Two Indias, both represented by women  in this award-winning documentary. One represents a fundamentalist movement that preaches resistance to other religions like Islam and Christianity and teaches young women “an unusual combination of proper Hindu femininity and fighting skills.” The other represents ” bikini-clad women of the Miss India pageant.” According to the Guardian, the two Indias are “tradition and modernity on a collision course.”  POV, Documentaries with a Point of View developed this film which premiered on PBS in... Read more

What do big time writers  like Nadine Gordimer, Isaac Asimov,  Arthur C. Clarke, Philip Roth or Margaret Atwood think about God? Over 30 writers make an appearance on this 25-minute clip. Jonathan Pararajasingham, a British medical doctor specializing in Neurosurgery, created this montage of 30 writers discussing God. You can see the whole list on Open Culture where I found the clip. Most, you will find, question God’s existence and some are clearly doubtful. Read more

How well do you know the major symbols of the various religions?  Take the quiz at the Huffington Post here. Read more

Billed as “the world’s first exhibition of yogic art,” The Freer Sackler Museum in Washington DC opened a new exhibit on yoga art today. The museum site also includes an excellent slide show of  some of the art. You can read a review of the exhibition  here at the Huffington Post. And here’s a great review of the exhibit by the New York Times. Read more

Studying Hinduism?  Here is an interesting clip from PBS Religion and Ethics News Weekly about Hinduism today. Fred de Sam Lazaro talks to a  middle-class Hindu family about their faith and challenges to it from the modern world. The clip is several years old but still worth watching. Read more

As the western world debates restricting religious-oriented attire, Turkey just relaxed its restrictions on women wearing headscarves in state institutions. The National Geographic has an excellent story about the decision that might be good for both world history and religion classes. That’s because the article reviews the founding of the modern state of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Atatutrk instituted a number of clothing regulations designed to make Turkey a more secular country. Most of those regulations dealt with men.... Read more

Eid Al-Adha, also called the festival of sacrifice, is a four day Muslim holiday that celebrates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael before God sent a ram in his place.  It is one of the most important holidays on the Muslim calendar. American Muslims observe the holiday today, October 15th. In commemoration, Muslims around the world usually slaughter sheep or cattle. The Guardian has a excellent slide show with a few photographs showing some of that sacrificial offering. Other... Read more

Navratri, the Hindu festival of nine nights that began on October 5th and ended Sunday, was celebrated all over India with great fanfare. The Huffington Post has a terrific series of festival photographs. Also known as Durga Puja, Navratri is dedicated to Durga, the mother goddess who also represents power. According to BBC Religion:  During Navaratri, some devotees of Durga observe a fast and prayers are offered for the protection of health and property. Many different ceremonies and festivals take... Read more

Here’s an interesting story from NPR about snake handling, a practice that dates back more than 100 years and is confined to about 125 churches in a few southern states and Appalachia. Snake handlers take up snakes to prove their faith in God and are part of the Holiness movement, a subset of the Pentecostal Church. You can listen to NPR’s audio story here. Jamie Coots, pictured above, is one of the most well known snake handlers and will appear... Read more

Interesting overview of the origins, rituals, beliefs, and practices of Tibetan Buddhism, Christian Science, and Jainism produced by CBS News Read more