100 posts
A Kopimist Creation Myth
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The Missionary Church of Kopimism has been recognized as an official religion in Sweden. It is still a very young religion, so there are many aspects of it that need to be developed and defined. Here is my proposal for a Kopimist Creation Myth (previ...
Face to faith: Europe's crisis of faith | Pope Benedict XVI
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In hard times, Europe could learn much from Africa's joyful passion for faithAs this year draws to a close, Europe is undergoing an economic and financial crisis, which is ultimately based on the ethical crisis looming over the old continent. Even if...
Islamists slaughter Nigerian Christians on Christmas day
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“There was a car filled with dead bodies. Apparently it was a family coming to worship” - witness Timothy Onyekwere, quoted in today’s Guardian. At least 35 Nigerian Christians deliberately blown to bits as they worshipped (or...
Wise Egypt: Egypt denies visa to PVVer !
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This week the Egyptians denied an entrance visa to a PVV Brownshirt that was supposed to be on a "Tweede Kamer visit." Well, it's good to see that the Egyptians are wise with regard to the purposes of such a visit - which were probably for the purpos...
Wise Egypte: Egypte ontkent visum voor PVVer !
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Deze week de Egyptenaren ontkende een entree visum nodig om een PVV bruinhemd die verondersteld was om op een "Tweede Kamer bezoek." Nou, het is goed om te zien dat de Egyptenaren er verstandig met betrekking tot de toepassing van een dergelijk bezoe...
Elections, Islamists and the role of the EU in Tunisia
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In my first posting I wrote about the sometimes heated discussions in Tunisia’s daily life. This week, two subjects attracted a lot of attention from the public. “Thy shall marry young” Ennahda, the political party which represents...
Reading the Qur’an in a week
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This is the first post in a week-long series in which Jon will read the entire Qur'an, cover-to-cover. You can read the rest of the series and engage in the discussion at his blog, Reading the Qur'an in a Week. I find myself with some time to... Read...
Is God the Invisible Hand?
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A Baylor University survey on religion and economics reveals something that may be distinctly American, culturally speaking. According to the survey results, about “one in five Americans combine a view of God as actively engaged in daily workings o...
Religion (Part I): Beyond History, Science, and Metaphysics
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What is religion? In the process of answering this question, it is necessary to delimit it by saying what it is not. Religion itself (in the hands of human beings) may be too presumptuous in claiming hegemony (let alone validity!) in other domains.Fo...
Is Estonia really the least religious country in the world? | Ringo Ringvee
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Estonians, and especially the young, have turned their backs on organised religion, but belief in neo-paganism is thrivingEstonia and the Czech Republic are the two nations that often claim to be the least religious in Europe. And they seem to be pro...
US Department of State July-December, 2010 International Religious Freedom Report
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all of it here. TURKEY section here. Quotes: Section I. Religious Demography The country has an area of 301,383 square miles and a population of 77.8 million. According to the government, 99 percent of the population is Muslim, the majority o...
The End of the World! Today!! 6.00 pm!!!
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And it’s all the fault of them homos. Well, you might as well go down smiling… …let us know what you’ll be doing at 5.55 pm today: what music you’ll listen to, what you’ll be eating and/or drinking, what film you...
Jose, Hermand… who?
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EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso was not on the guest list to meet Pope Benedict XVI on May 1st, and were held back by guards with his wife and Italian commissioner Antonio Tajan. Apparently The Vatican was expecting Herman Van Rompuy instead.
Regarding the Destruction of the "Piss Christ" Artwork, One Blogger Has Had His Fill with the MSM's Indignation About Acts of Barbarity
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Regarding the destruction of Andres Serrano's Piss Christ at an Avignon exhibit, Michel Garroté can no longer stand the mainstream media's take on the whole affair (such as The Guardian's Angelique Chrisafis) — with Garroté protesting that if we...
Silly “Muslim radicalization” hearings will expose Islamophobic myths?
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The hearing held by Rep. King of New York are a hate-mongering farce that focuses on the ginned up "problem" of "Muslim radicalization." When we see the data on "homegrown" security threats in the US - we see this threat coming from the explosive gro...
A Holy Double Standard: Christians in the Middle East
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In the wake of the extraordinary uprisings across the Middle East today, the complex religious and ethnic makeup of the region has resurfaced for discussion. Gripping images of Christians protecting Muslims during prayer in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, a...
Angela, David and Nicolas agree: multiculturalism has failed
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European leaders don't seem to be able to agree on much these days, but it seems one idea they can all get behind is that 'multiculturalism' has failed in European societies.Over the past few months there's been a torrent of speeches from Europe's mo...
Commision's reverse ferret on Christmas
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Responding to the awful press that has come about from the slight error in missing out Christmas whilst keeping in Eid in their children's Europa diary, the EU has issued a panic reply.Immediate remedial action taken to correct omission of Christian...
Salman Taseer: hero of decency, secularism, womens’ rights and democracy
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Governor of Pakistani Punjab Province Salman Taseer speaks to journalists in Islamabad in March, 2009. Taseer was assassinated by one of his bodyguards in Islamabad on Tuesday, apparently for opposing blasphemy laws. . From Adil Najam at All Things...
[US Institutions] Separation of Church and State
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Not treating specifically of the US government institution anymore, but still discussing some key and/or puzzling aspect of the way the US institutions goes everyday. As such, there is no constitutional separation of Church and State in the US, the F...
Sudan: woman lashed by government-sponsored thugs
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This is not the only interpretation of Sharia law, but it’s the one that the Sudanese government believes in. Relativist liberals and Guardianistas who think all cultures are worthy of “respect” really should watch this. But be wa...
Hitchens v Blair on religion: not to be missed!
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Tonight on BBC Radio 4 at 8.00 pm: not to be missed! Listen and tell us what you think. The Religion Debate Hitchens versus Blair: The Religion Debate . Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens discuss the proposition that religion is a force for goo...
World's tallest jesus and crossing out secularism in Poland
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Every country has its own vision of secularism.In late November, a 51-metre Jesus Christ statue was erected in western Poland, 14 metres taller than its colleague in Rio de Janeiro. Though privately funded, the Polish state is still looking for that...
Headscarf Ban in Belgian Restaurant Found Discriminatory
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This guest post has been written by Katayoun Alidadi who is a PhD Candidate at the KULeuven (Institute for Migration Law & Legal Anthropology) and a project researcher in the European FP7 Project Religare on ‘Religious Diversity and Secular Mod...
New TESEV report: Discrimination and Headscarf Ban.
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Prof. Dilek Cindoğlu focuses on headscarfed women with professional jobs and explains how they are exposed to discrimination from all all sides of the political spectrum. Report in Turkish can be downloaded here. Related posts:Yargıtay decrees: Hea...
Hammarberg: European Muslims are stigmatised by populist rhetoric
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Strasbourg, 28.10.2010 - European countries appear to face another crisis beyond budget deficits – the disintegration of human values. One symptom is the increasing expression of intolerance towards Muslims, says the Council of Europe Commissioner...
In its rows about Islam, the US must avoid catching a European disease | Timothy Garton Ash
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The planned Islamic centre is not at Ground Zero, nor is the nearby strip club. It's un-American to take such offenceLast Friday, in New York, I discovered a strip club near the site of the planned Islamic centre, described by its opponents as "the m...
Yargıtay decrees: Headscarf is illegal
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Yargıtay (The Supreme Court of Appeals of Turkey ) today made the headlines. It announced that YÖK’s latest move, allowing headscarfed women to universities, is not right, it violates Constitutional and European Court decisions. After the HSY...
The Catholic Church should preach the “two children family”
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The Philippine President Aquino has angered the Catholic Church in his country by announcing his intention to make contraceptives freely available to couples who cannot afford them. This incident did not happen in the 20th century but at the end of S...
A video: Preview of Five Minarets in New York (New York’ta Beş Minare)
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….another ambitious and sensational Turkish movie to be released… From Wikipedia: Five Minarets in New York (Turkish: New York’ta Beş Minare) is an upcoming Turkish action film directed by Mahsun Kırmızıgül. The film’s title is a...
The Pope in Brum: defiling human decency…and Newman’s memory
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Newman (left): ”Conscience first, Pope afterwards.” Yesterday I joined the anti-Pope protesters at Cofton Park, Birmingham. I last visited this place about thirty years ago when us Longbridge shop stewards put it to rather better use. T...
Betrayal, Conspiracies, Sacrilege, Heresies
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Just a couple of thoughts on the Pope visit: 1) The Catholic Church and fascism There’s a piece by the smug, moon-faced idiot who edits CiF Belief, in which he attempts to close down debate while stampeding for the moral high ground. Contra Bro...
Pope’s Visitation
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The Pope was in Edinburgh today and his motorcade passed my office. We all downed tools and gawped from the windows. I don’t know what proportion of my firm would be a) practising Christians; b) Roman Catholics but I would think very few. It...
An embattled pope
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The German town of Freising is overlooked by a hill called the Domberg. It is dominated by a twin-towered Romanesque Cathedral. Just off to one side is a museum to Pope Benedict. It is little more than a corridor with...
Quran burning stopped: reason defeats bigotry (we hope)
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Congratulations to Imam Muhammad Musri, of the Islamic Society of Mid Florida, in apparently (we hope) having persuaded the Christian fundamentalist bigot Jones to see reason. The Imam did this whilst defending freedom of speech and the First A...
Cannon and Matgamna on Catholicism
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Trotskyist literature that deals head-on with organised religion is a rarity. This article is something of an exception. This review by the American socialist James Patrick Cannon of a novel, Moon Gaffney, by Harry Sylvester, followed Sylvester in po...
There’s only one side to be on: Protest The Pope!
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Protest the Pope! Be there! Join the big march through London to oppose the state visit of Joseph Ratzinger to the UK! Saturday 18th September, 1.30 pm Take Action! As it is an official state visit, the Pope is meeting with the leaders of all thre...
Brussels says Mabrouk Eid! to 160,000 Muslims
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By Rose Kelleher “At sunset, when my kids said to me ' I want to eat this and that' I said “No. We are going to have soup.” Nadia Hachim is tired. But that's okay. It's all in the name of God. The past month she has been fasting, reflecting an...
Re-Hawking an old idea
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(Credit: CC RobLisaMeehan/Flickr and the Technically Incorrect blog at cnet) Did the universe as we know it merely come into being by itself from a quantum-level change in an existing one? I’ve been putting off blogging about Stephen Hawking an...
A worrisome convergence- a European’s Anti-Islamist appearance in New York
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BERLIN — On September 11, Geert Wilders, the controversial Dutch politician who likened the Koran to Mein Kampf, will speak in New York on the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, warning about the supposed dangers of...
BBC excludes Maryam, promotes Tehran propaganda
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While the BBC continues to spend licence-payers money on promoting religion, the least we have a right to expect is that it will do so in a reasonably balanced manner, giving a fair crack of the whip to civilised values and secular opinions. It is...
United States and Islam: Mosque at Ground Zero
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A worrying and increasingly bitter debate continues in the United States on whether a mosque should be allowed at Ground Zero. But how widely is it understood that: • The building is two blocks away from Ground Zero and cannot be seen from the...
Tea Baggers No.1 threat to global democracy and peace
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Fox News's chief tea bagger, Glenn Beck, has smeared the tradition and legacy of Martin Luther King Jnr. today by staging a far right gathering at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on the anniversary of Dr. King's famous "I have a dream" speech. Th...
L'chaim, in Budapest
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THIRTEEN is a significant age in Jewish life. When boy reaches his 13th birthday he is called to read the Torah in the synagogue, and from then on is considered to be responsible for his actions. He becomes a Bar Mitzvah, meaning a son of the command...
Militant Democracy, Religion, and the ECtHR
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Patrick Macklem of the University of Toronto has posted 'Guarding the Perimeter: Militant Democracy and Religious Freedom in Europe' on SSRN. It covers the case law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the religion-state nexus. This is th...
9/11 “Ground Zero”: always remember, Muslims also died
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Watch this before making up your mind: Chris Hitchens also talks a lot of sense on this issue, even if he’s rather less inclined to be charitable to the Sufis behind this project. And – just for the record – US (and, for sure, most...
Obama’s Iftar-Speech Fuels Mosque Controversy
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With the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico almost stopped, America all of a sudden finds itself enmeshed in a new ferocious debate about religion; one that is likely to further damage the president’s outreach agenda to the Muslim world. At a recent If...
Rick Steves: Praying and partying in the streets of Istanbul
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Levent/Istanbul. Big business district. via Praying and partying in the streets of Istanbul Seattle Times Istanbul is more than 90 percent Muslim. My most recent trip here happened to coincide with Ramadan. During this time, the Muslim faith seems ev...
Mosque hysteria: an ugly reflection on America
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It literally makes me nauseous to have to write about this, but considering that this “ground zero mosque” issue has now crossed the Atlantic and is making the news in Europe, it would seem I have no choice. It’s incredible that such a ginned-u...
Nick Clegg channels Prescott
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I am full of adoration for Islamic Relief because the call is one that so uniquely captured the spirit with which you all acted in great urgency and compassion in so many places around the world of this countryOr maybe this has been retranslated? Any...
English Defense League planning pro-Wilders action in Amsterdam
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The English Defense League thugs are now planning a pro-Wilders march in October in Amsterdam. These thugs have terrorized the UK all summer with their "street armies" and some have even been caught plotting terrorist attacks against British Muslims...
Ramadan. the 1st day report (!)
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Muslim Jazz musicians will perform in Istanbul during Ramadan. But of course I have nothing to do with that. Muslim or not. I don’t like Jazz:) Fasting in this year’s Ramadan is a real challenge. The day is long – nearly 16 hours of...
The Church goes Bon(g)kers
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The Church of England is striving as ever to be recognised as a relevant part of our cultural landscape. What better way to get involved with some half cooked publicity stunt on behalf of the UN. It has announced that it is encouraging all parishes w...
No poofs in power in Muslim lands (eg Belgium)
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seems to be the clear message received by Walloon socialist leader and likely next PM of Belgium, Elio di Rupo on Friday.The letter sent to the Flemish TV station VTM makes the point pretty clearly,"In the name of Allah, in a Muslim country like Belg...
Orthodox Islam comments upon Ahmadiyya
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Interesting snippet from Memri about Ahmadi beliefs. The commentator, Anas Zahed writes for Al-Madina, an official Saudi newspaper."Islam without jihad is the product of colonialism and is in no way connected to the Islam of Muhammad. Without questio...
Degenerate “socialists” welcome the Pope
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It’s come to this in degenerate, ex-’Marxist’ circles, where they don’t care about, or excuse away, child abuse, misogyny, homophobia and opposition birth control. These grovelling traitors to socialism and secularism eve...
Supposing it wasn’t Ground Zero we were talking about.
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Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. “The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of a Jewish Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of Tel...
The Cross and the State
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Many Poles hoped that April plane crash of the Polish presidential jet would shock the nation enough to bridge the divide between conservative and liberal camps. But it's only added fuel to the already heated debate about whose values should prevail.
Topical Tolerance
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On June 29-30, Astana hosted the High-Level OSCE Conference on Tolerance and Non-Discrimination, aimed to help in coping with obligations and promoting the OSCE values related to tolerance, non-discrimination and intercultural dialogue – the ke...
Something you couldn’t possibly have read here
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From the Catholic, anti-semitic blog ‘Splintered Sunrise‘ : Here’s something you won’t read on Shiraz Socialist July 22, 2010 at 12:11 am (Middle East) Remember when the apartheid entity and the Zionist entity were different enti...
The burqa ban: Liberty by coercion
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The recent decision of France’s lower house to ban the full-face veil in public places has, yet again, brought the veil debate to the forefront. Belgium took the lead on the matter, but as the reoccurrence of the debate in practically every Europea...
Scientologophobia Watch: The Internet
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This is a guest post by the Church of Scientology UK Media Relations Team Some might say that the complaint against Cllr John Dixon was a little harsh. A few of our members have privately expressed the view that submitting a formal complaint to t...
EU-Freemason Summit!?
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EUobserver has reported recently on the European Union’s intention to include the global secret Freemasons society to participate in an EU-Atheist and Humanist summit which is intended to provide a counterbalance to the EU’s established s...
European Presidents meet religious leaders in Brussels amidst controversy
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Presidents Barroso, Buzek and Van Rompuy met religious leaders in Berlaymont, for a summit on poverty and social exclusion. The faithful praised the EU tripartite, with the Bishop of Rotterdam dubbing them, “the father, the son and whatsis name, oh...
Would you ban the Burka?
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The Pew Global Attitudes Project has recently published a very interesting piece of research investigating attitudes towards the full Islamic veil. The results show a remarkable difference between Europeans and US citizens. Even though Damian Green,...
Secret and irrelevant Euro-Freemason Summit to be held Publically
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Freemasons and Atheists will meet with the Presidents of the Commission, Parliament and European Council in a parallel summit to the annual religious leader's summit. This is to satisfy requirements under the Lisbon Treaty that spiritual leaders shou...
Nagehan Alçı: “No headscarf-wearing lady working here
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No headscarf-wearing lady working here by NAGEHAN ALÇI – AKŞAM During a TV program several months ago, when Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) Chairwoman Ümit Boyner made a statement about welcoming headscarves...
Atheists and Freemasons - best buds?
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Is Atheism a religion? A controversial application of the Lisbon Treaty's new requirements for holding regular meetings with all European religious leaders is putting that question to the test. Yesterday the presidents of the European Commission, Eur...
Burka bans, Brussels and bended knees
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…the niqab is a feminist dilemma… and a European one… Eurogoblin today reported that the three Presidents of the EU – Council President Van Rompuy, Commission President Barroso and Parliament President Buzek met with religious lea...
Cavemen bitterly divided over whether creationists will exist.
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Furious debate has broken out in caveman society over whether creationists will exist in the future. Uggh, of the cave near the water told us: ” Uggh say Yes. Have no doubt. Look at banana. God put handle on it for convenience. Obviously never tri...
Belgium and France in race to ban the burqa
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Who will emerge victorious? Belgium and France are currently falling over each other racing to be the first country in Europe to ban full face coverings. Whoever wins the race, both bans are guaranteed to eventually become law. The bans are illustrat...
Criminalising women behind the veil
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So the French lower house has voted to ban the burka or niqab in a public place. It was by a massive majority: 335 to 1. The Greens and some of the Socialists abstained. There are still hurdles to be...
Issue 03 - Religions in Europe
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He was no Nostradamus, but former French minister for culture André Malraux was famously credited with the following prediction: 'the 21st century will be spiritual if there ever is one'. Seven years into the Millennium and six years after the tragi...
Citizenship through Religious Education
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By Ted HuddlestonCitizenship through Religious Education is a new educational resource that provides teachers with ideas and activities for teaching Citizenship, within the context of Religious Education, at Key Stages 3 and 4.It contains detailed le...
Bremner, Islam…and fear
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Rory Bremner, a leftist satirist, was interviewed as part of a Channel 4 show on “satire” that appeared last night. He said this: “With Islam, you’re in a situation now, which I’ve never been in before, which is that w...
Judgment on Non-Religious Education in Poland
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Human rights in classrooms - it seems to be a topic of increasing popularity (or concern) in Strasbourg these days. Yesterday, the Court issued its judgment in the case of Grzelak v. Poland. The case concerned a Polish boy who refused to attend reilg...
Murdered Polish priest’s beatification recalls grim early 1980s
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A Polish priest who was murdered in 1984 by secret policemen working for the then ruling communist authorities was beatified last weekend by the Vatican, a step that puts him on course for eventual sainthood. The news meant a lot to me because,...
Religious Oath in Court Proceedings Judgment
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In Greece, witnesses and suspects in criminal proceedings are required to indicate epxlicitly if they do not want to take an oath on the Bible. This way they are forced to reveal their religious( or non-religouis) convictions. Four different people c...
