· July, 2006

Stories about Religion from July, 2006

Zimbabwe: Morgan Tsvangirai speech

  31 July 2006

Eddie Cross on Zimpundit posts in its entirety the speech given by former union leader and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to a National Convention held by Churches in Zimbabwe Saturday to debate the crisis in the country, and the way forward.

Saving Nature

  31 July 2006

KO criticizes the corruption ridden Pakistani politicians for supporting the Pakistan Air Force to acquire land to establish a weapons trial range in the Hingol National Park, the largest National Park in Pakistan. This will drive away the wildlife from the park and the temple of Hinglaj, one of the holiest sites of the Hindus located there will be off limit for the devotees.

Bangladesh: Persecution of the Sufis

  28 July 2006

Sadiq Alam on why the Sufis were persecuted through history. “Because sufis often speak against injustice in the name of religion, they often speak against unjust rulers, they often speak against the unjust social practices.”

Russia, Ukraine: Stories About Words

Below is the translation of three stories about words: in the first one, they are being banned; in the second, they offend; in the third, there aren't enough of them. LJ user plushev, a Russian radio journalist, writes (RUS) about the government's attack on the name of the controversial National...

DRC: Catholic Church Favoring Boycott of Election

  26 July 2006

English-language DRC blogger Le Salon counts down to the July 30th election by reporting on a lukewarm response to Joseph Kabila's visit to the UDPS opposition party stronghold of East Kasai province and by estimating that the Congolese catholic church is by and large encouraging a boycott of the election.

Russia: Disagreements Over Beslan Memorial

Founder of PravdaBeslana.ru Marina Litvinovich (LJ user abstract2001) writes (RUS) about one of the problems that survivors and relatives of those who died in Beslan in September 2004 have to deal with now: Orthodox Christianity in Beslan I've always been amazed by how the local authorities in North Ossetia and...

Trinidad and Tobago: Hare Krishna

  24 July 2006

Rentaempress posts a charming vignette of life in multicultural Trinidad: an encounter with some Hare Krishna devotees. “Trinidad remains sweet and unbelievably bizarre.”

African Women: Call for Nominations

  21 July 2006

African Women posts a call for nominations for the African Women of Distinction book and video exhibition scheduled for December 2006. The aim, the announcement says, is to profile the stories and work of 20 women in Africa who embody the essence of leadership, determination, and innovation in addressing social,...

Islam: Caged Virgin Reviewed

  21 July 2006

Palava Soup posts a review of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book about Muslim women, The Caged Virgin, by British Muslim Fareena Alam, who is impressed neither by its central thesis nor its author's level of scholarship.

Reunion: Moslem Community Rallying Cry

Zarabes writes (Fr): “We members of the moslem community of la Reunion, are watching powerless the current events in Palestine and Lebanon. Tired of the ambiant silence, we ask the various heads of the island's masjids to hold a common discourse next Friday (July 28, 2006) for the salat of...

Iran: No prayer with President

Tehran Shahr reports from Tehran that Resalat Tunnel was inaugurated after 9 years in the presence of President Ahmadinejad, Mayor of Tehran and some conservatives’ personalities such as Mehdi Chamran, Abadgaran party's speaker. The blogger says all reporters were asked not to ask Ahmadinejad any questions. Tehran Shahr says Ahmadinejad...

Iran: What democracy!

Tayebeh Beheshti, a teenage Hezbollah writes she does not understand why some Hezbollah members like to say we have democracy in Iran and we can say what we want! The blogger says it is clear that we do not have a western democracy in Iran and we can not say...

Central Asia: Eurasian Islam

Ataman Rakim argues for a Eurasian Islam that would unite Muslims of the former Soviet Union under a common identity and serve not so much as a formal set of religious and political ideas but instead as a catalyst for social initiatives.

Polish Blogosphere Update

Better late than never… That's what PolBlog hopes bloggers will think in response to its latest foray into blogging technology. Its new “Talk Back Attack” features an audio comment option to put “a voice to the text.” This is how PolBlog explains the new feature: Audio-commenting, as we call it,...