Tag: religion

Iran’s ‘morality police’ resume patrols 10 months after nationwide protests

Iranian authorities have announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf, as “morality police” returned to the streets 10 months after the death of a woman in their custody sparked nationwide protests. The morality police had largely pulled back after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September, as authorities struggled to contain… Read More Iran’s ‘morality police’ resume patrols 10 months after nationwide protests

Dilip

Touch me not

Witness to the Resurrection, saint, sinner and feminist icon By Anna Della Subin Why was it first to a woman / that he showed his resurrection, and not to men?” asked the fourth-century poet Ephrem the Syrian. “Here he showed us a mystery.” The risen Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene first, at a time when, under… Read More Touch me not

Dilip

Tracing the Hard Edges of Religion: On Peter Brown’s “Journeys of the Mind”

Journeys of the Mind: A Life in History Reviewed by Michael Ledger-Lomas TOWARDS THE END of the first century AD, a Roman emperor met the family of Jesus Christ. Domitian had this failed Messiah’s relatives hauled before him while he was traveling in Palestine to make sure that they posed no threat to his power. They… Read More Tracing the Hard Edges of Religion: On Peter Brown’s “Journeys of the Mind”

Dilip

Enheduanna, princess, priestess and the world’s first known author

Louise Pryke The world’s first known author is widely considered to be Enheduanna, a woman who lived in the 23rd century BCE in ancient Mesopotamia (approximately 2285 – 2250 BCE). Enheduanna is a remarkable figure: an ancient “triple threat”, she was a princess and a priestess as well as a writer and poet. The third… Read More Enheduanna, princess, priestess and the world’s first known author

Dilip

“Homosexuality is wrong because the Bible says so” etc., etc.

Collected on the Internet, 2000 Source: http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/drlaura.asp#gCkiqQ1dEXDJYwra.99 In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, written by a US man… Dear Dr. Laura: Thank… Read More “Homosexuality is wrong because the Bible says so” etc., etc.

Dilip

Succession on the Tibetan plateau: what’s at stake in the battle over the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation?

John Powers In China, a group of atheists (the Chinese Communist Party) has long dictated how the country’s religious groups should practise their faiths. Chinese Christians are told to reject salvation by faith and the Resurrection; their core beliefs should be patriotism and love of the party. The party has also published several pamphlets detailing appropriate beliefs and practices… Read More Succession on the Tibetan plateau: what’s at stake in the battle over the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation?

Dilip

Jesus the man

First posted December 22, 2013 Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth  By Reza Aslan Reviewed by Dilip Simeon (Biblio, November-December 2013) This is a fascinating account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. I suspect it will also be disturbing for believers. The argument rests on the distinction between the historical Jesus and… Read More Jesus the man

Dilip

Americans are rejecting religion as the Christian right becomes more extreme

Chrissy Stroop For centuries, American evangelical Protestants have been obsessed with religious ‘revival’. Fear of ostensible societal, moral, and religious ‘decline’ is the other side of the same paranoid Christian coin. The United States, deeply influenced by early Puritan settlers and other assorted Christian fanatics, has been slow to secularise relative to European countries. In fact, the… Read More Americans are rejecting religion as the Christian right becomes more extreme

Dilip

Madhavan Palat: The Sengol Is a Symbol of ‘Divine Right’ to Power. It Does Not Belong in Parliament. सेन्गोल के रास्ते नेहरू की एंट्री | Sengol debate & Nehru’s return

NB: The RSS and BJP are inventing ever new avatars of communal politics, mixed with a generous dose of an Orwellian nightmare. A theocracy is the use of the state by religious leaders (self-styled representatives of God); and civil religion the use of religion by the state as in Japanese State Shinto. However, Caesaropapism (Caesar+Pope)… Read More Madhavan Palat: The Sengol Is a Symbol of ‘Divine Right’ to Power. It Does Not Belong in Parliament. सेन्गोल के रास्ते नेहरू की एंट्री | Sengol debate & Nehru’s return

Dilip