TruthBook Religious News Blog

RACHEL ZOLL
September 10, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) — There is the dread of leaving the house that morning. People might stare, or worse, yell insults.

Prayers are more intense, visits with family longer. Mosques become a refuge.

Eight years after 9/11, many U.S. Muslims still struggle through the anniversary of the attacks. Yes, the sting has lessened. For the younger generation of Muslims, the tragedy can even seem like a distant memory. "Time marches on," said Souha Azmeh Al-Samkari, a 22-year-old student at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Yet, many American Muslims say Sept. 11 will never be routine, no matter how many anniversaries have passed.

"I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach every year," said Nancy Rokayak of Charlotte, N.C., who covers her hair in public. "I feel on 9/11 others look at me and blame me for the events that took place."

Rokayak, a U.S.-born convert, has four children with her husband, who is from Egypt, and works as an ultrasound technologist. She makes sure she is wearing a red, white and blue flag pin every Sept. 11 and feels safer staying close to home.

Sarah Sayeed, who lives in the Bronx, said that for a long time, she hesitated before going out on the anniversary. The morning the World Trade Center crumbled, she rushed to her son's Islamic day school so they could both return home. The other women there warned that she should take off her headscarf, or hijab, for her own safety. She now attends an interfaith prayer event each Sept. 11, keeping her hair covered as always.

"There's still a sense of 'Should I go anywhere? Should I say anything?' There's kind of that anxiety," said Sayeed, who was born in India and came to the U.S. at age 8. "I force myself to go out."

The anniversary brings a mix of emotions: sorrow over the huge loss of life, anguish over the wars that followed, but also resentment over how the hijackings so completely transformed the place of Muslims in the U.S. and beyond.

A poll released this week by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 38 percent of Americans believe Islam is more likely than other faiths to encourage violence. That is down from 45 percent two years earlier.

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Labels: 9/11, emotion, fear, interfaith, Islam, Muslims, Pew forum on Religion, Rachel Zoll

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

U.S. survey: More know about Islam, fewer think it's violent

The Associated Press

Americans are learning more about Islam, and familiarity with the faith makes people more likely to view Muslims favorably and less likely to believe Islam encourages violence, according to a new study.

The survey by the Pew Research Center also showed that Americans still believe Muslims face far more discrimination than the nation's other religious groups.

The findings can be linked because increased knowledge about Muslims is tied to more sensitivity about bias they face, said Greg Smith, the report's senior researcher.

"To say that Muslims are discriminated against ... it's not the same thing as expressing an unfavorable view of Muslims. In fact it's just the opposite," he said. "People who are most sympathetic to a group are more likely to see that group as being discriminated against."

In the annual survey released Wednesday, 58% of Americans said there was "a lot" of discrimination against Muslims. Jews were seen as the religious group with the next highest level of bias against them, with 35% saying they faced a lot of discrimination.

Homosexuals were the only group seen as facing more discrimination than Muslims, with almost two-thirds of Americans saying homosexuals are discriminated against a lot.

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Labels: bias, discrimination, Islam, Pew Research Center survey, violence

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White House Iftar

White House Iftar

Tuesday night's White House Iftar had both a courtly feel and a common touch. Servers circled the ornate reception rooms of the White House with glasses of juice and bowls of dates at fast-breaking time. Prayers were led by a Muslim chaplain in the U.S. military.

Dinner attendees included Congressmen (Andre Carson, Keith Ellison, John Conyers, Rush Holt, Richard Lugar) and Cabinet Secretaries (Bob Gates, Eric Holder, Kathleen Sebelius), but the loudest applause was reserved for the guest of honor -- an American Muslim girl wearing a headscarf who broke Massachusetts state records in high school basketball. She was seated at the head table, to the President's left.

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Labels: commonality. difference, Iftar, Islam, Muslims, President Obama, religion, White House

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Interfaith Spirituality 101: what are three universal lessons from Islam?

August 14,
Dr Deb Brown

This is the fifth article in a series of weekly articles about universal lessons offered by the spiritual Teachings, beginning (in alphabetical order) with Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous wisdom, and continuing this week with Islam.

This article does not address the ideas and beliefs that led to 9/11, which have been denounced repeatedly by Muslim scholars around the world. This article focuses on Islam, the sacred religion of peace founded by the Prophet Mohammad (570–632 AD), who is believed by Muslims to have directly received the word of Allah/God from the angel Gabriel and transcribed it into the Qur’an (Koran). The word "Islam" means "submission" in Arabic, and its primary focus is on humbly submitting to the Divine.

This article looks past issues that often divide us, and offers three of many Muslim lessons that could be considered universal lessons for all of us. These three lessons are not meant to capture centuries of Muslim thought and are offered in no particular order:

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Labels: Deb Brown, interfaith, Islam, Muslims, peace, spirituality

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Friday, August 14, 2009

Religion 101: What is the Muslim month of Ramadan?

August 10
Priscilla Martinez

American Muslims will begin the annual Ramadan fast on Saturday, August 22. In keeping with the divine commandment in the Holy Qur'an,

"O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it has been prescribed to those before you in order that you may attain God-consciousness" (2:183),

Muslims will refrain from all food and drink during daylight everyday for about a month. The Eid al-Fitr holiday ends the month of fasting.

Fasting is an instrument for gaining closeness to God and achieving purification of heart and mind. Muslims look forward to the coming of Ramadan with great longing for the spiritual, physical, and emotional benefits this special season brings.

Ramadan is also important for Muslims because it is the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims consider the Qur'an to be God's speech recorded in the Arabic language and transmitted to humanity through Muhammad, the last of the prophets. This tradition of God-chosen prophets or messengers includes such figures as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus. Muslims believe that over a period of twenty-three years, various verses and chapters of the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad through the Archangel Gabriel. The Qur'an is comprised of 114 chapters of varying length, with titles such as "Abraham," "The Pilgrimage," and "Mary."

During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset every day. This means not consuming food or drink, including water, during the daylight hours. Muslims arise early in the morning during Ramadan to have a pre-dawn breakfast meal. They will then complete the fast at dusk by having a meal that usually includes dates, fresh fruits, appetizers, beverages and dinner.

Ramadan is also a month of heightened devotion. The five daily prayers are performed with greater intensity. The community gathers at the mosque nightly for extra prayers called taraweeah. During the last ten days of Ramadan, some families seclude themselves in the mosque for itikaf, a night spent performing even more prayers and reading the Qur’an. It is a spiritually intense period of reflection and devotion whose purpose is to seek guidance and ask for forgiveness.

There are many other important lessons learned during this month as well. In Ramadan, Muslims try to practice what's become known as "the five S's:"

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Labels: devotion, Eid al-Fitr, fasting, Islam, Koran, Muslims, Priscilla Martinez, Ramadan

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Friday, July 24, 2009

The new Christian bridge builders

A new crop of Christian leaders, such as Rick Warren, are demonstrating a willingness to reach out to Muslims in spite of the "Islam is evil" message delivered by many of their counterparts. Are American Muslims ready or able to reciprocate beyond dialogue?

By Junaid M. Afeef,
July 20, 2009

Rick Warren, the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, spoke recently at the 2009 ISNA Convention in Washington, DC. He arrived at the convention center and made his way across the registration and information booths, up two flights of escalators and then again across the numerous exhibitors’ booths just outside of the auditorium where he was to speak. Several ISNA executives were with him, but he was able to pass by most convention attendees without any fanfare.

Given that the ISNA convention is a racially diverse gathering the sight of a white man in a summer suit was hardly noteworthy on its face, but given what his presence at ISNA means, perhaps a little more fanfare was in order. Rick Warren’s willingness to reach out to Muslims is a bold step towards greater inter-religious dialogue in the United States. Warren’s gesture at ISNA, as with the MPAC convention last year, represents a marked departure from the "Islam is evil" message delivered by other Evangelical Christian leaders like Franklin Graham.

After all, several reputable national studies after 9/11 have shown that Evangelical Christians hold very unfavorable opinions of Islam and of Muslims. Right after 9/11 a Pew poll found that 62 percent of Evangelical Christians believe that their faith is very different from Islam and a 2003 Beliefnet/Ethics and Public Policy survey found that 77 percent of Evangelical Christian leaders had an unfavorable view of Islam.

Warren is obviously part of that very small minority of Evangelical Christian leaders who does not have an unfavorable view of Islam and who does not think his faith is that much different from Islam. That is why he is willing and able to come to speak sincerely to large Muslim audiences. It is good for American religious pluralism that Rick Warren and the national American-Muslim leadership have found one another.

This relationship and the ensuing dialogue are important because they help pave the way for grassroots dialogue between their faith communities. The grassroots inter-religious dialogue is where great gains in understanding and bridge-building can be made. Understanding and relationships between American-Muslims and Christians are vital to sustaining America’s tradition of religious pluralism.

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Labels: Christian, evangelicals, interfaith, Islam, ISNA, Junaid M. Afeef, Muslims, pluralism, Rick Warren

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Women’s Spiritual Voices: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian

July 2nd, 2009

On May 21, 2009 the Moroccan American Cultural Center and the American Jewish Committee sponsored an interfaith panel discussion in New York City on “Women’s Spiritual Voices: Crossing Continents, Finding Common Ground.” Panelists explored the roles of women religious leaders in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and they included three Moroccan women, Fatima Zahra Salhi, Nezha Nassi, and Ilham Chafik, who are “mourchidates” or religious counselors; Mahara’t Sara Hurwitz, a member of the rabbinic staff at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, New York; Rabbi Stephanie Dickstein, spiritual care coordinator at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in New York City; the Reverend Elizabeth Garnsey, associate rector at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City; and moderator Sarah Sayeed of the Interfaith Center of New York. In 2006, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI created the mourchidates program for women to serve as religious counselors in community health programs, women’s detention centers, and mosques. Fifty mourchidates are chosen from approximately 1,000 highly qualified applicants, and they receive intensive training in 32 subject areas including law, psychology and theology. They must also have learned at least half of the Qur’an by heart. Watch excerpts from the panel discussion edited by Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly intern Juliana Comer, a senior at James Madison University.

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Labels: Christianity, interfaith, Islam, Judaism, spirituality, women

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Saturday, June 13, 2009

A Muslim woman’s songs call for peace

ISTANBUL - When the US invaded Iraq, Habibe wanted to be a human shield, but her family kept her from sacrificing herself. Instead, she took off her black chador, donned a white one and set her protest to music.

A Muslim woman’s songs call for peace For Habibe, a young Muslim woman, Pope Benedict XVI’s statement that "Islam is a warrior religion" was the last straw. She took off her black chador and donned a snow-white one, symbolizing peace, and hit the road to tell the world that her faith was not one of war.

Born in Medina, Habibe, 33, had been ready to give up her life as a human shield when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. Though her family just barely prevented this young woman from sacrificing himself, she was determined to not stay silent about what she saw happening.

As a covered Muslim woman whose voice was forbidden by her religion, Habibe’s singing has been controversial, but she never gave up. She started working under the leadership of famous composer Taner Demiralp and performed nine different songs that call for friendship and peace in the world, including "Talea’l Bedr-u Aleyna" (Welcome, Dear Mohammed), one of the most-loved chants of the Muslim world, in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and English. Habibe prepared her first music video for the techno track "No War." The video, which includes verses of peace from the Koran and the Old Testament of the Bible, is already on airing on the MTV music channel and its Web site, www.mtv.com.

Labels: Bible, Habibe, Islam, Koran, music, Muslims, peace

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The New Muslim-Catholic Coalition

The New Muslim-Catholic Coalition

The political experts will decide if President Obama's speech at the University of Cairo on June 4 was a factor in the unexpected electoral defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon's elections on June 7. But while the international effects may be murky, a clear and immediate result of the Cairo speech is its impact on Muslims living in the U.S. Pride about praise of one's religious traditions from political leaders often adds votes and voices within U.S. society. Catholic America should know: this was part of our past journey to inclusion.

But more than a touchy-feely sort of thing is the likelihood that the Cairo speech will produce greater support for socialized health care and an end to Israeli settlements. Those Catholics in America who agree with the bishops and the pope have long supported a universal health care plan and a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. With the President's speech, Muslims in the U.S. have been invited to make an alliance with Catholics.

Obama's speech aligned the U.S. treatment of Muslims and the Muslim world with the vision of Pope Benedict XVI. That's not my opinion, but one found in the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano and echoed by Archbishop Wilton Gregory who speaks for the U.S. bishops: "Both the pope and president concur that a dialogue of civilizations must supplant the specter of a clash of civilizations ... All Catholic Americans who hope for a more secure world, and peace among the religions, can feel grateful that the president underscored the indispensable role of religion in advancing educational, economic, and scientific goals."

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Labels: Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, Catholicism, interfaith, Islam, Israel, Pope Benedict XVI, President Obama

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Sunday, June 07, 2009

Obama's Challenge to the Muslim World

by Feisal Abdul Rauf

The historic significance of President Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo cannot be overstated. Never before has an American president spoken to the global Muslim community. His speech marked a major shift in American foreign policy. Obama directly enlisted a religion to build global peace and to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, end nuclear proliferation and stop terrorism.

In just a few sentences he demolished the phony theory of the "Clash of Civilizations," which insists that Islam and the West must always be in conflict. Instead, he declared the United States is not at war with Islam and outlined a plan for how the conflict can be resolved.

Perhaps most important, he put religion at the core of the peacemaking process. For too long, Americans had come to fear Islam as an intolerant, violent religion. Obama cited examples from the Quran that belied those stereotypes. He emphasized the core similarities among Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

"Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism," he said. "It is an important part of promoting peace."

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Labels: Feisal Abdul Rauf, Islam, Muslims, peacemaking, President Obama, religion

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Friday, April 10, 2009

Youth Survey: Teens lose faith in droves

Youth Survey: Teens lose faith in droves

Islam and atheism are on the rise while Christianity fades

Teens lose faith in drovesEvery day, Mohamed Hadi wakes up before sunrise for morning prayer. The 19-year-old then boards a bus for the 90-minute ride from his home in Richmond, B.C., to the campus of Simon Fraser University, where he’s studying to become a physiotherapist. He’s involved in the Muslim Students’ Association, and with Rich in Faith, a Muslim youth group he founded that offers tutoring and mentoring services. Hadi’s a busy guy, yet he always finds time for his religion, including prayer five times a day. “It helps me stay composed,” he says, “and to maintain balance in my life.”

Such devotion is rare among teens these days—or at least, among those from Protestant and Catholic households. Just as the younger generation is abandoning the Christian faith, though, non-Western religions, such as Islam and Buddhism, are growing in Canada at a surprising speed. According to new data from Project Teen Canada, more teens now identify as Muslim than Anglican, United Church of Canada and Baptist combined. As a group, the percentage who adhere to so-called “other faiths”—including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism—has grown fivefold since Project Teen began its surveys in 1984, while the percentage of teens who identify as Roman Catholic has declined by one third, and the percentage who identify as Protestant is down by almost two-thirds.

A side effect of this trend is a hollowing-out of the religious middle ground in Canada. Reginald Bibby, the University of Lethbridge sociologist who heads up Project Teen, says the grey zone of those who believe in God, but don’t regularly practise an established religion, is rapidly emptying out, leaving behind two distinct camps: teens who are very religious and actively practise their religion, and those who don’t believe in God at all. “For years I have been saying that, for all the problems of organized religion in Canada, God has continued to do well in the polls,” Bibby writes in The Emerging Millennials, a new book based on Project Teen’s latest findings. “That’s no longer the case.”

The growth in popularity of faiths such as Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism can largely be attributed to immigration, Bibby says. Indeed, there are more new Canadians than ever—immigrants made up 20 per cent of the population in 2006, according to Statistics Canada, up from 16 per cent in 1981. And the majority of new Canadians now hail from the Middle East and Asia, whereas most came from Europe a decade before.

Foreign-born teens are more likely to be religious when they arrive, but whether that faith will persist over the coming generations remains to be seen. “Because these faith groups are so small, they often can’t hang on to their kids,” Bibby explains. “They have this maddening tendency to socialize with Protestant, Catholic, and ‘no religion’ friends, and marry out of their parents’ groups.” But immigration will continue to supply fresh believers, so it’s likely that their community support will grow too. That’s been Hadi’s experience. Amongst his friends, many of whom are Muslim, “we all know when it’s time to pray. If we forget, we’ll remind each other,” he says. “Community is an integral part of the equation.”

For Canada’s Christian teens, meanwhile, the community is shrinking like never before. Since 1984, the percentage of teens who call themselves Christian has almost been cut in half while the number who call themselves atheist has grown to 16 per cent, up from just six per cent in the mid-1980s. Just as the boomers shifted toward agnosticism, teens are now going a step further and rejecting religion entirely. “Belief is learned, pretty much like the multiplication table,” Bibby writes. “So is non-belief.”

Labels: belief, Buddhism, Canada, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Project Teen, religion, teenagers

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Half of Americans lack understanding of Islam: survey

Press Trust of India / Washington April 06, 2009

More than half of Americans lack a basic understanding of Islam, while a sizable number hold negative views about the world's second-largest religion.

Most Americans think President Obama's pledge to "seek a new way forward" with the Muslim world is an important goal, even as good amount of number say that even mainstream adherents to the religion encourage violence against non-Muslims, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey showed that 55 per cent of those polled said they are without a basic understanding of the teachings and beliefs of Islam, and most said they do not know anyone who is Muslim. While awareness has increased in recent years, underlying views have not improved.

About 48 per cent said they have an unfavourable view of Islam, the highest in polls since late 2001.

Nearly three in 10, or 29 per cent, said they see mainstream Islam as advocating violence against non-Muslims; although more, 58 per cent, said it is a peaceful religion.

Overall, nearly two-thirds said Obama will handle the diplomatic mission "about right". Nearly a quarter, though, said he will probably "go too far". Nine per cent said it is more likely he will not go far enough.

Republicans are also more apt than others to hold negative attitudes toward Islam, with six in 10 having unfavorable views, compared with about four in 10 for Democrats and independents.

Perceptions of Islam as a peaceful faith are the highest among non-religious Americans, with about two-thirds holding that view. Among Catholics, 60 per cent see mainstream Islam as a peaceful faith; it is 55 per cent among all Protestants, but drops to 48 per cent among white evangelical Protestants.

There are deep divisions in perceptions of Islam between younger and older Americans as well: More than six in 10 younger than 65 said Islam is a peaceful religion, but that drops to 39 per cent among seniors.

The Post-ABC poll was conducted by telephone March 26-29 among a national random sample of 1,000 adults. The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

In his inaugural address, Obama extended an offer to leaders of unfriendly Muslim nations that the United States "will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

Labels: Americans, Islam, polling, President Obama, religion, understanding

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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Smorgasbord religion on the grow throughout United States

Smorgasbord religion on the grow throughout United States E-mail
By Daniel Burke, Religion News Service
Published: April 03, 2009

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Friday afternoons find Ann Holmes Redding at the Al-Islam Center in Seattle, reciting Muslim prayers. Come Sunday, she heads about two miles south to kneel in the pews of St. Clement’s of Rome Episcopal Church.

“My experience and my call is to continue to follow Jesus,” said Redding, an Episcopal priest for the past 25 years, “even as I practice Islam.”

Redding insists she is both Christian and Muslim, fully following both faiths.

And for that, Redding expects to be defrocked by the Episcopal Church, which has warned the 57-year-old to renounce Islam or leave the priesthood.

Some Episcopalians are urging the church to take a similar stand against Kevin Thew Forrester, who was elected bishop of the sparsely populated Diocese of Northern Michigan in February. The only candidate on the ballot, Thew Forrester, 51, has practiced Zen meditation for a decade and received lay ordination from a Buddhist community.

Conservatives are outraged at the election of this “openly Buddhist bishop,” as they call him, charging him with syncretism—blending two faiths and dishonoring both.

The bishop-elect and the Lake Superior Zendo that ordained him say the angst is misplaced. The ordination simply honors his commitment to Zen meditation, they say. He took no Buddhist vows and professed no beliefs that contradict Christianity.

While people like Redding, who claim membership in two religions, are quite rare, scholars say the number of Americans who borrow bits from various traditions is multiplying.

Current sociological surveys, with their one-size-fits-all categories, don’t tell us exactly how many Americans hybridize their spiritual lives.

Sociologist Barry Kosmin, co-author of the recent, massive American Religious Identification Survey, said “the tendency of academics and everyone else is to try to disabuse them of this syncretism.”

For sure, “syncretism” is a dirty word to many Western monotheists; in Asia, “multiple religious belonging,” as scholars call it, is common.

Kendall Harmon, an Episcopal theologian from South Carolina, argues that Thew Forrester is a greater threat to his church than the openly gay bishop whose 2003 election has led four dioceses to secede.

The store, in this metaphor, is that big ice-cream parlor in the sky.

Fewer than three in 10 Americans claim their religion is “the one, true faith leading to eternal life,” according to data from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, and 44 percent say they’ve switched religious affiliations since childhood.

At the same time, traditional religious boundaries are falling and interfaith marriages are rising, meaning Americans increasingly are likely to attend a grandmother’s church funeral and a cousin’s bar mitzvah.

It’s little surprise then, that people who pledge allegiance to two traditions are proliferating.

John Berthrong, a Boston University scholar whose book, The Divine Deli, explores multiple religious belonging, said: “While churches are still having formal discussions about religious pluralism, the laity has bolted down the street to a Buddhist temple where they’re learning meditation.”

Sometimes those temples house Catholic nuns like Sister Rose Mary Dougherty, who leads a multifaith group of Zen students in Silver Spring, Md.

A nun for 50 years, Dougherty also is a sensei in the White Plum Lineage of Zen Buddhism, meaning she is entrusted to teach meditation to others.

Like many Christians who practice Zen, she uses its meditation techniques to clear the mind and focus on the present moment, but she doesn’t consider herself a Buddhist.

Labels: Buddhism, Christian, Daniel Burke, Episcopalians, Islam, religion, syncretism

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Worldly religions find their way to Franklin

By VICTORIA GRAY
Sunday, March 15, 2009

FRANKLIN — Those interested in learning about world religions don't need to go to Harvard Divinity School, or even a closer university or college. They only have to go as far as West Main Street, where a series of interfaith dialogues begins today at Franklin Congregational Christian Church.

Rev. Jeff Stevens, pastor, said as part of the church's adult education program he has invited speakers representing various religions and members of the public to participate in these discussions.

The first of these dialogues is today at the church hall at 1 p.m. and features Mohamed Ebrahim, PhD, an Imam and director of the Dover-based Islamic Society of the Seacoast Area, as the guest speaker.

The next discussion is scheduled for Thursday, March 19, when Manitonquat, an elder of the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, will speak about his culture's spiritual traditions.

Manitonquat, whose name translates to Medicine Story, is a counselor and lecturer with a Ph.D. in Religious Counseling. He is a retired ceremonial leader and is currently involved in a prison spirituality program in New England, including at the Concord State Prison for Men.

Manitonquat, who lives in Greenville, said he is looking foward to Thursday's discussion in Franklin.

"I'm always interested in interfaith dialogues," Manitonquat said. "It's very exciting for me to connect with people from various faiths and talk to them about Native American spiritual beliefs."

He added that Native American spiritual beliefs do not constitute a religion or religions and that there are many different traditions among the various tribal councils and nations in North America.

One universal belief is that of respect — that everything in creation, including every person, deserves respect.

He said that, in his prison programs, this concept resonates with inmates, many of whom have neither been given nor seen examples of respect in their lives before.

The next common belief is in "the primacy of the circle as the form in which people should gather together."

The circle, also an important symbol of the life and death cycle, symbolizes the equality of members in gatherings, as there is no head or end.

The third belief is one of continually thanking the spirit and natural world.

Manitonquat has written a book that is soon to be published, called "The Original Instructions," which he said is based "on a lifetime of listening to elders and trying to figure things out."

He said the title comes from a frequent answer elders gave when he asked, "What is wrong with human beings today?"

The answer he often got was "They have forgotten the original instructions."

Manitonquat says this means that the earliest inhabitants of world, including on the North American continent, lived more in harmony with the natural and spiritual world than people do today.

He said since Europeans settled the continent it has been their religions and spiritual traditions that have dominated and been propagated.

"No one really understands the wealth of spiritual understanding that existed here before," Manitonquat said.

Stevens said that, as the population in New Hampshire becomes more diverse, it is increasingly important that people learn about and respect each other's cultural, spiritual and ethnic backgrounds.

He added that there is a Buddhist population in the state and a growing number of Sikhs and members of the Bahá'í faith.

Sikhism is a religion that formed in India approximately 500 years ago. Followers believe in a single, formless God who can be known through deep meditation. They believe in samsara, karma and reincarnation as Hindus do, but reject the caste system.

Stevens has been pastor at the church since December 2007.

Originally from Williamstown in Western Massachusetts, Stevens received a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School and has always been interested in world religions.

He said one of the professors at the school, Diana Eck, started and still directs the "Pluralism Project," which began in 1991 to explore America's changing religious landscape. The project has recorded the growth of religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism in the U.S. as a new wave of immigration that began 30 to 40 years ago continues.

"The Lakes Region is sort of on the edge of the movement toward more religious diversity, this wave of great change," Stevens said.

He said he is excited that the first speaker will be discussing Islam, as he worked with Muslim (followers of Islam) communities in the greater Boston area while at Harvard.

Stevens said despite the substantial Muslim population in the U.S., many people still know little about Islam, though the religion, along with Judaism, shares some of the same history as Christianity.

He noted that Thomas Aquinas, in the 1100s, wrote a letter to Christians, Jewish people and Muslims about the things their religions shared in common.

Islam began in the Middle East more than 1,400 years ago and is the second largest religion in the world with more than 1 billion followers. The word Islam means "submission to the will of God (Allah in Arabic)".

Muslims believe there is only one God and that God sent a number of prophets to humanity to teach them how to live, including Jesus, Moses and Abraham.

The final Prophet was Muhammad, who Muslims believe most perfectly delivered God's message, therefore they follow his example (called the Sunnah) and base their laws on the holy book, the Qur'an.

The five basic Pillars of Islam are a declaration of faith, praying, fasting, charity and undertaking a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one's lifetime.

The Islamic Society of the Seacoast Area is located in Dover and serves more than 300 Muslim families in coastal communities in New Hampshire and Southeastern Maine.

...Amala Dharmacharini, program director of the Aryaloka Buddhist Retreat Center, will lead a discussion on Buddhism.

Buddhism developed out of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama who, in 535 BCE, reached enlightenment and assumed the title of Buddha.

He promoted 'The Middle Way' as the path to enlightenment rather than the extremes of mortification of the flesh or hedonism. Buddhists believe in reincarnation and that, after many lives, a person can attain nirvana by releasing their attachment to desire and the self.

Stevens said he also is working on booking a speaker from the Bahá'í Faith, a faith that arose from Islam in the 1800s. Bahá'í beliefs promote gender and race equality, freedom of expression and assembly, world peace and world government.

Other speakers may include representatives from neopagan traditions and from the Jainist religion.

Jainism is one of the oldest religions in India and its followers believe that the way to true bliss is through lives of harmlessness and renunciation. Followers believe every living thing in the universe is sacred and has a soul. Because of this, they follow a strict vegetarian diet and live in a way that minimizes their impact on the environment.

Labels: Bahá'í, Buddhism, Christianity, God, interfaith, Islam, Jainism, Native American Church, Pluralism Project, religion, Sikhism, Victoria Gray

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Friday, December 12, 2008

The History of Religion

The History of Religion, from 3000 BC to 200 AD, in about 2 minutes. Taken from mapsofwar.com

Labels: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, maps, religion

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Monday, November 17, 2008

Muslim scholars hail interfaith harmony

By Taleb Bin Mahfooz

JEDDAH – The speech of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, at the UN interfaith conference in New York on Wednesday has underlined the importance of promoting dialogue, understanding and tolerance among human beings, as well as respect for all their diverse religions, cultures and beliefs gaining the appreciation of Muslim scholars. The speech further advances the true cause of Islam to promote dialogue, rejecting the use of religion to justify acts of terrorism, the killing of innocent civilians, violence and coercion, they agreed.

At uncertain times of war and political conflicts wrapping the world, the King has managed to disseminate the culture of dialogue across the globe through the UN based on common values among religions and cultures.

In his speech, King Abdullah showed the world the pure and true image of Islam that calls for peace, tolerance, human rights, and justice, said Saleh Al-Bugami, general secretary of Islamic Society of Jurisprudence and member of the Shoura Council. By “bringing adherents of different sects and religions together,” the King has taken a giant stride to place the issue on the international front at such a difficult time in human history, he added. The dialogue initiative is clearly a message of peace based on common human values without any compromises on the basics of creeds.

Labels: creeds, faith, interfaith, Islam, King Abdullah, Taleb Bin Mahfooz, United Nations

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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Muslims combine worship, willpower as Ramadan begins

Tonight, minutes after sunset, Muslims around the world will begin searching the skyline for the new crescent moon. The sighting of that...

Mr. Aziz Junejo

Tonight, minutes after sunset, Muslims around the world will begin searching the skyline for the new crescent moon. The sighting of that sliver of light signals the start of the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar and the month during which Muslims are required to fast as a form of worship.

Hearing the word "fast" may conjure thoughts of extreme hunger, weight loss or body detoxification, but across the ages, followers of the Abrahamic faiths have employed fasting as a form of discipline, following the examples of Jesus, Moses and Muhammad, all of whom fasted for God.

The month of Ramadan is sanctified by meticulous fasting from the pre-dawn to sunset. During daylight hours, Muslims abstain from all food and drink while controlling all desires. If one does this in complete devotion to God, we believe, her or his sins will all be forgiven.

When I was a child, preparation for Ramadan always came early, including the planning for special menus of healthy, traditional foods. "Foul Mudammas" made from fava beans with fresh-baked pita was a breakfast preference while Medjool dates and a variety of Mediterranean salads and soups were usually served for dinner. These were light menus, which allowed our bodies to better utilize reserves during the fast.

Days always felt longer during Ramadan. The delightful aromas of Mother's dinner preparation at the end of the day tested the limits of my willpower. I remember that my father was especially peaceful during this month, encouraging more reading of the Quran, saying extra prayers and, most important, storing the television for those 30 days.

This year, in an effort to increase my spirituality, I have decided I, too, will eliminate television for the entire month. I know TV serves many social purposes and helps some people relax, but turning it off for an extended time can be a way to reconnect with God, enjoy quality time with the children, or just eliminate the noise.

Each year, I look forward to the opportunities of Ramadan: getting in touch with my spirit and feeling at peace.

Television can bring us to tears, make us laugh, even inspire hate. Such a powerful medium must have some effect on spirituality. Without television, I anticipate being able to focus more on my spiritual self, creating a sacred retreat to awaken my heart with consciousness of God and all creation.

Fasting, I believe, not only strengthens willpower but improves eating habits, providing a sense of health and happiness.

I know the practice may be unpopular in a culture of instant gratification, a food channel and supersizing meals. You would think refusing food and drink all day would make one grumpy and irritable, but after a week of fasting I feel renewed, healthier and full of extra energy. At night, I fall asleep right away and wake recharged and alert.

Thinking about the effects on my body and mind, I recognize how much Ramadan has benefited me over the years, how much it has enhanced my self-discipline and faith. Knowing that fasting has always been a part of the Abrahamic traditions reassures me I have much in common with people of other faiths. As I practice prayer, reflection and am God conscious this month, I hope to experience the true spirit of Ramadan, the Muslim month of forgiveness.

Labels: Aziz Junejo, discipline, fasting, Islam, Ramadan, worship

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Friday, August 15, 2008

Hell: Some believe it exists, others fear it, many do not

Posted by Charles Honey | The Grand Rapids Press
August 09, 2008

Believers in hell decline

...for more and more Americans, hell is a myth. In a survey released this summer by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, just 59 percent of 35,000 respondents said they believe in a hell "where people who have led bad lives, and die without being sorry, are eternally punished."

That's down from the 71 percent who said they believed in hell in a 2001 Gallup survey. And it is lower than the 74 percent who said they believe in heaven in the recent Pew poll.

The heaven-hell gap is reflected locally. In a 1999 Press survey of West Michigan residents, 84 percent said they believed in heaven compared to 72 percent for hell.

Skepticism about hell is growing even in evangelical churches and seminaries, says one local theologian.

"In a pluralistic, post-modern world, students are having a more difficult time with (the idea of) people going to hell forever because they didn't believe the right thing," says Mike Wittmer, professor of systematic theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.

"That's the biggest question out there right now: 'Would God send someone to hell if they were someone as good as me, but didn't believe what I believe?' "

It was easier to believe in hell 20 years ago when missionaries tried to convert people in far-flung places, Wittmer says. In today's global village, many live next to good, non-Christian neighbors and wonder why an all-powerful, loving God wouldn't eventually empty out hell, Wittmer says.

"I've noticed in the last five years how that view is making inroads even in conservative churches, whereas five years ago it wasn't even uttered or discussed," he adds.

Americans' optimism and tolerance for diversity complements a growing view of God as benevolent, not judgmental, other experts say.

The believers

The Pew survey showed the biggest believers in hell are evangelical Protestants, African-American Protestants and Muslims. Sizable majorities of Jews, Buddhists and Hindus, as well as atheists, agnostics, and the rest of the unaffiliated, say they do not believe.

Islamic beliefs

At the Islamic Center and Mosque of West Michigan on Burton Street SE, Imam Sharif Sahibzada also listens for the devil's footsteps. Though faithfully following God, Sahibzada says he nevertheless fears hell.

Jewish viewpoint

Although many Jews believe in neither hell nor heaven, others have varied views of the afterlife, says Rabbi David Krishef of Congregation Ahavas Israel.

One is that souls go to a place called Gehenna, often translated as hell in the Bible. It is derived from a burning valley south of Jerusalem where garbage was dumped and children sacrificed. Their souls are purified in a kind of purgatory before most go to heaven, but some are so evil they are punished or utterly destroyed, Krishef says.

He tends to believe in the latter as the fate of unrepentant evil-doers such as Hitler, Osama bin Laden and Yigal Amir, the assassin of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In any case, the morality by which one lives is the key, he says.
Press Photo/Lance WynnCarmella Conway, 85, a Dominican Sister at Marywood Health Center, said she believes in a gracious God who relies on people to help save others from hell.

Helping others

How we live can keep a lot of people out of hell, if you ask Sister Carmella Conway.

She is a Grand Rapids Dominican Sister who spent 55 years teaching religion. She believes in a gracious God who relies on people to help save others from hell, both on earth and beyond.

"We can transform the world by helping others," Sister Conway says following a morning Mass at Marywood, the Dominican motherhouse. "We're kind of guilty if anybody goes to hell."

Starvation, war, lack of charity: These sins make life hellish for many, she argues. Between God's grace and people's faithful work, very few if any will go to hell, she says.

"I think we're going to be surprised when we get there," she adds with a smile.

So does Sister Marjorie Vangsness, 91, who flatly says she does not think about hell.

"I think about the fact God loves us unconditionally, and that God has given us union with God," says Sister Vangsness, a native of Iron Mountain who taught at Aquinas College. "I'm inclined to go along with those who think maybe there's nobody in hell, that God helps all of us to be with him."

Ultimately, we need to accept the mystery of life after death, she says. Sister Emma Kulhanek agrees, but is confident about where she will go.

"If we live as we can best live, then I'm going to heaven," says Sister Kulhanek, 78, a former teacher and principal. "There's a lot of pain just in this world. It's what we do with it that makes the difference."

-- The New York Times News Service contributed to this story

Labels: Americans, evangelicals, God, heaven, hell, Islam, Judaism, Pew survey, religion

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Valley's religions seek 'common good'

By Jason Monaco, Robert B. Lennick and Sharon Joseph
July 25, 2008

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Every major religion in the world has this concept among its teachings. Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and other faiths share this imperative. At its heart, this teaching is about finding the common good.
Is
Working together for the common good promotes ethical, moral, and spiritual values into all areas of our common lives -- economics, commerce, trade, and international relations -- as well as personal virtues, to advance understanding and action on major local and global issues by civil society, private enterprise, the public sector, governments, and national and international institutions, leading to the promotion of collaborative policy solutions to the challenges posed at the present times to all of the humanity.

In Islam, you can find volumes upon volumes of practices, laws and recommendations, the application of which perpetuate and enhance the common good of all, as is commanded by Allah (God) in verse 104 of chapter 3 of Holy Quran: ''Let there be among you a community who enjoin good and forbid evil; it is they that shall be successful.'' That is further emphasized by the Prophet Mohammad in a narration reported by Jabir bin Abdullah in Sahih Bukhari: ''Enjoining all that is good is charity.''

Among Christian teachers, perhaps it was the great St. Paul who best described the common good. In his letter to a young church in Corinth, he talked about working together as different parts of the body -- each part being important, each part having a job to do, each job essential to the body working as a finely tuned instrument. And, he reminds us that no one is left out: ''To each is given a gift of the spirit for the common good.''

In Judaism, we find a living ethic of social justice where the verse, ''Remember the heart of the stranger,'' is repeated no less than 36 times in the Torah. The common good begins with empathy for others and a recognition that unless each individual internalizes the challenges of others we become a collection of private experiences, rather than a caring and committed community.

We must step outside of our comfort zone. We must join hands with others and develop systems that ease the pain and suffering of those facing hardships. What purpose does religion serve if it does not awaken an individual's concern for all human life; for the ''common good?''

God is the author of creation. In this life, all human beings face difficulties and hardships. We must look at the difficulties of this life as an opportunity to become better human beings; to become closer to the Creator of the heavens and the earth. We must cultivate our hearts, and by serving others, we can strive toward this end.

Jason Abdullah Monaco of Allentown is outreach coordinator for the Muslim Association of the Lehigh Valley. The Rev. Sharon Solt Joseph is pastor of Church of the Manger UCC Church in Bethlehem. Robert B. Lennick is rabbi at Congregation Keneseth Israel in Allentown.

Labels: Christianity, God, Golden Rule, interfaith, Islam, Jason Monaco, Judaism, religion, Robert B. Lennick, Sharon Joseph

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Religion Necessary to Survive Our Century

Published: June 03, 2008

Religion Necessary to Survive Our Century

By Krzys Wasilewski

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled last Saturday that uniting the world's three largest religions will be his lifetime goal. Blair, who once said that God would be his judge on Iraq, launched a foundation that will work towards the peaceful coexistence of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

Although while premier Tony Blair urged British politicians not to perform American-style "chest beating," now he wants religion to play a leading role in the 21st century. At the opening conference of his new foundation, Blair admitted that "Religious faith will be of the same significance to the 21st Century as political ideology was to the 20th Century."

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation was launched on May 30, 2008, in New York City. The invited guests, among who was Former US President Bill Clinton, heard Blair saying that "the world [was] going tumultuous change" and, to address new issues, world leaders would have to discover a set of rules which could guide them in their efforts. According to the former British prime minister, religion is the answer.

Goals that Blair set up for his foundation may, in his own words, "sound impossibly idealistic," but after greater scrutiny are achievable. The foundation's website lists the three most important points: to promote respect and understanding between the major religions; to make the case for faith as a force for good; and to encourage inter-faith initiatives to tackle global poverty and conflict.

Faith is so important, says Blair, because the contemporary world brings distant communities closer than in the previous centuries. "Here is the crucial point. Globalization is pushing people together. Interdependence is reality. Peaceful co-existence is essential. If faith becomes a countervailing force, pulling people apart, it becomes destructive and dangerous," said the former British prime minister.

According to the data provided by Blair, Christians and Muslims know very little about each other. "Most Christians want better relations between Christianity and Islam but believe most Muslims don't," said Blair. The British leader underlined that in a recent survey; only 40 percent of Europeans said that religion was an important part of their lives. In the US, this number rose to 70 percent whereas in Muslim countries it exceeded 80 percent.

Blair hopes that his foundation will show how faith can help solve materialistic problems that plague the contemporary world. Religion, says the British statesman, can join people of different denominations in one common effort towards the better future.

Krzys Wasilewski is a NewsBlaze journalist, particularly interested in history and literature that expands his love of travel and historical curiosity.If you have any comments or suggestions, please write to: krzys.wasilewski@yahoo.com.

Labels: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Krzys Wasilewski, Tony Blair

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Book Review: The roots of violence in religion

Reviewed by Allan F. Wright

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Abraham's Curse: The Roots of Violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam
By Bruce Chilton. Doubleday (New York, 2008). 260 pp. $24.95.

Do Judaism, Christianity and Islam share a common ancestor whose obedience to God taps into the root of today's violence in the name of religion? Bruce Chilton, professor of religion at Bard College, rector of an Episcopal church in Barrytown, N.Y., and former member of the Jesus Seminar, poses this very thought in his book, "Abraham's Curse: The Roots of Violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam."

The thesis of Chilton's work rests upon the idea that the violence we see in the three major monotheistic religions of today (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) is spearheaded by the "Aqedah," or God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in the Book of Genesis. Chilton bookends his work with references to the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, and examines the common thread that links violence to religion. He pursues his argument that most violence in the name of religion can be traced back to this "Aqedah" with excerpts pulled from the Scripture and the Quran.

In the Genesis account according to the Hebrew Scriptures, Abraham obeys God's command to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah, but at the last moment an angel stops him, saying Abraham has proved his faith by his willingness to obey. God himself points to a more suitable sacrifice: a ram caught in a thicket, which signals to many the end of human sacrifice in the name of God.

Chilton maintains that the original meaning of the story is that human sacrifice is not God's will. He successfully shows how all three religions, in times of persecution, have twisted this meaning to glorify martyrdom.

The title of the book is somewhat misleading as the reader may expect a survey of the many acts of violence and war in the holy books of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. However, the author overextends the idea that almost all acts of violence in the name of religion stem from the "Aqedah" account in Genesis. Chilton omits the concept that the sinfulness of man is often a root cause or explanation for violence.

Chilton expends much effort in the early chapters aiming to prove his point about the "Aqedah." However, he overreaches in his exegesis, forcing many occasions of violence found in the Scriptures to this one event. Obedience to God is the focus of the call of Abraham's sacrifice of his son, not violence. Throughout the first 90 pages of the book Chilton references extrabiblical texts and legends, muddled in clarity, to the text we find in Genesis. Unfortunately, this can be confusing for the reader.

Throughout the book there are references made that are not in line with Catholic theology. One glaring example is when Chilton says that "Jesus did not originally refer to his own personal body and blood" in the meals he shared with his disciples but the meaning came later, "in the Hellenistic environment of St. John's Gospel." If Jesus did not communicate the teaching that his "flesh is real food," then one can naturally question which Scripture passages are authentic and which are made up by the community. Chilton's association with the Jesus Seminar assemblage is evident in such interpretations.

In St. Paul's writings to the Galatians, the "Aqedah" is the occasion where the Abrahamic covenant takes on its greatest theological significance. This event serves as the pinnacle when Abraham's faith and God's promise reach their fullest expression. God's promises to Abraham and, in turn, Abraham's faith, are the two strands from which St. Paul eloquently explains his theology and the promise that follows. The faith of Abraham brings to completion the divine promise to all generations --- not an act of violence. Chilton does not mention St. Paul's interpretation which should be included because of St. Paul's influence on Christianity.

From the Islamic viewpoint, Chilton points to multiple texts in the Quran and incidents throughout Islamic history that use the Abrahamic sacrifice or the "Feast of Sacrifice" as a touchstone that likens the "Aqedah" in Judaism and Christianity to the Muslim faith. Again, this premise is designed to link the "Aqedah" to violence in all three religions.

Overall, Chilton offers an interesting perspective on the origin of violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He does provide food for thought on the violence that exists today, all alleged to be done in the name of God.

Labels: Abraham, Aqedah, Bruce Chilton, Christianity, Islam, Jesus, Judaism, religion, violence

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Friday, May 23, 2008

Panelists debate: Jesus ... Who?

By Rachel Smeda

May 23, 2008

As part of its first Theology Weekend, Karis Community Church gave three panelists the chance to present and defend diverse viewpoints of who Jesus is. Answers to questions such as whether Jesus claimed to be the son of God define the boundaries between Christianity, Judaism, Islam and other major religions. The panelists’ conversation is not the only discourse on this subject happening in America. Summaries of a few other news stories on the debate about the identity of Jesus add a broader perspective to the ongoing debate.

Unitarian Universalism

The Rev. Bill Haney, a Unitarian Universalist pastor

Who was Jesus? A good man: “The gospels are the biography of Jesus, a man.”

Way to heaven? A mystery: “If God is good, why would God condemn anyone?”

“The UU tradition stems from the questioning side of the Christian experience. To question, to doubt, are essential to my exploration of faith.”

“Being a Christian is how one acts, not necessarily what one believes.”

“I’m more interested in the religion of Jesus than a religion about Jesus.”

“I worship God and not the Bible.”

“You could say that I am not a Christian because I don’t believe in vicarious atonement, that another’s death can make me right with God.”

Islam

Dr. Shakir Al-Ani, an Islamic speaker

Who was Jesus? A prophet: “Jesus was a human messenger from God to teach people where they went astray and to bring them back.”

Way to heaven? Through both faith and works: “Just believing in Jesus, peace be upon him, will not usher you into heaven.”

“Jesus did not come to be sacrificed because we are each responsible for our sins. Individual responsibility is the way to get to heaven.”

“Why would God sacrifice one person for another’s sins? An attribute of God is forgiver because he is all-powerful and has no limits, so why does he need a price to be paid for sin?”

“Jesus never claimed to be the son of God. It was said over him by others, including the writer of John, but never professed by himself.”

“Jesus was not with God in the beginning. God is independent of his creation and does not need a son.”

“Jesus was not crucified. God gave a look-alike to die on the cross and Jesus was raised to heaven.”

“Jesus came with a spiritual message to affirm the Torah and to correct the deficiencies in Jews’ lives.”

Christianity

Dr. Tom Schreiner, a Baptist pastor and New Testament theologian

Who was Jesus? Son of God: “Jesus did claim to be the son of God; in the Gospel of John, Jesus said, ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’”

Way to heaven? Trust in Jesus: “I think Jesus’ central message was that God’s kingdom was coming — in other words, the day of judgment and salvation. Therefore, all human beings must repent and believe in him in order to be spared on the day of judgment.”

“People need a savior because there is something dramatically wrong with human beings.”

“Universalism trivializes sin because it says that at the end of the day, all will be saved.”

“We’ve strayed from God and followed the creature rather than the creator. People have trusted themselves rather than God.”

“Jesus was crucified, according to the best historical evidence available, and rose from the dead.”

“One cannot claim to honor Jesus, I would argue, and reject what is said of him in the Scriptures.”

“Jesus came so that we would be entranced by God and fall in love with him.”

“God cannot just forgive because an essential part of his nature is justice and holiness. Sin must be paid for.”

Labels: Christianity, Islam, Jesus, Rachel Smeda, Unitarianism

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

Faith news

March 29, 2008

— One in every ten voters in America believes Barack Obama to be a Muslim, a survey has revealed. White evangelical Protestants and Americans from the Southern, mid-Western and rural states are the most likely to hold this view, according to the poll commissioned by the Pew Research Centre.

— A hotel in Nashville is removing the Bible from its bedrooms and offering guests a “spiritual” reading menu instead. Reports in the Tennessee press say the Hotel Preston will invite guests to call room service to ask for the religious book of their choice. The selection offered will include the Koran, Book of Mormon, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism as well as the King James Bible. “Our guests come from different places and they definitely come from different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities, so we want everyone to feel welcomed and comfortable,” said Dina Nishioka, public relations director for Hotel Preston.

— A German security agency has published a teenage comic illustrated with Manga cartoon sketches as an attempt to combat the appeal of Islamic extremists. One hundred thousand copies of Andi, a comic relating the adventures of a schoolboy with a Muslim girlfriend who is influenced by a radical preacher, have been published and distributed to every secondary school in Germany. They have been produced by the intelligence and security department of the interior ministry of North-Rhine Westphalia. Spokesperson Hartwig Moller explained: “We had to make clear we weren't aiming against Muslims, but only those people who want to misuse Islam for political aims." The magazine is intended for use in citizenship and religion lessons for 12-16 year olds.

— Yale University is running a course on the theology of Harry Potter. Danielle Tumminio, a graduate from Yale Divinity School has devised a study programme that examines Christian themes of sin, evil and resurrection in JK Rowling's seven Harry Potter books. She described the course as “a critical endeavour” adding that she did not wish to “indoctrinate students.”

— A church magazine in Canada has become the first sponsor in North America of a travelling exhibition devoted to the life and work of Charles Darwin. David Wilson, editor of The United Church Observer, decided after learning the exhibition had attracted no corporate funding that the magazine should sponsor the exhibition. “There is nothing in the exhibit that threatens or diminishes religion. If anything, it shines a light on the inherent beauty and wonder of a creation that is constantly and eternally evolving,” he explained. Darwin: The Evolution Revolution is on display at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto until until August 4 and will later come to the Natural History Museum in London.

— The governing body of the Church of Wales is to vote on whether women should be ordained as bishops. The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan said: "I do not personally see how, having agreed to ordaining women to both the diaconate and priesthood, the church can logically exclude women from the episcopate.” The vote will take place on Wednesday when the governing body is due to meet.

Labels: Barack Obama, Bible, bishops, Darwin, Harry Potter, Islam, women

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Karen Armstrong - Charter for Compassion

As she accepts her 2008 TED Prize, author and scholar Karen Armstrong talks about how the Abrahamic religions -- Islam, Judaism, Christianity -- have been diverted from the moral purpose they share to foster compassion. But Armstrong has seen a yearning to change this fact. People want to be religious, she says; we should act to help make religion a force for harmony. She asks the TED community to help her build a Charter for Compassion -- to help restore the Golden Rule as the central global religious doctrine.

Labels: Christianity, compassion, God, Golden Rule, Islam, Judaism, Karen Armstrong, religion, video

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Inside Islam, a woman's roar

Wazhma Frogh, an Afghan, uses her religion to press for women's rights – and development agencies take note.

By Jill Carroll
from the March 5, 2008 edition

Page 1 of 2 - Please click on external link for complete article

Just hours after Wazhma Frogh arrived in an isolated, conservative district in northeastern Afghanistan in 2002, the local mullah was preaching to his congregation to kill her. Ms. Frogh was meddling with their women with her plan to start a literacy program, he told the assembly.

As she walked past the mosque during noon prayers, his words caught her ear. Shocked, she marched straight into the mosque. In a flowing black chador that left her face uncovered, she strode past the male worshipers and faced the mullah. Trembling inside, she challenged him.

"Mullah, give me five minutes," she recalls saying. "I will tell you something, and after that if you want to say I am an infidel and I am a threat to you, just kill me."

She then rattled off five Koranic verses – in both Arabic and the local Dari language – that extol the virtues of education, tolerance, and not harming others. She criticized local practices of allowing men to use Islam to justify beating their wives, betrothing young girls, and denying women an education.

The room was silent. All eyes were on Frogh and the mullah. Then the mullah rested his hand on her head.

"God bless you, my daughter," he said.

With that, Frogh won permission to start the literacy program that later helped women from Badakhshan Province participate in local government and run for the national assembly.

Where rigid interpretations of Islam relegate women to second-class status, Frogh uses rhetorical jujitsu to turn religious arguments on their heads and win women's rights. Her steely determination has earned her attention in Washington.

"In a country where religion is so important to people, we need to understand the religion," she says. Arguments based on principles of universal human rights or on what international conventions say don't persuade many Afghans to support reforms, she says. "[M]y experience in the last 10 years is this does not matter to the people in Afghanistan," she says. Only religious arguments hold sway.

The international development field has lately seen more of that approach, says Rachel McCleary, a fellow at the Center for International Development at Harvard. In the 1960s and '70s, foreign aid became more secularized, but now religious groups are a growing presence in international development work, says Ms. McCleary.

Frogh is like a number of Islamic scholars – from the United States to Yemen – who are using religious jurisprudence to argue that women have greater rights under Islam, convince leaders in Muslim communities to make reforms, or even turn around extremists who use Islam to justify violence. As an Afghan Muslim, Frogh is in the best position to persuade other Afghan Muslims to support her various projects, experts say.

"The fact [that] this woman is from within, and from the culture and society is much more powerful and salient than if a woman from outside said the same thing," says Eileen Babbitt, professor of International Conflict Management Practice at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Labels: Afghanistan, Islam, Jill Carroll, literacy, religion, Wazhma Frogh, women

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Woman Who Shed Her Burqa

Posted February 12, 2008

Book Review: Reconciliation by Benazir Bhutto

As someone who knew and respected Benazir Bhutto ever since we were in college together, I cannot write an unbiased review of her new book, Reconciliation. But because I feel that it is an extraordinarily important and beautiful work, I'm pleased to take up Arianna's offer to comment upon it here.

The book, completed just before her assassination this past December, is both an intensely personal and a profoundly intellectual assessment of Islam and its relationship to the West. Her own journey began in the village of Lukana, as the daughter of a strong-willed man who would become Pakistan's prime minister. "When I reached the age of puberty, my mother asked me to wear a burqa," she writes. "Suddenly the world looked gray. I felt hot and uncomfortable breathing under the confines of the cloth. My father took one look at me and said, 'My daughter does not have to wear the veil.'"

The subjugation of women in many Muslim countries, Bhutto contends, is a perversion of the Quran. "The Prophet Mohammad accepted women as equal partners in society, in business, and even in war," she writes. "The Quran elevates the status of women to that of men. It guarantees women civil, economic, and political rights."

There are many who might dispute such characterizations of Islam, including both its most ardent adherents and fiercest critics. That is why Bhutto's book is so important. She marshals evidence from the Quran, from history, from a survey of society in Muslim nations, and from her personal life to paint a picture of what Islam can and should be. In making her theological arguments, she was helped by her wise friend Husain Haqqani, a scholar from Pakistan now a professor at Boston University. Another dedicated friend, Mark Siegel, a political consultant in Washington, was instrumental in editing and researching the book.

Bhutto's defense of Islam does not extend to how it has been manifest in most countries where it is the dominant religion. "There are unfortunately only a few clear democratic success stories," she notes. The courage that she exhibited throughout her life is reflected in her book's critique of the way politics is practiced in much of the Islamic world today and her unflinching prescriptions for reform.

To those, in both the West and the East, who believe that a clash of civilizations is inevitable, Bhutto offers a reasoned alternative vision of what the world could be like. And she wraps it in a personal tale that should inspire readers everywhere. Both her vision and her personal courage are made all the more poignant, and all the more important for people to appreciate, by her tragic murder.

In the spirit of full disclosure, let me note that I gave a blurb for the book at the publisher's request. My endorsement was deeply felt. This is a powerful personal narrative by an astonishingly brave woman. It's also a brilliant manifesto for challenging radical Islam.

Labels: Benazir Bhutto, Islam, Pakistan, Reconciliation, religion, Walter Isaacson

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Monday, February 04, 2008

Religious converts

Changing religions or denominations is growing phenomenon today in United States

By C. Samantha McKevie
Saturday, February 02, 2008

Please click on External link at the bottom to read the whole article, including personal stories of faith-journeys from one religion to another, and one denomination to another.

Kelley Culver grew up in Houston as a Southern Baptist; Fatima Khiyaty was reared Catholic just outside of Cleveland; and Sonja Ozturk was brought up in a Lutheran family in Green Bay, Wis.

Mr. Culver made a pit stop as a Methodist before converting to Catholicism six years ago.

Mrs. Khiyaty and Mrs. Ozturk left Christianity altogether and are now Muslims.

They are not alone.

Although some people live their lives content with being part of one denomination or faith, others change denominations or switch to a different religion altogether.

Changing from one denomination to another within Christianity is not that unusual, said the Rev. Don Saliers, a Methodist minister and an adjunct professor of theology and worship at Emory University.

"Because of the ecumenical context in American Christianity and a lot more social mobility, shifting from one denomination to another is very different from 50 years ago, though in radical conversion experiences, there can still be great personal trauma," he said. "But shifting denominations is quite common. There is much more 'church shopping' when a family now moves to a new city.

Steve Tipton, a professor of sociology and religion at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, said there is "a lot more denominational switching going on now than a few years ago and indeed a generation ago."

"The rates increase with education and age together, and in particular with intermarriage," he said. "If the Christian woman or man marries a Muslim, one of them is likelier to convert.

When switching major religions -- such as Christianity to Muslim or Judaism to Christianity -- a lot more is involved, the Rev. Saliers said.

"The conversion from one religion to another requires a much deeper change of relationships -- family ties, cultural setting and context -- than does most inter-Christian conversions or changes," he said.

LOOK AT THE CHANGES

Barry Kosmin is co-author of Religion in a Free Market, a book that presents the results of the American Religious Identification Survey. The survey tracked adult Americans by their religious traditions and ethnicity from 1990-2001.

In its chapter on religious switching, the book states that "about 16 percent of the nation's population reported that at some point in their lives they had changed their religious preference or identification."

WHO'S MOVING WHERE

Catholics, Methodists, Protestants in general and Jews were among the groups that had significantly higher percentages of people switching out of their faiths.

General Christians, Pentecostals, non-denominationals, evangelicals, Muslims and Buddhists had higher percentages of people switching into their faiths.

The biggest trend he found, though, is a switch to no religion at all, which was the choice of many of the people who left Catholicism, Methodism and Islam, he said.

"The other big trend is mainline, the old people, becoming born-again and joining evangelicals, non-denominational or Christian churches.

In two thirds of marriages where one person switched to the other's religion, it was the woman who switched to make the accommodations, he said.

The switch to Islam occurs mainly among black men and among women who marry Muslims, he said.

Labels: Barry Kosmin, C. Samantha McKevie, Catholic, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, religion

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Friday, January 18, 2008

French Muslims becoming more observant - survey

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

Page one of two. Please click on "external link" for entire article

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Muslim minority, the largest in Europe, is becoming increasingly more observant, with more of them saying daily prayers, visiting mosques and fasting during Ramadan, a new survey said on Thursday.

This appeared to reflect in part a reaction to discrimination against Muslims in France, and a growing number of new mosques being built in the country.

Thirty-nine percent of Muslims surveyed by the polling group IFOP said they observed Islam's five prayers daily, a steady rise from 31 percent in 1994, according to the study published in the Catholic daily La Croix.

Mosque attendance for Friday prayers has risen to 23 percent, up from 16 percent in 1994, while Ramadan observance has reached 70 percent compared to 60 percent in 1994, it said.

Drinking alcohol, which Islam forbids, has also declined to 34 percent from 39 percent in 1994, according to the survey of 537 people of Muslim origin.

There was strong progression among Muslims under 25 for both mosque attandence and Ramadan observance. "There is a general tendency among the young to reaffirm their (Islamic) identity," Islam expert Franck Fregosi told La Croix.

He said this was partly a reaction to discrimination against France's Muslim minority, at five million the largest in Europe: "This 'Islam as a refuge' can be a way to respond to an environment that is not favourable to young Muslims."

Part of the growth could also have come because it is easier to practice Islam in France thanks to many new mosques that have been constructed over the years, he added. Continued...

Labels: France, Islam, Muslims, spirituality, Tom Heneghan

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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Islam’s Forsaken Renaissance

Posted Jan 8, 2008

Islam’s Forsaken Renaissance
by Mahathir bin Mohamad

According to the Koran, a Muslim is anyone who bears witness that “there is no God (Allah) but Allah, and that Muhammad is his Rasul (Messenger).” If no other qualification is added, then all those who subscribe to these precepts must be regarded as Muslims. But because we Muslims like to add qualifications that often derive from sources other than the Koran, our religion’s unity has been broken.

But perhaps the greatest problem is the progressive isolation of Islamic scholarship – and much of Islamic life – from the rest of the modern world. We live in an age of science in which people can see around corners, hear and see things happening in outer space, and clone animals. And all of these things seem to contradict our belief in the Koran.

This is so because those who interpret the Koran are learned only in religion, in its laws and practices, and thus are usually unable to understand today’s scientific miracles. The fatwas (legal opinions concerning Islamic law) that they issue appear unreasonable and cannot be accepted by those with scientific knowledge.

One learned religious teacher, for example, refused to believe that a man had landed on the moon. Others assert that the world was created 2,000 years ago. The age of the universe and its size measured in light years – these are things that the purely religiously trained ulamas cannot comprehend.

So what do we need to do? In the past, Muslims were strong because they were learned. Muhammad’s injunction was to read, but the Koran does not say what to read. Indeed, there was no “Muslim scholarship” at the time, so to read meant to read whatever was available. The early Muslims read the works of the great Greek scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers. They also studied the works of the Persians, the Indians, and the Chinese.

The result was a flowering of science and mathematics. Muslim scholars added to the body of knowledge and developed new disciplines, such as astronomy, geography, and new branches of mathematics. They introduced numerals, enabling simple and limitless calculations.

But around the fifteenth century, the learned in Islam began to curb scientific study. They began to study religion alone, insisting that only those who study religion – particularly Islamic jurisprudence – gain merit in the afterlife. The result was intellectual regression at the very moment that Europe began embracing scientific and mathematical knowledge.

And so, as Muslims were intellectually regressing, Europeans began their renaissance, developing improved ways of meeting their needs, including the manufacture of weapons that eventually allowed them to dominate the world.

By contrast, Muslims fatally weakened their ability to defend themselves by neglecting, even rejecting, the study of allegedly secular science and mathematics, and this myopia remains a fundamental source of the oppression suffered by Muslims today. Many Muslims still condemn the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kamal, because he tried to modernize his country. But would Turkey be Muslim today without Ataturk? Mustafa Kamal’s clear-sightedness saved Islam in Turkey and saved Turkey for Islam.

Failure to understand and interpret the true and fundamental message of the Koran has brought only misfortune to Muslims. By limiting our reading to religious works and neglecting modern science, we destroyed Islamic civilization and lost our way in the world.

The Koran says that “Allah will not change our unfortunate situation unless we make the effort to change it.” Many Muslims continue to ignore this and, instead, merely pray to Allah to save us, to bring back our lost glory. But the Koran is not a talisman to be hung around the neck for protection against evil. Allah helps those who improve their minds.

Mahathir bin Mohamad was Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981-2003.

Labels: Islam, Koran, Mahathir bin Mohamad, Muslims, religion, renaissance, scholarship, science

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Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Pope lauds Christian presence in Saudi

Pope lauds Christian presence in Saudi
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 6

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI lauded the contributions of Christians in Saudi Arabia — a kingdom that embraces a strict version of Islam, restricts worship by other faiths and bans Bibles and crucifixes — in the first meeting ever Tuesday between a pope and reigning Saudi king.

Benedict and the Vatican's No. 2 official raised their concerns during separate meetings with King Abdullah, the protector of Islam's holiest sites.

The Vatican counts 890,000 Catholics, mainly guest workers from the Philippines, among the estimated 1.5 million Christians in Saudi Arabia. Christians are barred from opening churches in the desert kingdom where Islam's holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, are located.

Benedict greeted the king warmly, grasping both his hands before heading into 30 minutes of private talks in his library.

At the end of the meeting, Abdullah presented Benedict with a traditional Middle Eastern gift — a golden sword studded with jewels — and a gold and silver statue of a palm tree and a man riding a camel. The pope admired the statue but merely touched the sword.

He gave Abdullah a 16th century print and a gold medal of his pontificate.

Islam is the official religion of Saudi Arabia, and the kingdom requires all Saudi citizens to be Muslims. Only Muslims can visit the cities of Mecca and Medina.

Under the authoritarian rule of the royal family, the kingdom enforces Sharia, or Islamic law. It follows a severe interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism that rejects the possibility of diplomatic relations with a Christian entity. This interpretation would prohibit a Vatican embassy in Saudi Arabia on the grounds it is equivalent to raising the cross inside Islam's holiest places.

The Vatican maintains diplomatic relations with 176 states and institutions, including many in the Islamic world. Before the king's meeting with the pope, a Saudi official said the Vatican has not asked to have a diplomatic mission in the kingdom or to have diplomatic relations.

It is forbidden to practice Christianity publicly inside Saudi Arabia, and it is illegal to bring symbols from religions other than Islam into the country. Bibles and crosses are confiscated at the border.

Some Christian worship services are held secretly, but the government has been known to crack down on them, or deport Filipino workers if they hold even private services.

The Vatican has said it wants to pursue a dialogue with moderate Muslims after the pope angered the Muslim world in 2006 with a speech linking Islam to violence.

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said the Vatican hoped the meeting with the Saudi king would produce a "sincere" dialogue on Christian worship in the country.

The Vatican said the talks were "warm" and allowed a wide discussion on the need for inter-religious and intercultural dialogue among Christians, Muslims and Jews "for the promotion of peace, justice and spiritual and moral values, especially in support of the family," a statement said.

Benedict has said he wants to reach out to all countries that still do not have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Those countries include Saudi Arabia and China.

Abdullah had visited the Vatican twice before, as crown prince and deputy prime minister.

Labels: Catholic, Christian, diplomacy, Islam, King Abdullah, Pope Benedict, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Vatican, Victor L. Simpson, Wahhabism

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Friday, October 19, 2007

Unprecedented Muslim call for peace with Christians

By Peter Graff
Thu Oct 11

LONDON (Reuters) - More than 130 Muslim scholars from around the globe called on Thursday for peace and understanding between Islam and Christianity, saying "the very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake."

In an unprecedented letter to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders, 138 Muslim scholars said finding common ground between the world's biggest faiths was not simply a matter for polite dialogue between religious leaders.

Relations between Muslims and Christians have been strained as al Qaeda has struck around the world and as the United States and other Western countries intervened in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Such a joint letter is unprecedented in Islam, which has no central authority that speaks on behalf of all worshippers.

The list of signatories includes senior figures throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. They represent Sunni, Shi'ite and Sufi schools of Islam.

Among them were the grand muftis of Egypt, Palestine, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Bosnia and Russia and many imams and scholars. War-torn Iraq was represented by both Shi'ites and Sunnis.

Mustafa Cagrici, the mufti who prayed with Benedict in Istanbul's Blue Mosque last year, was also on the list, as was the popular Egyptian television preacher Amr Khaled.

"MAINSTREAM VOICES DROWNED OUT"

The letter was addressed to the Pope, leaders of Orthodox Christian churches, Anglican leader Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the heads of the world alliances of the Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist and Reformed churches.

A Vatican official in Rome said the Roman Catholic Church would not comment until it had time to read the letter.

Aref Ali Nayed, one of the signatories and a senior adviser to the Cambridge Interfaith Program at Cambridge University in Britain, said the signatories represented the "99.9 percent of Muslims" who follow mainstream schools and oppose extremism.

The overture to Christians could be followed by similar letters addressed to Jews or secularists, he added.

Pope Benedict sparked Muslim protests last year with a speech hinting Islam was violent and irrational. It prompted 38 Muslim scholars to write a letter challenging his view of Islam and accepting his call for serious Christian-Muslim dialogue.

Benedict repeatedly expressed regret for the reaction to the speech, but stopped short of a clear apology sought by Muslims.

The new letter argues in theological terms, giving quotes from the Koran and the Bible that show both Christianity and Islam considered love of God as their greatest commandment and love of neighbor as the second greatest.

"The basis for this peace and understanding already exists," it said. "It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the one God and love of the neighbor."

Labels: Bible, Christianity, God, Islam, Koran, Muslims, Peter Graff, Pope Benedict, Vatican

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History of Religion Video

How has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries, and where has it sparked wars? Our map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds? Ready, Set, Go!

Labels: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, religion, video, war

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Thursday, September 27, 2007

Knowledge of Islam, Mormonism lacking

Most Americans know little about the faiths but say their own beliefs have little in common with them, a poll shows.

By Theo Milonopoulos, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 26, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Most Americans say they know little to nothing about the practices of Islam and Mormonism but say their own religious beliefs have little in common with either of these faiths, according to a national survey released Tuesday.

Forty-five percent of those polled said Islam was more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers. Nearly 1 in 3 respondents say Mormonism is not a Christian religion, the report said.

The survey of 3,002 Americans was conducted last month by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Although 58% of respondents said they knew little or nothing about Islamic practices, 70% of non-Muslims said Islam was very different from their own religious beliefs.

Pew Forum senior fellow John Green said that respondents' knowledge of Islam might be even lower than the survey results suggested. Respondents "tend to overestimate their own knowledge, so these figures may well underestimate their lack of knowledge," he said.

The survey found that public attitudes toward Muslims have grown more negative in recent years, with 35% of respondents expressing an unfavorable view. In 2002, the figure was 29%. Respondents who knew a Muslim or who were college graduates were more likely to express positive views about Islam.

But the belief that Islam encourages violence has increased even among groups that have relatively favorable views of Muslims. According to the survey, college graduates are just as likely as those with no college experience to associate violence with Islam.

The survey said Americans were similarly uninformed about Mormonism. Although 53% of those surveyed expressed a favorable view of Mormons, nearly the same amount, 51%, said they knew very little about the faith.

As in the case of Islam, respondents with higher educational backgrounds and those who knew a Mormon tended to view Mormonism more favorably. But even more important in respondents' assessment of Mormons was whether they believe Mormonism to be a Christian religion, according to the survey.

Of the 31% of respondents who said Mormons are not Christians, 49% view Mormonism unfavorably, and 42% said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon for president.

Green said the results suggested that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon and GOP presidential hopeful, could face difficulty persuading white evangelical Protestants to vote for him because nearly 40% of those surveyed viewed Mormons unfavorably.

The survey also reported that 73% of respondents familiar with Pope Benedict XVI have a favorable opinion of him; 75% reflected favorably on evangelist Billy Graham.

Labels: Americans, Islam, Mormonism, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

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Friday, September 21, 2007

Iraqi Prisoners Get Religion From U.S.

The Skinny:
Military Uses Moderate Muslim Clerics To Steer Detainees Away From Al Qaeda
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2007

"The battlefield of the mind."

That's where Marine Maj. Gen. Douglas Stone, commander of U.S. detention facilities in Iraq, says he's waging his Iraq war these days, according to the Washington Post. And if the weapons in such a war are words, Stone's got quite the arsenal.

The story's ostensibly about the introduction of "religious enlightenment" and other education program for Iraqi detainees, some of whom are as young as 11. The religious courses are led by moderate Muslim clerics whose teaching "tears apart" the arguments of al Qaeda, such as "Let's kill innocents," Stone said.

The program has been growing, as the surge has swelled the population of Iraqis in U.S. detention from 10,000 last year to 25,000 this year. More than 800 are juveniles.

But what really emerges from the article - a summary of a conference call Stone held from Baghdad with a group of defense bloggers - is a portrait of Stone as a formidable character who's almost as fun to quote as Donald Rumsfeld was.

Stone, who reads Arabic and says he reads the Koran daily, said the new religious training helps U.S. forces pinpoint the hard-core extremists. "I want to know who they are," he said. "They're like rotten eggs, you know, hiding in the Easter basket."

He wants to identify "irreconcilables" and "put them away" in permanent detention facilities. Psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and interrogators help distinguish just who the extremists are, he said. And when that doesn't work, there's always the polygraph test, which he uses on detainees who promise they will change to "figure out if they're messing with us ... You're not talking about radicals going to choirboys."

The re-education has been working, in some ways better than the military even hoped. On Sept. 2, there was a religious uprising where some detainees turned on others. "We had a compound of moderates for the first time overtake ... extremists," he said. "Found them, identified them, threw them up against the fence and shaved their frickin' beards off of them ... I mean, that is historic."

Labels: Al-Qaeda, clerics, extremism, Iraq, Islam, religion

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Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Theologian Küng: Christianity Gets on Many People's Nerves

For Catholic theologian Hans Küng, religion has again become a power factor. While Islam and Buddhism are getting more popular, Christianity isn't. The controversial theologian spoke to DW-WORLD.DE about the reasons.

Born in 1928, Catholic theologian and church critic Hans Küng made his mark as a promoter of dialogue between religions and as president of the Global Ethic Foundation. In 1979, the Vatican withdrew his license to teach after the Swiss native questioned the infallibility of the pope. In the fall of 2005, Pope Benedict XVI invited Küng to a private meeting.

DW-WORLD.DE: Professor Küng, people -- and not only in Germany -- are again enormously interested in religious issues. Can we speak of a return of religions?

Hans Küng: "Return of religions" -- that is an ambivalent term. Religion never disappeared. Just like music, religion is something that stays, even if it is suppressed for some time. It is true, that since the new awakening of Islam, since the creation of the Islamic republic of Iran in 1979, Europeans have realized that they don't rule the world by themselves. For a long time, secular Europe had not realized that it was an exception, and that elsewhere, religions is a power.

"No peace among the nations, without peace between the religions! No peace between the religions without dialog between the religions!" Those are two central sentences of your World Ethic principle. In a time of globalization, there are many undreamed-of possibilities for communication on the Internet. The access to knowledge is easier than ever before. Can this development improve the dialog of religions?

In principle, I would say yes, even though this brings many problems. It's a positive thing that today we can know a lot about other religions. A different question, of course, is whether we do want to be in the know. There are people who don't -- they already know everything, without studying the Islam.

Who doesn't want to know?

For one, the fundamental Christians who take everything the Bible says literally and say they don't need any other religions. Then there are the very secular people, dogmatists of laicism. They get worked up simply when the word religion is mentioned, and they think that we should not talk about it in schools. They have issues with the fact that religion, again, is a powerful factor in world history.

According to a survey, not Christianity but Buddhism is the most likeable religion for Germans. How do you explain that?

Buddhism, in the West, is perceived as being free from dogmas, as a religion without many rules. It is a religion that's turned to the inside and that emphasizes meditation. It is a religion, which has no anthropomorphic, concrete picture of the last reality.

The other is that Christianity -- with its concentration of power -- gets on many people's nerves. When we have a pope, who claims that -- as theological Lord of the world -- only those who are with him are true Christians and that only his Roman-Catholic Church is the true church, it gets on many people's nerves. Even though they don't protest publicly, they will turn away and say they don't want to have anything to do with that.

Labels: Buddhism, Christianity, Germany, Global Ethic Foundation, Hans Küng, Islam, religion

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Friday, August 24, 2007

Poll: For Christians' identity, it's faith first, U.S. second

Editor's note: This is part of a series of reports CNN.com is featuring for "God's Warriors," a documentary hosted by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

(CNN) -- Most Christians are more likely to describe themselves as Christian first and American second, according to a new CNN poll examining religious views in the United States.

A new poll finds that Christian respondents would describe themselves as "Christian" before "American."

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that of the 750 Christians in the survey, 59 percent identify themselves first by their faith, then as Americans, while 36 percent described themselves in the reverse.

CNN's findings are not that different from those in a recent Pew Research Center poll on Muslim-American attitudes. In that poll, 47 percent of Muslims in America say they are Muslim first, American second. Younger Muslims were especially likely to feel that way: 60 percent of them responded they were Muslim first.

CNN's research also found that Americans are now less likely to see the possibility for peace between Islam and Christianity. Of the total 1,029 adult Americans polled, 53 percent say conflict is inevitable between the two religions, up from 45 percent in 2003. Explore Americans' views on religions »

Those polled also said Islam was the religion most likely to use violence. Sixty-eight percent believe Islam is the religion most likely to have followers who would use violence to spread their religion, compared to 11 percent for Christianity and 4 percent for Judaism.

When asked about religion-related violence in the United States, about nine in 10 said they personally would not be willing to kill another person to uphold a religious belief or advance a religious cause. But asked how many other Americans would do so, more than a third responded "many" and "some;" a third said "few" and a quarter said "almost no Americans."

The CNN poll also found that 62 percent say that American society has strayed too far from its religious foundation in the past 50 years, while answers were split almost evenly on religion as a factor in government policy. Forty-five percent said religion should have no influence on government decisions, while 36 percent say it should have some influence, but not the major factor.

When it comes to the Bible, CNN's poll found that 57 percent say they believe the Book of Revelations' description of the violent end of the world, where all but Christians perish. Nearly one in five believes it will happen in their lifetime.

But of the 750 Christians in the poll, nearly eight in 10 said that people of other beliefs could get into heaven, while only 17 percent believe that only Christians can.

The poll was conducted between June 22-24, 2007, with a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Labels: "God's Warriors", Americans, Christian, CNN, Islam, Judaism, Muslims, Pew Research Center survey

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Exclusive global CNN documentary 'God's Warriors' examines religion, power and politics

Protestors who kill for their religious beliefs. "Patriot Pastors" who seek to change American culture through the ballot box. Zealots who target prime ministers and presidents with assassination for "subverting God's will." Parents who reject science education in conflict with their religious principles. Suicide martyrs who are revered as iconic heroes. These are "God's Warriors" of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. They see contemporary society as corrupt and view themselves as the front line of defense in a battle for cultural supremacy and political power. They are changing the world.

CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour journeyed to eight countries over eight months to report for God's Warriors, an exclusive global CNN documentary about the global phenomenon of religious fervor upon politics, culture and public life . During six hours broadcast over three consecutive nights, CNN will reveal how "God's Warriors" want to bring religion back from the periphery to the center of public life – and how far they are willing to go to transform modern society.

God's Warriors includes thought-provoking interviews with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter; the late Rev. Jerry Falwell in his last television interview; Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Muslim women's rights advocate; Yehuda Etzion, a founder of the Israeli settlement movement; and Israeli President Shimon Peres.

A companion website to God's Warriors offers users show excerpts from the documentary, an audio podcast and an exclusive video diary that goes behind-the-scenes. This online content will be available at http://edition.cnn.com/godswarriorsopk . The podcast will also be available for download from iTunes.

Labels: "God's Warriors", Christiane Amanpour, Christianity, culture, Islam, Judaism, politics, religion

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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

New book by controversial theologian-priest gets much right, despite flaws

By Father Francis V. Tiso and Neil Sloan
7/27/2007
Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com)

In Islam: Past, Present, and Future, Father Hans Kung completes his trilogy on three world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. A Swiss theologian and Catholic priest, Father Kung is known for his controversial approach to Christian theology and for his commitment to interreligious dialogue as the basis for world peace. ("No peace among the nations without peace among the religions; no peace among the religions without dialogue between the religions.")

Because of his third principle ("No dialogue between the religions without investigation of the foundations of the religions"), Father Kung takes a vigorously historical approach to Islam based on models or paradigms that summarize the world of beliefs, values, techniques and practices that are shared by believers.

In 662 pages of text, the author is able to cover far more ground than any other single recent publication in English on Islam. Other Catholic authors such as John Esposito, John Renard and Elias Mallon have written relatively slender introductions to Islam for the general reader. Father Kung takes up some of the topics that these authors do not address and he is self-confident enough to raise the difficult issues that often shape the kinds of questions that Americans and Europeans wish to ask about Islam.

He does this with extreme candor, with all rancor removed -- not an easy achievement. Father Kung clearly wishes to prepare the modern (or postmodern?) Christian for fruitful dialogue with Islam. This requires a survey of historical facts, reform movements, theological perspectives and political tendencies.

Father Kung never fails to assert his own interpretations of Christian theology and history in an effort to reorient the reader to these views, some of which he believes will make fruitful dialogue with Islam possible. In fact, it is clear that Islam is a source for some of the author's own convictions about Christianity, some of which Catholic readers will find troublesome.

Father Kung seems to believe that the authentic message of Jesus was best preserved by what he calls Jewish Christianity. He then proceeds to claim that, in some way, Islam arose in Arabia among the last remnants of Jewish Christianity.

This is the theological backbone of this book, and it leads him to deny key doctrines of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christianity. The Trinity, for example, goes by the board several times, most notably on page 509, and in the following pages there is the demolition of Chalcedonian Christology, all on the basis of Father Kung's distaste for Hellenistic thought.

The lack of evidence for the beliefs and even the existence of Jewish Christianity before the late second century makes it difficult to prove continuity with the mission of Jesus. Moreover, the claim that some form of Jewish Christianity is proto-Islamic is based more on conjecture than on accessible historical data.

Ultimately, the author's attempt to use Islam as evidence for an early Christianity opposed to Orthodox and Catholic belief is unpersuasive.

However, both Christians and Muslims have much to learn from his analysis of Islamic history. He has the facts right about Arabic Christianity before Islam, about possible sources of the contents of the Quran, about Mohammed as a prophet and leader, about Muslim religiosity, about Islamic law and its ongoing evolution, about the conflict between reason and revelation, about mysticism and mass movements, about the encounter with modernity and colonialism, and prospects for the future.

Without concealing the aggressive, deeply troubling political mores of Islamic empires down through the ages, Father Kung manages to give a balanced assessment of their contributions to the sciences, philosophy, architecture and spirituality. He discusses the issue of jihad with candor and in this, as in most other matters Islamic, he resists the temptation to find ideal types that manage to "explain" everything, or worse, to "predict" everything.

There is a savvy open-endedness to his assessments of modernity and postmodernity in Islam and in the world in dialogue with Muslims of our times. So, in spite of some extremely problematic interpretations of Christianity, this may be the best single volume introduction to Islam currently available in English.

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Father Tiso is associate director and Sloan is program assistant in the U.S. Catholic bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

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Islam: Past, Present, and Future, by Hans Kung. Translated by John Bowden. Oneworld Publications (Oxford, England, 2007). 767 pp. $39.95.

Labels: Christianity, Francis V. Tiso, Hans Kung, Islam, Jesus, Jewish Christianity, Muslims