Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 18 October 2021
Taliban says Afghan girls will return to secondary schools soon
(Al Jazeera)
Islamic State claims mosque bombing in south Afghanistan
(Associated Press)
Japan’s premier sends offering to controversial Tokyo shrine
(Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press)
Afghan Taliban’s victory boosts Pakistan’s radicals
(Kathy Gannon, Associated Press)
Articles of interest - 18 October 2021
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Ukraine Jews find cause to celebrate despite country’s challenges
(Larry Luxner, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Riding with pride: How a Manitoba motorcycle club is changing perceptions of the Sikh faith
(Prabhjot Singh Lotey, CBC News)
Jordan: Radio series on a coherent life inspires hope and action
(Bahá’í World News Service)
Centenary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing: Artistic works mark historic occasion
(Bahá’í World News Service)
Religious extremists in South Asia are a threat to regional stability – OpEd
(Habib Siddiqui, Eurasia Review)
“Religion can be a force for de-escalating tensions and improving understanding”
(KAICIID Dialogue Centre)
Don't leave the poor behind, pope asks of governments, politicians
(La Croix International)
Legal Journal Number 1 (17): October 2021 (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)
Social distancing at Mecca’s Grand Mosque dropped
(Al Jazeera)
When Indonesia's blasphemy law turns blasphemous
(Siktus Harson, Union of Catholic Asian News)
Nigerian governor: Religion shouldn't be causing violence
(Nigerian Eye)
Friday, 15 October 2021
China crackdown on Apple store hits holy book apps, Audible
(Matt O'Brien, Associated Press)
Berlin 1936. Beijing 2022. Must China's Uighurs play the role Jews did in Hitler Olympics?
(Ira Rifkin, GetReligion)
Religion and the G-20: With faith, we can move mountains
(Ronald A. Rasband, The Hill - Opinion)
Afghanistan: Suicide attack hits Kandahar mosque during prayers
(BBC News)
USCIRF strongly condemns terrorist attacks on Shi’a mosques in Afghanistan
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
‘A living hell’: Churches, clergy targeted by Myanmar military
(Nu Nu Lusan and Emily Fishbein, Al Jazeera)
Tajikistan’s inhumane treatment of religious prisoner indicative of deteriorating religious freedom conditions
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Chile: Protestant and Catholic churches destroyed in arson attacks
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)
Mexico: family from indigenous community ejected from their home for planting a church
(Zara Sarvarian, Open Doors UK)
Law, religion, and the covid crisis
(Mark Movsesian)
Russia: A 29th Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to a prison term in 2021
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Russia: Freedom of religion or belief Special bimonthly FORB digest (01-15.10.2021)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
A Ukrainian blogger under threat of extradition in the EU
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Protests erupt in Bangladesh amid Muslim-Hindu tensions
(Associated Press)
Mali’s Timbuktu fears jihadis as France reduces troops
(Baba Ahmed, Associated Press)
In Brazil, archbishop criticizes Bolsonaro’s pro-gun stance
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Hindu nationalist object to renaming park at Catholic college for Father Stan Swamy
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Regional bishops to Eswatini: Start talking!
(Catholic News Service)
Honduran bishops: Don’t vote for candidates backed by drug money
(David Agren, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Pakistan: New religious body draws ire from rights activists
(S Khan, Deutsche Welle)
Coalition writes to Pakistan PM on forced conversions
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Religious summit on Karabakh settlement is on in Moscow
(Interfax-Religion)
Patriarch Kirill hopes Armenia, Azerbaijan religious leaders can influence minds of conflicting parties in Karabakh
(Interfax-Religion)
Egypt’s president promotes religious choice during human rights rollout
(Jayson Casper, Christianity Today)
Religion Watch, Volume 36 No. 11
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Freedom of religion keystone of life in Turkey
(MENAFN)
What is being done to address religious freedom abuses worldwide?
(Christian Today)
New evidence: How religion aids peaceful change
(Miranda Rivers; Jason Klocek, Ph.D.; Sandra Tombe, United States Institute of Peace)
The UN appoints a Special Rapporteur to monitor human rights in Afghanistan
(Evangelical Focus)
Explainer: Can the Taliban suppress the potent IS threat?
(Samya Kullab, Associated Press)
An apology to the Afghan girl
(Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes)
Evangelos Kyriakidis, “The destruction of heritage as an extreme form of affront to humanity”
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)
In Brazil, Catholic pilgrims defy COVID to celebrate saint
(Tatiana Pollastri and Diane Jeantet, Associated Press)
Gunmen abduct 3 Catholic seminarians in Nigeria’s northwest
(Chinedu, Associated Press)
Religion, identity and conflict in northern Nigeria
(United States Institute of Peace)
Activists seek legal marijuana in former hippie haven Nepal
(Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press)
Dante: A prophet of hope (plus responses)
(Francesco Ciabattoni, Vittorio Montemaggi, Alessandro Vettori, David G. Lummus, Laura Ingallinella, Kristina Olson, Alison Cornish, Francis J. Ambrosio, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Argentine bishops call publicly funded opera performance ‘blasphemy’
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
First Jewish wedding held in Bahrain in 52 years
(Shira Hanau, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Libya’s Jewish graveyards were destroyed. They are being rebuilt online.
(Cnaan Liphshiz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Terror & tourism: Xinjiang eases its grip, but fear remains
(Dake Kang, Associated Press)
Vatican to open embassy in Armenia
(Interfax-Religion)
Baha'i spouses of Jordanians are not eligible for naturalisation
(Safaa Ramhi, Middle East Monitor)
Humanity’s demographic future
(Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute)
Moscow broadens attacks on religions with foreign ties, threatening even more groups – OpEd
(Paul Goble, Eurasia Review)
Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia escalates to torture
(Bitter Winter)
Russian rights advocates defend prosecuted Jehovah's Witnesses
(Kavkazskii Uzel, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
‘War is contrary to the will of God’ – An appeal for peace for the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches
(Church and Peace)
Singapore: The men going to military jail for their faith
(Derek Cai, BBC News)
Middle East home to highest rate of religious persecution
(Asia News)
USCIRF releases report highlighting Uzbekistan’s religious and political prisoners
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Weekly Highlight #177: COVID-19: Exploring faith dimensions: Renowned religious leaders support covid-19 vaccines but acrimonious debates persist
(Berkley Center, Joint Learning Initiative, WFDD)
Holocaust forum looks at social media’s role in antisemitism
(Jan M, Associated Press)
Restoring indigenous dignity in Canada: The hard truth about reconciliation
(Andrew Bennett, Convivium)
Monday, 11 October 2021
Targeted killing of civilians in Kashmir triggers fears of religion-based violence
(Zaffar Iqbal, Religion Unplugged)
India: How states have denied Hindus real freedom with centre’s support for last 70 years
(TR Ramesh, News 18)
Indian police detain hundreds amid violence in Kashmir
(Associated Press)
In India, boy meets girl, proposes — and gets accused of jihad
(Lauren Frayer, NPR)
Cuban church leader facing criminal investigation
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)
Say a prayer for Cuba and the destiny of its people
(Teo Babún, Miami Herald)
Pope to lawmakers: Climate change requires quick consensus
(Frances D'Emilio, Associated Press)
Caring for the environment has a long Catholic lineage – hundreds of years before Pope Francis
(Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation)
Child marriage and domestic violence: what we found in 16 African countries
(Anthony Idowu Ajayi with Abdul-Aziz Seidu and Bright Opoku Ahinkorah, The Conversation)
Adolescent girls in five African conflict zones share stories about their lives
(Katrina Lee-Koo and Eleanor Gordon, The Conversation)
Falling through the cracks: shining a light on adolescent girls in humanitarian emergencies
(Lindsay Stark, The Conversation)
Egypt’s criminalisation of minority free speech through blasphemy cases
(Mohamed Mandour, Coptic Solidarity)
United Nations: China denies allegations of organ harvesting
(Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes)
Colombian nun held hostage in Mali since 2017 has been freed
(Premier Christian News)
Asia falls short on religious freedom, say Christian legal experts
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Afghan women have a long history of taking leadership and fighting for their rights
(Wazhmah Osman and Helena Zeweri, The Conversation)
Taliban say they won’t work with US to contain Islamic State
(Kathy Gannon, Associated Press)
Taliban's religious police instructed to be more moderate, but vulnerable Afghans say brutal justice is still being meted out
(Brent Swails and Clarissa Ward, CNN)
Articles of interest - 11 October 2021
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Philippine bishops congratulate journalist who won Nobel Peace Prize
(Catholic News Service)
Kazakhstan: New religious meeting restrictions now in senate
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
Russian Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to over four years in prison for his faith
(Jessica Mundie, Religion News Service)
Russia sanctioned for detaining a Scientologist
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
Russia: Muratov, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, gets the Peace Nobel Prize
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Religious leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia to meet in Moscow
(Interfax-Religion)
Practicing Buddhists in Pakistan 'facing extinction'
(Dev Discourse)
Reducing Middle East tensions potentially lessens sectarianism and opens doors for women – analysis
(James M. Dorsey, Eurasia Review)
India government leader: Conversion of Hindus for marriage is wrong
(The Times of India)
Friday, 8 October 2021
Palestinians reject Israeli ruling on Jewish prayer at Al-Aqsa
(Al Jazeera)
Israeli court ruling on major holy site angers Palestinians
(Josef Federman, Associated Press)
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