93 pc of Britons to skip the church on Christmas, says Opinion Matters

London, Dec 25 : A new survey has revealed that almost 93 per cent of Britons would be skipping the church on Christmas Day.

They would either be spending Christmas eating turkey, drinking champagne or opening presents - but will not attend the church.

The study by Opinion Matters only 11 per cent had the intention of attending Midnight Mass last night on Christmas Eve, while 86 per cent said they sent Christmas cards.

Daily Express columnist Ann Widdecombe told Express.co.uk: "If you''re not going to church on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day then why are you celebrating Christmas?" continue reading

Fox News angers Hindus with ‘India's Ganges river a disease’ remark

Nevada (US), December 24: Hindus have filed a formal complaint with United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against the Fox News remarks regarding India's Ganges river (considered holy by Hindus), which Hindus found denigrating and ridiculing.

Glenn Beck, talking about India in December nine segment titled "This is the best America has to offer?" of his opinion show "The One Thing" on Fox News channel, said: "One big river they have there, that sounds like a disease. Come on it does. I mean if somebody said, I am sorry, you have a really bad case of Ganges." continue reading

See also:

Hindus upset over remarks of Murdoch run Fox News that holy river ...

Hindus Still Upset Over Glenn Beck's "Denigrating" Ganges River Comments

Priest: Thou shalt not steal (unless it's from big business)

London, England (CNN) -- A UK priest has defended his comments that it is acceptable to steal from large companies.

Tim Jones, parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda, told his congregation in York, northern England: "My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift." continue reading @ CNN.com

Info courtesy: Dr Roderic Vassie + his comment:

Father Tim Jones ("It's okay to shoplift" December 21st 2009) has a point. The Bible teaches, in the Torah, that landowners should leave a portion of their crops to the poor, the needy and the traveller to enjoy, which is clearly distinguished from stealing (Leviticus 9:9-11).

In this context, anyone familiar with the Gospel stories (Matthew 12:1-2) will recall how, when Jesus's disciples picked ears of corn in a field, they were accused not of theft but of breaking the Pharisees' interpretation of the Sabbath laws.

Likewise, under Sharia law in Islam, a clear line is drawn between stealing to enrich oneself and "stealing" to preserve life. The former is punishable by the state, the latter not. Instead the state has the duty to ensure that everyone has enough to survive with dignity.

Perhaps the real problem is the inability of secular law to regulate greed of supermarkets which screw the people at the bottom of their supply chains so they can afford to destroy mountains of food, and still turn a healthy profit for their shareholders.

• 'It’s okay to shoplift' says Father Tim Jones, parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda
  By Gavin Aitchison » 21st December 2009, York Press
  

WORSHIPPERS at one York church got a shock when their parish priest used the last Sunday before Christmas to advocate shoplifting.

Father Tim Jones, parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda, broke off from the traditional Nativity story yesterday, and said stealing from large national chains was sometimes the best option many vulnerable people had.

He told the congregation: “My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift. I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.

“I would ask that they do not steal from small, family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices. I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need.”
continue reading

See also:

• Father Tim Jones was helping himself, but not helping the poor, Telegraph.co.uk - Liz Hunt
  
• Not wholly Moses: British priest causes uproar by saying ...
  
• Thou shalt shoplift, priest tells congregation
  U.K. clergyman advises poor people to target large national chain stores
  LONDON - For a priest in northern England, the commandment that dictates "thou shalt not steal" isn't exactly written in stone.

Bringing back lessons of haj -- Partners in Humanity, Muslim-Western

by Kalsoom Lakhani
01 December 2009
"Washington, DC - Although the haj is a strictly Muslim experience, many hajis find it affects the way they also see interfaith relations. In "Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam's Global Gathering", a 2008 study of Pakistani pilgrims by the Weatherhead Center of International Affairs at Harvard University, the authors found that performing the haj "increases pilgrims' desire for peace and tolerance toward others"–Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The study compared successful and unsuccessful applicants in a lottery used by Pakistan to allocate haj visas and the personal accounts of pilgrims..." continue reading @ - Common Ground News Service

* Kalsoom Lakhani is the director of Social Vision, the strategic philanthropy arm of ML Resources, LLC. She also runs the CHUP! - Changing Up Pakistan blog. This article first appeared in Washington Post/Newsweek's OnFaith and was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

see on the same shelf:

Hajj Steps - [visual map] by Baggia Travel, Toronto

Basic Hajj Map, by Shayistha Abdulla

Hajj 2010 - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Holy Water in News

Christian: Holy Scams! Have A Wary Christmas

Mass holy water. Biggest scam ever? - MabinogiPlayer - Mabinogi / Peter Popoff's Miracle Holy Water Scam

Genuine Holy Water from Lourdes

Muslim: Fake Holy Water – The Zam Zam Scam

Buddhist: Wat Sanamchan temple [The temple is also in trouble over its holy water claims]
See also a Pathfinders To Detect Spam and Forwarded Email Scams @ To-forward or not-to-forward

On the same shelf:

Forwarded, But no Luck: It's your Karma--they say in the spiritual lingo!!!

Chain emails - send it now to every one you love.... "If you need God to open some doors for you...send this on."

Saga of a "Pastor Scam" Against a Christian Business Owner

Lady discovers her spiritual gift is sending forwarded emails

Theological Discussions: Mmmm, Tasty Forwarded Emails Dipped in a Crunchy Shell of Misconceptions and Half-truths.

The Top 10 Signs of an E-mail Hoax

How an Enterprise SPAM Filter Works

Social : Let Us Fight Spam

why inspirational quotes on Twitter suck

A Quote To Live By: “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die”

Death and dying is a subject that is a common concern of all religions and philosophies.

Reading a blog post by Lita C. Malicdem, 'To Live Meaningfully, Die for Others (Ampatuan Massacre),' reminded me in another context, death has positive side too. In this context I quote famous lines from The poems of Thomas Campbell (1777-1844): "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." (p. 249)


[info courtesy: Angel, Aasman Se Aaya ek Farishta]

What is Your One Main Failure of the Year 2009 - Are You Ready for the Year 2010?

What will you say about yourself in 2009? ...

Lost battle? broken hearted? Cursed? Failed? ...

Are you ready for 2010? Take this as a moment of reflection and resolution for the year 2010
Note: At Blog Catalog you will find many responses: click here

Similar themes:

• Where Did I go Wrong?
  
  8 replies • 10/14/08
  
  
  
• Have you started counting down 2009 yet?
  
  0 replies • 6 days ago
  
  
  
• Why do we laugh at others' mistakes?
  
  23 replies • 5/29/09
  
  
  
• Avoidable Blogging Mistakes
  
  24 replies • 11/29/08
  
  
• Summerlin Las Vegas and what's to come o…
  
  1 reply • 2 hours ago
  

See also:

CTV News Announces the Top 10 Canadian News Stories of 2009

A year of nasty surprises, By Martin Knelman, Toronto Star, Wed Dec 23 2009

The Biggest Failure of the Year, By Morgan Housel, October 12, 2009 [don't miss this: Comments from our Foolish Readers]

Hepburn: GTA's top 10 winners and losers of the year, Toronto Star Dec 17 2009

Year Of Tumult: 2009 Marked By Failure, Scandal, Debt And A Sputtering Recovery

2009: A Failure

Year in Review 2009: TV's Biggest Disappointments
Despite all our gleeful griping, we honestly want all of our favorite shows to be good forever, and for new shows that look promising to deliver. But still, we can't ignore the fact that every season we still get disappointed by shows that should really know better. Here are all the storylines, characters, entire series, cancellations, finales, moments, and screw-ups that left us crying into our DVRs this year. — Television Without PityThursday, December, 17, 2009, 12:17 AM

for more Google, here and here

Bikini vs. Burka: The Debauchery of Women

This is a chapter from the book: Cruel Hoax: Feminism and the New World Order, by Henry Makow (2007)

September 24, 2009 (Updated from Sept. 18, 2002)
By Henry Makow Ph.D.

"On my wall, I have a picture of a Muslim woman shrouded in a burka.
Beside it is a picture of an American beauty contestant, wearing nothing but a bikini.

One woman is totally hidden from the public; the other is totally exposed. These two extremes say a great deal about the clash of so-called "civilizations."

The role of woman is at the heart of any culture. Apart from stealing Arab oil, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are about stripping Muslims of their religion and culture, exchanging the burka for a bikini.

I am not an expert on the condition of Muslim women and I love feminine beauty too much to advocate the burka here. But I am defending some of the values that the burka represents for me...." continue reading

Christmas a time for bridge building, Abdul Malik Mujahid

[Audio]
 Treating Christmas with Respect:

"Christmas is an annual Christian religious holiday commemorating the birth of Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him. For many Muslims who do not even celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, it becomes an issue of what stand they should take."

continue reading Christmas a time for bridge building
12/10/2009 - Interfaith Religious Social - Article Ref: IC0612-3182
Number of comments: 14
By: Abdul Malik Mujahid
IslamiCity* -

What America Must Learn from India's 9/11

By Forum Contributor

 - FOXNews.com

"When religious-inspired terrorists use the Web to spread hatred it falls to religious leaders to respond by building bridges. But our efforts will fail unless misguided politicians refuse to stop cloaking the enemies of humanity behind a shroud of dangerous and false political correctness...." Continue reading

Ramdev's Yoga at Deoband's Islamic congregation steals limelight

Updated November 03, 2009, Source: zeenews @ Youtube

Deoband: In a rare confluence, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev performed Pranayam while a Hindu Priest recited Vedic hymns at the largest congregation of Muslim clerics of the country here on Tuesday.

The 30th General Assembly organised by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind at the Darul Uloom Islamic seminary was the first occasion when a Hindu religious figure addressed the audience, primarily comprising Muslim clerics. continue reading

The Future of Religious Leadership @ Elijah Interfaith Institute

• Religious Leadership Tested at Interfaith Conference

• more here
  

• newsletter
  

See also:

Finding common ground

A Jerusalem group brings together Jews and Muslims to educate people and show that an end to the conflict in Israel is possible. Jennifer Campbell explains.

By Jennifer Campbell , The Ottawa Citizen

Miracle or hoax? Russians puzzled as phrases from the Koran start appearing 'spontaneously' on baby's skin

Amazing Video3 Child Verse Koran Coran Enfant Russe

Extract from: Mail Foreign Service

"A baby is sparking a wave of speculation in Russia after phrases from the Koran allegedly began appearing on his skin.

Sayings from the Muslim holy book are said to appear on nine-month-old Ali Yakubov's back, arms, legs and stomach - before apparently fading away and being replaced with new sayings.

Russian medics claimed they are puzzled over the cause of the marks on a baby's skin, which started when the word Allah apparently appeared on his chin within weeks of his birth."

view pictures:

• Human Koran: Sacred sayings from the Muslim holy book apparently appear spontaneously on nine-month-old Ali Yakubov's body
• One of the markings on the child's skin, which medics and his family say are genuine apparitions

Read complete article: By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 10:17 PM on 19th October 2009

When religion and immigration say hello

"While at the Detention Watch Network conference to attack the detention crisis head-on (its more than 400,000 detainees a year – when will it stop growing?), I have met a number of faith-based organizations that are doing incredible work in their communities to advocate for fair and just immigration. "
continue reading Restore Fairness

On the same shelf: Month in Review: Faith Community Flexes Muscle on Immigration

s

Multi-faith Forum Focuses On Human Rights

By Cindy Chan, Epoch Times Staff, Sep 20, 2009

"OTTAWA—A multi-faith expert forum is traveling across the country to call attention to human rights concerns facing various faith-based communities in Canada and abroad.

Co-organized by One Free World International (OFWI) and B’nai Brith Canada, the forum was held in Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto last week and will take place in Vancouver on Sept. 24." continue reading

On the same shelf:

Auckland Interfaith Council Multifaith Service

Multifaith Calendar - Human Rights Day (UN)

Multifaith Human Rights Symposia | Facebook

Swine flu is even changing some long-held religious practices

Extract: "The Archdiocese of New York told Catholic New Yorkers they may refrain from the traditional handshaking at mass. One rabbi in Brookline, Mass., told National Public Radio that he was suggesting congregants at his temple greet each other with a “Buddhist bow” or an “Obama fist bump” during September’s High Holy Days.

Muslims celebrating Ramadan in Kuwait and Lebanon have been advised not to hug, and, if the flu outbreak worsens, mosques could consider asking people to bring their own prayer mats to services. In Spain, Roman Catholics are being asked to refrain from kissing a statue of the country’s patron saint, and Italy has banned the kissing of two vials thought to contain the blood of a saint." continue reading: It’s scarier than religion, by Editors, Health.com @ 8 Ways Swine Flu Is Changing Society

Prayer rug links high-tech, spiritual worlds

eRug has built-in sensors that alert the user to prayer time

Shauna Rempel
Toronto Star

Name: Wael Aboulsaadat

Age: 36

Program: Fourth-year PhD student, department of computer science at the University of Toronto.

Thesis: Computer user interfaces for religious practice.

The device: Aboulsaadat has designed a prototype of a digital device called eRug that Muslims can use to enhance their daily prayers. The rug has built-in sensors, lights and a display screen to show scripture, alert the user to the next prayer time and find the direction of Mecca. "It will increase their understanding of the scriptures and the quality of the prayer," says Aboulsaadat. continue reading

Multifaith families and religious tolerance!

Extracts: Ramadan in a multi-faith family:

"Ilana Alazzeh was born in San Francisco to an Israeli mother and Palestinian father. She currently attends Smith College in Massachusetts, where she stays active in community service and interfaith work, regularly speaking on panels regarding Islam and religious pluralism...."

"When my Israeli mother celebrates Ramadan, she always incorporates her heritage into the holiday. For example, while my Pakistani step-father is downstairs making pancakes, she will loudly sing Hebrew songs from her childhood to wake us up for Suhoor. Although she has converted to Islam, she still keeps her Jewish customs alive."

"Once, my mother’s father came to visit during Ramadan. He is a small, mischievous and comical man, a Palmach war veteran of Israel. Unlike my mother, he refused to celebrate Ramadan. He would begrudgingly come to the masjid with us, and even though he knew Arabic, he only spoke in Hebrew or English. While we were inside doing our night prayers, he would smoke outside with my step-grandmother: a Southern Baptist African American who converted to Judaism. It certainly wasn’t the traditional picture of Ramadan."

"But even though my grandfather did not celebrate with us, he did respect the holiday. I remember him giving my younger brother a clap for teasing me with food when I was fasting. Even though he wasn’t fasting with me, he honored my decision."

"I’ll never forget the night during Ramadan that my puzzle of a family and I piled into our van to see the Christmas lights. We sang Jewish, Christmas and Dawud Wharnsby songs. (Watch the YouTube video “We’ve scanned the sky Dawud Wharnsby.”) My family of different cultures and religions were all celebrating together, enjoying each other’s company and acknowledging our diverse faiths. Although our coexistence was rough at times, it was built out of respect and real love."

Continue reading: Ramadan is truly a month of diversity and spirituality, The Saudi Gazette, Tuesday, 01 September 2009 - 11 Ramadan 1430 H

U.S. Views on God and Life Are Turning Hindu ~ Newsweek

We Are All Hindus Now

By Lisa Miller NEWSWEEK
Published Aug 15, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Aug 31, 2009

"America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity." continue reading

on the same shelf:

• Newsweek says “We Are All Hindus Now”August 18th, 2009 - 11:02 am ICT by sampurn
• We are all Hindus now, so let's say 'Om': Newsweek, ZOPAG.com

Whatever has happened to Hell?

Note: Visualization of spirituality / secularism with a different mindmap, as depicted by Susan White in the following. Read the note by Dr. Kumar, below on this mindmap.

by Dr. Sehdev Kumar Editorial. SouthAsianObserver.com

Extract: In the spirit of emerging Gaia consciousness - the earth consciousness - an Australian artist, Susan White portrays Seven Deadly Sins in a modern version: Indifference replaces Anger; Sucking Up Envy; Self-Effacement Pride; Celibacy Lust; Dieting Gluttony; Workcoholism Sloth, and Squandering Avarice, all watched by the all-seeing eye of Gaia rather than of God.

Yet despite all, on life’s slippery slopes, at some tortuous moments, hell does become an unbearable reality for all of us in one form or another. The Pursuit of Happiness seems so often an illusion; we are tormented by the meaninglessness of life, and by its frailty, and by its unexpected twists and turns. Sweet fragrance turns sour; youth slips away; innocence becomes icy; spring seems far, far away. One then looks towards the door on Dante’s Inferno, and reads a sign: “Abandon all hope ye who enter here”.

Life without Hope! Could this be the meaning of Hell? continue reading

On the same shelf:

The 7 Deadly Sins Sampler ~ Daniel Born

Pride • Envy • Anger • Sloth • Greed • Gluttony • Lust

Ten Things You Can Do to Build Religion-Labor Partnerships

by Kim Bobo
Partnerships between the religious community and labor community are growing at an unprecedented pace. In 2001, seminary and rabbinical students worked directly for labor unions as part of the Seminary Summer program. An emerging network of labor coalitions around the country is systematically reaching out to people of faith in support of critical labor issues. Hundreds of cities participate in the Labor in the Pulpits program every Labor Day. The national AFL-CIO leadership has consistently met and worked with national religious leadership and has urged it's regional staff and affiliates across the nation to build partnerships. continue reading

Quality of Life -- Spiritual Thoughts Re-Visited

"Spiritual well-being is considered by some to be the most significant dimension of quality of life, and may also be the least well understood. Until recently, the concept of spirituality was considered to be faith-based or religious in nature. Although religion may well be a part of the spiritual dimension of quality of life, there are many other aspects of this dimension to be considered. Spiritual well-being encompasses uncertainty, religiosity, the meaning of illness and suffering, the purpose of life, transcendence (lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience) and hopefulness. It is not difficult to see how a diagnosis of cancer can lead to self-doubt and conflict with one's beliefs. In contrast, some will find meaning and solace through reliance on their strong spiritual foundation." continue reading: From the desk of the Laura Hilderley, R.N., M.S., Member, Rhode Island Cancer Council, Inc. December 2001 Quality of Life

Solar eclipse scares Indian mothers-to-be

By Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- While many now recognize the scientific explanation for a solar eclipse, the phenomenon is still marked with tradition and sometimes suspicion in Hindu-majority India. continue reading

What Do Religions Believe? A Website with Answers

By Jeninne Lee-St. John Tuesday, May. 05, 2009

Quick — what's the difference between Methodists and Presbyterians? (Presbyterians believe in double predestination; Methodists that free will can help you get to heaven.) Confused about how Hindus believe the world was created? (So are they; the religion has no single canon and there are many, sometimes conflicting, origin stories.) Why are so many celebrities drawn to Scientology? (A key teaching says personal success can help overcome the human condition.) ...

The vast majority of Americans hold some religious affiliation, but we're often too polite — or maybe too shy — to ask friends and neighbors about the nuts and bolts of their beliefs, let alone sneak into a service in a house of worship that we're not thinking of joining. Enter a new website that sets out to explain the differences among religions as well as illuminate the areas of common ground. Patheos.com, which is launching on Tuesday, is a mash-up of path and theos, the Greek word for "god." ... continue reading

An Interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture

Info courtesy: 7 Colors of The Life

Googlization Revisited: faith-based Updates

• CATHOOGLE - CATHOLIC SEARCH ENGINE powered by Google - The Catholic Search Engine
• ISLAMIC GOOGLE - Islamic Search Engine powered by Google -
[info courtesy: Mohammed Ibrahim]
• Müslümanoogle


• USE Blessle  Make this your home page instead of Google - it gives an ayah from the Holy Qur'an in Arabic and English every day, then you can still search Google.
• jgog @ When Religion Meets New Media / Jewgle / jewishgoogle.com
• Can BuddhaGoogle Be Far Behind? I Surely Hope So!

See on the same shelf:

Burial Space in the News - Think Globally and Sync Locally

Extract:
"In Europe and Asia, where people have been living and dying for a hell of a lot longer, traditional burial practices have given way to practical considerations. Grave plots are now commonly "rented'' for a fixed term, the remains later disinterred and placed in an ossuary or crypt. It's posthumous recycling, intended to prolong in perpetuity the "life cycle'' of a graveyard, which strikes me as an oxymoron.

In truth, if mortal congestion doesn't get you tossed from your mummy chamber, erosion, acts of God and global warming just might. I've seen, from flooding in New Orleans to earthquakes in Managua, entire cemeteries on the move. In Alaska, I watched ancient Inuit graves – originally dug far from the coastline – drop into the encroaching sea, no ice floe left to restrain wind and currents.

Some cultures have done us all a great favour by putting corpses to the torch as religious ritual. It's tidy and environmentally friendly. It's also becoming increasingly popular as a cost-conscious alternative in the West.

About half of Canadians now opt for cremation." continue reading: Burial space on my list of worries, by Rosie DiManno @ Toronto Star

LAW OF ATTRACTION -- Faith-based Resources

When a soldier prays ~~ India's Composite Culture Visited Again

Tuesday, 30 December , 2008 @ Sify.com
Major General Mrinal Suman, AVSM, VSM, PhD,
"In the wake of allegations being made in the Malegaon blast case, aspersions are being cast on the secular credentials of the Indian Army. "

Extract:
"The Army has proved its secular credentials repeatedly during the last six decades of independence. It has been called for aid to civil authority to maintain law and order on numerous occasions. Not once has any finger been raised at its fair and just conduct. Even today, all citizens under duress demand presence of the olive green. Their faith in the neutrality of Indian soldiers is total.
The Army’s edifice of religious unity is too strong to be threatened by political expediency and divisive agenda of some self-serving entities. On the contrary, it is time all countrymen imbibe Army’s ethos of according supremacy to larger national interests.
Although religion is a matter of individual faith, emulation of Army’s practice of promoting jointness will help develop mutual understanding. Religious dissentions must be curbed as they weaken the country by giving rise to fissiparous tendencies." continue reading