Tag: religion

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?

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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

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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

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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

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Toxic agenda

Alan Morinis In February, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, had expressed his great joy at the revival of the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage in the locality of Tribeni in Hooghly district, West Bengal. At the time, Modi said, “[D]o you know why it is so special? It is special, since this practice has been revived after… Read More Toxic agenda

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Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu: Turkey’s opposition leader is leading in the polls

Turkey’s general election on Sunday, May 14 will see voters cast their ballots for 600 members of its parliament and the country’s powerful presidency. This election has become intensely competitive in a country which has undergone severe democratic erosion over the past decade, but may now be looking for change. Turkish president, and previously prime minister, Recep… Read More Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu: Turkey’s opposition leader is leading in the polls

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Bihar Sharif: The 113-year-old India library torched in a riot

By Faisal Mohammed Ali Ash, soot-stained walls, burnt furniture and charred pages: that’s all that remains of a 113-year-old madrassa library in India that once housed more than 4,500 books, including ancient manuscripts and sacred Islamic texts written in beautiful calligraphy. The library was part of the Madrassa Azizia – a well-known religious school in… Read More Bihar Sharif: The 113-year-old India library torched in a riot

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Chris Hedges: The Hypocrisy of the Christian Church. Talk at Princeton Theological Seminary

James Baldwin, who grew up in the church and was briefly a preacher, said he abandoned the pulpit to preach the Gospel. The Gospel, he knew, was not heard most Sundays in Christian houses of worship. And today with ministers wary of offending their aging and dwindling flocks — who are counted on to pay the clergy… Read More Chris Hedges: The Hypocrisy of the Christian Church. Talk at Princeton Theological Seminary

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Kerala: Muslim woman’s Hindu children inspire an Indian film

A new film on a Muslim woman from the southern Indian state of Kerala who raised three Hindu children has brought attention to the family’s unusual story. BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi spoke to the siblings who inspired the film. When Jafferkhan first watched Ennu Swantham Sreedharan (Yours Truly, Sreedharan), he says he was moved to… Read More Kerala: Muslim woman’s Hindu children inspire an Indian film

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