· July, 2010

Stories about Religion from July, 2010

Trinidad & Tobago: Up Paramin Way

  30 July 2010

“This village is stunning – the scenery, the variety of panoramic views, and even the crops on the steep hillside are mesmerising”: MEP Caribbean Publishers visits the village of Paramin, “one of the few communities where some of the older residents still speak French patois.”

Is Religion Good for China?

  30 July 2010

Kai Pan looks into the blooming of Christianity in China in recent years and addresses the question on whether religion is good for China.

Brazil: Disgust at prejudice against atheists on live TV

  30 July 2010

Robson Fernando comments [pt] on a declaration of the police-show host José Luiz Datena who has “associated atheists and disbelief in God with everything that sucks” and said that “Atheists have no moral boundaries, the most brutal crimes are linked to the ‘lack of God in the heart'” on live...

Israel: “Oliver Stone is a Nutcase”

“Oliver Stone is a nutcase,” announces Yael, from Life in Israel. “Oliver Stone has come out with some virulently anti-semitic comments, claiming that Jews control the media, downplayed the Holocaust, defended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and complained about Jewish influence in the United States…” she continues.

Chile: Controversy Over Pardon Proposal by Catholic Church

  27 July 2010

The Chilean Catholic Church has announced a proposal regarding the need to pardon certain people convicted of crimes on humanitarian grounds. The proposal has sparked debate on the Chilean blogosphere, as the original request could have included a pardon for those convicted of human rights abuses during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.

Saudi Arabia: Dear Moron

In Saudi Arabia, all businesses shut down during prayer times. Ahmed Al-Omran sends out the following tweet: “Dear moron at post office who refused to serve me b/c “it's prayer time,” 1) u r a disgrace to this religion, & 2) I paid for this service.”

Egypt: Liberals mourn the death of Dr. Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid

Dr. Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, a prominent Egyptian scholar once accused of apostasy for his contemporary interpretation of Islam, has died on July 5, 2010. He was 66. Officials at the Cairo hospital where Abu Zeid had been receiving treatment for the past two weeks said he died Monday from a brain infection. Liberal Egyptian bloggers mourn his death.

Egypt: Niqab ban in France stirs controversy

The lower house of the Spanish Parliament is debating a proposal to prohibit the wearing of body-covering burqas and face-covering niqabs in all public spaces in Spain, and the French parliament just approved a ban on niqabs (face veils). Bloggers from across the Middle East react.

Russia: Anti-Religious Online Group Closed

“Antireligion” group in the social network “Vkontakte“, with more than 8000 members, had been closed and its content deleted, ru_antireligion reports [RUS]. Prosecutor's office, that was checking the group for extremism [RUS], recognized photos of t-shirts with slogans “Orthodoxy or Death” [EN] as “extremist” and obliged administration of “Vkontakte” to...

Pakistan: Perceptions And Accountability

  22 July 2010

Kiss My Roti says that the perceptions of “terrorism” and militant violence in Pakistan is shaping the social, political and cultural response to it by the Pakistanis. The blogger asserts the need for “a paradigm shift in narratives from assigning blame to accepting responsibility”.

Russia: ‘Orthodoxy or Death’ to Degenerate Art?

"Orthodoxy or death!" is the war cry sounded in recent weeks as forces of religious reaction have entered into fierce battle with liberal arts, in an apparent Russian parallel to the Muhammad cartoon case. The cause of conflict is the trial and conviction of two art curators for a 2007 Moscow exhibition of contemporary art.