Indonesian police have arrested the controversial Muslim preacher Abu Bakir Bashir on terror charges. Officials said they had proof he was linked a training camp recently discovered in Aceh, West Sumatra.
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Indonesian Muslim hate preacher Abu Bakir Bashir in terror arrest
Another mob attack on Christian worshipers in Bekasi on Sunday has led to renewed calls for police and national leaders to crack down on the apparently swelling tide of religious violence. About 20 members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church in Pondok Timur Indah were chased and beaten with sticks by a mob believed linked to the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) after they tried to conduct Sunday services at a field in Ciketing, Bekasi. Muslims nationwide have condemned the hard-line Islamic organization for an attack on a church group on Sunday, saying the incident had tarnished the image of Islam
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Hardline Muslim Thugs Attack Indonesian Christians
The Guardian Julia Roberts reportedly converts to Hinduism after filming 'Eat, Pray, Love' Examiner.com … 2010 — News comes today that when Julia Roberts was shooting the film 'Eat, Pray, Love' she reportedly made a big decision: To convert to Hinduism . ..
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Julia Roberts reportedly converts to Hinduism after filming ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ – Examiner.com
LATINAS ARE EVERYWHERE! click image to watch video on Today Mom’s Check out interview with Blogueras Carrie Ferguson Weir of TikiTikiBlog.com and Bilingual In The Boonies , Melanie Edwards of ModernMami.com and Ana Flores of SpanglishBaby.com at BlogHer . And don’t miss post on Wired Latinos on Blogs by Latinas founder Monique Frausto.
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Explosion of Latina Bloggers
Paul Harvey Congratulations to our friend and Young Scholar in American Religion Kip Kosek, whose book Acts of Concience: Christian Nonviolence and American Democracy has won the Best First Book in the History of Religions Prize from the American Academy of Religion. Blog readers will recall we had some extensive discussions of this book last year (see the links for that below)
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Kip Kosek’s Acts of Conscience Wins AAR Award!
The novelist says she still believes in God, but she couldn’t find a basis in Scripture for some positions taken by churches. And she rejects the persecution of gays and women. The author Anne Rice, best known for her vampire novels, made waves last week when she declared on her Facebook page that she had “quit being a Christian.” Twelve years after her return to Catholicism, Rice said she still believed in God, but that, “In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay.
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Anne Rice discusses her decision to quit Christianity
I would like to discuss “Rome’s Challenge.” No doubt you’ve heard of it. Back in September 1893, one James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, approved a four-piece article for his personal newsletter, the Catholic Mirror. The title was ” the Christian Sabbath.
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Rome’s Challenge
Randall Stephens Check out an article by Krista Tippett, of Speaking of Faith fame, on her conservative, Southern Baptist grandfather. The Christian Century essay powerfully deals with her changing views about her Oklahoma family’s faith. Many who have migrated from the South or Midwest–geographically and/or ideologically–have undergone similar changes in outlook
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A Pilgrimage of Faith for a Midwesterner
Matt Rediger tries to explain how legalized equality for gay people, affirmed in yesterday’s ruling [pdf] against California’s Proposition 8, violates freedom of religion. Rediger: [P]eople of faith cannot be expected to go against their beliefs, even if they view opposing beliefs and arguments as holding some kind of legitimacy. Two ethical systems can be legitimate, but they cannot necessarily exist in the same place at the same time
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Proposition 8 – It’s All Over but the Overheated Assertions and Poor Arguments
Claire and Marc Headley, who left Scientology in 2005, said the church controlled them with threats of harsh punishment and other tactics that prevented them from leaving the Sea Organization, Scientology’s religious order.
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Judge dismisses two lawsuits aimed at Scientology