Stories about Religion from August, 2007
Russia: Intermarriages
Of the more than 60,000 marriages in Moscow in the first half of 2007, a quarter were between native Muscovites – “typically an ethnic Russian woman – and a citizen of a neighboring country – more often than not a man from Azerbaijan or Central Asia.” Window on Eurasia attempts...
Trinidad & Tobago: Faith and Tolerance
Caribbean Free Radio refers to an article by Nilanjana S. Roy to make a point about tolerance – religious and otherwise – and puts in her two cents’ worth about Trinidad & Tobago's 2007/2008 Budget.
Czech Rebublic: “Imaginary Migrants”
Dr. Sean's Diary writes about the Czech Republic's immigration policies and the president's “imaginary migrants and imaginary Muslims.”
India: Photographs from a temple
Photographs from a temple at Prabhu n Ferrari. “Tiruvalam is around 25 kms from Vellore. There is a very famous Sivan temple there called as ‘Vilvanatheeswarar Devasthanam’. “
Yemen: Shiites,Gaddafi and Saudi Arabia
Yemen's Shiites (Shiayan Yaman) is an Iranian blog covering events in Yemen.The blogger says[Fa] Muammar Gaddafi,the leader of Libya, proposed his help to Malak al-Huthi, Shiite rebel leader,in order to block Saudi Arabia's influence in Yemen.According to the blogger al-Huti has refused any colloboration with Gaddafi.
Iraq: Sectarian Policies
Iraqi Pundit criticises President Nouri Al Malki's policies and brands them as ‘sectarian.’
Turkey: wordpress.com ban inspires firestorm of criticism
Matthew Mullenweg, founding developer of the popular WordPress blogging platform, has received a letter from the lawyers acting on behalf of a Turkish Islamic-creationist, Adnan Oktar, aka Harun Yahya, claiming to be responsible for the blanket ban on blogs hosted on the wordpress.com blogging platform in Turkey. On August 17th, 2007, the Turkish Fatih Second Civil Court of First Instance blocked access to all wordpress.com blogs in response to a suit filed by Adnan Oktar’s lawyers on the grounds that blogs hosted on the platform published allegedly defamatory and “unlawful” statements about their client.
India: Wedding Rituals
Doing Jalsa and Showing Jilpa has a wonderfully flippant and thought provoking post – on challenging rituals and traditions that go into a wedding.
Barbados, Jamaica: One Love
Gallimaufry reports that “The Anglican Church in Jamaica is proposing the addition of songs by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh to its hymnal.”
Iran:Bloggers at Prayer
Khabarnegar Mosalman (means Moslem Reporter) says[Fa] that about 10 days ago, several bloggers came together at Kahfo Al Shohada, a place where five unknown war martyrs are buried, to pray with some Iranian officials and remember the martyrs.
Iran:Too Sexy Photos?
Kamangir says that Fars News site removed a set of pictures taken at a women’s sports event. Apparently, they were too sexy for them.Recently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,Iranian president, said Fars News is his favorite site.You can watch photos here.
Azerbaijan: Islam on the rise?
Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places discusses whether the eclipse of political opposition to the current Azeri government is promoting a surge of radical Islam.
Bahrain: Poetry Slammed!
This week Bahraini bloggers express their concerns about the country's electronic identity cards. With the school year about to begin, education is a hot topic. Be careful what you write when you send a job application – you might unwittingly become one of the new superheroes, The Employables! We finish with some strong opinions regarding the literary scene in Bahrain.
Lebanon: Why Hezbollah Does Not Want an Islamic State
Remarkz analyzes how the confessional system in Lebanon was a major factor behind Hezbollah's evolution into giving up their initial goal of establishing an Islamic state.
Caribbean: Bracing for Hurricane Dean
The Caribbean blogosphere is abuzz over the impending arrival of Hurricane Dean, the first official hurricane of the season: Steve's Dominica reports: “Dean will be passing over us around 6am on Friday. We'll start to feel the winds from midnight tonight…” Steve manages to venture out, however and posts a...
Bangla blogs: It's all about Taslima
On August 9th, the firebrand Bangladeshi author-in-exile Taslima Nasrin was attacked by a group of MIM (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) activists during a function held at the Press Club in Hyderabad, India. The MIM claimed that the author had made offensive statements against Islam during the book release function, thus inciting the...
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to Release Party Platform
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is reportedly about to release the long-awaited platform for its political party, reports Marc Lynch.
Algeria: The Last Jew of Babylon
Nouri from Algeria links to a video which tells the story of the last Jew of Babylon here.
Lebanon: Fatwa to Ban Honor Killings
From rules on how to handle men in Lebanon to the meaning of the name Lamia, we end this round up of Lebanese blogs to a fatwa (religious edict) by a top Shia clergyman which bans honor killings, which he describes as a "repulsive act."
Russia: Part of Europe
Having spent some time in Moscow, Jonathan Power of Wanabehuman became convinced that “the EU must now pick up the unfinished business of modernising and stabilising Russia that ended in 1914. […] Russians, I dare to suggest, would welcome it.”
Lebanon: Analyzing the By–Election Results
Are you interested in finding out the different interpretations for the results of the by–elections held last week in Lebanon? Then you have to read this week’s round up of the Lebanese blogosphere.
