Posts for 'Religious' Category

A former military lawyer who worked in the Reagan administration is filing an unusual lawsuit Mikey Weinstein, who has aroused the ire of religious extremists.

In his capacity as head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has sued Gordon Klingenschmitt and and Jim Ammerman, the founder of.

The Dallas-based Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches for a series of public prayers that call for Weinstein's untimely demise. The Dallas News reports as follows.

Read the complete story

Half of American high-school seniors surveyed recently thought Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple.

A McGill University professor's reference to the patience of Job drew blank stares from students in his religion course.

An art history teacher in France found children were mystified by the "strange bird" (a dove representing the Holy Ghost) common in Renaissance paintings.

Read the complete story

Breckenridge County in Northwest Kentucky, just west of Elizabethtown, played host to a controversial scene that included a mixture of public education, sports and religion.  With Kentucky firmly entrenched in the Bible Belt, it is no wonder that a voluntary bonding trip turned religious stirred a debate.

“Eight or nine” high school students were baptized on a voluntary trip coordinated by their football coach. Not only is the number of students baptized up for argument but also what kind of trip it was, who sanctioned the trip and what happened while on the trip is not clear.

The (Louisville) Courier-Journal first reported this story in its Sunday edition.  The news report said that the majority opinion of those involved in the trip were under the impression that the trip would “include only a motivational speaker and a free steak dinner.”  If this is true, then it is fair to say that the coach had no intention of blurring the divide.

Read the complete story

Spencer Superintendent Greg Ebeling admits that portions of the district's second "religious liberty" draft policy have been taken from other sources and sample policies.

The second draft's author also acknowledges it still needs some wordsmithing, which is currently occurring as feedback is being received from various groups throughout the community.

As it's currently written, the six-page policy has an introductory section which states the district recognizes individuals' inalienable rights embodied in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The policy's introduction goes on to acknowledge that public schools may neither instill nor inhibit religion, but that the northwest Iowa district will uphold the First Amendment by "protecting the liberty rights of students of all faiths and no faith."

Read the complete story

We will make Pakistan a peaceful place to live with interfaith harmony and it should be a compulsory subject. Scholars can play an important role in this regard, it was stated by the Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti while meeting the delegation of Muslim scholars.

He said government trying to form a developed, moderate, having social justice for all and equality base society. Federal Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti narrated that few negative elements who intend to destabilize country by their ill designs. We with the help of religious harmony and brotherhood counter this and defeat these elements. People who believe one Almighty and His Holy Books, cannot enemies of each other. All religions teach humanity, peace, tolerance and love.

Muslim scholars delegation met him to condole Gojra incident. They assured the Federal Minister of their full support and invited him to visit their provinces for this noble cause. Delegation was headed by Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad, Maulana Abul Fateh Chishti, Qari Ikhlaq Madni, Qari Najm-ul-Mustafa, Allama Niaz Hussian Naqvi, Maulana Obaid Ullah, Maulana Anwar-ul-Haq Haqqani, Maulana Rooh Ullah Madni, Maulana Yusuf Anwar, Maulana Qamar Ali, Maulana Mufti Maqbool-ur-Rehman.

Read the complete story

 The government has banned as many as 25 organizations while placing one on watch list under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, Federal Minster for Interior Rehman Malik told the National Assembly on Wednesday.
In written reply to a question, the Minister said that three organizations/entities including Jamaat-ul-Daawa, Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Rashid Trust have been enlisted under the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSC) No 1267 while Sunni Tehrik was placed on watch list.

Malik said that the law-enforcement agencies were watching/monitoring their activity closely in their respective territorial jurisdiction and stern action was taken against those, which indulge in objectionable activities.

He said that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) were banned in 2001 while Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-Taiba, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Jaafria Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi and Tehreek-e-Islami were banned in 2002.

Read the complete story

Look for Pope Benedict XVI to emphasize interreligious cooperation when he visits the Holy Land, May 8-15, says Reverend James Massa, director of the U.S. Bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

Father Massa has studied the thought of Pope Benedict and did his doctoral dissertation on the pope’s earlier theological writings on the ecclesiology of communion before he was elected Pope Benedict. Father Massa noted themes to expect from the papal visit in Media Talk, a backgrounder found on the Media Relations site of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"In all that takes place in these days of pilgrimage, Pope Benedict XVI will invite the followers of all religions to ‘stand together in defending and promoting life and religious freedom everywhere,’” Father Massa said, quoting the pope from his 2008 visit to Washington.

Read the complete story

“No matter how much blood religious extremists shed, we will not migrate from our homeland Pakistan. We are citizens of this country first and a religious minority later,” vowed Sardar Ramesh Singh, Chairman Sikh Naujawan Sabah, at a seminar on ‘Commonalities of Islam and Christianity’ organised by an NGO FAITH (Fight Against Intolerance, Terrorism and Hatred) on Sunday evening.

Members of different faiths came together to condemn the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Swat criticising the NWFP government for ignoring the rights of religious minorities in the region whose cases will now be tried under the Islamic law against their will. Sardar Singh, who was representing the Sikh community, condemned

The kidnapping of a Sikh member for ransom [worth Rs20 million] saying the incident and imposition of Jaziya (Islamic tax) by the Taliban has forced the Sikh community to flee to Lahore, Hasan Abdal, Nanakana District among other parts of Punjab.

Read the complete story

Lighting up a ghee lamp devoutly, turning a prayer wheel slowly and spending a day walking around colored Mani stone mounds -- traveling hundreds of miles from a pasture more than 4,300 m above sea level to the Jiana Mani Stone Mound in Xinzhai Village in Qinghai has become a routine journey for Daluo in spring.

Daluo, 62 years old, is a herdsman in Maduo Township, Qumalai County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China's Qinghai Province. Before the pastures turn green, he and his neighbors once again traveled to Jieshi County that is more than 400 km away from his hometown.

Jieshi County is the capital city of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and also the economic and cultural center of the region. Apart from seeing a doctor, shopping and visiting relatives and friends, the main purpose of Daluo's trip is to visit the Mani stone mounds.

Located in the Xinzhai Village, the Mani stone mounds are 3,600 m above sea level and were started by a prominent monk of Tibetan Buddhism Jiana in year 1700.Mani Stone mounds, or holy stone mounds, are made up of holy stones and accumulated by Lamaism believers as a way to show their belief. The stones are carved with the Lamaist six-syllable mantra prayer or other propitious symbols in Sanskrit or Tibetan, showing Tibetan' goodwill and longing for a happy life.

Read the complete story

In 1912 a researcher named Émile Durkheim published a work which he called “The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life”. To simplify a lot of what he said, it basically boiled down to, the images of religion and God within a society were reflective of the society itself, in a social and political sense. Meaning, our images of God reflect the existing power structure and cultural norms of our society.

Using Europe and the United States as an example, all the popular depictions of important figures such as Jesus or God, are either prohibited by various sects, or they are portrayed as white men. God, when shown, is usually depicted as being older. This reflects a society that is dominated by males, therefore until just recently, God was always referred to in short with “he”, not “she”. There is also a trend in society towards the older, rather than the younger.

Read the complete story