The European Sunday Alliance, a network of 65 civil society organizations, trade unions and Churches, recently made a pitch for work free Sundays to the European Union’s Economic and Social Committee in Brussels. The newly formed Alliance argued that a […]
Like the classic American cars that drive up and down Havana’s hot streets, communist Cuba is a country from another era–Cold War isolationism, a American trade embargo that began fifty years ago, and a pair of aging dictator-brothers who have ruled the nation and restricted its freedom for decades. But while Cuba may be living in the past in many respects, its religious freedoms are a curious blend of old-fashioned totalitarian crackdown and modern globalist acquiescence.
EXCERPT: Thailand’s Culture Ministry wants to ban tourists from getting religious tattoos after noticing an alarmingly high number of foreigners sporting deities that were inked in parlors in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai. As the Phuket Gazette reports, Culture Minister Niphit Intharasombat
Thailand Calls for Ban on Religious Tattoos for Tourists (CNN) Read More »
EXCERPT: By Arshad Chowdhury Osama bin Laden’s many victims include, first and foremost, those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, and their grieving families, the soldiers sent to war and the loved ones they left behind, and a new generation
A Muslim American Reflects on Osama Bin Laden’s Death (Washington Post) Read More »
EXCERPT: Hundreds of Christians and Muslims are hurling stones at each other in downtown Cairo hours after mobs set fire to a church in violence that killed 12 people and injured more than 200. Christian activist Bishoy Tamri says Muslim
Hundreds of Christians, Muslims clash in Cairo (AP) Read More »
EXCERPT: The site of a planned outdoor Easter service at one of China’s largest independent “house” churches was eerily silent Sunday as police blocked more than 500 worshippers from leaving their homes and detained more than 36 for attempting to
Chinese Authorities Block Easter Service in Beijing (CNN) Read More »
President Obama’s middle-ground approach to the credible and well-established “Clash of Civilizations” theme – when formulating international religious freedom policy – is best understood when placed on a scale between tolerance and international consensus (an interfaith, “soft-power” approach), and America’s constitutional ideal of religious freedom and human rights (an Evangelical and “exacting” approach). Yet both policy methods delimit religious freedom, threatening it altogether.
EXCERPT: Chinese police on Sunday detained more than 100 churchgoers who tried to hold an outdoor prayer service on a pedestrian bridge in Beijing after having failed to secure permission to open a church. Although it is not uncommon for
Chinese police detain members of unregistered church (LA Times) Read More »
EXCERPT: An advertising campaign to tackle Islamophobia has been unveiled on buses across the UK. Vehicles in several cities will carry the message “Muslims for loyalty, peace and freedom” in an attempt to challenge negative stereotypes of the faith. The
Bus advertising campaign tackles Islamophobia (BBC) Read More »
