Stories about Religion from February, 2006
Vietnam: Visiting Pagodas
Our Vietnamese God describes visiting pagodas in Vietnam. “Food served at pagodas is usually good, really healthy but a wierd thing is that sometimes they make it into animal shapes, which I'm still confused about.”
Russia: Maslyanitsa
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile writes about Maslyanitsa, a part-pagan, part-Christian holiday, celebrating the arrival of spring and the approach of the pre-Easter fast, and how it is marked in Russia nowadays.
China: Blogger in church
Shanghai-based blogger and Microsoft employee Wang Jianshuo goes to church, and gets something out of the service despite not being a Christian.
Ukraine: Faces and Churches of Lviv
Carpetblogger has visited the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and shares photos of local churches of various denominations and of the creatures that look at you from the buildings.
Iraq in Crisis – The Optimists Strike Back
As the crisis in Iraq rumbles on bloggers are divided on the whether there is civil war and how bad things really are. For the sake of balance here is the reports of those who are looking for lights at the end of the tunnel. If you want to understand...
Voices of African Women Bloggers
Mshairi calls for the abuse of women bloggers to stop! She recalls two recent incidents in the blogosphere where male bloggers “discussed and described women in misogynistic terms.” “The descriptions included ‘ignoramus’, ‘spiteful, angry menopausal bitch’, and ‘ruthless menopausal maniac’. All that remained was the blogger to call the woman...
A Look at the Syrian Blogsphere
After a tense month of anti-violence campaigns, the Syrian blogsphere seemed to be quite calm this week… Discussions revolved about the new step from the US to give a $5 million to promote democratic governance and reform in Syria. While Joshua Landis of SyriaComment.com sees this step as a good...
Iran: Moslems & Buddha
HasanAgha asks Shiites Moslems (Persian) who are protesting against destruction of their shrine, why they did nothing when Taliban government in Afghanistan demolished Buddha’s statues in Bamyan?
India: Hinduism and Others
India: Hinduism and Others
Nigeria: Islam & Violence
Chippla writes on Islam and Violence in Northern Nigeria which has once again escalated this time over the Danish cartoons. He wonders if the violence does not hide divisions in Nigerian society…”Why has the lot of Islam in Northern Nigeria become one of violence and intolerance? Does it actually conceal...
Catastrophe in Samarra
I am devoting my Thursday post on Iraqi blogs to the bombing of the Shia Shrine in Samarra and I hope to cover the rest of the Iraqi Blogs in a later report. The subject is serious enough to dominate the Iraqi weblogs. The Shia shrine in Samarra is one...
Pakistan: Role of the Cleric
Pakistan: Role of the Cleric
Israel: A War of Religions? God Forbid!
With all the religiophobia going around, specially when it comes to Palestine/Israel conflict, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, Uri Avnery writes, A War of Religions? God Forbid!
Iraq: Samarra Shrine Destroyed
Men dressed as Iraqi police commandos slipped into Samarra‘s shrine of Imam Hasan al-Askari last night, set explosive and blew it up this morning, causing the golden dome to collapse and with it, hopes for a national unity.
Ukraine: Boston Diaspora Church
Greg of Reflections on Ukraine provides a link to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of St. Andrew in Boston, built in 1954 and serving a Diaspora community whose history goes back to the beginning of the 20th century. The church's calendar has an unlikely feature: an RSS feed.
Tajikistan: Destroying a Synagogue
A Dushanbe expat writing for Registan.net reports on the impending destruction of Tajikistan's only synagogue.
Cambodia: At a Crematorium
travel-itch visits a Buddhist crematorium in Cambodia: “It looked like most Southeast Asian temples: walls of whitewashed concrete topped with curlicues of gilt plasterwork, and shiny bas reliefs jutting out from dark-painted surfaces. But there was a large pile of wizened-looking logs next to it.”
Bahrain: another eventful week in review
an eventful week in Bahrain.. but we've ALMOST moved away from "the cartoons"...
Pakistan: The Undying Debate
Pakistan: The Undying Debate
Thailand: Conquering the Mind
Thai Buddhist blogger Pongsathorn discusses his discovery of two kinds of samatha, or “coercion of our intention to do one single activity.” There is intentional samatha and unintentional samatha. Engaging in both exercises different aspects of the mind, so doing both is beneficial for the spirit. “For samatha without intention,...
Pakistan: Political capital and violence
Pakistan: Political capital and violence
