Terror struck Christians in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province today as four terrorists allegedly linked with the Islamic State (IS) attacked a church, killing at least nine worshippers and injuring more than 50 others.

 

Police and church officials told Morning Star News that four suicide attackers stormed the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in the provincial capital, Quetta, in the southwestern part of the country.

 

“There were around 400 worshippers inside the church when the attack began,” the senior leader of the church identified only as Pastor Samuel told Morning Star News, adding that the church was holding a “Sunday School Christmas Program” at the time of the attack.

 

Pastor Samuel said that police assigned to the church’s security reacted timely, averting a much larger tragedy, as one suicide attacker was shot dead after an exchange of fire with police while the other died after detonating his explosive-packed jacket before being able to enter the main prayer hall. 

 

Their two accomplices fled the scene during the exchange of fire.

 

“The loss of lives would have been colossal had either of the two suicide bombers detonated inside the church hall,” Pastor Samuel said. “Zarghoon Road is a very sensitive area, and the church is already listed in the A+ category of high threat places.”

 

Police guards deployed at the main…

For the first time in the United States, a woman born without a uterus gave birth to a healthy baby, according to a report released Dec. 1.

The woman, who remains anonymous, was part of a small trial studying uterine transplantation and pregnancy in women with Absolute Uterine Factor Infertility—meaning their uterus either does not function properly or is nonexistent—at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.

A 36-year-old mother of two donated her uterus to the recipient, according to Time magazine. Doctors transplanted the donated uterus last year and then later implanted an embryo conceived using in vitro fertilization (IVF). (The women in the trial all have functioning ovaries that are not attached to the donated wombs, so IVF is necessary.) The recipient became pregnant and carried the baby to term. Last month, doctors successfully delivered the baby—reportedly healthy and screaming—by cesarean section.

The achievement is astounding both personally for this new family and professionally for the team of doctors who oversaw the transplant, pregnancy, and birth. An estimated 50,000 women in the United States could be candidates for a uterus transplant, according to The New York Times.

Yet despite its feel-good nature, this story raises serious ethical concerns.

The Baylor transplant is the first in the United States, but doctors in Sweden have led the way. In 2014, Sweden…

Held captive by a determination to keep religion confined to churches and homes, the Freedom from Religion Foundation is demanding the Wisconsin Department of Corrections sever ties with an educational ministry that offers inmates a degree in Biblical studies.

Modeled after the 22-year-old seminary housed at Angola Prison in Louisiana, the Wisconsin Inmate Education Association (WIEA) and Trinity International University (TIU) formed a partnership to create Operation Transformation, an educational program offering a Bachelor of Science in Biblical studies to inmates serving life or long-term sentences. After completing the four-year program, the inmates are reassigned to other prisons as “field ministers.”

The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) calls Operation Transformation a “grave” violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and claims in a letter sent to state officials that inmates would be better served by a non-religious education.

Representatives for the WIEA and TIU would not comment on the FFRF letter because they were not aware of its existence until I asked them about it, but they said they are looking into the matter. A representative from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections did not respond to questions by deadline.

The letter demands an immediate suspension of the prison’s association with the WIEA…

Nine-year-old Mikah Frye from Beachwood, Ohio knows that Christmas is truly more about giving than receiving.

Mikah knew his parents were going to get him an Xbox for Christmas–a $300 gift which he was excited to receive, but then he noticed that there were homeless people in his town who were in need, so he decided to give up his Christmas gift to help them.

According to TheBlaze.com, Mikah told his family that he wanted to use the $300 to buy blankets for those who were homeless. Mikah and his family were able to buy 30 blankets to give to those in need this Christmas.

Mikah also learned that often, when you selflessly give, not expecting something in return, you are blessed unexpectedly.

Microsoft, which manufactures Xboxes, heard about Mikah’s sacrificial decision and planned to also spread some Christmas cheer.

Representatives from Microsoft coordinated with Mikah’s family and planned a surprise for him at a local shopping mall.

“When they called and told me I was just instantly crying on the phone and I couldn’t believe it,” shared Mikah’s grandmother, Terry Brant. “What’s harder was not telling him.”

On the designated day, Mikah’s family brought him to the mall where he met with Santa and Microsoft employees who gave him two bags of gifts, including an Xbox.

Mikah was overwhelmed by the surprise and so excited by the unexpected…