Bishop Maria Jepsen said she had resigned from her post in northern Germany amid accusations that she failed to thoroughly investigate reports of a sexually abusive pastor.
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Germany: First Female Elected Lutheran Bishop Quits in Handling of Abuse Complaint
Editor’s note from Paul: After reading this, also check out the companion piece reflecting further on this post, over at Tenured Radical . Janine Giordano Drake It all started this past May with an email composed by an undergraduate student in “Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought,” a course offered in the Religious Studies department at the University of Illinois. The student forwarded to the department chair an email about utilitarianism and Natural Law that his instructor, Catholic theologian Kenneth Howell, sent to the class during the term
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Teaching Sexuality and Religion
After an extraordinary, marathon meeting of Jathedars at the Akal Takht — the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs —the community’s five high priests on Wednesday declared the anti-Sikh riots 26 years ago as ‘genocide’ and demanded justice for the victims. The decision seems to have been motivated by the recent resolution introduced by Indian-origin Sikh MP Sukh Dhaliwal in the Canadian Parliament, where he sought to get the bloodshed declared as a ‘genocide’. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, who headed the meeting of the Sikh priests, admitted the move by Dhaliwal had “awakened” them to correct history
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26 years on, Akal Takht declares 1984 anti-Sikh riots as ‘genocide’
A Victoria-based Sikh association on Tuesday received a grant of 10,000 dollars from the Australian state’s Labour government as part of a programme to strengthen multi-cultural communities through inter-faith dialogue and collaboration. James Merlino, Minister assisting Premier John Brumby on Multicultural Affairs, and Member for Burwood, Bob Stensholt, presented the Victorian Sikh Association with the grant. “Victoria is the most multi-cultural, harmonious state in Australia and rivals any of the multicultural centres of the world,” Merlino said
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Sikh Association gets 10000-dollar grant from Victoria govt in Oz
Matthew 11: 25-27 Isa 10:5-7,13b-16 / Psa 94 I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. (Matthew 11:25) Do not crave for worldly wisdom, Nor in its glory be fulfilled; Seek rather to know God’s kingdom, And
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To the Humble Revealed
Today’s guest post comes to us from our Senior Norwegian correspondent Hilde Løvdal, who posted here last year on ” The Adventures of a Norwegian in Colorado Springs .” Today she sends her exploration of the influence of contemporary Christian music in her homeland. People often ask me why I am so fascinated by American evangelicalism
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The Oslo Soul Children and the Cowboy Twins
The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, founder of Southern California’s Crystal Cathedral megachurch and host of the Hour of Power televangelism broadcast, announced Sunday he will retire as lead pastor after 55 years in the pulpit and his daughter will take over.
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Hour of Power pastor Robert Schuller retiring
Randall Stephens A review essay in the July 2 issue of the TLS is well worth the read (though it doesn’t appear to be on-line). It gives some perspective on whatever counts as “secularization” in the United States.
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Everything is Bigger than Jesus in England
NEW DELHI – Jagdish Kaur, a witness of November 1984 Sikh massacre, during her cross examination in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta identified Sajjan Kumar as a person instigating the mob during the massacre. Along with Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Kaur identified Sajjan Kumar’s nephew Balwant Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal as accomplices
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Witness Identifies Sajjan Kumar In 1984 Massacre Of Sikhs Case
TORONTO – A Canadian Sikh security guard in Toronto, who moved the Ontario provincial human rights commission for being forced to wear a hard helmet by Home Depot, has won his case against the world’s largest home-improvement retailer. In its ruling, Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal said Home Depot (Canada) discriminated against Deepinder Loomba by “enforcing” a hard hat on him and threatening him with dismissal if he didn’t comply. Headquartered near Atlanta in the US, Home Depot has about 180 stores across Canada.
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Canadian Sikh Wins Discrimination Lawsuit Against Home Depot
Paul Harvey Mike Altman and others here frequently have called for expanding the boundaries of the sacred for analysis, and since various contributors here have posted on everything from Disney Religion to Green Day’s American Idiot to early modern tattoos, I should think this would be a receptive venue for an expansive view of religious ritual. All the same, there’s plenty of room here for traditional theological analysis.
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Remember, LeBron, You Got to Go Through Hell Before You Get to Heaven
The Queen has recently given the Sikh Nishkam Centre in Birmingham an award for its exemplary voluntary services to society. The group running the centre is headed by “Bhai Sahib” Mohinder Singh, whom I previously discussed in the “Music of Unity/Politics of Division” article. Bhai Sahib is also the chairman of the British Sikh Consulative Forum (BSCF), and has been heavily involved in numerous charitable and humanitarian activities along with interfaith bridge-building efforts for many years.
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Sikh centre given an award by the Queen
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday framed charges of murder and rioting against senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and others in connection with a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in which six persons were killed in Sultanpuri in New Delhi. Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta, after finding prima facie evidence against the Congress leader and others, decided to record statements of witnesses from August 23. DETAILED NEWS CAN BE VIEWED FROM THE LINK IN HEADLINE ABOVE.
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1984 anti-Sikh riots case: Charges framed against Sajjan Kumar
NEW DELHI: After seeking exemption from deposing before the court on Monday citing ill-health, a key witness in the 1984 anti-sikh riots case allegedly involving senior congress leader Sajjan Kumar once again failed to get her statement recorded after she developed uneasiness during the proceedings on Tuesday. Additional sessions judge Sunita Gupta posted the matter for Wednesday as Jagdish Kaur, a key witness in the Delhi Cantonment case, developed high blood pressure while in court
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Anti-sikh riots witness again fails to record statement due to ill-health
1. What American President launched a massive invasion of another country that posed no threat, and without a declaration of war? 2.
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History Quiz: American Presidents
Hindu groups criticize Crozet statue maker Charlottesville Daily Progress The Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism and the New Jersey-based Forum for Hindu Awakening on Tuesday urged Sacred Source, a longtime distributor of … Hindu Groups Say “No” to Statues NBC Washington Perturbed Hindus ask for immediate recall of inappropriate statues of Hindu …
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Hindu groups criticize Crozet statue maker – Charlottesville Daily Progress
For my newsletter readers: It turns out that the way I’ve been sending out this newsletter over the past 7 (!) years is becoming too labor intensive.
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Newsletter update & New spiritual stuff on squidoo and Katinka Hesselink Net
Amritsar Sikh bodies protest move; SGPC says the doors will be back in a year Amid controversies related to their origin, the centuries old and huge gates at Darshani Deori, which serve as entrance to the sanctum sanctorum of Golden Temple, were removed on Sunday for “preservation”. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) decided to remove the gates as they were in need of immediate repairs
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210 years on, Golden Temple gates removed for repairs
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Inviting sharp reactions from Congress, Kerala CM V S Achuthanandan has alleged that former PM Rajiv Gandhi led the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The CM made the controversial remarks while inaugurating a CPM office in Alappuzha on Saturday.
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VS links Rajiv to Sikh riots, Anderson escape
Controversial Islamic televangelist Zakir Naik’s talk at North America’s largest Islamic gathering Saturday night was cancelled.
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Talk by controversial Islamic preacher cancelled
Torontonians came out by the hundreds to show their affection for The Queen as she attended Sunday service at St. James Cathedral.
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Crowd thrilled by Queen’s visit to St. James Cathedral
Paul Harvey Ever wondered about the philosophy and business model of the spirituality catch-all website Belief.net. And who exactly owned it anyway? Yeah, neither did I
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Selling God on the Net: Beliefnet’s Affinity Group
Paul Harvey This won’t be shocking news to a lot of readers of this blog, but an interesting column nonetheless: Charles Blow, ” Rise of the Religious Left ,” in yesterday’s NY Times . He begins: Which political party’s members are most likely to believe that Jesus will definitely return to earth before midcentury
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Rise of the Socially Conservative Religious Left
Mythology, Media and the Future of Hinduism Huffington Post (blog) The gods of Hinduism have never been up there in some cold palace playing cruel whimsical games of fate with us humans. Instead, they have taken their place …
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Mythology, Media and the Future of Hinduism – Huffington Post (blog)
Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, MI has gone Universalist accepting everyone. Of course most Congregations accept anyone and welcome them to attend but this is a melding of Spiritual ideas and the cross is offensive to portions of the new progressive movement. So it was removed causing a stir in the media.
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Progressive Christian Church Removes Cross and Name
Pope Benedict XVI lashed out Sunday at what he called the “deplorable” raids carried out by Belgian police who detained bishops, confiscated computers, opened a crypt and took church documents as part of an investigation into priestly sex abuse.
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Pope deplores Belgian church sex abuse raids
For the next two weeks PRELUDIUM is taking off in a new direction. Barring great mutterings that make it all the way to the mesas in New Mexico and Arizona and the people of the land, there will not be much written here. Instead I may post, if I can find Internet connections, some pictures and comments on a wonderful Pilgrimage the St
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The Journey and the Destination are the Same (more or less).