Cleaning the sacred Ganges River is now at the center of the big Indian election campaign, the results of which will be announced on Friday, according to this fascinating story in the New York Times. Hindus believe that they can escape the cycle of rebirth if their dead bodies are burned on the edges of the Ganges River. But now, the river itself is in need of rebirth. According to one environmental scientist, “the stench along the uneven cobblestone steps... Read more
Vesak Day celebrates the Buddha’s birth and enlightenment and Buddhists celebrate the day around the world. According to the the Singapore Straits Times the date changes depending on the lunar calendar but usually happens in May. This year, the date is today, May 13. Celebrations often include prayers and offerings of candles and flowers. In addition, notes the Straits Times, some celebrations include the release of caged birds and animals because it symbolizes liberation. And in Singapore, Vesak Day is... Read more
These two clips, the first from CNN and the second from the PBS News Hour summarize the Court’s decision to allow prayer in a town hall meeting. You can also read the New York Times story. And below the PBS video, you’ll see a clip of an actual prayer at a Town Hall meeting in Greece, New York. Read more
Could China become the world’s largest Christian country? That’s what some scholars believe, according to this story in the Telegraph. Christianity has skyrocketed in China since Chairman Mao died in 1976. Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University and author of Religion in China told the Telegraph: “By my calculations China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon.” Yang believes that by 2030, “China’s total Christian population, including Catholics, would exceed 247... Read more
Watch a Qigong master show Bill Moyers the power of ch’i, as he projects his energy through other people. Quigong is a type of meditation and martial arts that has roots in early Taoism. “It aims at transforming and spiritualizing the life force (qi, chi’i) of the practitioner,” according to one textbook. Practitioners learn how to move the life force from the base of the spine up toward the head. From there, “it circles back, via the heart, to its... Read more
Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court reminds us why we should all study religion. He seems to have forgotten that the three Abrahamic religions share the same god. He argues in the speech above that because of political correctness, we forget that this country was founded by Christians. He reminds us that the “Buddha didn’t create us, Mohammed didn’t create us, it was the God of the Holy Scriptures.” You can read about the speech here at... Read more
Should a Sikh be barred from jury duty because he carries a religious dagger? A Superior Courthouse in Yuba City, California ruled that the Sikh could not serve because state law prohibits all weapons in a courthouse. The California Coalition of Sikhs, according to this story in the Huffington Post, is protesting the ruling. They say “other agencies and courts have made accommodations for Sikh articles of faith before, and expect the same from Sutter County.” And the Sikh who was... Read more
This is the the Şakirin Mosque in Turkey. It’s beautiful and it was designed by women. According to NPR, which did a story about the mosque in 2008, “Zeynep Fadillioglu is one member of a team of interior designers and architects overseeing the construction of the Sakirin Mosque. It is Fadillioglu’s first mosque.” Fadillioglu told NPR that “I think I don’t know of any other person — a woman — who has designed a mosque before.” Here’s the story from... Read more
Professor Ruqayya Khan, chair of Islamic Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California, argues that Muhammad’s fourth wife, Hafsa, may have helped edit early sections of the Quran. Specifically, according to Vocative, which published the story, “Khan claims Hafsa transcribed and then disseminated some of Muhammad’s verses in the Quran.” It;s a controversial claim. He told Vocative, “I think, for orthodox Muslims, the view is that Muhammad literally dictated the entire Quran to a scribe and he wrote it down... Read more
Pat Robertson also says that like Nazism and Communism, Islam aims toward world domination! Read more
World Religions
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In