"PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: In a controversial victory for Islamic law over secularism, Malaysia's highest court refused Wednesday to recognize the conversion of a Muslim-born woman to Christianity, ruling that the matter was beyond the jurisdiction of the country's civil courts and should be handled by religious authorities."Sad.
"LONDON (Reuters) - For female cheetahs in the Serengeti, the call of the wild is just too hard to resist as new research shows nearly half of their litters are made up of cubs with different fathers.Not to mention that with territorial predators, dates are few and far between.... And apparently the female is the one who does the walking, not the male.
And while the serial infidelities of the females does ensure a broader genetic mix to help the survival of the endangered species, it comes at a cost, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said on Wednesday.
'Mating with more than one male poses a serious threat to females, increasing the risk of exposure to parasites and diseases,' said Dada Gottelli, ZSL's lead scientist for the research."
"KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 27 -- Lina Joy has been disowned by her family, shunned by friends and forced into hiding because she renounced Islam and embraced Christianity in Muslim-majority Malaysia.
Now, after a seven-year legal struggle, Malaysia's highest court will decide on Wednesday whether her constitutional right to choose her religion overrides an Islamic law that prohibits Malay Muslims from leaving Islam.
Either way, the verdict will have profound implications in a country where Islam is increasingly conflicting with minority religions, challenging Malaysia's reputation as a moderate Muslim and multicultural nation that guarantees freedom of worship.Joy's case began in 1998 when, after converting, she applied for a name change on her government identity card. The National Registration Department obliged but refused to drop Muslim from the religion category."
This is hard to fathom on more than one level.
First of all, this would not even be an issue under our own U. S. Constitution with its clear statement that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
Second, even with the idea of a national ID card, the concept of identifying people by religion is foreign. It is not so small a step from that to the wearing of a yellow circle or star on one's outer clothing.
Malaysia has a choice here: Respect the rights enumerated in their constitution or allow religion to control civil authority. May they have the courage to uphold their constitution."Despite its minority status, atheism has enjoyed the spotlight of late, with several books that feature vehement arguments against religion topping the bestseller lists.There seem to be a lot of similar articles cropping up all over the place, all on this topic, and I hesitated to link to yet another treatment of a topic I visit on a fairly regular basis.
But some now say secularists should embrace more than the strident rhetoric poured out in such books as 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins and 'The End of Faith' and 'Letter to a Christian Nation' by Sam Harris. By devoting so much space to explaining why religion is bad, these critics argue, atheists leave little room for explaining how a godless worldview can be good.
At a recent conference marking the 30th anniversary of Harvard's humanist chaplaincy, organizers sought to distance the 'new humanism' from the 'new atheism.'
Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein went so far as to use the (other) f-word in describing his unbelieving brethren.
'At times they've made statements that sound really problematic, and when Sam Harris says science must destroy religion, to me that sounds dangerously close to fundamentalism,' Epstein said in an interview after the meeting. 'What we need now is a voice that says, 'That is not all there is to atheism.' '
Although the two can overlap, atheism represents a statement about the absence of belief and is thus defined by what it is not. Humanism seeks to provide a positive, secular framework for leading ethical lives and contributing to the greater good. The term "humanist" emerged with the "Humanist Manifesto" of 1933, a nonbinding document summarizing the movement's principles."
I was doing the morning drive to work, and I was snapped out of my lethargy (don't worry - my wife was driving) by the words "The Royals broke their winning streak last night..." You don't hear "Royals" and "winning streak" too often in the same sentence these days, so it does tend to bring my brain to wakefulness."Once upon a time, in a country way, way down under, the government dismantled its system of agricultural subsidies and supports. Initially, cries of outrage and disbelief were heard from farmers all across the land.This is a timely article in view of Bread for the World's 2007 Offering of Letters.
For more than 20 years, farm assistance had steadily increased, peaking at 33 percent of total farm output (about double the level of assistance in the U.S. today). Then, with one swift and decisive decree, all subsidies were eliminated.
The transition period, which lasted about 6 years, was not easy, but it was less painful than expected. The government predicted a 10 percent failure rate, but only 1 percent of farms went of business. Government assistance during the transition period was limited to one-off 'exit grants' for those leaving their farms, financial advice, and the same social welfare income support afforded to all citizens."
"NEW DELHI, INDIA — The National Commission for Religious & Linguistic Minorities’ oft-delayed report was released and the findings could drastically change life for India’s Dalit (formerly called “untouchables”) community. If the government accepts the Commission’s recommendations, decades of religious-based discrimination against the lowest-strata in India’s society will be reversed.It is hard to imagine that this sort of discrimination can still openly exist in the world today. Is really about religion? Or is it about the preservation of privilege?
The Commission said a clause in a 1950 law should be dropped to de-link status from religion. The clause had restricted government benefits to Scheduled Castes who are Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. The Commission’s decision was based on a two-year study of the socio-economic and educational condition of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims."
"WASHINGTON--With only months left on a moratorium restricting state governments from taxing Internet access, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday began a debate over whether the ban should be made permanent or allowed to lapse.Warning -- politicians involved.
At issue is the scheduled expiration on November 1 of a law, initially enacted in 1998, that says local governments generally cannot tax Internet access, including DSL (digital subscriber line), cable modem and BlackBerry-type wireless transmission services. The law also prohibits governments from taxing items sold online in a different manner than those sold at brick-and-mortar stores, but it does not deal with sales taxes on online shopping."
"On the day of the first Southern-state Republican debate on the Fox News Channel, one undeclared GOP candidate performed a media leapfrog.For those who have not seen the short video clip, take a look here (http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=611)
With the help of one 38-second video clip and a great sense of humor, Fred Thompson, the former U.S. senator from Tennessee who is one sock away from dipping his toe into the race for the White House, remained just as relevant as the other GOP candidates.
And thanks to Michael Moore, the Hollywood documentarian who just can't help himself, Thompson delivered what, in time, could become his watershed moment."
"The question is not if this was a watershed. The question is, whose watershed was it -- Thompson's, mainstream media's or new media's?"This could be interesting....
"A self-proclaimed hippie with a never-settled quest for religious understanding, Philip Clayton—a visiting professor this year at the Harvard Divinity School (HDS)—has spent the past year encouraging the exploration of the delicate balance between the study of science and the study of religion, an interest motivated in part by his own uncertainties of faith.This guy has had an interesting trajectory, coming from an atheistic family, joining a church at 14, and studying "the areas of tension and sometimes harmony" between science and religion. He had a particularly humorous anecdote about the problems in telling his parents that he had had a conversion experience. (You can follow the link and read the whole article.)
“I’ve met religious people for whom religion is no conflict—it’s as obvious as the air you breathe, or your own name, and I was never one of those people,” Clayton says. “It was always an intellectual struggle.
“Science and religion was the field in which that struggle expressed itself,” he added."
"Tragic. Tragic. If Harvard’s goal is to train the men and women who will be leaders across all branches of American culture, and internationally, then these have to be people who are knowledgeable in the fundamental cultural conflicts of our day."I have to admit, I find the use of "academic speak" just a bit jarring when I hear or read about my religion, but I suppose it can be no other way for professors in secular universities. At least there are people who are still dealing with it at our educational institutions, which is better than the alternative...
This really shouldn't need the exclamation point on the end of the title, but it happens so infrequently these days...."MOSCOW -- Russian Orthodox leaders will move to end nine decades of bitter division Thursday with a pact reuniting the main church in Russia with a breakaway church that split off as Communist rule took hold after the Bolshevik Revolution.It's nice to see old rifts healed.
Patriarch Alexy II, who heads the largest flock in the Orthodox Christian world, is to sign the Canonical Communion Act with Metropolitan Laurus, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
The ceremony is to take place at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral -- a symbol of the revival of Russia's dominant church since the 1991 collapse of the officially atheist Soviet Union. The golden-domed church is a replica of the cathedral blown up in 1931 on the orders of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. ..."
"HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than 800 Hong Kong residents have called on authorities to reclassify the Bible as 'indecent' due to its sexual and violent content, following an uproar over a sex column in a university student journal.I saw this linked on Presbyweb, and my first reaction was that someone had a little too much time on their hands.
A spokesperson for Hong Kong's Television and Entertainment Licensing authority (TELA) said it had received 838 complaints about the Bible by noon Wednesday.
The complaints follow the launch of an anonymous Web site -- www.truthbible.net -- which said the holy book 'made one tremble' given its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest.
The Web site said the Bible's sexual content 'far exceeds' that of a recent sex column published in the Chinese University's 'Student Press' magazine, which had asked readers whether they'd ever fantasized about incest or bestiality."
"LOUISVILLE — First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, TN, believes financial support of international mission personnel can be as easy as 1-2-3.I like this. It is simple and easy to remember.
First Presbyterian is challenging each member to give $2 per month for a year to support Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) international mission personnel. The church named the effort the “1-2-3 Offering” to remind parishioners that the offering is taken on the first Sunday of every month, that a $2 donation is requested, and that funds collected will support the third century of mission by U.S. Presbyterians."
"Anger is to humanity what nuclear energy is to electricity. Powerful and creative. Volatile and dangerous.Dr. Haberer goes on to remind the Presbyterian Church and its various factions that we as a denomination cannot "feign innocence" -- the easiest way to work a crowd is to go on the attack, using pejoratives. Haberer highlights "Those liberals" or "those fundamentalists," "those gays" or "those homophobes". (I would add the characterizations "anti-choice" and "baby killers" to this mix.)
God created anger, and for good reason. Anger stirs social workers to rescue abused children from violent parents. Anger provokes prophets to expose exploiting power brokers. Anger compels the courageous to break chains of injustice. Anger confronts religious hypocrites and drives moneychangers out of temples.
Then again, evil hijacks anger for destructive purposes. It batters spouses and children. It unleashes the privileged against the powerless—and vice versa. It propagates hatred. It murders innocents. It morphs into resentment, escalates into bitterness, depresses into isolation, and explodes into carnage. ..."
"Misfortune upstream likely helped Mid-Missouri dodge big damage this week as a peak pulse of floodwater traveled down the Missouri River.This article goes on to note that much of the flooded areas upstream were Missouri Department of Conservation bottom lands that were managed specifically "in anticipation of the ebb and flow of water." Many of these public lands were former agricultural lands that were bought out following the devastating floods of the latter years of the last century.
On Thursday, river watchers drastically scaled back the threat for this area, allowing many small river communities to breathe a sigh of relief. But that fortunate development came after people farther up the Missouri saw levees fail or get topped by the swollen river.
'What we’re believing is that they revised the forecast down because a lot of the smaller, non-federal levees and ag levees above them were either topped or breached, so that allows the water to spread out,' said Bob Finneran, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers levee inspector for the Kansas City district."
"Last year, just before the students returned to the campus of the Roman Catholic Georgetown University, the school's Protestant chaplain informed six evangelical student ministries that they were being 'disafilliated.' That is, they could not use campus facilities for their events, could not advertise their events on campus, and could not use the Georgetown name or logo.This was a break from the usual legal issues -- in other instances public universities had attempted to "disaffiliate" InterVarsity due to their requirement that officers subscribe to Christian beliefs. Legal action has been effective in these cases (and the law seems to support InterVarsity's stand).
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship was one of the affected ministries, and the irony could not have been sharper: the daughter of IVCF president Alec Hill was a Georgetown student."
"I give a lot of credit to our staff and student leaders who did not overreact. They were firm but diplomatic in their dealing with university officials. We are grateful for the good spirit of dialog shown by Georgetown as this agreement was worked out."It's good to see it could be handled in this way; it is far more satisfying than needing to resort to the courts to enforce what should be a common-sense decision based on existing law.
"Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and civil rights activist Al Sharpton traded angry, racially charged accusations yesterday, with Romney alleging that Sharpton had uttered 'bigoted' comments about Mormonism.A couple comments for Romney:
On the campaign trail in Iowa, Romney was asked about Sharpton's comment during a debate Monday that 'those of us who believe in God' will defeat Romney. The former Massachusetts governor told reporters that such a comment 'shows that bigotry still exists in some corners.'
Sharpton angrily denied Romney's charge in a telephone interview yesterday, and he accused Romney of stoking a verbal war with him to gain support among conservatives.
Sharpton said his comments have been taken out of their original context -- a debate about religion with journalist Christopher Hitchens, who Sharpton said had suggested that Mormonism once advocated segregation."
"A speedy, coordinated response, combined with declining crest forecasts along the Missouri River, has officials and residents of Boone County towns optimistic that damage from flooding this week will be minimal.Better news than expected....
Crest forecasts from the National Weather Service on Wednesday called for a high-water mark of 32.8 feet at Boonville on Saturday. That’s more than 11 feet above flood stage but six inches lower than Tuesday’s forecast. At Jefferson City, the river was predicted to crest near 31.7 feet on Sunday. That is more than a foot lower than the forecast peak from the day before."
"WILTON - Maggie Riesenmy recalls the time when the American Red Cross used the front porch of her store as a food distribution center for her neighbors affected by the Flood of 1993. The Riesenmys had built a sandbag wall in front of their store on River Road to protect them from the flooding Missouri River.
So when warning came yesterday that another major flood was on the way, she knew what to do: Stay calm. 'Done this before. We were here in ’93; we were here in ’95. That was my first reaction,' Riesenmy said. 'The river will take what she takes, and do the best you can.'
Numerous communities were evacuating their residents yesterday and today as the National Weather Service predicted near-1993 flooding levels across much of the state.Rivers and streams already were overrunning their banks yesterday in parts of northwest Missouri, and flooding was expected later in the week farther east. As the floodwaters rose, Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and authorized the mobilization of Missouri National Guard troops. ..."
I've been in Missouri long enough to have seen the 1986, 1993, and 1995 floods -- all of which were labeled 500-year-floods. The NOAA river forecast center is showing a prediction for a 33.5 foot stage by 6AM Saturday in Boonville. That is 12.5 feet above flood stage and a few feet below the 1993 flood. (NOAA's disclaimer is that these forecasts assume no additional rain...)
Sandbagging volunteers are already at work in Rocheport, MO and will work their way downstream over the next few days. The Katy Trail runs along the river, and there are a number of low-lying communities that stand to be inundated yet again.
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard. | |
| The Northeast | |
| The Midland | |
| The South | |
| The Inland North | |
| Boston | |
| The West | |
| North Central | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
"Frank G. Kauffman was teaching a course in social work at Missouri State University in 2005 when he gave an assignment that sparked a lawsuit and nearly destroyed his academic career.To Missouri State University's credit, they quickly quashed the discrimination charge, removing it from Brooker's record, and, in an out-of-court settlement, offered to pay for her graduate schooling.
He asked his students to write letters urging state legislators to support adoptions by same-sex couples. Emily Brooker, then a junior majoring in social work, objected that the assignment violated her Christian beliefs. When she refused to sign her letter, she was hauled before a faculty panel on a charge of discriminating against gays."
"DENVER — Prominent evangelical Christians are urging churchgoers to strongly consider adoption or foster care, not just out of kindness or biblical calling but also to answer criticism that their movement, while condemning abortion and same-sex adoption, doesn't do enough for children without parents.My impression has been that evangelical groups have been doing more than most other groups in promoting adoption as an alternative. But having said that, as long as there are children in need, no one is doing all that is needed, and no one's job is done. And the third paragraph alludes to a significant stumbling block -- there has been a tendency for the very real needs of children to be eclipsed by issues held dear on all sides of the various debates.
With backing from Focus on the Family and best-selling author Rick Warren, the effort to promote 'orphan care' among the nation's estimated 65 million evangelicals could drastically reduce foster care rolls if successful.
Yet sensitive issues lie ahead: about evangelizing, religious attitudes on corporal punishment, gay and lesbian foster children, racially mixed families, and resolving long-standing tensions between religious groups and the government. ..."
"...Aware that adoption and foster care aren't for everyone, organizers are suggesting alternatives such as providing support networks for foster families, taking short-term mission trips and sponsoring orphanages. ..."This is one area in which anyone can take part. The support of the entire community (be it local, regional, national, or worldwide) is necessary regardless of how many families are able to step forward and adopt.
"BY CHRISTOPHER ORLETEpstein, even if he is coming from the wrong side of the debate, sees quite clearly that the fundamentalist atheists are not adding much to the debate, and suggests that, in fact, they are making it difficult for his side of the spectrum.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
A recent Associated Press story, headlined 'Atheists Split on How Not to Believe,' has set fingers tapping throughout the blogosphere. The gist of the story as I read it is that there are soft atheists and fundamentalist atheists, and the softies are concerned that the fundies are becoming too outspoken, too uppity, indeed that they are giving unbelievers a bad name--a good trick that, like trying to give a bad name to an oil slick.
As usual, the impetus for this new development was 9/11, and the death and destruction caused by religious fanatics, after which some atheist intellectuals decided there was complicity in silence, thus they would be silent no more.
The spokesman for the soft atheists has been Greg Epstein, a 'humanist chaplain' at Harvard University. The Rev. Mr. Epstein is encouraging the fundamentalists or 'New Atheists' to pipe down, and warns that their outspokenness is keeping fence-sitters from coming over to the side of the humanists, a dubious allegation, at best. Though I can't prove it, it seems to me that passionate advocacy attracts converts as often as it drives them away."
Ro 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Ro 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
"The United States and Pennsylvania now agree that Geneva College's policy of hiring only Christians is not illegal, a development that could end a court standoff between the two governments and the Beaver County school.Maybe my opinion is somewhat colored by my 2 years teaching at a Presbyterian college, but this seems like a no-brainer. Geneva College is quite clear about what it is, where it comes from, and what its expectations are of its students and faculty.
The college claimed its rights to free expression, free speech and church autonomy were violated when it was told it could not mention a religious preference for job applicants in help-wanted ads posted on a government Web site."
"by Dave ParksThis article is generally well written, but I need to point out that the assertion in the above paragraph should come as no surprise to anyone who understands the methods and limitations of the scientific method. God, by his nature, is outside our abilities to touch, feel, measure, confine, or experiment. Assertions of a small number prominent scientists notwithstanding, you can not use the methods of science to prove the existence of God, much less claim that science has proven that God does not exist.
Religion News Service
TUSCALOOSA, AL — A blossoming body of research is showing that religion can have an impressive impact on health, but scientists are also finding limits in their ability to study this benefit, says a leading authority on the subject. ..."
