Amritsar, Punjab: To prevent eruption of controversies over books and films based on the Sikh religion, gurbani, history and culture, the five Sikh high priests have directed the SGPC to constitute a “censor board” comprising Sikh scholars to examine and clear books and films before their formal release.
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Sri Akal Takht Sahib directs SGPC to form ‘censor board’
Paul Harvey We’ve had a number of posts here in the past where folks have reflected on their experiences researching in various archives. One of my most enjoyable was a couple of weeks years ago at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane, where I dipped a bit into the massive archives of the American Missionary Association, the Congregationalist enterprise which after the Civil War was heavily involved in education for the freedpeople. At the time of this research, I was thinking of a good deal of the literature on postwar black education, leading to “industrial” schools; that literature focused on missionary paternalism.
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Education for Liberation: The American Missionary Association from Reconstruction through Civil Rights
Paul Harvey Once again, it has happened, and I am happy. Every time I think my field of study (religion in the South) is disappearing as a distinctive entity — every time I start assuming that regional homogeneity is the order of the day, that immigration has fundamentally changed religious patterns, that the Journal of Southern Religion will have to close up shop — Gallup or somebody does a survey and finds plus ça change, and all that.
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Survey Says . . . . . You Southernists Still have a Job!
A Muslim Frenchman cited by officials as a reason behind a crackdown on polygamy has been charged with aggravated rape, the state prosecutor said Sunday. Xavier Ronsin said Lies Hebbadj , who lives in the Nantes region of western France, was charged with aggravated rape based on a complaint from a former companion
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Muslim man at centre of French firestorm over polygamy charged with aggravated rape
So I started into Spurgeon’s Lectures and got about, well, more or less, about a page in before I was “arrested” by his helpful thinking. Here’s a taster … We are, in a certain sense, our own tools, and therefore must keep ourselves in order. If I want to preach the gospel, I can only use my own voice; therefore I must train my vocal powers
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How is Your Preaching Toolbox?
Sudbury’s Ted Holland says he was molested by Catholic priest William Hodgson Marshall — now facing charges of molesting four boys in Windsor — and later paid hush money.
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Basilians say money was to help alleged victim heal
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
Megachurches are no longer “Mega” these days. Unless, of course, you consider the megalomaniacs building these ornate and appalling edifices. Sure, some of them are huge because they have to be – see Willow Creek, The Potter’s House or Second Baptist Church for example
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Solomon’s Temple revisited: The worst megachurch yet
There have been claims that an English translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji finds itself at home at NASA and that the NASA scientist turn to Guru Ji for inspiration. NASA has been quiet on this issue and there is no information available if any of the claims are true.
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Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji message to NASA —-Beat you to it….
The Egyptian Muslim scholar and popular TV preacher angers some fundamentalists with statements such as, ‘The West is the victim of the Arabs, not the other way around.’ The mellifluous man in the sleek gray suit can make an Islamic radical wince in a nanosecond.
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A provocative voice of moderate Islam
Yesterday I wrote about how narratives do engage us through identification and disassociation. We can’t avoid that reality – it drives the popularity of movies, of bedtime stories, of Sunday School stories, of family fireside reminiscences, etc. But biblical narrative always offers something more. Our challenge as preachers is to be sure to always go there. What if the passage is easy to understand and ready to be preached. You’ve built a message based on the natural connection with a central character, or a minor character, or the original recipients. Your time is filled, the message will preach, that bird will fly. You aren’t done. You’re not ready. Biblical narratives either overtly or implicitly urge us to engage with the central characer in the canon – with God himself. Was it really David’s courage, or was it something about his faith in God and his instruction? Was it really about Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi, or was there something going on in terms of her loyalty to a God who had so far not seemed very “effective”? Was it really about Joseph’s moral convictions, or was there something deeper going on in respect to his living by faith in a God who was with him when every circumstance screamed that he’d been long forgotten by such a God
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Beyond Identification
The exit of a seven-year-old participant from the India’s Got Talent reality show after judge Sajid Khan commmented that the martial arts dance form he performed was too violent has angererd Sikh groups in Punjab.
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Reality show judge angers Sikh groups in Punjab
One of the secrets of the success of narrative writing and storytelling (whether that is historical narrative, fiction, fantasy, film or whatever) is the power of identification. When you read, hear or see a story, you naturally find yourself either identifying with or disassociating from characters in the story. If you are left cold, it is usually a sign that the story isn’t being told well, or you are in some sort of disconnected state. So, if this is a central function of narratives, then it is a factor to consider in preaching biblical narratives. Some might try to make a hard and fast rule here, but again I would urge wisdom and consideration of the options. Identifying with the Central Character
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The Identification Situation
Oh, fellow Americans, you crack me up : When presented with the statement “human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals,” just 45 percent of respondents indicated “true.” Compare this figure with the affirmative percentages in Japan (78), Europe (70), China (69) and South Korea (64).
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It Takes Practice
In July I made the following new squidoo lenses relating to spirituality: Susan Seddon Boulet Goddess Paintings An artist whose art is still popular in the pagan scene, Susan Seddon Boulet will mostly be remembered for her goddess art. The mystical style of her paintings (mostly, but not exclusively, water color) strikes a core in many.
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New spiritual ‘lenses’ – pages on squidoo
The Boston Theological Institute together with Bentley University, the Congregational Library and Park Street Church: Commemorating the Bicentennial of the ABCFM* “A Conference on America’s First Sponsor of Overseas Christian Missions” The Congregational Library and Park Street Church Saturday, September 25, 2010 – Day-long Program Includes – 8:30 AM Academic Symposium The Congregational Library, 14 Beacon Street, Boston 2:00 PM Historic Trolley Tour of Boston Mission Sites 5:00 PM Gala Reception and Dinner, Park Street Church 0 Park Street, Boston 7:00 PM Keynote Address: “From 1810 – 2010” Todd Johnson, Editor, The Atlas of Global Christianity Registration covering costs of materials, luncheon, trolley tour and banquet ($50) For details & deadline for registration, contact the Boston Theological Institute 210 Herrick Road, Newton Center, MA 02459 – T: 617-527-4880 Email: btioffice@bostontheological.org * American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
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A Conference on America’s First Sponsor of Overseas Christian Missions
Author Anne Rice said last week that she was ‘quitting Christianity:’ The once-lapsed Catholic wrote that she was could no longer accept her religion’s teachings on homosexuality, feminism, politics and birth control. “In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian,” Rice announced on her facebook page.
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Spiritual but not religious?
Randall Stephens Peter Marshall has long kept an active commentary page on his petermarshallministries.com site. He’s mad as hell and he’s not going to take it any more! (He seems to have been mad as hell for a for some time now, so this is not a news flash.) Marhsall is the author of The Light and the Glory , now revised, a Christian bookstore bestseller and a staple of homeschooling curriculum. (John Fea has written a cogent essay and several posts on Marshall and his career.) Marshall, along with another popular Christian historian David Barton, served as a history curriculum adviser for the Texas State Board of Education
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This Land is My Land, You Got That?