Inter-faith harmony between societies stressed

The Punjab University’s English Department (Language and Literature) on Sunday arranged a lecture on inter-faith harmony by world-acclaimed Pakistani-American novelist Nafisa Haji at the Prof Sirajuddin Library.
In her lecture, as part of promoting inter-faith harmony among cultures, Nafisa Haji highlighted the importance of inter-faith harmony between various religions, cultures and societies in the contemporary world. She based her discussion on her second novel, The Sweetness of Tears, which embraces inter-faith, intra-faith, inter-cultural, inter-generational and inter-continental dialogue at its finest.
Nafisa told the participants how her novel depicted Jo March, her protagonist, on an unlikely quest across boundaries of language and faith, through chasm of sectarian divides in the Muslim world, against the backdrop of the war on terror, from California to Chicago, Pakistan to Iraq. A large number of students attended the lecture -- Source: Daily Times; Nafisa Haji's website

On the same shelf:

Book reviews of Sweetness of Tears: Publishers Weekly 4/25/2011, Vol. 258 Issue 17, p113-114; Booklist June 1, 2011, v107:19-20, p38;

What others say: "The Sweetness of Tears is a character-driven novel that is structured as a series of interwoven life-stories..." by TChris @ Amazon.com; The overall message of The Sweetness of Tears is one of peace and compassion, by skrishna @ Amazon.com; "Haij does a wonderful job of creating this diverse family though which we see the effects being in the military has had on multiple generations, the effects of parents who are missing or absent and through one family the we are shown views of the middle east from those who lived there and left, those who remain and those who came there because of a war not fully aware of the connection they already with this region." by Rebecca @ Amazon.com

 Discussion-Based Teaching in the Religion Classroom

More religious pamphlets for government workers

By Tom Godfrey, Toronto Sun
September 27, 2011

Extract:

TORONTO - Ontario government officials say the success of an employee guide to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has prompted other publications for workers who celebrate Diwali, Christmas and Easter.

A “Ramadan: the Muslim Month of Fasting” guide was issued to 67,000 Ontario government workers last July telling them to be “sensitive” to Muslim co-workers because they are fasting and praying from dusk to dawn.

The document advises managers to provide a safe room for Muslims to pray and that they may require to make more trips to the bathroom to wash before they pray. They are required to pray five times a day.

Jason Wesley, of the Ministry of Government Services, said similar publications have been sent to workers “explaining the significance of the Jewish observances of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.”

Wesley said guides to mark the Hindu festival of Diwali and Christian celebrations of Christmas and Easter are planned for release. continue reading

Terrorism is not a Muslim monopoly, Times of India

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, TNN, Jul 23, 2006,

"All Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims." This comment , frequently heard after the Mumbai bomb blasts implies that terrorism is a Muslim specialty, if not a monopoly. The facts are very different. continue reading

Info courtesy: Mrs. Elizabeth Rahman, CEO of Metamorphosis Translation Services, and co-hosts the Annual Abraham Festival in Peterborough.

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

Stitched together ~~ India's Composite Culture Revsited

Pradeep Magazine
December 16, 2008, Hindustan Times

"Among the many responses to the gruesome killings in Mumbai has been that of Muslims wearing black bands on Eid-ul-Adha. The act symbolised protest, pain and complete rejection of the killers.
But do Muslims need to go out of their way to proclaim to the world that the community does not endorse terrorism and are as angry and disgusted with what is happening as other communities in India? To have worn black bands on Eid was a touching gesture, akin to, say, Hindus doing the same on Diwali. But somehow, as a Hindu, I am disturbed to find my close friends having to wear bands to show their solidarity with the rest of India.

... But as an Indian I feel embarrassed to find one community having to wear ‘India’ on their sleeves, when we have all expressed our solidarity to fight this war together. I would feel humiliated if a day comes when, as a Hindu, I will have to wear black bands to proclaim to the world that I have nothing to do with Hindu surnames involved in acts of terror.
To my Muslim friends, all I can say is thanks for doing what you have done. But please don’t do it again. We are together in this fight against terror and for justice. " read full article

NB. Info courtesy: Ammar Ahtisham Ashraf

Sunday: holy day &/or holiday

Books explore the evolution of Sunday
From Sabbatarianism to shopping - and why there's no such thing as a Wednesday driver Today it floats between its religious past and its secular present.
Nov 23, 2008
Comments on this story (14) Ryan Bigge Special to the Toronto Star

"Journalistic ethics demand that I make clear my lack of objectivity when it comes to the day of the week known as Sunday. This essay about Sunday is, after all, being published on a Sunday, and should not be considered unbiased. In my defence, the publication of two recent books on the topic (The Peculiar Life of Sundays by scholar Stephen Miller and Sunday: A History of the First Day From Babylonia to the Super Bowl by Brigham Young University history professor Craig Harline) suggest I am not alone in my affinity for, and fascination with, the first day of the week.
While the trend of single-topic books like Salt or Cod is finally abating, thanks in part to Henry Petroski's 400-plus-page ode to the toothpick, published last year, Sunday's right to sustained examination is inarguable. (Whether it requires 750 pages spread across two books is a separate debate.) To put it another way, a book-length examination of any other day would be unthinkable. We might prefer Friday to Sunday, but only Sunday, with its mix of history, culture, religion, politics and emotion, could generate 750 pages of discussion." continue reading

Racism was not... Thought for the day

"A historic first, a newly minted coin, would be an election in which a candidate’s skin colour is as unremarkable as his or her hair colour. When a candidate’s skin colour passes unnoticed, that will be a historic first for America.

Not for all countries or all periods, by the way. Some had shortcomings galore, but racism wasn’t among them. The Umayyad Caliphate ruled a fair chunk of the world without racism. The Doge’s Venice was perfectly content to entrust its fleet and Desdemona to the “blackamoor” Othello. " in George Jonas: Obama victory no historic first, The National Post : November 08, 2008.

In Qatar, Muslim, Jewish clerics meet

By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer Fri May 16, 7:42 AM ET

DOHA, Qatar - More than a dozen rabbis, including two from Israel, were in attendance this week as this conservative Muslim sheikdom opened one of the Gulf's first scholarly centers dedicated to interfaith dialogue. Read more
[Info courtesy: Paul McKenna + Ryan Nutter]

In Qatar, Muslim, Jewish clerics meet WHDH-TV, MA - 6 hours ago DOHA, Qatar -- More than a dozen rabbis, including two from Israel, were in attendance this week as this conservative Muslim sheikdom opened one of the ...

Queen dons Muslim headscarf to visit Turkish mosque

"...it would be nice if leaders respected each other's religions like this more often," said one Turkish woman. (Reuters), Read more: Queen Elizabeth in Mosque, Veiled IslamOnline.net & Newspapers, May. 15, 2008

Queen dons Muslim headscarf to visit Turkish mosque By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, Telegraph, 15/05/2008
Wearing a Muslim-style headscarf and walking in stockinged feet, the Queen toured one of Turkey's most important mosques during her first state visit to the country in 37 years.

[info courtesy: Abdul Hai Patel]

Joint, Nuclear Family patterns in Multifaith & Multicultural Mileu

PS. This is a sample result of my research, ASK FOR MORE:

Nuclear family [en.wikipedia.org ]

Complex family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hindu joint family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From Joint Family to Nuclear Family The Family in eastern Finland in the Eighteenth Century.

Native People, Social Conditions: Family The vast majority of households among both native and non-native households follow the nuclear family model (2 parents and children). Seventy-seven percent of registered Indians on reserve, 73.4% of registered Indians off-reserve, 81.1% of Inuit families, 74.6% of Métis families and 87.3% of nonaboriginal families reported a nuclear family structure.

Nuclear family no longer the norm for UK Jews: A report released Thursday provides a comprehensive insight into the British Jewish community and reveals that, even more than for their fellow Britons, the nuclear family is no longer a normative model for UK Jews.

Three things we must do to facilitate Interfaith Dialogue

Asra Nomani asks the Dalai Lama: "What is it that our leaders can do to transcend the issues of power that make them turn the people of different religions against each other?"

He looked at me intently and said: "There are three things we must do. Read the scholars of each other's religions. Talk to the enlightened beings in each other's religions. Finally, do the pilgrimages of each other's religions." source

Thought for the day by Koans of the Zen Librarian

A patron asked the Zen Librarian to look on MapQuest to see whether a pick-your-own apple orchard was north or south of the interstate. The Zen Librarian answered, "Although people make distinctions between north and south, in buddha-nature and on the Web south and north do not exist." source

The End of Harry Potter

What Civilization Does Harry Potter Create?
By Orson Scott Card
Spoiler alert: This post reveals the ending of Book Seven.
So we’ve lived in J.K. Rowling’s moral universe for a decade now, seven volumes worth. Where did she take us, and to the degree that we have been reshaped (or reaffirmed) by that moral universe, what has she made of us?
What hath Harry Potter wrought?
Read this @ Beliefnet: Blogalogue - Debates About Faith

See also:

British School Justified In Reprimanding Teacher Who Told Children Harry Potter Author Was A Witch -- Faithwise Review of the Week

Indian police seize pirated Potter books

Kerala MLA out to change luck of 13

Ramesh Babu , Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram, July 23, 2007

Most people avoid the number 13 like the plague, considering it to be unlucky. But one man in Kerala is trying to change that.

Anglo-Indian legislator Simon Britto has requested the Assembly Speaker to allot him room 13 at the Legislature Hostel. Britto, a victim of campus violence and confined to a wheelchair, hasn’t had much luck in life but cannot tolerate the superstition around the number.

Interestingly, Britto was allotted room 12B at the hostel. The room should have normally been numbered 13 but was numbered 12B instead and the previous room 12A. “I am a Marxist and an atheist. I am not superstitious and scared of the number 13. It is unbecoming of a legislator to succumb to such baseless fears,” he said.

As in many other countries, buildings in India rarely have a 13th floor, hotels a room 13 or aeroplanes a 13th row. “See, someone has to take an initiative to bust this myth. Now I feel it is the lucky number,” says Britto.

The fear of 13 — called triskaidekaphobia — is not just confined to the lawmakers’ chambers. A year ago, when the new Left ministry assumed office, the housekeeping wing of the tourism department was reluctant to allot an official car bearing the board ‘Kerala State 13’. Finally, state education minister MA Baby came forward to accept it.

Even the courts have fallen victim to this fear. The Kerala High Court did not have a judge’s chamber with the number 13. The Supreme Court intervened and declared that there should be no room for superstition in the judiciary. In reaction, the judges’ chambers (24 of them) were renumbered chamber 1 A to D and so on, so the number 13 could still be avoided. Old-timers say the court once had a chamber 13 till 1990 but many occupants died in harness. It still does not have a court 13.

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British School Justified In Reprimanding Teacher Who Told Children Harry Potter Author Was A Witch -- Faithwise Review of the Week

A British employment tribunal has ruled a teaching assistant was not a victim of religious discrimination after her school gave her a hard time when she refused the reading of a Harry Potter book in class.
Sariya Allan, 47, was a teaching assistant at Durand Primary School in Stockwell, England. She gave a seven-year-old student a book to read but the student found it too easy and picked up a Harry Potter book. Continue reading @ The Witches' Voice Inc.

Vegetarians demand meat-free malls
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Malls are currently doing a balancing act between consumer sentiments and making profits. Saturday , July 07, 2007 IBNLive

Mumbai: You’ve heard of niche marketing, but this could be new. Vegetarians in Mumbai are now demanding meat-free mall...

This is the latest battle between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in Mumbai. Pro-vegetarian groups like the Maharashtra Gopalan Samiti have launched a campaign against malls selling non-vegetarian items. continue reading

Religious diversity: Can we talk? By Stephen V. Sundborg, Special to The Times
The second obstacle to engaging one another within our religious diversity is that most of what separates us from one another is not belief or religious practice, but the cloud of culture all religions create around themselves. There is a Catholic culture, a Protestant culture, an Anglican culture, a Jewish culture, a Muslim culture. All religions create these thick cultures from ritual, customs and tradition. They are not the religion; they are its cloud, its skirt, its exterior, not its interior.

Week Of Prayer Coincides With Increase In Rain @ The Witches' Voice Inc.

Stepney Salvation Army join Multifaith Rejection of Terrorism, ChristianToday, UK - 7 Jul 2007

Resource book for multifaith work prepared, Vancouver, BC,
The diocese's Multifaith and Ecumenical Unit has produced a Resource Book for Programmes of Interfaith Dialogue to help parishes and other groups interact with non-Christian faith communities in their localities.

College student educates others about Islamic beliefs
Albany Times Union, NY - 7 Jul 2007

You are God's Piccolo, By Fr Adolf, Deccan Herald, Bangalore
Think of yourself as a chip of stone in the hands of God the sculptor of your life. Think of yourself as the piccolo player in orchestra of God the great conductor. Don't be discouraged.

Welcome to the church of romantic love
The search for a mystical 'baby' is replacing the search for God as the dominant religion of this century, Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, July 07, 2007 see also: 07/07/07: A perfect date with destiny?

Mukesh Ambani pays 16 lakh to Wakf board, gets NOC
Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani’s Rs 100-crore dream home plan, said to be the world’s most expensive city mansion, may now realise after remaining in a land-transfer controversy.
The Maharashtra Waqf Board has issued a no-objection certificate for the deal after receiving a payment of Rs 16 lakh from Ambani. However, the clearance from the Wakf Borad has now sparked fresh controversy.

State to pay pujas in old temples Deccan Chronicle on the web
Hyderabad, July 9: To prevent the possibility of religious conversions at the village level, the endowments department has decided to revive pujas and rituals in all old temples. As a first step, the department would extend financial support to 4,000 temples out of 32,000 in the State. It will give Rs 1000 for pujas and Rs 1,500 as honorarium to priests.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams will allot grants for the effective implementation of the scheme. It is expected benefit archakas who have been demanding salaries for the several years on par with priests of 21 big temples. According to the guidelines issued by the department, temples which require grants should be listed in Section 6 of the Endowments Act. The temples should have been constructed at least 25 years ago and should not have an income of more than Rs 30,000 per year. Committees running the temples have been asked to apply before July 18.

District level committees appointed by the government will verify the physical condition of the temples before issuing the grants. Officials expect that regular spiritual activity in the villages will prevent people from converting to faiths other than Hinduism. According to them, people are being attracted towards other faiths since there is nobody to explain the culture and traditions of Hinduism. "Temples play a vital role in preserving our heritage and culture. They will also inculcate unity among the people. So we have decided to extend financial support to all temples in a phased manner," said endowments commissioner P. Sundara Kumar.

Purposeful site, By KAREN HEINSELMAN, Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO --- About seven years ago, Emily Sullivan and her family were preparing to move from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Northeast Iowa. To familiarize herself with the area, she researched her future hometown online.
One of the family's priorities was a place to worship.
"I was trying to find out what church we might want to visit," Sullivan said.
She found a church Web site that, by her definition, was fairly basic at the time. But Sullivan also discovered what she was looking for: information about women's groups and children's programming. Both ministries are important to her family.

Govt turns to Wiccan queen to save girls, Jul 2, 2007, By Bappa Majumdar

Nikah online? Acceptable, says Darul Uloom
11 Jul, 2007 l 0016 hrs ISTlManjari Mishra/TNN - The Times of India

07/07/07: A perfect date with destiny?

6 Jul, 2007 l 0026 hrs ISTlAmit Bhattacharya / TIMES NEWS NETWORK
NEW DELHI: Remember the hype and phobia over June 6 last year as the date 6/6/06 was associated with the Devil? Well, the buzz around this coming Saturday is even bigger. For, 07/07/07 in the Western world is being associated with perfection.

See also whats up in news:

Vatican to restore office for dialogue with Islam - Faithwise Review of the Week

(Reuters) 27 May 2007
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican will restore the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, its main conduit for relations with the Muslim world, its secretary of state said on Sunday. continue reading

Proving God's Existence Scientifically

Accommodating Muslim Prayer Is Growing Issue Religion Clause

Alito Calls For Continued Religious Tolerance In U.S. Religion Clause

Canadian Court Rules No Religious Limits To Run For Catholic School Board Trustee Religion Clause

Schools Reject Religious Groups In Seeking Church-State Balance Religion Clause

North Carolina Court Rules Quran OK For Swearing-In Witnesses, Jurors Religion Clause

Cafeteria In Uganda's Parliament Will Eschew Pork Religion Clause

American Legion Works To Protect Religious Symbols On Memorials

WORTH REPEATING: On the frontiers of creationism, Toronto Star May 27, 2007

Point of View: Misguided by the stars, Theodore Dalrymple, Toronto Star, May 27, 2007,
Theodore Dalrymple says entertainers like Rosie O'Donnell are the popes of our age, even when they are no better than dopes.

Islam documentary to air in Oregon, By JOHN DUNBAR -- Associated Press Writer, May 27, 2007

A Hindu's love for an ancient Sufi shrine
By Gunjana Roy, Bhagalpur (Bihar), May 27: For eight long years, a 65-year-old Hindu man has been managing with care and devotion a Sufi shrine after Muslims hit hard by the 1989 communal violence gave it up.
Suresh Bhagat, who has virtually deserted his family in the process, says he enjoys every minute he spends at the 300-year-old shrine of Bazid Dargah Pahalwan, a revered Muslim preacher, in Amapur village some 20 km away.
The last of the Muslim families left the village in 1999, a decade after Bihar's worst communal riots killed hundreds and marked the end of Congress dominance over Bihar.
Bhagat sleeps on an elevated platform supported by bamboo poles near the shrine, close to a cremation site on the bank of the Ganga, a river of great religious significance for Hindus. continue reading: www.newkerala.com

A simple Kashmir marriage the rich would envy

Why Western Art is Unique, and Why Muslim Immigration Threatens It

The Metaphysics of Diabetes, by Dr. Susan Corso

Muslims assimilate better in U.S. than Europe, poll finds International Herald Tribune, May 22, 2007
WASHINGTON: A new poll of American Muslims reveals a group that is better assimilated, more content and less politically polarized than counterpart Muslim populations in Western Europe - but also smaller in number than some Muslim groups had estimated.
For the survey, the Pew Research Center interviewed nearly 60,000 respondents - in Arabic, Urdu, Farsi or English - to find a representative sample of 1,050 respondents, for what appears to be one of the more rigorously complete looks at a population that is not well understood.

Rudeness Quiz: How Uncivil Are You?

US trying to patent Yoga aasnas

India protests US patent on yoga Press Trust Of India, New Delhi, May 30, 2007

• Yoga does not belong to an individual


• Yoga may lose Indian essence
  

ESSAY FOR GOOD FRIDAY - Religion in a secular society

Punchline: While the discussions / debates go on (left, right and above, and all-over media), Toronto Star (below) analyses the issues / concerns that face the Canadian multiculturalism.

Toronto Star, Apr 06, 2007, Michael Smith
Religious people should be free to propose public policy alternatives based on the ethics of their faith, provided that their position is rationally defensible, writes Michael Smith

What is a secular society and what is the place of religion in it? In Canada, now among the most multicultural and diverse nations on earth, that question is becoming more and more relevant each day.

The expression "secular society" has more than one meaning. But, also, our society is one in which more than one meaning is being put forward as a paradigm of what constitutes a life well lived. continue reading

Previous posts on this subject:

Corporate America swears by the Gita - Faithwise Review of the Week

Secularism, Laicism, Diversity, Pluralism: What's In A Name?