding in the festive period provide some seasonal change and obscene isn't for what the future holds. they're watching did news there's much more to be here in just a moment looking at growing tensions between china and the u.s. . language courses. video. media center.

and threatened for their faith christians in pakistan prepare for christmas but they're increasingly the target of deadly attacks we find out how one family has suffered but sorbonne says. hello i'm terry martin good to have you with us u.s. defense secretary jim mattis has resigned over president donald trump's decision to withdraw u.s. troops from syria the four star marine general will leave in february after holding the job since trump took office reports indicate that not just decided to go after a last ditch attempt to persuade the president to reverse his decision on syria. u.s. secretary of defense james mattis has widely been viewed as a stabilizing force both within the unpredictable us government as well as internationally the four star marine general has been defense secretary since president donald trump took office but now he's on his way out the door the two reportedly clashed on several major policy issues trump surprise announcement to withdraw troops from syria appears to have taken their differences one step too far in his resignation letter mattis stressed the imp