Religion Dispatches
…had goals that were as diffuse and ill-defined as the Occupy movement. He knew only that the people of India had to lift themselves—all of them—out of immiserating poverty by their own initiative, determination, and hard work. Exactly how it would be done was left to endless experimentation. Indeed, Gandhi summed up his whole life in the title he chose for his autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth. He believed firmly that truth can…
Read More…Aamir Khan, who is a GLAAD “Global Voices” advocate. According to Gay Star News, “The hashtag #FreedomForLGBT became the top trending topic globally on Twitter and 1.7 million missed calls were made to a hotline set up by the show to protest the anti-gay law.” One commentator praised the show for doing more than preaching to the choir: Satyamev Jayate devoted an hour upon alternative sexuality on Sunday morning. It was well-researched, sensitively…
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…definitely. Avishai counters by looking at the global situation. China and India already have become the globe’s leading manufacturers. Israel’s main chance at retaining a niche in the global marketplace is its expertise in high-tech. Yet the fact of the matter is that China and India, with their massive populations, have a much bigger human resource pool to draw upon than Israel. If the instability created by constant conflict continues, Israel w…
Read More…st stomp their feet on.” While Perkins has expressed interest in using his new position as an opportunity to support “religious freedom and the defense of religious minorities,” he might find that the USCIRF actually doesn’t require a significant change in focus from his own preoccupations with Christians’ rights. The USCIRF dates back to 1998, when it was instituted as an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission as part of the I…
Read More…sia (and Turkey, Malaysia, and countries with large Muslim minorities like India), have successfully kept what they wanted of their traditions and integrated what they wanted of other traditions. They are navigating what it means to be modern, which the Arab world is having difficulties with. Because of the popular conflation of Arabs and Muslims, both in terms of number and authenticity, including at bodies such as the Council of Foreign Relation…
Read More…GBT people are converting others into their “ways against nature and God.” Indian High Court Declines to Review Decision Re-Criminalizing Homosexuality On Tuesday, the Indian Supreme Court dismissed petitions that it review its recent decision that reinstated a colonial-era anti-sodomy law. A “curative petition” by the government is still pending. Cyprus: Last European Law Criminalizing Homosexuality Repealed Thirty-three years after the European…
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…shall come up in her palaces,” so missionaries saw the built landscapes of India and China as decrepit and decaying beneath their gilded surfaces. One missionary described his impressions of India as “disgust[ing]” to “every sense”: “I thought, Surely it can get no lower without opening the mouth of hell.” According to nineteenth-century missionaries, it was because “heathens” spent their time worshiping the wrong deities—spirits in nature, ancest…
Read More…ctivists had also slammed Wurst as the singer advanced in the competition. India: Profile of an Openly Gay Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, Crown Prince of Rajpipla, India, was profiled this week in Frontiers, a Los Angeles-based publication. Manvendra was born and raised to assume the custodianship of the crown, with all the discipline, expectations and circumspection his catered life allowed. He was always surrounded by servants, so protected that…
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…st stomp their feet on.” While Perkins has expressed interest in using his new position as an opportunity to support “religious freedom and the defense of religious minorities,” he might find that the USCIRF actually doesn’t require a significant change in focus from his own preoccupations with Christians’ rights. The USCIRF dates back to 1998, when it was instituted as an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission as part of the I…
Read More…aid that he is not Muslim, but so what if he is. The Constitution promises freedom of religion, which means there is no requirement of religion, or even religiosity, in order to be president. After becoming president, rather than seizing the pulpit to educate people about religion, he is caving to political cowardice. Sikhism is a distinct religion from Islam, and the Golden Temple is one of the holiest sites in the religion. In one fell swoop, Ob…
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