· June, 2008

Stories about Religion from June, 2008

Cuba: The Church and Gay Rights

  26 June 2008

The Cuban government's growing support for gay rights is drawing criticism from the island's Roman Catholic Church. Protest is good, says Uncommon Sense, but the Church has it all wrong on this issue.

Caucasus: Religious Practices Update

Social Science in the Caucasus provides an update on its survey of religious practices in the South Caucasus. The blog of the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) says that women place more significance on the importance of religion in their lives than men.

Morocco: The Fez Festival of World Sacred Music

As the 14th annual Fez Festival of World Sacred Music comes to a close, bloggers – both Moroccan residents and travelers – share their experience with this year's festival. The View from Fez bloggers, who were fortunate enough to be in the thick of things for all of the festival,...

Caucasus: Religious Practices

Social Science in the Caucasus examines data on religious practices in the region. The blog of the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) uses its own data to assess the importance of religion in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. According to the survey from last year, respondents in Georgia were more numerous...

Trinidad & Tobago: Praise Song

  23 June 2008

Four Fingers and a Thumb 2.0 is stirred by a hymn being played by a steelband, reminding her of the “magically bizarre wonderful place” that is Trinidad.

China: New website for a free Tibet

  19 June 2008

“With the start of the Beijing Olympics less than 50 days away,” writes cold mtn at the Tibet Will Be Free blog, Students for a Free Tibet is stepping up its Olympic campaign efforts with a new website. Check out their new strategy and video here.

Haiti: Jean-Juste Charges Dropped

  19 June 2008

Blog de Port-au-Prince is happy to report that all charges against Father Gerard Jean-Juste (the Catholic priest who is a prominent supporter of Famni Lavalas, the political party of ousted Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide) have been dropped.

Iran: Citizen Media Sex Scandal

Earlier this month, students at Zanjan University in North-West Iran recorded and uploaded a video of their school's vice president, Hassan Madadi, with his shirt unbuttoned, allegedly preparing to have sex with a female student. Several Iranian websites and blogs say the female student had alerted her university's Islamic Student...

Morocco: The Fez Festival of World Sacred Music

As the 14th annual Fez Festival of World Sacred Music comes to a close, bloggers – both Moroccan residents and travelers – share their experience with this year's festival. The View from Fez bloggers, who were fortunate enough to be in the thick of things for all of the festival,...

Lebanon: Wilayat el Faqih

MFL wrote an informative study on the controversial issue of Wilayat el Faqih, that is currently taking up much of the political discussions in Lebanon, in an article he titled “Iran, Wilayat el Faqih, and Historical Facts.”

Palestine: Obama on Jerusalem as Undivided

Barack Obama's pledge on June 11th to AIPAC that Jerusalem should be Israel's undivided capital has angered Palestinian officials. President Mahmoud Abbas made a statement that Obama's pledge is “totally rejected,” while Saeb Erekat, an Abbas aide, said that Palestinian negotiators would continue to insist upon East Jerusalem as the...

Algeria: Muslims and Education

Muslims in Europe and America prefer to study engineering, biology, business, pre-medical/pre-dental, and other such majors while Art, English, art history, political science, and general studies are frowned upon or even viewed contemptuously, says Algerian blogger Nouri.

Walk like an Egyptian … Marry like an Egyptian

Why are Egyptian men so special? Why is marrying a foreigner shunned by society? And how difficult it is for an Egyptian woman married to a foreigner to obtain an ID card in Egypt? Marwa Rakha looks at the experiences of Egyptian female bloggers living abroad for answers to these questions and more.

Bahamas: Somewhere Over The Rainbow

  12 June 2008

“The conversation about the rights of gays and lesbians in this country is stuck in a Christian fundamentalist scriptural war that cannot see gays and lesbians, bisexuals or transgender people as integral to the wide spectrum of human existence”: The Gaulin Wife writes a stirring tribute to slain AIDS activist...