Stories about Religion from May, 2006
Nepal: Hinduism and the Throne
Samudaya.org comments on the close relationship of the throne and Hinduism. “The Shah Kings in Nepal have exploited Hinduism for more than 236 years. Since the majority of the population is Hindu, as a god of 80% of the citizens, the throne was unchallengeable.”
Iran: An office to support religious blogs
According to Kamangir, an “Office for Religious Blog Development” has been established in Qom. The blogger says this organization will support religious blogs in Iran.
Ethiopia: Jews in Israel
Nazret.com points to an article on….” Ethiopian jews living in Israel who the report says have the lowest income but the highest hopes “Ethiopian immigrants ranked lowest on the quality of life index, which considers per-capita income, per-room housing density and basic spending.” Surprise surprise!
Latvia: Aleksiy II's Visit
All About Latvia writes about the visit of Aleksiy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to Latvia last weekend. Latvia is home to some 350,000 Orthodox Christians.
Slovenia: President's Book Review
AlesS of A Little Blog For a Restless Mind reviews a book written by Janez Drnovsek, Slovenia's president: Thoughts on Life and Awareness. “To me the president with this book seems like a freshman that hasn't even yet passed the first grade of buddhism, yet already wants to teach (preach...
Russia: “And You Call It A Gay [Pride] Parade?”
This past Saturday marked the 13th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia, and a number of people attempted to take part in a gay pride parade in Moscow – despite the ban by a city court and mayor Yuri Luzhkov's words from the day before: “As long as...
China: Memo attacks FLG
In ‘Talking Point: Chinese statement on the banning of the FLG spiritual movement,’ the AngryChineseBlogger posts a memo sent out by Chinese embassies earlier this month in a bid to further discredit the spiritual group, as well as the part of China's constitution which this blogger says protects them.
Russia: Pogrom Instead of Gay Pride
LJ user greenmih posts photos from the pogrom that took place in Moscow on Saturday instead of the gay pride parade, which had been banned by Moscow's mayor (RUS). Riot police, Orthodox Christians, skinheads and radical nationalists prevented those who did gather despite the ban to proceed and assaulted them....
Echoes from the Tunisian blogosphere
The Tunisian blogosphere has been buzzing as usual with a bunch of different topics, ranging from the serious to the light, and the following is a snapshot of some of the interesting topics discussed these past 2 weeks. We start off with Zizou who writes about how he thinks an...
Nepal: Secularism and Religion
With Nepal deciding to go secular – what does it mean in terms of intersecting interests of religion and politics? Further, what role does India play in all this at Nepali Netbook.
India: Art and Fear
The proposed exhibition of MF Husain's paintings in London has caused a security fear. Pickled Politics on the threats of fundamentalists. The comments space yields an interesting debate and discussion.
Indonesia: Using Religion for Violence
Unspun explains why it is both heartening and depressing at the same time to see Indonesia's major Muslim organisation asking the president to crack down on thugs who use religion to justify violence.
China: Photos of churches
For a country ruled by Communists, China has its fair share of churches—eleven in the Southern Chinese city of Guangzhou alone, as photoblogged today at Frances D'Ath's Supernaut: “Guangzhou is home to at least eleven notable historic churches, built between 1850 and the early 20th century, but of these, 石室圣心教堂...
Poland: The Pope's Visit
Kinuk reports on the Pope's visit to Poland: “Civil servants have been given Friday off, at least in Warsaw. Schools have had to cancel lessons. There is a complete ban on alcohol sales in the whole of Warsaw. Nudie and sexy ads are banned from television. It’s all gone a...
China: Christians and democrats forced to take sides
A small decision in a complicated affair which sent ripples all throughout China's social activist community has now bounced back through the blogsphere (via BBS’ first, of course). The facts are being still hammered out, but when three Chinese Christians—one being prominent legal scholar and veteran blogger Wang Yi—in attendance...
Uzbekistan: CAFE Convictions
Registan.net discusses Western missionaries in Uzbekistan in the wake of convictions of employees of an aid organization for proselytizing, a crime in Uzbekistan.
Cartoon, Insecurity & Media
According to news Iran's government has suspended a state-controlled newspaper after it published a cartoon that provoked riots among the country's minority Azeri community. The cartoon shows that a cockroach says in Azeri :” Namana” which means “What?” It is very interesting to see that even Turkish speaking ( Azeri)...
Japan: Korean terrorists interested
I am the Japanese rightist blogger yellowpeep continues her series of posts this month exposing religious and right-wing terrorist groups in Japan with a story that shows the various roles Koreans expats play in the organizations and violence.
Belarus: Soviet Pioneer Oranization's Anniversary
Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush marks the 84th anniversary of Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization by retelling one Belarusian bloggers’ story (in Russian) on how he got expelled from this Soviet youth organization “right before his 10th birthday.” TOL's Belarus Blog writes about the Belarusian blogosphere's reaction to the decision to withdraw...
Syrian Blogsphere in a Week
This week the Syrian blogsphere was mostly busy discussing the latest developments in Syria. Last week the Syrian security forces initiated the largest crackdown on opposition figures and dissidents since President Bashar al-Assad came to power in 2000. Ammar Abdulhamid of Amarji has an interesting analysis of this escalation from...
Central Asia: Religion & Politics
neweurasia has a series of posts on religion's role in politics across Central Asia and in Azerbaijan.
