Hackers group Anonymous takes down Vatican website: http://t.co/B6lbGAVp
WGN-TV calls doomsday prophecies "an illusion": http://t.co/mv8Gzyw7
RT @graceishuman: Really,? Asking people JUST LEAVING the service how they felt about it? Tacky, tacky, inappropriate
Whitney Houston's funeral service really took the world to church. Love Pastor Winans' honesty, very moving.
#teacher ? Here are appropriate responses to situations with your Jehovah's Witness student: http://t.co/A6UfqcgH
#Teachers: Want to know why your Jehovah's Witness student won't say the pledge and how to respond? http://t.co/EIdlgDwW
3 common questions teachers ask about their Jehovah's Witness students: http://t.co/kPTygb8r
3 common questions teachers ask about their Jehovah's Witness students: http://t.co/0y3R4WZV
Hey @BlackArtistNews check out this sculptor, this will blow your mind. My mind seriously can't take this in. http://t.co/I4VgB8ni
What do reporters have to say about balance in religion? Watch the video from last night's panel: http://t.co/jutu8oJ9
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Archive for October 2008
The school held a spirit week recently, one day of which was called “Hug a Friend Day.” The students in question quickly changed the day into “Hit a Tall Person Day” which they later changed into “Hit a Jew Day.”
What do you think? Is this just a silly prank from a group of sixth graders? Or is this Anti-Semitism at work?
If you’re a student at Massena High School in New York, you can take yoga in school.
Just don’t call it yoga.
The school recently sought to introduce a yoga program, citing the benefits relaxation can have on students’ stress levels. But parents complained that a yoga program would promote Hinduism, the religion that introduced the practice, thereby conflicting with the separation of church and state.
The solution?
Let’s have yoga and not call it yoga. Officials are now calling the program “Raider Relaxation” instead and are offering it as part of an after-school club. (Their school mascot is the raider.)
According to the International Herald Tribune, 100 schools in 26 states use yoga to relieve stress.
Today, followers of the Baha’i faith are celebrating the birth of the Bab.
The Bab (which means “the gate”) was born as Siyyid Ali-Muhmmad in present-day Iran on October 20, 1819. A descendent of the Islamic prophet/founder Muhammad, the Bab became a prophet in his own right. He spoke of one who would follow him and spark a new way.
The person he spoke of later turned out to be Baha’u’llah, founder of the Baha’i religion. The two men never met, but the Bab set the stage for the founder’s coming.
Baha’i followers celebrate 9 holy days where they are not supposed to work. Three of those holy days commemorate portions of the life of the Bab: his birth, his declaration of mission, and his death.
Like Baha’i, everyone may take part in this celebration.
Learn more about the life of the Bab on Beliefnet.com.
Learn more about Baha’u’llah and Baha’i on ReligionTranscends.com.
On July 5, two British tourists met at a champagne-filled brunch in Dubai. Hours later, they were arrested for having sex on a Dubai beach.
Their charges?
Sex outside of marriage, public indecency, and drunkenness. Why? Because it’s Dubai.
Though Dubai welcomes tourists from all over the world, the country itself is ruled by Islamic law (sharia). Dubai authorities worried that prosecuting the tourists would dissuade new tourists from visiting the country, for fear of further arrests. But today, the Britons were pronounced guilty and charged the equivalent of $350 US. They must also serve a three-month prison sentence, after which they will be deported from Dubai.
What is sharia?
Sharia (Islamic law) is derived from the sacred texts of Islam, including the Qur’an and the Sunnah (which details the actions and sayings of Muhammad). Like western courts, sharia still allows for trials, and you’re still innocent until proven guilty. But the laws themselves may be different at times: