Reuters treks out to Mount Gerizim in Samaria in the West Bank to visit with the “guardians of an ancient faith with a cameo role in the Bible.” The Samaritans have 750 surviving followers who employ ”surprisingly modern methods to keep their tiny community alive.”
Internet acquaintances, mail-order brides and pre-nuptial genetic tests have all become familiar to Samaritans trying to [...]

Here’s a discussion on the pros of diversifying your portfolio, a concept that finds its roots in the Bible.
“But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead” (Ecclesiastes 11:2, NLT). Risks are really part of everything we do, and we should not be crippled by the fear [...]

In advance of their weekend sold-out appearance at Yankee Stadium, Pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen talk to CBS about their message of hope during tough economic times.
“We just feel very blessed to be here, very humbled and just rewarded,” Joel observed. “The Yankees have been good to us, and it seems like it’s a time [...]

Facing the global economic crisis, Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls on religious leaders to help develop a “shared moral sense” to govern markets and the economy.  He spoke of the need to conquer fear with faith.
In a speech at St Paul’s Cathedral, the Prime Minister drew on religious doctrine in a highly-personal address which warned [...]

Jay Michaelson surveys the Bible’s prohibitions against usury and call’s today’s financial regulation “nothing more than an update of the ancient prohibitions on usury, or the unfair charging of interest.”
Today’s derivatives market, for example, is precisely about “making money from money” — but taken to new and ludicrous extremes. The credit default swaps which were largely [...]

Here’s the latest DC leader with tax troubles. The LA Times quotes a Bloomberg investigation into California Congressman Pete Stark – a senior House Democrat who helps write the nation’s tax laws. The State of Maryland is now launching an investigation into Stark who:
has been claiming a $1.7 million Maryland home as his principal residence in recent years, [...]

The UK Mirror reports on the latest salve Britney Spears’ father is implementing to help his daughter.
Britney Spears’ dad has issued strict backstage conditions to keep his daughter on the straight and narrow. Top of the list is that she must read the Bible for one hour a day… Holy Moly!

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach spoke with BiblEconomy about the roots of the financial crisis and how we transcend it.
“The collapse of our economy was caused not by an economic crisis but a spiritual crisis called greed, where you become voracious and insatiable. I believe that the Jewish community, and the Jewish religion has unique values that need [...]

Tallahassee legislators are considering repealing the sales tax exemption on religious items as they grapple with an expected $5-6 billion state budget deficit for the 2009-2010 budget year. The House Finance and Tax Council heard testimony this week. Urging the tax exemption stand for the sale of religious items, including Bibles, Florida Baptist Convention legislative consultant Bill Bunkley says [...]

The Guardian (U.K.) reports in Greed is Good: A Guide to Radical Individualism:
In 1991, a survey carried out by the American Library of Congress and the Book of the Month club declared Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged, “the most influential book on American lives after the Bible”. It has sold more than 6m copies in [...]