City in Pakistan Tense after 'Blaspheming' Christians Assassinated

Two brothers, both of whom were active in their local Christian community, were charged with blasphemy and then shot dead by masked gunmen just outside a court in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The shooting has caused tensions to rise in the the large Christian section of the city and at least ten people were injured as fighting broke out. Police reinforcements have now been called in to manage the situation.

Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, 32, and Sajid, 24, were accused of writing a pamphlet critical of the Prophet Muhammad, but a human rights activist believes that they were framed.

Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law carries the death penalty, and so no one in their right mind would write a pamphlet that is offensive to Muhammad and then include their names and contact details on it says Atif Jameel of the Minorities Democratic Foundation.

He concluded: "This appears to be a conspiracy against peace and religious harmony in Faisalabad."

The brother were arrested earlier this month and since then there has been significant tension between Muslims and Christians, which included a march by Muslims demanding that the brothers receive the death penalty.

No one has yet been executed under Pakistan's blasphemy law, but about 10 accused have been murdered before the completion of their trial, according to a BBC Urdu correspondent in Lahore. Others are living in exile to avoid punishment.

Human rights activists are desperate to repeal the law because it is exploitable by those harbouring personal grudges and by religious extremists.

The Proposed Ground Zero 'Mega Mosque' Continues to Stir Strong Feelings

The Cordoba Initiative’s proposal to build a ‘mega mosque’ near Ground Zero in New York has engendered fierce debate and drawn serious media focus.

“This proposed project is about promoting integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture,” say those behind the project.

“Cordoba House will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a center of learning, art and culture; and most importantly, a center guided by Islamic values in their truest form - compassion, generosity, and respect for all,” they add.

However, those who are opposed to the project claim that the motivation is political not reconciliation.

“Why was this particular site selected? Because the need for a $100 million mosque is so great? Because 45-47 Park Place is the only place left in Manhattan to put a mosque?” posed Mosab Hassan Yousef, author of the bestselling book Son of Hamas.

“No. Because it will make a powerful political and religious statement.”

Other opponents to the initiative speak out even more emotionally against it.

“We feel that it is a cemetery and sacred ground and the dead should be honored,” said Pamela Geller, the conservative leader of a group called Stop the Islamization of America, on CNN’S “America Morning” last week. “To build a 13-story mega mosque on the cemetery, on the largest site in American history, I think, is incredibly insensitive.”

However, other Americans are fully supportive of the project and believe it would do a great deal of good. In an article written on this topic for CNN, John L. Esposito, who is the professor of Religion and International Affairs and director of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal center for Muslim-Christian understanding at Georgetown University, said that:

“Here are the facts: The center is not at Ground Zero but two blocks away, and the Cordoba Initiative seeks to build a center, not a mosque. The center is not designed as a local mosque for a Muslim community but rather to serve the wider community. It is meant to improve interfaith and Muslim-West relations and promote tolerance -- not just to provide services to Muslims. The proposed 15-story community center will include a prayer room, offices, meeting rooms, gym, swimming pool and performing arts center.”

Esposito went onto state his belief that the groundswell of opposition to the project is part of a much bigger problem: Islamophobia. As Muslim populations grow in the States, this problem is becoming more and more marked. To validate his claim, Esposito quotes a 2006 USAToday-Gallup poll which illustrates that ill-feelings towards Muslims are very much present in America. He concludes by writing:

“Islamophobia must be recognized for what it is, a social cancer as unacceptable as anti-Semitism, a threat to the very fabric of our democratic, pluralistic way of life. The line that distinguishes Islam from those who commit violence and terror in the name of Islam --between the majority of mainstream Muslims and the acts of a minority of Muslim terrorists -- must be maintained. Blurring these distinctions risks the adoption of foreign and domestic policies that promote a clash rather than co-existence of cultures and threaten the rights and civil liberties of Muslims.”

(The image is of those involved a few weeks ago in a protest march against the proposed build).

Atheists ‘Debaptise’ People with Hair-Dryers

Armed with nothing but a hair-dryer, a prominent Atheist, Edwin Kagin, conducted a mass ‘de-baptism’ of fellow atheists. The ceremony took place at the annual American Atheists Convention and the hair-dryer was used to symbolically dry up any offending baptism waters that might have been sprinkled on the non-believers foreheads when they were young children.

Edwin Kagin is one of atheism’s most renowned provocateurs and is also American Atheists legal director. He led the service using mock King James language much to the amusement of his audience. Kagin even labeled the hair dryer ‘Reason and Truth’.

Kagin invited people forward to experience the ‘debaptism’ by saying:
"Come forward now and receive the spirit of hot air that taketh away the stigma and taketh away the remnants of the stain of baptismal water."

Kagin said that many people have undergone de-baptism."Many have taken it as somewhat of a joke, but some have found it truly, if you will, a spiritually cleansing experience."

He said that the intention in the ceremony is to poke fun at baptisms, saying that waving a hair-dryer around has about the same spiritual power as does any church led baptismal ceremony. Kagin said that he hopes to shock people enough to begin to ask questions so that they might start “to learn a bit.”

Kagin has made headlines in the past for referring to parents who educate their children with fundamentalist religious teachings as abusing them.

"They are practicing child abuse in teaching that the world operates in ways other than it does," he has said. "And in my opinion, they are engaged in terrorism by weakening our nation and our understanding of science and things with which we can defend ourselves and progress. If it had not been for these fools we could have been at the stars 2,000 years ago."

Interestingly enough, Kagin’s own son is a Christian preacher in Kansas. Kagin says that despite this they have a good relationship although there are some things they just cannot talk about.

When asked whether his ceremony was not just in bad taste and poor manners, Kagin responded by saying that bad manners were a reasonable weapon in what he saw as America’s new civil war – the conflict between atheists and believers.

(To read the article in full, please go to http://abcnews.go.com).

The Catholic Church Declares the Ordination of Women to be a “Grave Crime.”

The Catholic Church cannot seem to stay out of the news lately, and for all the wrong reasons. Yesterday, the Vatican released a document intended to defuse the sex abuse scandals currently rocking it, but they only succeeded in seriously offending both women’s groups and liberal Catholics around the globe. This is because the document included a provision that declared the "attempted ordination" of women as one of the gravest crimes in ecclesiastical law.

Since the document was predominantly dealing with the sexual abuse of minors, this provision seems to place the “offence” of ordaining women on a par with sexual abuse.

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said that the document was "one of the most insulting and misogynistic pronouncements that the Vatican has made for a very long time. Why any self-respecting woman would want to remain part of an organisation that regards their full and equal participation as a 'grave sin' is a mystery to me."

Vivienne Hayes, the chief executive of the Women's Resource Centre, said that the document was "appalling".

She added: "This declaration is doubly disempowering for women as it also closes the door on dialogue around women's access to power and decision making, when they are still under-represented in all areas of political, religious and civic life. We would urge the Catholic church to acknowledge that women's rights are not incompatible with religious faith."

Ceri Goddard, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, stated that: "We are sure that the vast majority of the general public will share in our abject horror at the Vatican's decision to categorise the ordination of women as an 'offence' in the same category as paedophilia – deemed to be one of the "gravest offences a priest can commit".

"This statement follows a series where the Vatican, an institution which yields great influence and power not only in the Catholic community but also wider society, has pitched itself in direct opposition not only to women's rights but to our equal worth and value. We hope this is an issue that the government takes the opportunity to raise if it still feels the impending papal visit is appropriate.”

It is mystifying why a document which was to purportedly help clean up the image of the Catholic Church would be used to make such a controversial and seemingly ill considered statement. What does seem certain is that the protests against this statement have only just begun and that the Vatican PR department has a lot of work ahead of it.

(To read this article in full, please go to http://guardian.co.uk).

Bear Grylls: A Journey of Wild Faith

Bear Grylls, the star of the hugely popular Discovery Channel show ‘Man vs. Wild,’ recently shared his testimony with the Christian magazine ‘Relevant.’

Grylls is a devoted Christian who credits his faith as bringing him much strength and encouragement in the context of a demanding show. Grylls told the magazine how much he feels “held” when he is filming in the wild, and how God lends him strength to take the risks he does.

Grylls has done stunts such as paragliding over the Antarctica, hiking through dangerous jungles and even eating yak eyeballs.

Grylls shares that:

“It’s about being strengthened. It’s about having a backbone run through you from the Person who made you. It’s about being able to climb the biggest mountains in the world with the Person who made them.”

Grylls went onto to affirm that he has always felt that God was like a friend, and also points to his wife and three sons as being a integral part of his faith journey.

Goliath’s Hometown Found

An archaeological excavation in Tel Tzafit has unearthed the ancient city of Gat which was described in the Bible as Goliath’s hometown. Goliath was the fearsome Philistine giant who challenged Saul’s Israelite army and was then defeated in personal combat by David.

The director of the archaeological excavation, Professor Aren Maeir, said the recent findings in the dig are “fascinating”. Gat was occupied during the course of history by the Canaanites, Philistines and Israelites.

Maeir said that: “We are focusing on the Canaanite period, the Philistine period, and the Israelite period, and for now we're primarily in the Philistine period.”

Interestingly enough, writings have been found which contain various Philistine names, some of which are similar to the name “Goliath”.

"We've found a rich variety of artifacts” showing that Gat was a major city at that time, Maeir continued. “We are now discovering remnants from metal craft and bronze, and from the destruction of the city at the hands of King Chazel of Aram as described in the second books of Kings.”

Other findings show that Chazel laid siege to the city until food supplies dwindled and then attacked the city, demolishing whole buildings in the process. At a different stage in history, other buildings appear to have collapsed as a result of an earthquake, possibly the one mentioned in the book of Amos.

There was a complex inter-relationship which existed between Israel and the Philistines, Maeir revealed. “The Philistines... were often more than just enemies. We can see this in the Bible as well, for instance, in the fact that Samson married a Philistine woman,” he said. There appears to have been multifaceted crossovers and intricate interactions between the two cultures – for example, findings from the dig have revealed that aspects of Philistine cooking became part and parcel of Israelite cuisine as well.

(To read this article in full, please go to http://IsraelNationalNews.com).

Vatican Gets Serious About Preventing Abuse

The Catholic Church is soon to release new rules especially formulated to protect children from further abuse by clergy, reports the CNN.

To this end, the Vatican will add the possession of child pornography to its list of most serious crimes, and also declare the abuse of any mentally retarded persons to be in the same category as the abuse of children due to their shared vulnerabilities.

The firming up of these rules are part of the Catholic Churches continued efforts to respond to the abuse scandals which have plagued it over the last couple of years. Essentially, these rules are an effort to formalize the practices and standards which it already practices.

However, it does not seem as if the Vatican’s controversial approach to reporting child abuse to civic authorities is set to change.

Abuse victims, and the organizations which represent them, are already claiming that the changes are not far reaching enough.

"There needs to be massive overhaul, not mere tweaking, of how the church deals with abuse and cover-up," said Barbara Dorris, of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

"As long as bishops can ignore and conceal child sex crimes without punishment, they'll keep ignoring and concealing child sex crimes," she said last week, responding to media reports about what the new guidelines would say. The focus needs to be on catching predators more quickly, involving secular law enforcement, and preventing recklessness and deceit by bishops, who can and should take many steps to protect the vulnerable long before the defrocking process begins," she said.

(To read the article in full, please go to http://religion.blogs.cnn.com).