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‘Jews Who Were Israelis’: Anti-Semitism and the Mumbai Chabad Center

…e (even if the terrorists happened to be anti-Semites). For one, American, Indian, British, and Canadian citizens were also targets—perhaps primary targets. But more compelling still, Kasab stated clearly that they were instructed to target “Jews who were Israelis”; that is, Israelis. The sloppy way they chose to enact this is another matter. If this were motivated by anti-Semitism, why would those giving the instructions care if the Jews were Isr…

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Beautiful Dreamers: A Documentary Asks “What is God”?

…man in a white sari oversees the care of mangled patients at a hospital in India. Maasai tribesman in Kenya sacrifice a goat to God for rain, to the disapproval of a collared Christian priest. There’s a healthy helping of English atheists, each with particular and charming ways of scoffing off the notion entirely. “God is a word,” one of them explains. And then the silence of all eternity passes through snowy Himalayan vistas. It is true. God is a…

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The University of Vermont Might Be Done With Religion, But Religion Isn’t Done With Us

…igious hate crimes are also on the rise. Hindu nationalism runs rampant in India. Myanmar continues its genocide against the Rohingya. The UK’s Labour Party is trying to address its antisemitic legacy—sort of. France is at it again, and by “it” I mean state-sponsored Islamophobia. The hits just keep on coming. It has never been clearer that religious literacy—learning to think critically about religion—prepares you to better understand and navigat…

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Texas Approves Anti-Muslim Resolution for Textbooks

…s several instances where textbooks included the Muslim attack on Delhi in India in the 14th century: “As many as 100,000 Hindu prisoners were massacred before the gates of the city.” TFN recorded Friday’s public debate. Here is a clip of a woman defending the resolution, in which she suggests that all textbooks should come with warning stickers so people know of a book’s “biases” before they ever open it.  Notice that she only says what she belie…

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CERN: Where Particle Physics Collides with Human Sacrifice (Apparently)

…g around a statue of Shiva (a gift from the Department of Atomic Energy of India). A woman in white is brought forward and stabbed, prompting the anonymous cameraman to flee in terror. The Telegraph noted the cameraman’s reflection in the office window suggests that he is also wearing a ritual cloak and likely a co-conspirator. CERN administrators have dismissed the footage as a hoax and opened an internal investigation. But many remain puzzled as…

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It’s Theology, Not Baseball: Misunderstanding Iraq’s Sectarian Conflicts

…nfined to Muslim-majority societies. Buddhist Myanmar and Sri Lanka, Hindu India, and Christian Uganda and Zimbabwe have done their share of official hate-mongering. So has the United States’ principal ally in the Middle East, Israel. As David Sheen has noted in these pages, none other than the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Ovadia Yosef, invoked biblical passages to call for the eradication of Palestinians. Far from being an isolated outburst, She…

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If The National Prayer Breakfast Is Apolitical and Nonsectarian, Why Is It Used to Question Obama’s Faith?

…oo often was justified in the name of Christ. Michelle and I returned from India — an incredible, beautiful country, full of magnificent diversity — but a place where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion, been targeted by other peoples of faith, simply due to their heritage and their beliefs — acts of intolerance that would have shocked Gandhiji, the person who helped to liberate that nation. So this is not unique to one…

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Dispatches From the Site of a Massacre

…ivative.  But Islam has been in Bosnia for as long as it’s been in much of India, where my family’s from. It’s possible that many South Asians have been Muslim for less time than many European Muslims. The same goes for Istanbul, which came under Ottoman rule after parts of the Balkans.   When we travel, we find such assumptions challenged, and we find that the ways in which the world works right now did not necessarily hold true in the past—in ba…

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Monks With Guns: Discovering Buddhist Violence

…hism across Mongolia, Tibet, Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India. Our intention is not to argue that Buddhists are angry, violent people—but rather that Buddhists are people, and thus share the same human spectrum of emotions, which includes the penchant for violence. Although the book only arrived at bookstores last month, it apparently touched some nerves in the academic community before its release. Some have objected to the cov…

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17 Reasons Why Women Wear Headscarves

…Sufi Muslims believe that both men and women should cover their heads. In India and Pakistan, for instance, men usually wear skullcaps during ritual prayer.) So, many women who do not wear head-covers all the time may do so for religious occasions, or when inspired to do so. 3.) Head-covers convey a message of purity and godliness to many observers. Different traditions of religious iconography use mantles and other head-covers to symbolize purit…

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