Cyber Worship Revisited - Need to sort out your sins? There's an app for that

Herald Tribune, Thu 10 Feb 2011

Can your iPad or iPhone bring you closer to God? A new application for the devices aims to help Roman Catholics who haven't been to the confessional booth in a while keep track of their sins, one Commandment at a time. The $1.99 "Confession: A Roman Catholic App" can't grant forgiveness -- you still need to receive the sacrament from a real, live priest like always. The app's designers and some believers see it as a way to spur Catholics back into the habit of repenting. "There's a reason we designed it for these mobile devices: We want you to go to confession," said Patrick Leinen, one of the developers and a co-founder of the company Little... continue reading: Herald Tribune,

More Online Confessions, Resources here:

Here is a sample from inside the Book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives--full of resources that will facilitate building bridges in a Multifaith society. Table of Contents / Reviews

Chapter 2. 'Cyber Worship as-is On the Web'

Resource of the Week is: Museums of World Religions (see description, reviews, etc., page 70). Order with Publisher:

My book Talk

My related posts:

Special Issue from Religious Studies Review on Religion & Internet

Cybersins and Digital Good Deeds

Christian Librarianship

Web Vastu or A Spiritual Worldview for Marketing Website

Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet

Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives

Free to criticize religions but not with hate: Bombay high court

Swati Deshpande, The Times of India TNN 7 January 2010, 01:11am IST
MUMBAI: In a significant ruling, a three-judge bench of the Bombay high court on Wednesday held that in India, criticism of any religion -- be it Islam, Hinduism, Christianity or any other -- is permissible under the fundamental right to freedom of speech and that a book cannot be banned on those grounds alone.

However, the criticism must be bona fide or academic, said the court, as it upheld a ban issued in 2007 by the Maharashtra government on a book titled `Islam - A Concept of Political World Invasion by Muslims.' The book contained was an "aggravated form of criticism made with a malicious and deliberate intention" to outrage the feelings of Muslims, the court said.

Delivering the landmark verdict on Wednesday, the court has in a rare instance upheld the state's ban on a book but at the same time brought joy to civil rights activists when it held that, "in our country, everything is open to criticism and religion is no exception. Freedom of expression covers criticism of religion and no person can be sensitive about it."

The bench, comprising Justices Ranjana Desai, D Y Chandrachud and R S Mohite, said, "Healthy criticism provokes thought, encourages debate and helps us evolve. But criticism cannot be malicious and must not lead to creating ill-will between different communities... (it) must lead to sensible dialogue." The courts must strike a balance between the guaranteed freedom and permissible restrictions, "a difficult task", as the 150-page HC verdict penned by Justice Desai observed...

A person may have a right to say a particular religion is "not secular", said the HC, but it cautioned against rabid contents "reeking of hatred for a particular community" and "malafide exercise to stir communal passions".

The HC also found "totally unacceptable" the author's argument that banning the book in the age of the internet is passe and pointless.

The book contains "highly objectionable and disturbing" statements about the author's wishful thinking of an impending war between Muslims and others and how Indian Muslims want to convert all Hindus, attack temples and Hindu women. Statements like these are "likely to incite people to violence and may promote violence, enmity or hatred". Full article

See also:

Hate Sermons: Free to criticize religions but not with hate: High Court Decision on Hate; a new international precedent

Libraries offer solace in hard times

Sunday, November 30, 2008
Last updated: Sunday November 30, 2008, BY DENISA R. SUPERVILLE STAFF WRITER

PATERSON — Before heading to his job at a carpet company in Hackensack, Jorge Maradiegue stopped by the main library on Broadway to check out three DVDs and browse the Internet from his personal laptop.
"You know how much this [costs] to rent at Blockbuster?" Maradiegue asked, motioning to copies of "The Bourne Identity," "Las Mejores Canciones Del Mundo" and "Da Vinci Code" he had borrowed. "It's more than $4 [each]. That's a lot of money.
As consumers continue to look for ways to save money in a slow economy, more and more are heading to the local public library.
People who otherwise would have gone to Barnes & Noble to buy the latest thriller or to Blockbuster to rent a new release are now giving the public libraries a second look, library directors across Passaic County say.

...They are finding that the library is not just a place to get books. Some libraries now allow users to download entire movies online, something that was unavailable until recently, they said. Others offer yoga classes.
But if the downturn continues, libraries could see their funding decease while having to serve more people.
"If the economy is down and the tax base continues to dwindle, and you have to share services for the dwindling pie of funds, it's not a pretty picture," said Alire of the American Library Association. "We are all affected by the bad economy."... continue reading

Info courtesy: Gail Zimmer

This tiny little prayer ... Sent up to GOD.com

Cyber worship (using cyber space for worship), continues to appear in different sites and appeal everyone. We have in the past included Rabbi offers prayer for Web porn surfers / God.com: Web Analytics Series no.2 / The Christian Prayer While Logging Onto the Internet. And, much more in my book: Cyber Worship.

Following is an interesting post by Bingkee:

"TO WWW.GOD.COM
An online buddy, John, at Multiply shared this little prayer with me. I intend to express this prayer by posting it here. Although the prayer is referring to online friends through email, I dedicate this prayer to all my friends, buddies, fellow bloggers and loyal readers I met here online through my blogsite and at Blog Catalog, MyBlogLog, Pijoo and Spicypage. Also my friends and readers from Friendster, Facebook, Multiply, Netlog, Moli, and Gather."

EXTRACT: And God, there is one more thing I wish that you could do. Hope you don't mind me asking, Bless my computer too.... When you update your heavenly list On your own CD-RomR emember each who've said this prayer. Sent up to God.com. Amen. continue reading

A note about This Tiny Little Prayer: Submitted By: Brenda S. (and I have no idea who that is...).

• See the true colors of this tiny little prayer with background music
  

Cyber Worship Resource of the Week is The Christian Prayer While Logging Onto the Internet

Here is a sample from inside the Book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives--full of resources that will facilitate building bridges in a Multifaith society. Table of Contents /Reviews

Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image and bade us to seek after all that is good,
true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person of Thy only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant we beseech Thee that,
through the intercession of Saint Isidore,
bishop and doctor,
during our journeys through the internet we will direct our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Chapter 1. 'Mapping Webwise'

Resource of the Week is: A Prayer before Logging onto the Internet and the Catholic Online Forum (prayer on p. 18, quoted). Order with Publisher:

My book Talk

Cyber Worship Resource of the Week is The Jewish Prayer While Logging Onto the Internet

Here is a sample from inside the Book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives--full of resources that will facilitate building bridges in a Multifaith society. Table of Contents / Reviews

"Please God, help me cleanse the computer of viruses and evil photographs that disturb and ruin my work ..., so that I shall be able to cleanse myself," reads the benediction by Shlomo Eliahu, chief rabbi in the northern town of Safed.

Chapter 1. 'Mapping Webwise'

Resource of the Week is: Rabbi offers prayer for Web porn surfers (prayer on p. 56, quoted from www.gnatoll.com). Order with Publisher:

My book Talk

Stressed Greeks turn to e-curses

IOL Technology 14 January, 2008
Greeks fed up with their pesky neighbours, old flames, the government, or society in general can find release in a new Internet site that posts e-curses for free.

"Have you been dumped, harassed or angered? Why not unload with a curse?", offers www.e-katares.com (e-curse.com), which currently has more than 150 entries.

Most postings on the site are from jilted lovers but there are also contributions aimed at Greek taxi drivers — a favourite target — banks, the public sector and even Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

"May his next pasta meal give him salmonella poisoning," one user rants against the premier, whose love of food is a popular barb among opposition media.

In Athens, locals usually relieve stress through a variety of offensive hand gestures, most frequently whilst caught in one of the capital’s trademark traffic jams.

"Studies by (EU statistics service) Eurostat show that Greeks have gone from being positive and relaxed to having the worst stress in Europe — over job uncertainty and the collapse of traditional social structures," sociology professor George Piperopoulos told the daily Ethnos.

NB. same news from other news sources:

• Stressed? Go for e-curse-It's a Mad, Mad World-World-The Times of India


• Greeks find e-curses to be relaxing - Deccan Chronicle / Asian Age

Faith in '08: Meet God-o-Meter

News & Blogs -- Beliefnet.com

Hillary's buoyed by Bill's Baptist banter. A hedge on abortion sends Romney tumbling. Our new and highly scientific God-o-Meter rates the candidates based on their God-talk. See Their Current Ratings"

See also on the same shelf:
Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives, by Mohamed Taher, Scarecrow Press, 2006. Check Amazon.com sample from Chapter Three:

3.23 Developing World Wide Worship Mindmaps – Survey, Tools, Responses…

• Religion Selector: An Exploration of World Belief System:

www.speakout.com/activismtools/selectors/religion
• Belief System Selector: An Exploration of World Religions
www.selectsmart.com/RELIGION
• Ten Questions for Evaluating Corporate Worship:

• “Bagley Baptist Form Mail Survey System.” (Questionnaire) www.bagleybaptist.freeuk.com/Survey.htm
• Worship Survey
http://www.cumc-wf.org/worship_survey.htm
• Jatinder Singh. “Sikh Internet Users Survey.” FormMail.to/cybersikhi or www.cybersikhi.com (2 Jan. 2004)
• “Christian Online Resource Center Survey.” (Questionnaire)
www.influencer4christ.com/survey/survey.php?opt=new (dead link 2 Jan. 2004)
• Divining America: Sharing your questions - Multifaith Issues
www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/tserve/getback/getback.htm
• WCC Worship Questionnaire
http://www.woodstockchristian.org/wccwq.html
• Daily spiritual diary Questions
http://www.thedivinelifesociety.org/download/practicekarma.htm
• How Well WORSHIP Questionnaire

Texting Tolerance: Computer-Mediated Interfaith Dialogue

Ally Ostrowski University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. Webology, Volume 3, Number 4, December, 2006.

Abstract:

As religious unrest and tension rise throughout the world, facilitating interfaith dialogue has become more important than ever. Many religious organizations have begun to include interfaith discourse into their general religious programming for members and some hold regular dialogue groups for their local population. But face to face events tend to focus only on the local community, excluding distant others who also seek to participate in interreligious discourse. The Internet, therefore, is an important medium to utilize for interfaith dialogue, and can bring isolated people together to discuss issues of difference and faith. This project finds that online interfaith information is excellent for congregations to utilize because of the relatively anonymous nature of the Internet, the disappearance of proximity limitation, the ability to become close with other participants, access to a spectrum of people who practice a particular religion, and the extra time available to ponder moderator questions and previous discussions. Using the Internet for interfaith dialogue is an important step for religious institutions and congregations. Not only are they reaching to their own members through cyberspace, but also reaching the larger population, sharing their range of religious beliefs, and participating in a global effort to improve tolerance and understanding between religious practitioners. continue reading

See also previous related posts:

Yoga instructor brings teaching to Ontario prison - Faithwise Review of the Week

Nicole Tomlinson, CTV.ca News, Aug. 25 2007
A week and a half ago, Mark Fry ventured, heart racing, into a prison common room full of inmates -- and no guards.

The Art of Living yoga instructor was greeted by the sight of 21 men sitting on the concrete floor of the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre in Brockville, Ont.

The residents were poised on bedding they carried in from their cells. Yoga mats, Fry said, are hard to come by in prison.

"The inmates washed and swept the floor, and set the whole room up," Fry said. "Then they all brought their sheets in, and were just sitting there."

Prison nurses, who Fry said laughed at the program, looked into the room through a bubbled window, wondering how the "kooky" encounter would play out. continue reading

Otherways: In search of an emerging theology

Religion of our country is Indianness: Shahrukh Khan

Make Islamic varsity a national venture: Minister, Shujaat Bukhari SRINAGAR: Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has called for making the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) a national venture. He also accepted an offer to be a visiting professor at the university beginning October 1.

Cyber routes to a happy Onam
Bangalore: The Internet and e-mail have simplified the whole process of sending seasonal greetings to one’s friends and relatives — with dozens of online resources offering a choice of designs for free use.
This year, the web has added a video edge to Onam: allowing you to express your good wishes through a nostalgic video clipping, with music and movie to stir a Malayalee’s heart!

"Amateur" charge infuriates blogosphere

By Eric Auchard, Jun 5, 2007 9:06AM EDT,
BERKELEY, California (Reuters) - Internet culture, often portrayed as the vanguard of progress, is actually a jungle peopled by intellectual yahoos and digital thieves, according to a Silicon Valley entrepreneur-turned-dissenter.

Andrew Keen, a 47-year-old Briton who founded dot-com era music startup Audiocafe, argues that basic notions of expertise are under assault amid a cultural shift in favor of the amateurism of blogs, MySpace and other popularity-driven sites.

"Millions and millions of exuberant monkeys ... are creating an endless digital forest of mediocrity," Keen writes in a book published Tuesday. continue reading

see also what other bloggers are saying about this book: The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing our Culture

see also:

On the Web, 'ignorance meets bad taste meets mob rule'
Book review: "The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture"
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI, New York Times July 8, 2007

Book Reveiw # 4 - Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives

This is most recent review of my book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives. Previous reviews [published in Sept 2006, Scarecrow Press]

"Visit the Sistine Chapel, attend the Church of Satan, have a question (dial a priest)... would be a useful addition to high school and university reference collections. " ARBA (American Reference Books Annual), vol. 38 (2007)

NB. American Reference Books Annual (ARBA) is Free this week (April 15 - 22, 2007, to celebrate the national library week), read my review online for free:
Publisher: Scarecrow, Lanham, MD (2006)
Price: $45.00pa
ISBN/ISSN: 0-8108-5257-8
Content Area: RELIGIONS
Handbooks and Yearbooks; General Works; Religion; Philosophy and Religion
John W. Storey - Professor of History, Lamar Univ., Beaumont, Tex
ARBA 2007

Several scholars have noted the zest with which American Pentecostals in the twentieth century have taken to the airwaves via radio, television, and satellite to proclaim an "old fashioned gospel," as if there were something anomalous about using cutting-edge means of communication to advance an "old" point of view. In fact, however, religious leaders and institutions have always embraced the latest marvels of modern technology to spread their message. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that religion has found the Internet, and the resulting opportunities for cyber worship are practically unlimited. This study by Mohamed Taher, educated in Indian universities and currently an information specialist at the Ontario Multifaith Council on Spiritual and Religious Care in Toronto, Canada, provides the most comprehensive "map" to religion on the Internet.This is not a guide to "everything one needs to know" about various religious expressions. Instead, it shows how religion functions on the Internet and points toward the remarkable array of religious practices available at one's fingertips. From mainline religions, whether Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, or Buddhist, to "alternative traditions," such as new age movements, paganism, cults, nonconformists, or nonmainstream spiritualities, Taher has cataloged them all. Visit the Sistine Chapel, attend the Church of Satan, have a question (dial a priest)-it is all possible through cyber worship. Without leaving one's living room an individual can have a simulated religious experience from around the globe. Circumnavigation is made earlier with this study, which would be a useful addition to high school and university reference collections.

Cyber worship in Multifaith perspective - part1

Cyber worship in Multifaith perspective - part2

Cyber worship in Multifaith perspective - part3

Cyber worship in Multifaith perspective - part4

Two New Books in Multifaith Perspectives

I came across two new books today, with common threads that explain the emergence of faiths and belief systems (in physical and virtual, respectively), focusing on theories (sociological, anthropological), forces (philosophical, theological) and most importantly, my favorite, i.e., taxonomies.

A word about what makes these distinct:

One deals with evolution of the world religions' influence on European geography; and the other is all-ado-about the cyberspace, with samples from virtual domains in online religions / religions online (or e-religions).
Furthermore, the first title drew my attention with its sub-title on pluralism; and second, for Web analytics, my yet another favorite.

The invention of world religions, or, How European universalism was preserved in the language of pluralism / Tomoko Masuzawa (U Chicago, 2005). Table of contents @ Library of Congress
* reviewed in:

Boettcher, S.R. "The Invention of Worls Religions: Or, How European Universalism was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism.(Brief article)(Book review)." CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries 43.8 (April 2006): 1419-1420. InfoTrac Information Science & Technology eCollection.
[Tomoko Masuzawa teaches European intellectual history and critical theory at the University of Michigan, where she holds a joint appointment in the Department of History and the Program in Comparative Literature. She is the author of In Search of Dream Time: The Quest for the Origin of Religion, also published by the University of Chicago Press.]

E-religion : a critical appraisal of religious discourse on the World Wide Web / Anastasia Karaflogka (Equinox, 2007). @ Table of contents @ Library of Congress
About the author:

[Anastasia Karaflogka is lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, She has designed and teaches a course on religion and cyberspace. Her research interests include religion and: Information Communication Technologies; immersive virtual realities; cyberrituals; robotics and theory and method of cyverreligious discourses. She has contributed to various publications, most recently to the journals Predicting Religion and Religion.]

My related books and publications:

Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives

Taxonomy of Faiths: A semantic journey

My related book reviews:

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. Gale Thompson, 2006. Journal of Religious and Theological Info [in press]

Birgit Schabler and Leif Stenberg, Editors. Globalization and the Muslim World: Culture, Religion, and Modernity Syracuse Univ. Press, 2004.. MELA Notes [in press]

Linda Main. Building Websites for a Multinational Audience. Scarecrow Press, 2002. Information Processing and Management, 40, 2004, 583-585.

Julie M. Still. The Accidental Webmaster, Information Today Inc. 2003. Information Resources Management Journal 17, 2004, 79-80.

Melody Y. Ivory. Automated Web Site Evaluation: Researchers' and Practitioners' Perspectives. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. Information Processing and Management, Jan2007, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p. 288-290

Ali Mirsepassi and others, editors. Localizing Knowledge in a Globalizing World: Recasting the Area Studies Debate Syracuse Univ. Press, 2003.MELA Notes 78 (2005): 71-74

Barry Wellman and Caroline Haythornthwaite, Edtors. The Internet in Everyday Life. Blackwell Publishers, 2003. Information Resources Management Journal, 19(1), 98-100, January-March 2006 [Other reviews from my desktop]

My related blog posts:

Cyber Worship Revisited - Balaji, a Hindu priest offering prayers
Special Issue from Religious Studies Review on Religion & Internet

Cybersins and Digital Good Deeds

Christian Librarianship

Web Vastu or A Spiritual Worldview for Marketing Website

Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet

Cyber Worship Revisited - Balaji, a Hindu priest offering prayers

Folks are finding religion online
By KEVIN SULLIVAN, The Washington Post, © March 18, 2007
TIRUCHIRAPALLI, India - Balaji, a Hindu priest, stood before the reclining god and offered a plate of coconut and bananas. His chest bare and his face adorned with red and yellow sacred paste, he set the food at the foot of a statue Hindus regard as an embodiment of the powerful god Vishnu.

Following ancient tradition deep inside one of India's oldest and holiest temples, he chanted Vishnu's names 108 times to beseech health, wealth and good fortune - not for himself but for an Indian emigrant living in London who had bought the prayer with her credit card on a Hindu Web site.
The Internet has become a hub of religious worship for millions of people around the world. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs and people of other faiths turn regularly to Web sites to pray, meditate and gather in "virtual" houses of worship graphically designed to look like the real thing. Some sites offer rites from baptism to confession to conversion to Judaism.

For many cyber-worshipers, online religious life conducted at home or in an Internet cafe has replaced attendance at traditional churches, temples, mosques and synagogues. Some are coming to religion for the first time, in a setting they find as comfortable as their grandparents found a church pew, while millions of people reared on churchgoing are discovering new ways to worship. [Continue reading or read this: Linking Ancient and Modern, A Worldwide Web of Worship]

A comment on the above article:

This seems, to me, like an interesting use of LR quadrant technology (exterior collective) with LL quadrant culture (interior collective), which, for the person involved, has an impact on the UL quadrant psychology (interior individual).

OK, once more in English – I like the way technology is being used in this example as a tool for assisting people with fervent cultural religious belief to satisfy their drive to have their prayers placed in the most auspicious temples. Clearly this is a very superstitious belief system, and one that some of us might see as pre-rational, but for those who hold the beliefs it can be very important to their sense of well-being to know that they have done their best to seek favor from the Gods
[more from this comment: Putting Prayers in Your Shopping Cart, @ WH's Blog

My related posts:

Special Issue from Religious Studies Review on Religion & Internet

Cybersins and Digital Good Deeds

Christian Librarianship

Web Vastu or A Spiritual Worldview for Marketing Website

Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet

Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives

Special Issue from Religious Studies Review on Religion & Internet

PS. Information courtesy: Soup Twin-1 @ When Religion Meets New Media

The latest issue of Religious Studies Review may be of interest to those doing work on religion online...

Special Issue: Religion and the Internet
Guest Editor: Christopher Helland

Read the introduction by Guest Editor Christopher Helland FREE on Blackwell-Synergy

My related posts:

Cybersins and Digital Good Deeds

Christian Librarianship

Web Vastu or A Spiritual Worldview for Marketing Website

Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet

Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives

Pakistani groups offer Web festival sacrifice

News © 2006 WN Network

KARACHI (Reuters) - Religious organisations in Pakistan are using the Internet to help Muslims in Western countries buy and sacrifice animals for an annual festival. Eid al-Adha marks the end of the Haj pilgrimage each year to Mecca and is known as the feast of sacrifice.
Animals are available on the Web sites for between $100 (51 pounds) for a goat and $450 for a cow.
Some Islamic groups shun the Internet, however, as Web purchases involve paying interest, which is prohibited under Islamic law.
"On Web sites, normally buyers have to pay interest on purchases made on their credit cards," said Rizwan Edhi of the Edhi trust. "We're better off avoiding any controversy relating to Islamic laws." Full Story
--------------------------
NB. More on Cyber Worship, i.e., use of Internet for services, products, etc. relating to religion (aka Online religion, Religions online), at
Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives, by Mohamed Taher, Scarecrow Press, 2006.

India experiments with graveyard tourism

India experiments with graveyard tourism Prarthna Gahilote, CNN-IBN,

Caption: TOMB TRAVELLERS: The Tourism Ministry has notified 68 cemetaries associated with the Sepoy Mutiny as national monuments.


Watch the video: Courtesy CNN-IBN-Videos

See also :

Asia's First Online City Graveyard Portal on Internet, A Project of Islamabad.Net

ISLAMIC CEMETERY

Much more in this book: Cyber worship in Multifaith Perspectives

National Post: The Ghost of Kingston - Faithwise Review of the Week

Ghosts in Kington, Ontario? Watch the Post's Zoran Bozicevic video report to find out National Post Current Features

High court asked to rule on religious divorces, Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service, Monday, December 04, 2006

Botswana serpentine carvingcalled oldest religious artifact
African find pushes rootsof religion back 30,000 years, Randy Boswell, CanWest News Service, Friday, December 01, 2006

Go ahead, just take one bite
Resisting temptation takes willpower and glucose in your brain, say researchers Chris Zdeb, The Edmonton Journal, Holiday Guide 2006

Bikinis are OK on the beach, not in the streets, December 7, 2006
DOHA, Qatar: It had to happen sometime. Though they are still free to compete in bikinis, female beach volleyball players at the Asian Games have been told to cover up following their matches out of deference to local customs.

Experiencing Templar Magick in the Labyrinth continue reading @ The Gates of Horn, Gateway to the Inner Realms @ Church of the Churchless

The changing face of faith

Tourists get ‘Ya Hala’ from Saudi religious police

Houston suburb objects to mosque plans RASHA MADKOUR

Non-EU Citizen of the Year: Tariq RAMADAN

Airport puts away holiday trees rather than risk being "exclusive"
By Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times staff reporter, December 10, 2006

Don't wear revealing clothes in India Times Internet Limited. 10 Dec, 2006

Archbishop of Canterbury defends muslim veil - Faithwise Review of the Week

post updated 31 Oct., 2006

Archbishop of Canterbury defends muslim veil, Phil Hazlewood, Agence France-Presse, Published: Saturday, October 28, 2006 National Post

LONDON - The leader of the world's Anglicans yesterday waded into the debate over the Muslim veil, warning politicians not to interfere with people's right to wear visible symbols of their faith.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said that to ban veils, turbans, crucifixes or other pieces of clothing would be "politically dangerous" and that the British government should not become a "licensing authority" for what people can wear.

Copyright row over ancient monk

The life and times of a 5th Century Cornish monk has sparked an unholy row over a manuscript in verse.
St Ke or Kea is reputed to have helped King Arthur solve a family dispute.

But a play about him written in medieval Cornish has sown discord between the National Library of Wales and the Cornish Language Board.

The library is still working on a translation of the verses kept in its vaults. But the board printed its own version, and says it is "selling well".

The copyright dispute centres on a previously unknown 16th Century manuscript bequeathed to the library in 2000 by the late Professor JE Caerwyn Williams, an expert in Celtic languages.

Bill Gates Watched Pirated Movies on Internet, By: Marius Oiaga, Technology News Editor
The fact that even Bill Gates downloaded and consumed copyright materials is not necessarily a surprise. The quantity of such products distributed free of charge on the Internet can only be measured in terabytes, the peer-to-peer technology accounting for the largest part of the traffic of copyright materials that, in the BitTorrent world is in no way regarded as stealing or copyright infringement. Even Bill Gates proved how easy it is to access pirated products online.

Echoes of Sikh turban tizzy in recent niqab debate, Oct. 28, 2006. 01:00 AM, TORONTO STAR
Since when is covering women's faces feminism?

The atheist as fundamentalist,
Richard Dawkins on why religious faith tends to create more evil people than, say, Stalinism, TORONTO STAR, Oct. 29, 2006. 01:00 AM, OLIVIA WARD

Halal beats dosa in New York food fight, 29 Oct, 2006 ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ask a witch, Globe and Mail Update,

With Halloween nearly upon us, who better to answer reader questions than a real, live, 21st-century witch?

Meet Nicole Cooper, a Wiccan High Priestess who proudly embraces the name of witch.

Ms. Cooper practices her religion at the Wiccan Church of Canada and works at The Occult Shop in Toronto, so, as she says, "Magic is pretty much my life."

The Religion of Self, Submitted by BLG2319 on Sun, 10/29/2006 @ Faith Commons
The message of the Gospels seems to me to be constantly returning to this theme: those who set themselves up as arbiters of moral correctness, the men of the book, the Pharisees, are often the furthest from God. Rules can only go so far; love does the rest. And the rest is by far the most important part. Jesus of Nazareth constantly tells his fellow human beings to let go of law and let love happen: to let go of the pursuit of certainty, to let go of possessions, to let go of pride, to let go of reputation and ambition, to let go also of obsessing about laws and doctrines. This letting go is what the fundamentalist fears the most.

This is a passage from Andrew Sullivan's latest book "The Conservative Soul". It sums up for me nicely what I have come to believe. Letting go of self obsession is the only way to salvation. Full article

[pdf] Philipp Reichmuth & Stefan Werning's 'Pixel Pashas, Digital Djinns' ISIM Review 18 [source: Virtually Islamic, October 25, 2006]
"...covers a neglected area of study, namely the depiction of Islam and Muslims in computer and video games, and ideas associated with orientalism."

Humphrys in Search of God, 31 October 2006, Tuesday 31 October 2006 9:02-9:30 (Radio 4 FM) Repeated: Tuesday 31 October,
John Humphrys talks to religious leaders about his unfulfilled desire to believe in God. His guest is the Right Reverend Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Listen to an extended version of this interview, John Humphrys talks to Dr Rowan Williams
The next programme will be on: Tuesday 07 November 2006 09:00
John Humphrys talks to religious leaders about his unfulfilled desire to believe in God. 2/3. The guest is Professor Tariq Ramadan, Muslim academic and author.
The week after with a rabbi

DIWALI FUSION PARTY
--Models from Material Thangs styling group during the Diwali Fusion Festival at the 5th Elementt in Toronto Wednesday, October 25, 2006. Brent Foster/National Post

Afghan mother of 6 murdered in suspected California hate crime mourned, October 28, 2006 - 4:47 pm

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) - An Afghanistan-born mother of six who was gunned down in California while wearing traditional Muslim dress was mourned Saturday during an interfaith service to unite local residents rattled by what some called a hate crime.

Women in Islamic head coverings sat near Christians and Jews during the memorial to honour Alia Ansari, 38, who was fatally shot Oct. 19 as she walked to pick her children up from school.

Church leaders hoped the service at Centerville Presbyterian church would bring together people of different faiths in Fremont, a San Francisco Bay-area suburb of 200,000 that is home to the largest Afghan community in the United States and a neighbourhood called "Little Kabul."

"Our commitment is to say: 'How can we be better neighbours in the midst of a changing community?"' said Rev. Greg Roth, the church's pastor.

Court rules that cartoons not intended to make fun of Muslim community
DENMARK: Publishers of blasphemous cartoons acquitted, AsiaMedia, Dawn, Friday, October 27, 2006

Copenhagen --- A Danish court on Thursday acquitted the bosses of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper who had been sued by Muslim groups for printing 12 cartoons of the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) in September last year.

The judge at Aarhus district court ruled the cartoons were neither offensive nor were they intended to denigrate Muslims, according to court papers.

"Even if the text accompanying the pictures could be read as being derogatory and mocking, the cartoons are not offensive," the court said.

Denmark Sikh loses kirpan battle, Ramaninder K Bhatia [ 25 Oct, 2006 0130hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
CHANDIGARH: In a major blow to the Sikh community's efforts to get their distinct identity recognised abroad along with their religious symbols, a Sikh youth in Denmark on Tuesday lost his right to wear a kirpan (dagger), one of the five religious symbols that a baptised Sikh is required to wear.

Tower of power divides hamlet, Residents opposed to proposed cellular tower in churchyard, A service to the community, says parish priest, Oct. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM
JIM WILKES, Toronto Star, STAFF REPORTER

Jews and Muslims challenge Geneva cemetery law with calls for own burial spaces - Faithwise Review of the Week

This post updated Oct 19, 2006

Jews and Muslims challenge Geneva cemetery law with calls for own burial spaces The Associated Press, October 11, 2006

GENEVA A cemetery law that has kept the peace between Protestants and Catholics for 130 years is being challenged by Muslims and Jews who want their own space for graves, apart from public burial grounds.

Geneva, shaped as a "Protestant Rome" by religious reformer Jean Calvin in the 16th century, has in recent decades sought to foster religious harmony.

The Swiss city has practiced a strict secularism that extends to the grave, requiring that all cemeteries be public and nondenominational, with equal plots aligned the same way.

But the city's Jewish and Muslim communities want separate cemeteries that would allow them to bury their dead according their religions' rites, and a proposed law is up for approval by the cantonal (state) parliament Thursday.

"We (Jews and Muslims) both need a place where we can bury our dead according to our rituals," said Hafid Ouardiri, spokesman of the Foundation for Islamic Culture in Geneva

The Way Internet Links Muslims During Ramadan, Andy Goldberg, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Arab News,

SAN FRANCISCO, 18 October 2006 — In the real world Sheikh Mohamed Al-Moktar Al-Shinqiti presides over a small Muslim community in Lubbock, Texas. But in the online world he ministers to millions of believers all around the globe who ask for spiritual and legal guidance on the popular religious site Islamonline.com.

Salman Rushdie: His life, his work and his religion Independent News, 18 October 2006

If this onslaught was about Jews, I would be looking for my passport
Politicians and media have turned a debate about integration into an ugly drumbeat of hysteria against British Muslims, Jonathan Freedland, October 18, 2006, The Guardian

But Muslims would be right to reply that they should be under no more obligation to distance themselves from the 7/7 bombers than Britain's Irish community were expected to denounce the IRA in the 1970s and 1980s. And this, too, is a prime task for politicians and media alike - to distinguish between radical, violent Islamism and mainstream British Islam. Too often, the line between the two gets blurred, lazily and casually. Helpfully, the 1990 Trust yesterday published a survey which deserves wide dissemination. They found that the number of Muslims who believed acts of terrorism against civilians in the UK were justified was between 1% and 2%. Not good, but less than the 20% or higher found by some newspaper polls. The trust reckons those earlier polls asked a loaded question - and got a highly charged answer.

Cartoon Mohammed: A Jewish Perspective, Rabbi Daniel Brenner's blog

Our challenge today, In America and around the world, is to find the right balance between traditional religious values and a society which affords us freedom of expression. Continue reading @ Faith Commons

Ontario to push character education, Oct. 16, 2006. CANADIAN PRESS, Toronto Star
Classrooms will become more civilized, and students will be better behaved and get higher grades under the province’s plan to introduce character education across Ontario, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Monday.

Our skewed priorities
It's obscene to hound powerless Muslim women while Muslim world is under siege, says Haroon Siddiqui, Oct. 15, 2006. HAROON SIDDIQUI, Toronto Star

A British commentator, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, wrote that niqabi women are "just as much the victim of sexual objectification as a half-naked woman in a tube top." By this formulation, the state would be kept busy covering up the "half-naked" women and uncovering the niqabis.
Just because a majority of Jews do not wear the yarmulke does not negate the fundamental rights of those who do.

That some Sikhs shave off their beards and cut their hair does not mean that the majority who keep a beard and wear the turban can be ordered to do otherwise.

Just because a majority of Jews do not wear the yarmulke does not negate the fundamental rights of those who do.

That some Sikhs shave off their beards and cut their hair does not mean that the majority who keep a beard and wear the turban can be ordered to do otherwise.

Veil furor hides an arrogant bias, Oct. 19, 2006. HAROON SIDDIQUI, Toronto Star

Diwali should be called national festival of bribes: Bhatti, newindpress.com October 20 2006

CHANDIGARH: Comedian Jaspal Bhatti has come out with a new joke on Diwali. He set up a 'Bribery Gift Shop' in the city on Friday and even demanded that the festival of lights be declared the national festival of bribes.

"This is the best day in the year when bribe-seeking ministers, politicians, bureaucrats and officials unashamedly seek bribes in the form of Diwali gifts," he said.

British Airways worker sues over cross
Woman says she was sent home from work for wearing crucifix, MSNBC.com, Oct 14, 2006

LONDON - A British Airways employee was suspended from work for refusing to remove a necklace bearing a Christian cross, a British newspaper reported Saturday.

Nadia Eweida, a check-in worker at Heathrow Airport, told the Daily Mail she was suing the airline for religious discrimination after being sent home for breaching BA’s dress code.

“British Airways permits Muslims to wear a headscarf, Sikhs to wear a turban and other faiths religious apparel. Only Christians are forbidden to express their faith,” Eweida was quoted as saying.

Where Have All The Peaceful Religions Gone? WorldNews.com,Thu 19 Oct 2006