Law and Religion Headlines
Wednesday, 24 December 2014
Christmas economics and stories of the season
(Adrian Monck, World Economic Forum Blog)
Lessons & Carols Edition * Mark Driscoll returns * No, Really: Wednesday’s Roundup
(David Gibson, Religion News Service)
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
As more than 400 crosses are destroyed in Zhejiang, violence spreads to Henan, Shandong, and Anhui
(Bernardo Cervellera, AsiaNews.it)
Church prepared to use "any means" to stop laws that violate religious freedom, says Card Gracias
(AsiaNews.it)
In defiance of ISIL, Iraqis celebrate Christmas alongside Christian brothers
(Hassan al-Obaidi, Al Shorfa)
India Hindu leaders turn up 'reconversion' rhetoric
(Anto Akkara, World Watch Monitor)
Iraq: Yezidi women and girls face harrowing sexual violence
(Reoprt, Amnesty International)
Living under ISIL rule as a religious minority
(Inside Story, Al Jazeera America)
Pakistani Christian couple 'still alive' when thrown into kiln - coroner
(World Watch Monitor)
Quader Mollah, Shahbag movement and Bangladesh’s search for identity
(Rupak Bhattacharjee, South Asia Monitor)
The Vatican, bureaucracy and Cuba: Happy Christmas, you rogues
(B.C., The Economist [Erasmus: Religion and public policy])
Young Tibetan woman sets herself on fire in protest against Chinese repression
(AsiaNews.it)
In Vanuatu, second major outreach draws thousands
(Adventist News Network)
Black Israelites and the meaning of Chanukah
(Jacob S. Dorman, OUPblog Religion)
Under fire, BJP puts the onus on Opposition to support law banning religious conversions
(IBN Live)
What does Christianity suggest about human uniqueness?
(Ashley Roan, Big Questions Online)
Christmas Double Issue [paywall]
(The Economist)
Singing praises – and not – for Christmas remake of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’
(Hillel Kuttler, JTA Telegraph)
Free Asia Bibi
(Sheila Liaugminas, MercatorNet)
Indonesian Islamists issue stern warning to Muslims not to participate in Christmas celebrations
(Laurice Chavez, Christian Today)
Sydney siege shows the rise of a new extremism: Muslims must not be blamed for the atrocities of a group of criminals and psychopaths
(Ali Mamouri, MercatorNet)
OnFaith’s top 20 posts of the year
(On Faith)
Sex slavery 'pushes ISIL victims to suicide'
(Al Jazeera)
Celibacy does not create sex offenders: Some clergy have abused children, but indicting celibacy is a mistake
(Anthony Fisher, MercatorNet)
How Pakistan’s unregulated madrassa system sows division and religious strife
(Naveed Ahmad, Religion News Service)
Iraqi Yezidi couple flees ISIS to freedom
(World Watch Monitor)
Women excised from public life, abused by IS
(Zeina Karam, Associated Press, The Big Story)
Is Religious Freedom Good for Business?: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis
(Brian J. Grim, Greg Clark, and Robert Edward Synder, Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion)
Monday, 22 December 2014
CAR: Muslims trapped in enclaves, says HRW
(Eurasia Review)
Indonesian Islamists threaten Christmas celebrations
(Mathias Hariyadi, AsiaNews.it)
Kuala Lumpur, religious leaders: Dialogue, the basis of coexistence between different faiths
(AsiaNews.it)
The subtle sensations of faith
(David Brooks, The New York Times Opinion)
Yiwu: The Chinese city where Christmas is made and sold
(Tim Maughan, BBC Future)
Articles of interest – December 22, 2014
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
‘A new future’: What Jordan’s Christian refugees want for Christmas
(Alice Su, Al Jazeera)
Leader of protests against Pakistani cleric fights on despite Taliban threat
(Jon Boone, The Guardian)
British Ambassador to Nepal accused of supporting Christian missionaries
(Lucinda Borkett-Jones, Christian Today)
India Hindu group to press ahead on conversions in challenge to PM Modi
(Reuters)
Pakistan moves to end policy on ‘good Taliban’
(Saeed Shah, The Wall Street Journal)
Mass conversion in India PM’s home state sparks anger
(Al Arabiya News)
Conversion to Islam solely for marriage not valid: HC
(The Times of India)
India ruling party chief urges law against conversions
(AFP, Channel News Asia)
China's Muslim region to subsidize senior religious personnel
(Global Times)
China arrests Christian US aid worker on North Korean border
(News Max)
Chinese authorities tear down cross, wall up church ahead of Christmas
(Radio Free Asia)
Protests in India over conversions set back reform agenda
(Aditya Kalra, Reuters)
Mexico's church calls for government to change response to violence
(Al Jazeera)
Saturday, 20 December 2014
Atheism, belief and persecution: The cost of unbelief
(B.C., The Economist [Erasmus: Religion and public policy])
Pakistan Taliban defiantly justifies mass slaughter of schoolchildren; Iran, Afghan Taliban condemn attack as 'un-Islamic'
(Stoyan Zaimov, The Christian Post World)
Why won't Hamas label Islamic State as terrorists?
(Asmaa al-Ghoul, Trans. Sahar Ghoussoub, Al-Monitor: Palestine Pulse)
Will religion ever disappear?
(Rachel Nuwer, BBC Future)
Friday, 19 December 2014
Kenyan church leaders back country's restrictive anti-terror law
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Francis, filtered
(George Friedman, First Things)
Druids and nature
(Barry Cunliffe, OUPblog Religion)
Kazakhstan: No freedom of religion or belief "unless they have registration", Anti-Terrorism Police claim
(Forum 18 News Service)
Boko Haram unrest: Nigerian militants 'kidnap 200 villagers'
(BBC News Africa)
Thursday, 18 December 2014
“The Legal Foundations of the Islamic State"
(Mara Revkin, Syria Comment - Joshua Landis)
Atrocities, culture and religion: War's many victims
(B.C., The Economist [Erasmus: Religion and public policy])
The link between economic and religious freedoms
(Brian J. Grim, World Economic Forum Blog)
Why the Ten Commandments still matter
(Joe Carter, Action Institute Power Blog)
Many in emerging and developing nations disconnected from politics: Participation highest in Middle East
(PewResearch Global Attitudes Project)
How Pope Francis helped broker Cuba deal
(Elizabeth Dias, Time)
No major backlash after Sydney siege, but Muslims are fearful
(Thomas Fuller and Michelle Innis, The New York Times)
Saudi rulers reconsider ties to Wahhabi clergy
(Angus McDowall, Reuters)
Mumbai attacks 'mastermind' Lakhvi bailed in Pakistan
(BBC News Asia)
Iran unveils monument to Jewish soldiers killed in war with Iraq
(Haaretz and Associated Press, Haaretz)
The Abu Dhabi Statement: Rejecting Violent Religious Extremism and Advancing Shared Well-being
(Dr. William F. Vendley, Religions for Peace)
Unconstitutional law used to investigate ‘Allah’ hymnals, says lawyer
(Elizabeth Zachariah, The Malaysian Insider)
Pope: "We are happy" with new Cuba-U.S relations
(Reuters)
Central Chinese Communist United Front Work Department to inspect Linxia county religious departments [Simplified Chinese]
(Linxia People's Daily)
Beijing temples run illegal clubs for elite Chinese
(Michael A. Katz, China Topix)
Malaysian bishop, lawmakers denounce seizure of hymn books with word Allah
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
EVENT (Kuala Lumpur), 18 December 2014: Faith-Based Arbitration: The UK Experience
(Mark Hill QC and Andrew Khoo Chin Hock, Kuala Lumpur Regional Center for Arbitration)
EVENT, 18 December 2014: “Refusing to be Enemies” at Israel’s Hand in Hand Schools, A Model of Jewish and Arab coexistence in the face of conflict
(Rebecca Bardach, Mouran Ibrahim (9th grader), Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, Ned Lazarus, nbar Shaked Vardi (9th grader), United States Institute of Peace)
Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel
Refusing to be enemies in Jerusalem
(Farah Stockman, The Boston Globe Opinion)
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
“Atheists, humanists and liberals” now targeted as a distinct minority by “hate campaigns” — report
(International Humanist and Ethical Union)
2014 in review: An unsettling year, with religion in a starring role
(Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service)
A tweet on women's veils, followed by raging debate in Saudi Arabia
(Deborah Amos, NPR Parallels)
Atheists: the new persecuted minority, international report concludes (COMMENTARY)
(Bob Churchill, Religion News Service)
Australian religious groups fight changes to equal opportunity laws
(Alison Lesley, World Religion News)
Nigeria church closes doors after losing 11 members in recent al-Shabaab attacks
(Laurice Chavez, Christian Today)
Pakistan’s sickening massacre isn’t about religion – it’s about intimidation
(Bina Shah, The Guardian)
Sharp rise in number of Christian girls being attacked in Pakistan
(Laurice Chavez, Christian Today)
16 schoolgirls, 10 others killed in Yemen suicide bombings
(Christian Today)
Sisters in the vanguard as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood battles to survive
(Lin Noueihed, Reuters)
Islamic State recruits broadly, not just fighters
(Eric Tucker and Sadie Gurman, The Associated Press, The Big Story)
International religious freedom battles heat up
(Sarah Posner, USC Annenberg: Religious Dispatches)
Rising tide of global terror claims thousands
(Brian J. Grim, the Weekly Number)
India's Modi orders party to rein in pro-Hindu agenda
(Rupam Jain Nair and Andrew Macaskill, Reuters)
Myanmar court jails former opposition official accused of insulting Buddhism
(Jared Ferrie, Reuters)
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Christmas reconversions, police in Uttar Pradesh "will stop Hindu radicals"
(AsiaNews.it)
Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar school attack leaves 141 dead
(BBC News)
Sierra Leone bans Christmas, New Year’s celebrations to prevent spread of Ebola
(Fredrick Nzwili, Religion News Service)
Spiritual hope on Christmas and Hanukkah 2014
(Rabbi Michael Lerner, Huff Post Religion)
Trinity Western fighting Nova Scotia decision to deny accreditation
(Michael MacDonald, CBC News | Nova Scotia)
Faith matters: 7 things Christians, Jews and Muslims share
(Deutsche Welle)
Better to light a single candle than curse the darkness
(Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal)
What Is Hanukkah? With a Medley of Chanukah Links
(Chabad.org)
Chanukah (Hanukkah): December 16-24, 2014
(The Ultimate Hanukkah Website, Chabad.org)
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