Paul Little writes: Cognitive dissonance describes that uncomfortable feeling we get when reality doesn't match what we believe. And isn't that most of the time?

Somehow the word 'American' makes it not only acceptable but epic, admirable, even glorious and certainly ordained by a Christian God, especially given that Clint Eastwood directed.

New Zealand troops are preparing for a two-year tour in Iraq to help the fight against Islamic State. This is what they are up against.

When I was a young, innocent choirboy, I was acutely aware of the stern rhetoric on the perils of sin, delivered by my local Anglican vicar.

An Anglican cleric who controversially told Jews last month the holocaust "should have taught them a lesson" has been stripped of his title as bishop.

If Anthony Green had his way he wouldn't tell anyone about his religion.

"I am a Muslim. I am labelled as a terrorist. I trust you. Do you trust me? Give me a hug." And with that, Mustafa Mawla waited for someone to hug him.

A New Zealander who advises Pope Francis on combating sexual abuse has criticised the pontiff's support of smacking children.

Saudi officials deny they blurred out US First Lady Michelle Obama, but her decision not to wear a headscarf, and don blue, not black at the late King's funeral, is controversial.

For the dwindling band who still remember the horrors, it was possibly the last time they would gather to remind the world of their story.

The first female Church of England bishop described her consecration service as an “occasion of prayer and of party”.

In Europe and even parts of the United States, Jews report rising levels of the "oldest hatred". And we aren't immune from the subject here in New Zealand, writes Inge Woolf.

Women are far more likely to believe in God than men, a major study of attitudes among middle-aged Britons has found.

At least 10 people have been killed in violent protests in the West African nation of Niger over the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.

The role of British female jihadists in inciting terrorism in the UK has been uncovered by the ICSR which has identified a group of around 30 female Britons based in northern

Freedom of expression requires there to be a freedom not to say, not to publish certain things.

Pope Francis has said there are limits to freedom of expression and that anyone who ridicules someone else's religion could deserve a punch.

The devastated father of France's most wanted woman has handed himself in to police, declaring: "That is my daughter."

A samba school has honoured Pope Francis during the opening of a hugely popular carnival in Argentina.

A samba school has organised an unusual show to honour Pope Francis during the opening of a hugely popular carnival in Argentina.

France has responded to the murderous assaults on journalists, police and Jews with an outpouring of grief and national unity, yet once the emotions recede it faces the harder task of neutralising....

When it comes to home-grown anti-Semitism, France leads the world, writes Stephen Pollard.

The first pictures of three of the four hostages killed in yesterday's kosher supermarket siege in Paris have emerged.

The wife of the Paris supermarket gunman may be in Syria, police sources have said.

Police were fed intelligence about the Charlie Hebdo gunmen’s hideout in Dammartin-en-Goele by a graphic designer hiding under a sink.

The New Zealand Jewish Council released a statement in which it 'unequivocally condemned' the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Two days of manhunts and sieges came to an abrupt and violent end in the space of just five minutes.

Police are hunting the 'wife' of the Kosher supermarket hostage killer who is believed to be 'armed and dangerous' - and told officers she was radicalised by 'American's massacring innocents'.

The radical preacher was convicted of trying to set up al-Qaeda training camp