Huge UK Church Survey says Pews Emptying Because Christianity no Longer Preached

An amazing article from the "LifeSite" web site out of Toronto, Canada: "Huge UK Church Survey says Pews Emptying Because Christianity no Longer Preached"

The reason Christianity is going downhill in the UK? The chuches are adopting to the prevailing liberal culture, rather than be an agent of counter-culture.

Here is a quote that pretty much sums up the article:

91% of responses followed a uniform theme that the decline in traditional Christian moral and doctrinal teaching has caused the outflux of congregations. They listed the lack of apologetics, the reasoned defence and explanation of Christian doctrine, as one of the main reasons for the collapse. “It’s a myth today that the people of this country have rejected Christianity; they simply haven’t been told enough about it to either accept or reject it,” wrote one respondent.

Governors Work to Improve H.S. Education

Click here to read an interesting article: Governors Work to Improve H.S. Education

Here is a quote from Bill Gates that appears in the article:

The most blunt assessment came from Microsoft chief Bill Gates, who has put more than $700 million into reducing the size of high school classes through the foundation formed by him and his wife, Melinda. He said high schools must be redesigned to prepare every student for college, with classes that are rigorous and relevant to kids and with supportive relationships for children.

"America's high schools are obsolete," Gates said. "By obsolete, I don't just mean that they're broken, flawed or underfunded, though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean our high schools-- even when they're working as designed--cannot teach all our students what they need to know today."

Why Ayn Rand Matters

An excellent article by Elaine Sternberg exists on "The Social Affairs Unit" blog: Why Ayn Rand Matters: Metaphysics, Morals and Liberty. Highly Recommended.

Ayn Rand, in a very real way, is the 20th century's anti-philosopher. She was quite the contrarian, and is hated amongst the 'elite' philosophical establishment to this day.

What did she say that pissed so many people off? Well, here is a simple listing of premises she held:
1. Reality is objectively real. (i.e. relativism is false)
2. Liberty must exist for man to reach his fullest potential.
3. Capitalism is the only truly humane economic system.
4. Attempts to mitigate other's sufferings by economic redistribution ultimately makes everyone worst off, even those on the recieving end.

In a nutshell, Rand was ripping the foundation out from underneath modern liberalism. Having lived in Soviet Russia during the revolution and its aftermath, she saw first hand the evil that is unleashed when liberal thought is taken to its logical conclusion, and realised that the premises of liberalism were demonstrably false.

No wonder she has so many enemies...

Victor Davis Hanson: The Global Throng

An outstanding (even by the usual standards) essay by Victor David Hanson appears on National Reivew Online. The essay is entitled: "The Global Throng: Why the world's elite gnash their teeth." Highly recommeneded reading.

Here is a sample:

"Perhaps the result of this frustration is that European intellectuals damn the United States for action in Iraq, but lament that they could do nothing in the Balkans. Democrats at home talk of the need for idealism abroad, but fear the dirty road of war that sometimes is part of that bargain thus the retreat into 'democracy is good, BUT...' So here we have the global throng that focuses on one purported American crime to the next, as it simmers in the luxury of its privilege, education, and sophistication and exhibits little power, new ideas, intellectual seriousness, or relevance."

Medal of Honor Recipiant: Sgt Paul Smith

Sgt. Paul Smith

For the first time since 1993, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner has been announced, honoring a soldier who fought in Iraq.

Sgt. Paul Smith died defending his 16 men, keeping them safe from being overrun by Iraqi forces by manning a .50 machine gun on a nearby abondoned APC.

He gave his life so that other might live.

I encourage to visit a web site set up in his honor by the St. Petersburg Times: The Last Full Measure of Devotion.

Bible Breaks at Public Schools Face Challenges in Rural Virginia (washingtonpost.com)

A recent article in the Washington Post tells of a controversy in rural Virginia where a handful of schools allow children to leave school during the middle of the day to attend a voluntary weekly Bible school, that takes about 30 minutes a day. (Children who don't attend engage in that most celebrated right of childhood: recess!)

But some of the parents of the children who don't attend are angry with the school for allowing the others to attend Bible class. The reason? "Bible study hinders efforts to meet state and national standards for test scores."

Here is a quote from the article:

"For 65 years, weekday Bible classes have been part of the fabric of growing up in this town of 24,000 in Augusta County and in a score of other small towns and hamlets in rural Virginia. It is such an accepted tradition that 80 to 85 percent of the first-, second- and third-graders in Staunton participate.

But now, the practice is being challenged by a group of parents who have asked the School Board to end or modify weekday religious education. Not only do they fear that their children are stigmatized for not attending, but in a decidedly 21st-century twist, they also argue that interrupting class for Bible study hinders efforts to meet state and national standards for test scores. "

Abortion, Race, Gender, and Christ

Speaking of John Piper (in the bottom of my last post...)

At the Desiring God web site, there is a wonderful sermon by John Piper entitled Abortion, Race, Gender, and Christ.

His thesis, which he backs up with hard data, is that abortion is often both racist and sexist. It is sexist in that abortion is often used as a method of sex selection in China and India (guess which sex is often prefered...) and racist in that is it practiced in disproportionately high numbers by minorities, especially blacks.

The biblical basis for this sermon is Exodus 1:1-22, where Pharoh orders the destruction of all male Jewish babies. Even in ancient times, abortion (infanticide) was all about race (Jews) and sex (boys).

Holy Bible: English Standard Version

Lately I've been working on a massive bible study of the book of Galatians. As part of that study, I'm making use of every single modern English language version of the Bible I can get my hands on, plus the old reliable King James Version. Since the "English Standard Version" (ESV for short) is a new translation, I included it.

Now you must realize that my main study and reading Bible for the past 20+ years is the extremely popular New International Version from Zondervan. I purchased the very first NIV Study Bible back in 1985, and have used various versions of the NIV ever since.

Recently, though still extremely happy with the NIV, I have encountered some small (very small) flaws with the way it translates a few of the underlying Greek and Hebrew texts. Of course these flaws have been known about for years, and serious students of the bible usually use a more literal translation like the New American Standard Bible (NASB).

But I really don't like the NASB. While it may pride itself on it's literalness, it makes use of very awkwardly phrased English to bring forth the Good News. Often I find myself have to re-translate the NASB's English into something I can understand, something I never have to do with the NIV.

Well, I think I've found a literal translation that combines the literalness of the NASB with the fluidity of the NIV. With the likes of J.I. Packer and Wayne Grudem guiding the translation process, one can be sure that the English Standard Version is true to the underlying Greek and Hebrew texts as well as being very theologically accurate.

But one of the best characteristics of the English Standard Version is it's pedigree. The ESV is the latest in a long line of outstanding English language translations that goes all the way back to William Tyndale. The most recent revision in this lineage is the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of 1946. Until the advent of the NIV, the RSV was truly the best English language translation one could get. But unfortunately it was widely rejected by the evangelical Christian community because the scholars who did the translation "under translated" key texts that dealt with certain key doctrines of Christianity, including the virgin birth and propitiation. But despite these flaws (and they were really very minor), the RSV was an outstanding update of the King James Bible, and is still highly regarded by many conservative scholars, despite it's minor flaws. It is, in many ways, a much better translation than the NIV in terms of it's ability to accurately translate the underlying texts and it's use of modern English in a fluid, readable fashion.

The liberal (theologically, socially, and politically) organization known as the National Council of Churches bought the copyright to the RSV and came out with their own update, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). This is, for the most part, an very good update except for one major problem: it's politically correct. The translators removed any and all references to the use of male gender nouns and pronouns when they were being used in a generic fashion. For instance, this famous passage from Matthew 7 in the ESV reads:

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
(Matthew 7:3-5)

But the NRSV translators decided to make it gender inclusive:

Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
(Matthew 7:3-5)

The underlying Greek shows that Jesus was using the Greek word for "brother," not "neighbor." But in order not to offend militant feminists, the NRSV translators removed the male gender reference. This is one example of literally thousands! Any place where a generic male example was used in any biblical book, it was neutered--literally.

The ESV is also a "New Revised Standard Version" but without all the politically correct gender-neutral revisions. One might say the ESV is "evangelically correct!" Now there are some places where a gender neutral rendering is the correct way to go, so it's not as if the practice has to be completely rejected, but one must be careful to match the rendering to the underlying context.

During a recent visit to a local Christian bookstore I found a very nice leather bound ESV Bible for 50% off. The discount was due to a personal name that was imprinted incorrectly on the Bible! Once a name is imprinted on a leather cover, it cannot be removed or changed. So the store owner had to get another copy of the ESV and re-do the imprint, and regulated his mistake to the bargain bin. So now I have my own leather-bound copy of the ESV, with someone else's name on it.

The more I read the ESV the more impressed I am with it. I'm not sure it will replace my NIV any time soon, but I certainly plan to read more from the ESV in the near future.

Well known pastor and theologian John Piper has switched to the ESV. You can read his reasons why here .

Bad Christian Books

Most Christians I know who take their faith seriously also take book reading seriously. The reason is simple: many of the greatest insights into the Christian faith are contained in books, and those who wish to deepen their faith desire to find out what the great masters had to say on any given subject. There are some fantastic books out there, some of which I've listed on the sidebar to the right. (scroll down to see all the books, and be aware that some are just interesting non-fiction books that don't necessarily have a Christian theme!)

One thing I've realized through the years is that there may be many "inspirational" books out there, but not all inspirational books are created equal; and some are quite a bit less equal than others.

One such example is the book Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes, pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. I bought this book because I'm very interested in the concept of spiritual disciplines. While it does have some spiritual disciplines in it, it is really much more about sin management. In other words, it just a bunch of do's and don'ts categorized by type. Of course there are a lot of do's and don'ts listed, far too many for any sane person to keep track of.

In my many years of being a Christian, I have discovered that there are many Christians and Christian leaders who seem to think that the most important element to a victorious life in Christ is the near complete total removal of sin. While I am certainly no fan of sin, I find that excessive focus on "right" and "wrong" living does nothing but breed spiritual pride and triumphalism. Not only that, but those who are having a truly difficult time struggling with sin and temptation dare not mention it! And if one should decide to talk about it, you will usually get pat answers concerning verse memorization, accountability, prayer, and so forth. For all the time many Christians spend discussing sin and sin avoidance strategies, they really don't have a clue what the real cause of sin is. This seems to be especially true of those most steeped in a Calvinist tradition, for with Calvinism everyone is just a totally depraved loser from the start. There's nothing to understand about sin, it's just wrong. Of course this attitude is found even beyond Reformed churches; other traditions are equally clueless about the origins of sin. (And no, I'm not talking about the Garden of Eden…)

Most inspirational, "Christian Living" type books at the local Christian bookstore are just like Hughes' book: everything you ever wanted to know about avoiding sin and living a righteous life. But there are precious few books--if you can find any at all--on the subject of intimacy with Christ. In my many years as a Christian, I've found that focusing on greater intimacy with Jesus is the best "sin management" program of them all. And the best disciplines are those that bring you closer to God.

It's pronounced "Five Two"

KJ-52

One of the most interesting and original artists in all of Christian music is a rapper named KJ-52 (pronounced Kay Jay Five Two). I discovered him by accident, seeing his "KJ Five Two" video on a recent "WOW Hits 2005" DVD.

Of course KJ-52 has his own web site, and there is a very nice feature that automatically plays several full length, high quality tracks from his latest album.

If you like Christian music that makes your booty move, then there's nothing better than KJ-52.

How did the dinosaurs become extinct? Global warming, of course...

Not satisfied that we are taking "global warming" seriously enough, the fear-mongers of the far left have now found "new evidence" that global warming was the true cause of the mass extinction of pre-historic beasts.

But it was the result of ancient greenhouse gas spewing volcanoes, not SUV's, that caused this global mass extinction.

According to the article "Global Warming not Collisions caused mass extinction on Earth," no evidence has been found that a large object, like an asteroid or comet, had hit the earth. (Obviously the large pre-historic crater in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico doesn't count...)

Well, at least Walt Disney has now been vindicated. It was in his movie "Fantasia" (during the Stravinsky tune "Rite of Spring") where we see a tremendous global famine caused by an intense heat wave wiping out the dinosaurs.

Well, at least India is happy...

According to an article that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, a majority of the people of India are very happy that Bush won a second term as President of the United States. In a recent poll, 62% of Indians answered "postive" to the question "Do you think [President Bush's reelection] is positive or negative for peace and security in the world?" Only 27% responded "negative" and the rest weren't really sure one way or the other.

India was one of only three countries polled where there was a favorable response towards four more years of Bush. Poland and the Phillipines were the other two.

On the other hand, only 4% of the respondants in Mexico were "positive" concerning George W., and 58% were definately "negative."

But in Turkey, Bush is 50% more popular than in Mexico, gaining a large 6% "positive" rating. However, there were quite a few who were not so sure about George, and 82% responded "negative;" the largest negative response in any country surveyed...

Suzy Wells

Suzy Wells

My most favorite singer and songwriter, Suzy Wells, has a blog where she is keeping a daily log during the recording of a new album. (Make sure to check out the daily pictures!!!)

Suzy is one of the most annoitned and powerful singers I've ever heard. She currently only has one album out: "Simple" but that one album is one of my very favorites in my extensive collection of albums and CD's. (Yes, I still own vinyl!)

I higly recommend Suzy to anyone who likes awesome worship music.

Syria could be next...

Well, I was wrong. The next target of the United States military might is NOT going to be Iran. It seems as if there is a place on earth that is causing us even more headaches than the ayatollahs in Tehran...

Barbara Lerner in her article Setting Sights on Syria makes a case for the USA to invade Syria. Well, maybe not invade, but perhaps flex a little military muscle in their general direction...

It is no secret to anyone who's been watching the international scene for the past three decades or so that Syria is the #1 hotspot for the recruitment, arming and training of all sorts of terrorists. Just ask anyone who lives in Israel.

There is good reason to believe that Syria is also helping out with the car bombings and terror incidents that are a daily part of life in Iraq. If we want to "drain the swamp" of terrorism, it does little good to send forces into Afghanistan and Iraq and leave places like Syria and Iran untouched. (There's other non-military ways that we are dealing with other hotbeds of fantaticism like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt...)

Terrorism is not something that involves just one or two countries, but is an epidemic that is truly global in scope, and has especially found good soil in the 10-40 window. If the western world (a.k.a. "United States") wants to deal decisively with terrorism, it will have to ignore soveriegn boundaries, especially if those boundaries are being used to shield those that need to be brought to justice...wether it's Iran or Ireland...

In order to effectively fight terrorism, it may also take the resurrection of a type of warfare that not many people would like to see come back to life: total warfare. Let's pray it doesn't come to that...

Aircraft Carriers are not just for fighting wars...

USS Abraham Lincoln

W. Thomas Smith, in his article Angels With Rotary Wings points out something that isn't being taken into consideration by most of those frantic about doing something to help the victims of the recent Indian Ocean tsunami: those people who were some of the first on the scene, and doing the most to help the victims, were members of the United States military. Surprise, surprise.

The centerpiece of this effort is an aircraft carrier battlegroup. The American Navy has lots of helicopters, and when deailing with a large-scale humanitarian crisis, helicotpers are the prefered method of transportation, evacuation, supply, and support. As soon as the US Navy realized what sort of disaster occured in the Indian Ocean, a carrier battle group was immediately dispatched to provide whatever aid and comfort possible. Also, an amphibious warfare battle group was also sent, who's flagship is a large helicopter carrier!

Together, all these ships, planes, helicotpers, men and supplies represents tens of BILLIONS of dollars in equipment and resources, all working solely for the aid and comfort of the tsunami surviors.

This terrible disaster is an excellent demonstration of the power and usefulness of an aircraft carrier. One of the most awesome and expensive weapons of war is now being used--and quite sucessfully at that--to bring aid and comfort to a hurting people. A floating airport of helicopters! But air support isn't it's only contribution: the shipboard water purification plant is being used to create 400,000 gallons of water each day; a critical function when local water supplies have been contaminated. Of course this isn't the first time an American aircraft carrier has been used for humanitarian purposes, but this disaster, because of it's wide scope and nearness to coastal areas, showcases the charitable contributions of seapower unlike any other.

It is only fitting that the lead flagship of the carrier battlegroup is the aircraft carrier named the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Aliens Cause Global Warming

An excellent speach given by Michael Crichton of "Jurassic Park" fame can be found here: Caltech Michelin Lecture: "Aliens Cause Global Warming "

The point of the speech: most news making science is junk, including global warming. There is no real science to global warming, just fear and speculation wrapped in the cloak of "science."

Very interesting read....and an accurate criticism.

"radical Moroccan pizza deliverer"

Oh no.. it's come to this...

The radicals Muslims in the Nederlands (a.k.a. "Holland") were planning to attack the red-light district in Amsterdam. However, the guy sent to recon the area, described as a "radical Moroccan pizza deliverer" was found out before the attack was launched.

Let's just hope that this doesn't lead to radical Algerian fry cooks attempting to get jobs at the Amersterdam McDonald's...

Daily Kos: "Pentagon: Bush's 'hypocrisy' lost us hearts and minds"

An interesting article from Daily Kos:"Pentagon: Bush's 'hypocrisy' lost us hearts and minds"

The bottom-line is that going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan was very unpopular in the Muslim world, and the big-wigs in the Pentagon have the poll results to prove it.

While most of us may think that this is only stating the obvious, it is interesting to read the conclusions posted by Kos and his followers...

Peace in the MId-East? No, not really...

Well, no surprise here, but it might be to some...

Seems as if the Palestinians really don't want peace after all (only the most extreme left-wing idiot ever thought there was even a chance of it...) but instead are just buying time until they can deal a death blow to Israel.

In his article "The False Dawn of Peace,": "Steven Stalinsky states the following:

"Some members of the Palestinian establishment close to Arafat are now stating in public that he never really wanted peace, and instead considered the Oslo Accords a strategy to destroy Israel in phases. It was reported on November 21 that Abd Al-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, discussed a meeting he held with Arafat shortly before the latter's return to Gaza from Tunis. When Atwan criticized the Oslo Accords, Arafat reassured him: 'The day will come when you will see thousands of Jews fleeing Palestine. I will not live to see this, but you will definitely see it in your lifetime. The Oslo Accords will help bring this about.'

The moral of the story: never trust a terrorist...

It's a Dan-derful Life

The Ra^thergate scandal at CBS is the gift that keeps on giving....

Recently, Dan Rather announced his resignation from CBS, no doubt due to his passing off very bogus forgeries of George W Bush's National Guard documents as real news.

Well, David Burge at the 'Iowahawk' blog has now come out with a wonderful paradoy of Ra^thergate based on the great holiday movie "It's a Wonderful Life." The title: It's a Dan-derful Life

Highly recommended!

Is Iran Next???

On the blog of Marc Van Der Woode, Marc and I had a discussion about the evils of depleted uranium ammunition that is commonly used by American forces, especially by the M-1 tank and the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft. You can read Marc's postings and my comments here:Marc's Messages: Injustice in Iraq#comments

In the course of the discussion, Marc asked me: "What country will be next on Bush's pre-emptive strike list?" I said I thought Iran or North Korea, but serious doubted that either would be hit by anything more than a rapid strike, not invasion.

Well, Michael Leeden of National Review Online talks in his article Europe's Ritual Dance about how Europe's appeasment efforst concering the Iranian nuclear bomb program may in fact be working to the Iranian's advantage, as Iran stalls for more and more time. It's as if France, Germany and the UK are all tyring to do their best imitation of Neville "Peace in our time" Chamberlain.

Our one REAL hope: a military strike on the reactor used to create the uranium. (Just don't ask the Isrealis to do it...) But of course a damaged reactor will not cease a weapons program, just delay it. Perhaps the real answer is a regime change in Iran...

"Thanksgiving" born out of Civil War

The American holiday of "Thanksgiving," which traces it's roots back to the pilgrims that first landed in Massachusettes in the 1620's, really wasn't all that popular of a holiday for the first century of American history. It was widely celebrated in it's state of origin: Massachusettes, but only a few other states had a "Thanksgiving" celebration with turkey and all the trimmings.

The day started becoming a national day of celebration during the American Civil War. It was President Abraham Lincoln who was urged to issue a proclomation declaring the last Thursday of November as a national day of "Thanksgiving" in 1863, just a few months after the decisive Union victories at Gettysburg, PA and Vicksburg, MS.

In 1864, Lincoln again issued a proclomation calling for a national day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November, but something extraordinary happened that turned it into a lasting national tradition.

A man in New York, first only known by the initials "GWB," decided that the troops serving on the front lines should be able to partake in a Thanksgiving feast like those celebrated in the northeast. So he and a group of others arranged for massive amounts of turkeys, chickens, apples, and other food be transported to the Union forces in Virginia. Talk about a moral booster! The food drive for the soldiers was a tremendous success, and served to unify the Union in a way that all other attempts failed to do. (Students of history understand that the "Union" was anything but during the first several years of the Civil War...)

For more about this interesting story, click here: James S. Robbins on Thanksgiving & War (National Review Online)

What I REALLY want for Christmas...

Santa Fe 0-6-0T "Docksider" Steam Engine

If any of your out there in Bloggerland are wondering what to get me for Christmas, I'd really like a Lionel Santa Fe 0-6-0T "Docksider" steam engine (Lionel Part# 6-28624) with the new, improved electronic whistle and realistic smoke coming from the smoke stack.

Unfortunately they are hard to find on the Internet, but any authorized Lionel dealer in your neighborhood would be happy to order one for you.

And for those who are feeling a little extra generous, a matching caboose would be nice...(scroll down the page to see it...)

WorldNetDaily: American Christians to prevent 'Eurabia'? Geopolitical expert Jack Wheeler sees AMERICAN missionaries rescuing Europe"

Here's a very interesting article I found at the WorldNetDaily site: American Christians to prevent 'Eurabia'?:

Dr. Jack Wheeler is one of the most interesting and original people you're ever likely to come across. He, like many other people, are seeing that Europe is endangering iteself by trying to align itself with the Arab Middle-East, and allowing the immigration of Muslims into their countries in ever increasing numbers.

Of course Islam isn't Europe's only problem, their famed "tolerance" is just a code word for what is more correctly termed hedonism. As history has demonstrated repeatedly, hedonism is the highway to destruction. You think the lesson of Sodom and Gamorah would ring some bells, but then again you'd have to be familiar with the Bible to know that story, and too many Europeans wish to distance themselves from the Bible or any other book that might place limits on their immoral behavior.

Every Christian minister I know of who has extensively traveled and visited Europe says the same thing: it's a religious and moral wasteland. That's not to say there's not some very committed and caring Christians in Europe, but rather that there influence is small, if not irrelevant.

So what is Dr. Wheeler's prescription for dealing with the moral demise of Europe? Christian missionaries from AMERICA!!! Sounds strange, I know, but his argument is a good one.

The reason why Islam is becoming increasingly militant and hostile to just about every other culture and religion on the planet is due to their sending out "missionaries" who are spreading the "gospel" of militant Islam. It is no secret that the Suadis are the chief financiers of this effort.

So, if Islamic missionaries can have such a major impact for evil, perhaps American Christian missionaries can have the same impact for good!

While I'm sympathetic to Dr. Wheeler's plan, I personally believe that the Europeans are far too complacent about their slow, steady decline to want to change. But it wouldn't hurt to offer them a choice...

The Key-Holders

There is a remarkable story about Afghanistan published by James S. Robbins of National Review Online.

It seems that before the trouble with the Soviet invansion and subsequent trouble with the Taliban, the Kabul Museum of Afghan history had a tremendous collection of artifacts that spanned thousands of years of history, and were worth many millions of dollars.

Of course war came to Afghanistan, and the museum was looted, bombed, and generally neglected. The artwork and treasures gone, and most people thought gone for good.

But a remarkable thing has happened....the museum has re-opened, and the treasures and artwork thought completely lost are now coming back to the museum! How is this possible? The key is an Afghan tradition known as the "key-holder."

To read about this remarkable story, click here: National Treasures -Preserving Afghanistan's history