The Agonist - Faith and Spirituality

Conservative Anglicans break away

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:35:27 -0700

Jerusalem

Guardian - Conservative evangelicals representing half of the world's Anglicans launched a new global church yesterday, challenging the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and vowing to rescue people from the forces of "militant secularism and pluralism" created by a "spiritual decline" in developing economies.

The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, Foca, will sever ties with the main churches in the US and Canada, whose leaders they accuse of betraying biblical teaching. Foca architects will tomorrow go to the conservative evangelical church of All Souls, in central London, to discuss global Anglicanism and English orthodoxy.

Religion and Its Role Are in Dispute at the Service Academies

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:29:48 -0700

Neela Banerjee | June 25

NYT - Three years after a scandal at the Air Force Academy over the evangelizing of cadets by Christian staff and faculty members, students and staff at West Point and the Naval Academy are complaining that their schools, too, have pushed religion on cadets and midshipmen.

The controversy led the Air Force to adopt guidelines that discourage public prayers at official events or meetings. And while those rules do not apply to other branches of the service, critics say the new complaints raise questions about the military’s commitment to policies against imposing religion on its members.

Massive study finds most Americans devout, tolerant

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:31:32 -0700

Michael Paulson | June 23

Boston Globe - The United States is a nation of believers: Most Americans say they believe in God, they pray, and they attend worship services regularly; they also believe in angels and demons, in heaven and hell, and in miracles.

But they also say, contradicting the teachings of many faiths, that truth comes in many forms. Large majorities of Americans say that many religions - - not just their own -- can lead to eternal life, and that there is more than one way to interpret religious teachings.

Bibles are big business in China

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:29:19 -0700

Ching-Ching Ni | Nanjing | June 22

LA Times - A new plant can turn out 12 million copies a year. Some are for export, but most are for domestic sale.

The factory looks like it could be any plant in this export-driven nation. Hundreds of Chinese workers huddle over loud machines churning out large orders for customers at home and abroad.

But what they're making might surprise you: Bibles.

As Tibetan monks grab headlines protesting the lack of religious freedom under Chinese rule, a booming Bible industry is on its way to turning the world's biggest atheist nation into the world's largest producer of the Good Book.

Texas raid on polygamists' compound cost $14 million plus

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:24:18 -0700

John Moritz | Austin | June 15

McClatchy - The state's tab for operations associated with the roundup of more than 460 youngsters from a polygamist sect's ranch in West Texas has already topped $14 million, a figure that will rise as still-unsubmitted overtime, travel and professional services bills are tallied, newly released records show.

Summer Camps Revive India's Ancient Sanskrit

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:36:51 -0700

Rama Lakshmi | New Delhi | June 15

WaPo - Effort Is Part of Bitter Debate Over the Role of Hindu Language in a Diverse Society

Hemant Singh Yadav, a lean and sprightly 15-year-old, was sent by his parents to a summer camp to learn to speak Sanskrit, or what he calls the language of the gods.

He had studied the 4,000-year-old classical Indian language at school for six years. He knew its grammar and could chant the ancient hymns. But he could not converse in it. During a two-week course at the camp, Sanskrit Samvad Shala, he had no choice: He was forbidden to speak any other language.

Indonesian religous tolerance under threat

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:45:51 -0700

Telly Nathalia and Olivia Rondonuwu | Jakarta | June 10

Reuters - Indonesia's president should stand up for religious tolerance and reverse a decree permitting prosecution of a sect many Muslim brand as heretical, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has delayed taking a clear decision on the fate of the Ahmadiyya sect for weeks, seeking a delicate balance on an issue that has inflamed passions and seen violence by hardline Muslim groups against the sect.

A government team tasked with monitoring religious groups recommended in April it should be banned as the sect's teachings deviate from fundamental Islamic tenets.

Saudi king prepares ground for interfaith meeting

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:42:49 -0700

Riyadh | June 7

Reuters - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has won backing from Muslim clerics from around the world for an interfaith dialogue with Christians and Jews, state media reported on Saturday.

Some 500 religious scholars and academics gathered for a 3-day conference in Mecca which ended on Friday as the first step of a plan announced by the Saudi king this year to create a dialogue with other faiths.

The king's call, which followed a meeting with Pope Benedict at the Vatican last year, sparked much interest from Jewish and Christian groups around the world.

The Mecca meeting recommended "conferences, forums and discussion groups between the followers of the prophetic messages, and relevant civilisations, cultures and philosophies to which academics, media and religious leaders will be invited", according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Gore Vidal Interview

Sat, 31 May 2008 10:30:19 -0700

This interview of Gore Vidal is quite an interesting read. My favorite part:

"You would consider yourself to be living under a dishonourable regime?" "Absolutely."

"With a corrupt president?" "Yes."

"Who cheated his way to power?" "Oh, yes."

"Is this the most pernicious US government you have ever experienced?" "Yes. It is inconceivably bad. There is nothing that one could ever have imagined to be so bad."

"So what hope do you have for what you've described as the American Empire?" "None. It's finished."

"How do you see it ending?" "No more money."

That about sums it up, if you ask me. Enjoy.

Blair 'to devote life to faith'

Fri, 30 May 2008 06:15:09 -0700

May 29

BBC - Former prime minister Tony Blair has promised to "spend the rest of my life" uniting the world's religions.

He said faith could be a "civilising force in globalisation", bringing people together to solve problems such as malaria and extreme poverty.

Mr Blair, who is now a peace envoy to the Middle East, told Time magazine that religious belief had given him "strength" while in power. On May 30 in New York, Blair, 55, formally unveils The Tony Blair Faith Foundation.

(Click here to see what's on the board.)

Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:20:08 -0700

Amazing video!

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness –- shut down one by one. An astonishing story.

Secular Turks attack religious council's code for women

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:08:44 -0700

Robert Tait | Islamabad | May 29

The Guardian - A powerful state body regulating the role of Islam in Turkey has come under fire over an article on sexual behaviour that equated flirting with adultery and condemned women for wearing perfume.

Secularists and women's groups hit out after the directorate of religious affairs (Diyanet) published the article on its website setting out recommendations for proper sexual conduct.

Invoking the prophet Muhammad, it put the onus squarely on women by urging them to cover up and behave modestly to avoid provoking male sexual desires.

"Women have to be more careful, since they have stimulants," the article stated. "The women communicating with strange men should speak in a manner that will not arouse suspicion in one's heart and in such seriousness and dignity that they will not let the opposite party misunderstand them, that they should not show their ornaments and figure and that they should cover in a fine manner."

Age is Not a Barrier to Bringing about change. What's your excuse?

Mon, 26 May 2008 07:06:04 -0700

A good friend of mine that I have known for over 20 years has a very special son. He inspires us to hope - and to act.

My friend's email:

I wanted to bring to your attention that my son's documentary done by
Time Inc. was posted tonight on the artist's website... within the next
few days it will be placed on the Time Inc. website.

Hollywood was recently invited to speak at the Democratic National
Convention in Denver on behalf of victim's rights... On Saturday he met
with Senator Barack Obama in Harrisburg and on Sunday he had a closed
door meeting with Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Bob Casey

My Vision of a Compassionate Future

Sat, 24 May 2008 22:23:56 -0700

Dalai Lama | October 21, 2007

This 2007 op-ed once again rings true ~qb

WaPo - Brute force can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom. The thousands of people who marched in the cities of Eastern Europe in recent decades, the unwavering determination of the people in my homeland of Tibet and the recent demonstrations in Burma are powerful reminders of this truth. Freedom is the very source of creativity and human development. It is not enough, as communist systems assumed, to provide people with food, shelter and clothing. If we have these things but lack the precious air of liberty to sustain our deeper nature, we remain only half human.

Mary in May Part IV

Fri, 23 May 2008 22:56:36 -0700

Charlene Spretnak writes @ Women and Spirituality .
I love the way Mary’s spiritual presence has been felt so deeply in nature: at sacred springs and grottos, on mountains and in the sea. She grew in her spiritual life from the village to her full cosmological presence – Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven – without ever leaving the Earth. Indeed, her presence settled deeply into the Earth … usually at the spots previously held sacred to the earlier goddesses, of course.