Stories about Religion from August, 2006
India: Is The World Really Flat? It looks like.
This round-up is a patchwork quilt of blog postings with a global flavor. And flavor is the key word since we end our journey with a culinary post that takes us back to the 15th century which was the start of another globalization era....
Turkmenistan: Islam & Diplomacy
Peter of neweurasia discusses the start of construction on the enormous new Saudi embassy in Turkmenistan. Many Turkmen officials were on hand for the laying of foundation stone, and Peter argues that this enthusiasm likely has to do with Turkmenistan concluding that the international legitimacy it seeks will most likely...
Iranian Women's campaign demands changes to discriminatory laws
Iranian women continue their struggle for equal rights beyond all governmental obstacles. A few days ago, a group of tireless Iranian women activists launched another campaign against discrimination entitled “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws.” This demonstration was backed by personalities such as Nasser Zaarafshan, writer and human...
Serbia: Criticism of the Flag and Anthem
Dictionary of the Serbian Mess explains the coat of arms that appears on the Serbian flag and compares Serbian anthem to that of Slovenia.
Malaysia: National Day Wish
Malaysian politician Lim Kit Siang talks about pressing issues that Malaysia is facing this National Day(31 August).
India: The National Song
A recent controversy surrounding the move to make the singing of the National Song compulsary has had some minority groups protest. Indian Muslims on what the issue with singing the song – Vande Mataram is all about.
Trinidad & Tobago: Santa Rosa Festival
Maximilian C. Forte offers a substanial analysis of the 220th anniversary celebrations of the Santa Rosa Carib community in Arima, Trinidad, complete with audio files from the live radio broadcast.
India: God of Encroachment
Recursive Hypocrisy on the God of Encroachment in Chennai – Vinayaka. Where every few feet you stumble into a a tiny temple. Power and boundaries in a secular country defined by how many temples one can make.
African Women This Month
Literature, music and blog redesigns are three of the themes in the African women's blogosphere this month. Molara Wood and Mama's Junkyard have both redesigned their blogs. Molara has chosen to stick with blogger.com but takes on a new name, Wordsbody. Mama's Junkyard ungrades to WordPress with a new colour...
China: Leading Bishop released
Bishop An Shuxin of China's underground Catholic Church has been released after ten years in prison, blogs China Digital Times‘ Liu Yong.
South Asia: Travelling while Asian
Pickled Politics on TWA (or Travelling While Asian) as an India bound flight was diverted to Amsterdam because of what appears to be racial profiling or paranoia.
Mongolia: Eagle TV & the Dalai Lama
Tom Terry, who runs Eagle TV, a television station in Mongolia owned by a Christian organization, writes about why he felt the station's news division had an obligation to cover the visit of the Dalai Lama to Mongolia from both philosophical and religious perspectives.
Bangladesh: What the Quran Says
A Bengali in TO talks of reading the Quran during the month of Ramadan and how its important to understand what is actually being read.
India: Ganesha's Spirit
Festivals come by the fistfuls in India. One festival that involves the immersion of idols in water is the one to worship Ganesha. Metroblogging Bangalore has a wonderful photo-feature of a village that makes idols of Ganesha.
India: A restaurant named after Hitler
A restaurant with the strange (and seemingly offensive) name of of Hitler's Cross is in the news these days. Amit Varma on how the law shouldn't play a role in the issue.
Barbados: Terrorism euphemism
Barbados Free Press calls euphemistic the Barbados's Minister of State's pronouncement that “the threat is “terrorism” itself”.
Pakistan: The Muslims in the UK
iFaqeer comments on Irshad Manji's op-ed in the NY Times which looks at Islam and the state in the UK.
India: Dargah in Mahim
A photo post on the dargah in Mahim, Mumbai. A few days back some people reported that the sea water had turned sweet in Mahim, resulting in a wave of people drinking the water from the sea.
Mexico, Somalia: “A Forgotten Country”
Mexican blogger Enigmatario (ES) has a thorough post on the latest developments in Somalia in a post titled “A country forgotten by the world, Somalia, Islamist rebels, and Africa's Islamic future.”
Lebanon: Before and After the Cease Fire
Cease fire in the Israeli-Lebanese war officially began on Monday 14th August. Enteries in the Lebanese blogosphere were diverse starting from what went on during the last days of the war to predictions and analysis about the political consequences of the war on Lebanon. Some bloggers wrote about the effect of this conflict on their personal lives and attitudes. Others wrote about the reaction of their Jewish friends during the war. There are also some war jokes, anecdotes and war dialogues. Blogging and the reading of blogs turned out to be a source of solace and therapy for at least one blogger.
Sri Lanka: Archaeology and Conflict
How does the conflict situation affect the preservation of archaeological heritage in Sri Lanka? Lanka Buzz on the political indifference to the situation.
