Stories about Religion from June, 2010
Middle East: Goodbye Saramago
Bloggers across the Middle East mourned the death of Portuguese writer Jose Saramago. Tarek Amr rounds up their reactions.
Pakistan: Perils Of Mixing State With Religion
Pakistani blogger Ayesha N. Rashid at Pak Tea House opines that “The 1974 decision to mingle state with religion developed the country (Pakistan) into an intolerant society.”
Serbia: Mufti Zukorlic vs Blic
Belgraded writes about the conflict between the mufti of the Serbian Islamic community and the Blic newspaper.
Pakistan: What Is Blasphemy?
“What is Blasphemy?” This question has been drawn in numerous discussions after the the recent banning of certain websites in Pakistan. Shaista Kazmi & Azhar Aslam at Teeth Maestro has details.
Russia: Cocks and Prayers
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog writes about a “Prayer for the President” and “a kind of re-embrace of Tsarist symbolism” that seems to be taking place in Russia. Julia Ioffe writes at True/Slant about “the Cosmic Cock of War” that was painted on one of St. Petersburg's bridges “in...
Guadeloupe: The Blogging Priest
Each week, a Guadeloupean Catholic priest posts his thoughts about religion, society and his everyday life in a blog named Lemoulefatima [Fr].
Somalia: Death to anyone who watches the World Cup
Watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Somalia could cost your life!
Singapore: Tax on church groups
Recognizing that many church groups are establishing various business establishments, Irreligious from Singapore asks whether it is right to exempt church groups from paying taxes.
India: The Saga Of The Tele-evangelist
Sans Serif highlights the curious case of tele-evangelist Zakir Naik & tele-journalist Shekhar Gupta.
Pakistan: Millat Facebook
Simbsi at Lawanai Sparashawe reviews Millatfacebook, Pakistan's answer to Facebook. An excerpt: “Millatfacebook was a very pathetic attempt to cash in on the anti-Facebook sentiment.”
Russia: New Websites to Promote Modernist Islam
Paul Goble writes [EN] about the launch of two websites islam-portal.ru and soyuzmusulmanok.ru, that promote modernist Islam. Two websites, Goble suggests, illustrate both attempts to seek connections with younger Muslim population, while competing with fundamentalist Islamists, and to prove Tatars as “intellectual leaders of the Muslim umma of Russia”.
Fiji: Priorities questioned for boarding school
Just a week after Fiji's Ratu Kadavulevu School was closed by the health department because its kitchen wasn't up to code, the country's largest boarding school dedicated a new chapel at the cost of about US $500,000. Wendy, writing in the blog Babasiga, asked why the school kitchen wasn't fixed...
Egypt: Scheherazade must Die
Freedom of Expression is taking a beating in Egypt. In a series of lawsuits against writers, Scheherazade of 1001 Nights is now being accused of immorality and some lawyers want her dead - in their call for banning the book!
Egypt: Should Coptic Divorcees Remarry?
The Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court has issued a ruling obliging Coptic Pope Shenouda III to allow Coptic divorcees to remarry. The pope has rejected the ruling. Supporters of the church and promoters of a secular state blogged their opinions.
Cuba: Slow Going
While the Cuban government and the Catholic Church engage in talks, Without Evasion says any developments “are absolutely insufficient and extremely slow with respect to the ultimate objective of the civic resistance of The Ladies in White and Guillermo Fariñas: their definitive liberation.”
Haiti: What Would Jean-Juste Say?
“If father Jean-Juste were alive, what he would say to the earthquake survivors? What he would say to the international and Haitian government bureaucracies?”: Wadner Pierre remembers the late Father Gerard Jean-Juste, whom he describes as “an adoptive father” to him.
Pakistan: Bloggers Reject Religious Hatred
93 innocent lives were lost when the Ahmadiyya religious community was attacked in Lahore around a week ago. Pakistani bloggers, netizens and activists have denounced the attacks in strong words.
Indian Diaspora: Going traditional in Raleigh
In Raleigh, blogger Maddy and his family, on becoming new home owners, decide to do a Ganapathy homam (a Hindu religious ceremony or puja, performed before starting any new venture) as is traditional in South India. Maddy shares with us his interesting experience of doing a traditional puja in North...
Armenia: Stone crosses
Ianyan features a guest post and accompanying audio slideshow on a specific cultural legacy in Armenia — the centuries-old art of carving stone crosses.
Russia: Protest Against Building in the Historical Center of Moscow
Bloggers post photos [RUS] and footage [RUS] of the protests against a building site next to the Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi that is located in the historical district of Moscow [EN]. Moscow authorities deny both the problem and the conflict, while conventional media simply ignore them.
Colombia: Parish Priest from Jongovito Bans Patron Saint Festivities
The news from the parish priest of Jongovito, from the city of San Juan de Pasto, banning the celebration of the festivities of San Pedro y San Pablo (which take place June 29) generated a quick reaction from the blogosphere of this Colombian city.
