Stories about Religion from February, 2008
Lebanon: Danish Cartoons Again
“Oh, no. Not again. Not Danish cartoons. Ayatullah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah sent an official letter to the Danish government regarding Danish cartoons (not pastries). He express his concern that “some Jewish sides that are linked to International Zionism” may be behind Danish cartons,” announces The Angry Arab News Services.
Turkey: Hijab Ban Lifted
Erkan's field diary discusses Turkey's lifting of the headscarf (Hijab) ban in his country.
Kosovo: Views from the Russophone Blogosphere
According to the Yandex Blogs portal, over 3,700 posts on Kosovo independence have appeared in the Russian-language blogosphere in the past three days. Some of these posts have received dozens, if not hundreds, of comments. Below are a few snippets of this lively discussion, all translated from Russian.
Lesotho: Missionary healers
Black Looks opinions about missionary healers in Lesotho: “The clip shows Basotho being healed miraculously. The clip shows the visitors, the healers, through the grace of God, giving sick Basotho their sight back, their legs, their hearing. And it shows the healers insisting that the healees have now been forgiven...
Bahamas: Legalize It?
“The legalization of this habit will not lead to an exponential rise in the number of gamblers. It will, however, allow government to fund programmes that can have a positive impact on our youth…”: Craig Butler at Bahama Pundit blogs about legalizing gambling – and Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com thinks...
Somalia: Can a hijab-wearing blogger get a respectable job in the US?
This is our second roundup of Somali blogs discussing various topics including Somali politics, the challenges of wearing a hijab in the United States and the first Somali female pilot.
Kyrgyzstan: Church Wants to Sue LGBT Organization
GenderStan informs the readers that Russian Ortodox Church of Kyrgyzstan allegedly plans to sue “Labrys”, an NGO dedicated to LGBT rights, following the organization's press conference, where an LGBT-friendly priest Maksim from Apostolic Orthodox Church spoke about his church’s views on homosexuality.
Qatar: Who Speaks for Muslims?
PM, from Qatar, shares with us a digest of a talk she attended entitled Who Speaks for Muslims.
Egypt: Dov'è L'Amore
Last Thursday was Valentine's Day, and for sure Egyptian bloggers couldn't miss such opportunity without writing about it, or even dedicating a special recipe of a Chocolate Pie for this occasion and calling it "The meal of Love". Tarek Amr has more.
Sudanese Blogosphere Reaches New Milestone
The Sudanese blogosphere is starting to build momentum. Blogs written in English are quite active now, showing the genuine, diverse and raw face of Sudan to the world. On the other hand, blogs written in Arabic have mushroomed at another corner of this vast online space.
Lebanon: Two Republics; One Country
“It is official: Lebanon is now made of two separate and distinct republics: a Sunni republic versus a Shi`ite republic, and each republic enjoys an outside regional and international patron. The Christians and Druzes are mere bystanders,” writes Lebanese commentator Asad Abu Khalil.
Middle East: Protesting Love
Valentine's Day has come and gone, but in the Middle East, the debate still continues on whether it is an occasion which should be celebrated or shunned. With both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait warning against Valentine's Day celebrations, bloggers had a lot to talk about.
Armenia: Trndez
Today might have been St. Valentine's day, but in Armenia it was also Trndez, an ancient pagan festival now absorbed into the Christian calendar. Posts from Armenia, a Peace Corps blog, posts an account of the festival.
Bangladesh: The cartoon. Again!
Inspirations and Creative Thoughts isn't pleased with newspapers republishing the Danish Muhammad cartoon.
Jamaica: “InI”
Through the music of Bob Marley, Jamaican Geoffrey Philp examines the roots of Rastafarianism.
Bahrain: Response to Hezbollah leader's death
Hezbollah has wide support in Bahrain, and there has been an immediate response to the news of the death of Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hezbollah leader, reports Ayesha Saldanha.
Egypt: Copts on Al Jazeera
“Al-Jazeera English ran some rare incisive coverage of Coptic issues in Egypt a few days ago, good questions from the interviewer (notably on the census and church-building) with interesting interventions by Michael Mounir, the prominent US-based Coptic activist,” notes The Arabist, from Egypt, and links to the video here.
Algeria: On Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Algerian Nouri discusses his views on Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Albania: Renovation of the Lead Mosque
Living in Shkoder writes about plans to renovate the Lead Mosque: “Built towards the end of the 1700’s this is one of the few mosques that were not destroyed around 1967, when Enver Hoxha’s communist government declared Albania an “atheistic country” and banned all religious meetings and literature.”
Bahamas: Sexual Crimes
Craig Butler blogs about sexual crimes in the Bahamas.
India: Religion and the U.S
Indian Muslims Blog explores the issue of religion in the presidential election in the U.S.
