Aramaic at the Root of the Koran?

CHIESA.ENGLISH, March 17 — As audiences watch The Passion of the Christ and soak in the ancient Aramaic language in which much of the movie is spoken, little do they know it's also the language that was the root of the Koran, according to a German scholar of ancient languages.

Writing under the pseudonym Christoph Luxenberg, the scholar maintains that Syro-Aramaic-speaking Christians created the Koran to evangelize Arabs.

It's not a popular notion, according to the Italian Website — a few years ago, one of Luxenberg's colleagues dispensing the same ideas at the University of Nablus in Palestine was thrown out the window by his scandalized Muslim students.

In an interview posted on the Website, the author says Christians wrote the book because “at that time, there were no Arab schools — except, perhaps, for the Christian centers of alAnbar and al-Hira, in southern Mesopotamia, or what is now Iraq. The Arabs of that region had been Christianized and instructed by Syrian Christians.

Their liturgical language was Syro-Aramaic. And this was the vehicle of their culture, and more generally the language of written communication.”

United Nations Prepares to Repatriate Sudanese

FIDES, March 18 — The United Nations is set to repatriate approximately 3.6 million Sudanese refugees displaced by 20 years of civil war in their country.

The U.N. High Commission for Refugees has been sur veying refugees and the conditions of their homeland. The refugees' main concerns continue to be safety at home as well as education, medical care, access to water and the possibility of jobs.

The missionary news agency noted that progress in peace talks between the Khartoum government and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement spurred the U.N. commission to establish its presence in southern Sudan after a 14-year absence.

War in Sudan, between the predominantly Muslim-dominated northern portion of the country and the predominantly Christian and animist south, has produced 3 million internally displaced persons and 600,000 refugees in neighboring countries.

As well, 2 million people have been killed in southern Sudan during the conflict.

England Looks to Relax Pornography Laws

SHROPSHIRE STAR (England), March 22 — Teens in England could walk around freely with bags stuffed with “sex toys and dirty videos” if new laws allowing teen-agers as young as 16 to access porn are passed, a local politician has said.

Mid and West Wales assembly member Glyn Davies criticized the laws proposed by Liberal Democrats the weekend of March 20-21.

A spokesman for the Church of England said it opposes all pornography because of issues of exploitation.

“For a political party to say we think 16 is an adequate age to release children on to pornography is irresponsible,” said Angela Perkins of the National Board of Catholic Women. “It's going backward to the 18th century.”

A supporter of the relaxed laws asked why 16- and 17-year-olds could be allowed to have sex, have babies, vote and earn minimum wage but not be allowed to view explicit material, according to the paper.

Currently the legal age for viewing pornography is 18.