Stories about Religion from August, 2008
Bahamas, Haiti: Migration Nation?
“The capture of hundreds of Haitians arriving by boat on the southern coast of New Providence recently focused new attention on our illegal immigration problem”: Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit maintains that “there are two key immigration issues – stabilising the size of the Haitian community, and integrating long-term Haitian...
Iran:Iran suspended the punishment of death by stoning
A judiciary spokesman said that the punishment of death by stoning has been suspended in Iran.Amatour, an Iranian blogger, calls[Fa] this decision a very good news and remind us that several high ranked clerics have been against stoning.
China: Second Olympic terrorism threat video released
Following last month's Olympics terrorism threat/confession video claiming to be from a group called the Turkestan Islamic Party, another video has been released. Judging from the look of it, this clip will be even less convincing than the one before it. See the Xinjiang-based The New Dominion and The Opposite...
Iraq's Jews
Iraqi blogger Wameeth draws our attention to Iraqi Jews. “Iraqi Jews are one of the most sensitive topics in Iraq, one of largest markets in Iraq in the center of Baghdad trade market is called the Jew market ,it was the center of all the trade in Iraq till the...
Jamaica: Independence Day
Jamaica just celebrated its 46th year of Independence from Britain and several bloggers marked the occasion with posts that ranged from thoughtful critiques to excited celebration...
Jordan: Polygamy is Rare and Accepted
Jordanian The Black Iris discusses polygamy in the kingdom – a practice he admits is rare, “yet relatively accepted to some extent.”
Syria: Religious Ties
qunfuz remarks upon the complex origins of the Abrahamic religions.
Croatia: The Death of Dinko Šakić
A few days ago Dinko Šakić, the commander of the infamous WWII Jasenovac Concentration Camp (Croatia) died, having served only half of the sentence in jail for his role in the extermination of inmates. He was buried in his war-time Ustaša (Nazi Croatian movement) uniform, causing a stir in Croatia.
Belarus: Lukashenka and God
Malishevsky analyses (RUS) Belarussian President's Alyaksandr Lukashenka, relationship to God from his frequent invocations of higher powers in speeches and public appearances, especially when it comes to foreign relations.
China: Photos from morning Tibet protest
After getting a global scoop with streaming footage of the Olympic Stadium Tibet protest this morning, vlogger Noel noneck Hidalgo has now uploaded to Flickr some photos taken at the time which better illustrate how the situation was handled.
China: Tibetan protesters raise flag outside Olympic stadium
Still waiting (updating below) for more details, but Qik.com vlogger Noel Hidalgo is at the scene and giving updates via Twitter. Here's a video he took just a few minutes ago not far from the Olympic bird's nest: Noel has just finished uploading a second video, in which he reports...
Philippines: Catholic Bishops on You Tube
The Philippine Catholic Church has launched a channel in You Tube to spread the gospel via the internet
Georgia: Church-State Relations
Talks with Diana posts a paper written by the blogger on Church-State relations in Georgia. The paper concludes that the tendency for the Georgian Orthodox Church to be used by local political forces poses a threat to democratization in the former Soviet republic.
Russia: Faithful Hackers?
Russian-Cyberspace.org writes (GER) about a hacker attack on a Russian Orthodox website, where religious content has been replaced by pornography, and interprets it as an attack by religious hackers supporting a competing church communion.
Lithuania: Romuva Religious Renaissance
Vilnius Blogs writes about a visit to Moletu, homestead of the Lithuanian pagan religion Romuva, which is currently experiencing a renaissance.
Barbados: Petition for Maloney
AfriKa CRY BLOOD, the blog created to promote awareness of the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Barbadian I’Akobi Maloney, reports that the boy's mother “wept openly in front of Prime Minister David Thompson and other Government officials” at the recent Emancipation Day celebrations, while onlookers “lined up to sign...
Saudi Arabia: A ban on cats and dogs
Earlier this week in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, a ban was announced on selling cats and dogs as pets, or walking them in public, because of men apparently using them to make passes at women. Bloggers both inside and outside the kingdom have responded with disbelief.
Saudi Arabia: The religious police within
Naeem, an American Muslim living in Saudi Arabia, describes the mutawwa (religious police) he believes most Muslims have within them, focusing on external piety instead of true internal reform.
Russia: Bishop Diomid's Case
Updates on Bishop Diomid's case, at Window on Eurasia – here, here, here, and here.
Kosovo, Macedonia: Islam
Michael J. Totten's reflections on Islam in Kosovo and Macedonia, travel photos and lots of readers’ comments – here and here.
Russia: Muftis Refuse to Visit the U.S.
Window on Eurasia writes that a group of Russia’s Muslim leaders has turned down the State Department's invitation to visit the United States for political reasons.
