· May, 2006

Stories about Religion from May, 2006

Thailand: Trouble in the South

  22 May 2006

Andrew Biggs writes about a north Thai school teacher who became a victim of religious divide in the deep south of Thailand. Most of Thailand is Buddhist while the southern provinces close to Malaysia have sizeable Muslim population. Religion based violence has flared up often in these areas in recent...

Indonesia: Bali Weddings

  22 May 2006

Many foreign couples go to Bali to get married attracted by the traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. Indcoup warns that such a marriage may not be legal in the west. “You may think you’ve been married, but if you’ve only done the religious part, and the extremely complex bureaucratic procedures –...

Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica: Remembering ancestors

  22 May 2006

At The Pan Collective, Trinidadian Attillah Springer describes the Ifa ancestral ceremony held yesterday on the third anniversary of her grandmother's death. “We sang for her. Cooked her favourite foods. Cried a bit and missed her dry humour terribly. And in the end the Iya cast the obi. The offering...

Turkey is Typing….

Blogging is one of the ultimate expressions of free speech, although it has been questioned as one of the deadly sins (as it serves the writer's vanity): blogging and the conversation that it creates about free speech is paramount in our modern world. This week an event in Turkey occurred...

The Movie “Da Vinci Code” in South East Asia

  21 May 2006

As the movie “Da Vinci Code” starts its run across South East Asia, there have been protests and calls by Christian groups asking the governments to ban the movie. In Philippines, the capital City of Manila went ahead with the ban. Yvette on her MySpace blog is disappointed with the...

Thailand: No censorship for “Da Vinci Code”

  20 May 2006

Andrew is happy that Thailand will not censor the movie “Da Vinci Code” after all. “Yesterday it was announced that the final ten minutes of the Da Vinci Code would not be cut. Hooray! This is a victory for common sense.”

Bangladesh: Loss of secularism

  19 May 2006

Drishtipat reflects on the loss of secularism in Bangladesh, seeing the example of Nepal revising its constitution. “After 15th August 1975, we lost one of the greatest assets of our natonal idenitity, i.e. our constitutional declaration of secularism.”

Trinidad and Tobago: Visit from a televangelist

  19 May 2006

Rentaempress takes on Benny Hinn, the American televangelist visiting Trinidad this weekend. “The last time he was here he made all sorts of pronouncements about how many demons he had to cast out,” she says. “I'm damn vexed … that we still haven't emancipated ourselves from this colonial mentality.”

China: Catholics demand film ban

  19 May 2006

Journalist-blogger uleewang at Non-violent Resistance posts on the joining by mainland Chinese Catholics of the protest against the newly-released Hollywood film The Da Vinci Code and their demand it be banned: “[W]ho knows, common resistance against the movie may help bring up the flirtation already going on between the Chinese...

China: To hell with the Vatican

  18 May 2006

Simon at Simon World looks at the Chinese government's decision this week to spurn the Vatican and appoint their own Bishops: “Naturally, this debate boils right down to control over Chinese civil society, and whether the Chinese government will tolerate any form of civil pluralism or alternate authority hierarchies in...

Sudan: No religious freedom

  18 May 2006

Sudanese Thinker reports on the arrest of a priest for “kidnapping” a Muslim apostate who went to see him on her own. He comments that religious freedom is supposedly enshrined in the constitution – “enshrined my foot”

Russia: Orthodox Baptism Ceremony

Browler attends a Russian Orthodox baptism ceremony of a friends’ baby and shares his impressions: “All the children being baptised (there were about seven of them) got quite wet. The priest was sufficiently liberal with his splashing of the holy water. They also had a small bit of hair cut....

Pakistan: Who was Aamir Cheema

  17 May 2006

Lahore Metroblogging on a young student Aamir. “Aamir Cheema was a student in Germany. Apparently he went to assassinate the editor of Die Welt newspaper for publishing the infamous cartoons. Security arrested him in the lobby of the building and he was allegedly carrying a knife and told the police...

Thailand: Boycotting Censored Movie

  17 May 2006

Andrew Biggs in Thailand boycotts the opening of the movie Da Vinci Code. The final 10 minutes of the movie is cut because of protests by Thai Christian groups. Andrew says “I don’t want to offend this group of well-meaning Thai Christians, but really, you have no right to be...

Indonesia: Magic powers

  17 May 2006

Gunung Merapi, a volcano in Indonesia finally started spewing out dangerous gas clouds. Ktemoc writes about some nearby residents who are refusing to leave citing their magical powers that would prevent any harm to them.

Bangladesh: Jesus and Buddha

  16 May 2006

Sadiq Alam after buying a book that talks of the parallels between Jesus and Buddha. “As if i could see them standing on top of the hill, and i could feel the deep warmth of their heart with which they were having their arms around each others’ shoulders, smiling.”

Trinidad: Hanuman murti

  13 May 2006

Hanuman murti, Trinidad. Photo by caribbeanfreephoto Located in Carapichaima, Trinidad, this 85-foot murti representing the Hindu deity Hanuman is reputed to be the largest of its kind outside of India. The murti stands on the grounds of the Dattatreya Yoga Centre and Mandir and attracts devotees offering gifts and performing...