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	<title>Religion Q &amp; A</title>
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	<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/</link>
	<description>The Ridgewood Religion Guy answers your questions</description>
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		<title>What Is Christian Zionism and Why Is It So Complex?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/04/what-is-christian-zionism/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/04/what-is-christian-zionism/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:03:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[antisemitism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian Zionism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestinians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zionism]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5964</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: As with “Christian nationalism,” this is a rather slippery term that can be used to browbeat religious and political opponents. The relation between Christianity and Israel is vastly complex, and this article can merely try to clarify a few aspects. Merriam-Webster defines Zionism as “an international movement originally for the establishment [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dying at Easter, How Does a Former Senator Contemplate Life?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/03/dying-at-easter-how-does-a-former-senator-contemplate-life/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/03/dying-at-easter-how-does-a-former-senator-contemplate-life/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:36:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ben Sasse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Easter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eternal life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Resurrection]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5917</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[What Does Dying Sasse Believe? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Ben Sasse is dying. In fact, doctors thought the 54-year-old former U.S. Senator from Nebraska might already be dead by now after he was diagnosed before Christmas with stage four pancreatic cancer, beyond surgical help. Yet he gets to celebrate another festival of eternal life thanks [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			</item>
		<item>
		<title>How Did Muslim Radicals Gain Power Over Iran?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/03/how-did-muslim-radicals-gain-power-over-iran/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/03/how-did-muslim-radicals-gain-power-over-iran/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 16:53:25 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ayatollahs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carter Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam in Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ruhollah Khomeini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shah of Iran]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5887</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: With the American-Israeli war on Iran monopolizing the news – and driving up prices at the gas pump – the full context requires understanding of the surprising 1979 Islamist revolution when the nation lurched from tyranny under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (and his father before him) to tyranny under the Ayatollah [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Would the Existence of Space Aliens Threaten Christianity?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/02/would-the-existence-of-space-aliens-threaten-christianity/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/02/would-the-existence-of-space-aliens-threaten-christianity/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 14:22:52 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[C S Lewis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extraterrestrials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[space aliens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Space travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UAP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UFO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5851</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[An intriguing religious issue is raised by an odd space-age colloquy in mid-February between Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Out of the blue, political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen asked Obama, “Are aliens real?” He immediately replied, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them” and he knows of no proof that extraterrestrials exist. In the ensuing [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Should Religions Have Rituals Such As Baptism for Infants?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/02/should-religions-have-rituals-such-as-baptism-for-infants/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/02/should-religions-have-rituals-such-as-baptism-for-infants/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:01:49 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baptists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Circumcision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infant Baptism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam and Circumcision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jewish Circumcision]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sikhism and Circumcision]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5824</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: This question might seem absurd, since religious birth rituals are so universal. But Christian baptism of infants is being assailed by a prominent (though alienated) Catholic, Mary McAleese, who was the president of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. The headline on a January 11 (paywalled) article she wrote for the Irish [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Are There 3 Versions of the Lord&#8217;s Prayer?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/01/why-are-there-3-versions-of-the-lords-prayer/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/01/why-are-there-3-versions-of-the-lords-prayer/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Jan 2026 15:47:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lord's Prayer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Luke 11:2-4]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew 6:9-13]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prayer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sermon on the Mount]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5767</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Christians’ most beloved prayer occurs in Matthew 6:9-13 as part of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount,”  perhaps the most memorable speech in human history. (What competitors can you think of?)  The New Testament also contains a second, briefer version of the great prayer, in Luke 11:2-4 (on which more below). In [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>America and Venezuela: A &#8220;Just War&#8221;?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/01/america-and-venezuela-a-just-war/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/01/america-and-venezuela-a-just-war/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Jan 2026 16:14:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Delcy Rodríguez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Just War]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maria Corina Machado]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicolás Maduro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trump foreign policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5730</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: As the complexities in Venezuela continue to evolve, President Donald Trump held his first face-to-face meeting this week with democratic opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Universal consensus says her party won the 2024 presidential vote by two-thirds or better, whereupon despised dictator Nicolás Maduro, now imprisoned in New York City, stole [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Is the Bible So Complicated?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/01/why-is-the-bible-so-complicated/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2026/01/why-is-the-bible-so-complicated/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2026 19:48:55 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bible interpretation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bible resources]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5718</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The Guy is taking a holiday breather and re-posts a classic question from 2015 in the early days of the Patheos Religion Q&#38;A feature. A reader filed the following on behalf of a Prison Fellowship pen pal: “If divinely inspired holy books are for our guidance, benefit, spiritual enlightenment, etc., why [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
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		<title>This Christmas, How Should Jesus&#8217;s Mother Mary Be Honored?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2025/12/this-christmas-how-should-jesuss-mother-mary-be-honored/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2025/12/this-christmas-how-should-jesuss-mother-mary-be-honored/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Dec 2025 17:13:32 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mariology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mother of God]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nativity of Jesus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protestants and Mary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vatican]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virgin Mary]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5678</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: How should Christians honor the Virgin Mary’s unique status as the mother of Jesus Christ? How speak of her? What believe about her? Catholics and Protestants have well-known disagreements, but now there’s vigorous debate within Catholicism over the Vatican’s lengthy November “doctrinal note” titled Mater Populi Fidelis (“The Mother of the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<item>
		<title>Do You Have Any Good Gift Book Recommendations?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2025/12/do-you-have-any-good-gift-book-recommendations/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/2025/12/do-you-have-any-good-gift-book-recommendations/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Richard Ostling]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2025 15:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[atheism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[case for God]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[case for religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[democracy and religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science and religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tomer Persico]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionqanda/?p=5648</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: A single columnist cannot possibly assess the flood of new religious books to rank the very best of 2025. But The Guy can attest that three new titles from really smart writers are really intriguing. Each is a good read for believers. But they’re particularly pertinent for someone without religious involvement [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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