Stories about Religion from December, 2008
A Caribbean Christmas
'Tis the season - and nowhere celebrates Christmas quite like the Caribbean! Here's a glimpse into what bloggers are doing to get into the spirit of the festivities...
Pakistan: Love Of Arabian Language
The view from behind my specs… comments: “everyone in Pakistan seems to have some strange affiliation with the Arabic language.” Read the post to learn why.
Iran: Muslim Bloggers site was hacked
We read [fa] in Iran based Muslim Bloggers site that it was hacked a few days ago while it had launched a campaign to support Gaza Strip people. It seems that several other conservative sites such as Shiayan recently were hacked in Iran.
Saudi Arabia: The return of public cinemas?
Public cinemas have been banned in Saudi Arabia for the last 30 years, and if residents of the kingdom want to watch films on the big screen, they travel to nearby Bahrain or the UAE. However, last week in Jeddah a film was screened publicly for a mixed-sex audience. In this post we hear what Saudi blogs have to say on the subject.
Jamaica: Christmas Present
All blogger Long Bench wants for Christmas is “a public apology from Bruce Golding for how he and his government have been a spectacular failure and embarrassment to Jamaicans in 2008.”
Israel: Decking the Halls in the Holy Land
“We ended up doing the ultimate Christmas thing in the Holy Land,” muses Anglosaxy. “Eating felafel, made by Israeli Arabs, sat next to a hungry pack of street cats…the kids enjoyed themselves anyway!”
Israel: Celebrating Hanukkah with YouTube
Every year at this time, Jews look forward to Hanukkah, the festival of lights. Jacob Richman posts a list of 70 Hanukkah videos on YouTube, among them is an old favorite: Adam Sandler's “Hanukkah Song.”
Looking at Egypt's First Female Mayor
Eva Habil, a 53 year-old Christian lawyer, became Egypt’s first female mayor on December 14, representing Komboha, a rural town in conservative Upper Egypt with a Coptic majority community. Yusra of Muslimah Media Watch wrote: Habil, whose father was mayor of Komboha, beat out five male candidates, including her younger...
Serbia: Sveti Nikola
A Yankee-in-Belgrade writes about celebration of St. Nicholas Day in Serbia.
Pakistan: Letting The Children Watch The Slaughtering of Animal
Achelois: a retired goddess comments on the animal sacrifice in Islam and the tradition of letting children watch the slaughtering: “I believe that there is no need or reason for us to show animals being killed to young children.”
Burkina Faso: Fulani Christian Convention
Keith blogs about Fulani Christian Convention in Burkina Faso: “Tonight was the start of the conference for Fulani believers of Oudalan, our province, in the north-east of Burkina
Cameroon: Africa's “Liberation Theologian” Jean-Marc Ela dies
Dibussi Tande of Scribbles from the den writes about Father Jean Marc Ela who died in Canada on the 14th of December. He was variously been described as “the nearest Africa has come to a liberation theologian in a Latin American sense “, the “Champion of a theology under the...
Dominica: The Buggery Law
As HIV infection rates continue to climb, Dominica Weekly says: “The point is our politicians, religious leaders and community health experts must learn how to bury their differences and find multi-divided solutions to the HIV/AIDS problem.”
Letters of a sufi saint of Bengal
MysticSaint at Inspirations and Creative Thoughts shares the hundred letters of Sharafuddin Maneri, the sufi saint of Bengal.
Puerto Rico: Taino Elder Passes On
The Voice of the Taino People Online respectfully bids farewell to the late Boriken Taino community elder and spiritual leader, Ángel Manuel Galagarza.
Bahamas: Debate Over Death Penalty
Doing Theology from the Caribbean republishes a letter from the family of a murder victim arguing “that killing murderers is not the solution to murder”, despite recent protests to resume the death penalty in the Bahamas.
Iran: Blogger was sentenced to more than 2 years prison
Several Iranian news sites such as Amir Kabir[fa], a student site, reported Omid Reza MirSyafi,Iranian blogger and journalist, was sentenced to 36 months prison. He was accused of insulting Iranian religious leaders and doing propaganda against Islamic Republic.
India: Builders’ Boycott Of The Muslim
AnIndianMuslim.com reports that about 300 real estate brokers in Surat, India decided to stop buying, selling or renting any property to Muslim.
Israel: No Limit Texas Dreidel
My Right Word explains the rules for No Limit Texas Dreidel, combines the traditional dreidel game with Texas Hold'em poker.
Israel: Chrismukkah
Jewlicious comments on the new interfaith phenomena of Chrismukkah (a combination of Christmas and Hanukkah) that “is supposed to be a warm event that celebrates tolerance and diversity, but all to often, multi-faith marriages leave the children confused or annoyed and what is meant to inspire diversity ends up inspiring...
Bahamas: Sour Santa
Simon, blogging at Bahama Pundit, is convinced that Santa Claus is vex.
