Hard-line cleric says social media fed Iran protests, unrest
Source: Associated Press By JON GAMBRELL DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A hard-line cleric leading Friday prayers in Iran’s capital called on the Islamic Republic to build its own […]
The Secular Republic of Iran
Source: Th Wall Street Journal By Reuel Marc Gerecht Jan. 4, 2018 7:11 p.m. ET Coverage of the recent tumult in the Islamic Republic of Iran has focused on how […]
TV is showing us the dark side of playing God
Source: The Washington Post By Noah Berlatsky January 5 at 6:00 AM Kristen Bell stars in the comedy “The Good Place.” (Colleen Hayes/NBC) Theologians and other thinkers have described God in several […]
Egyptian Parliament considers outlawing atheism
Source: Religion News Service By Kimberly Winston (RNS) — It may soon be a criminal offense to be an atheist in Egypt. Shortly before New Year’s Day, the Egyptian Parliament considered […]
How I let drinking take over my life
Source: The Guardian I had my last drink five years ago, in the early hours of the morning on 1 January 2013. I think it might have been around 2am. I […]
Largest group of Mennonite churches leaves denomination
Source : Religion News Service By Kimberly Winston | January 2, 2018 (RNS) — The Lancaster Mennonite Conference, the largest group of Mennonite congregations in the U.S., has officially separated from the broader Mennonite […]
Ancient Rome’s sinful city at the bottom of the sea
Source: BBC News By Adrienne Bernhard Rome’s ultra-wealthy took weekend trips here to party. Powerful statesmen built luxurious villas on its beach, with heated spas and mosaic-tiled pools where they […]
Is Germany’s new hate speech law killing press freedom?
Source: CNN by Ivana Kottasová Germany’s tough new social media law was meant to rid Twitter and Facebook of hateful and illegal content. But critics say that at just 96 […]
Eating fish improves kids’ IQ scores and sleep, study says
Source: CNN By Susan Scutti, CNN (CNN)Children who eat fish once a week or more sleep better and score higher, on average, on IQ tests than children who never eat […]
Turkey’s Religious Affairs Agency Promotes Child Marriage
JANUARY 4, 2018 BY MICHAEL STONE, 2 COMMENTS Aisha was a child bride: Under Islamic law girls as young as nine may marry, according to Turkey’s religious affairs state agency. Earlier this week Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs – or Diyanet – which is responsible for administering religious institutions and […]
Public School Ends Bible Giveaway Tradition After Humanists File Complaint
Source: Huffington Post By Carol Kuruvilla; Religion Reporter, HuffPost “Anyone … can see that the purpose of this is to promote Christianity,” said a lawyer for the legal branch of […]
What others say: The Ismaili Imamat’s Guidance against Drinking Alcohol
Posted on September 5, 2014 by Ismaili Gnostic The Imam’s word on the Faith is taken as an absolute rule. Every Ismaili is expected to accept it. Imam Shah Karim […]
Why is Trump’s man in Iran, Michael D’Andrea, missing from conversations about the protests?
Isn’t the man in charge of the CIA’s Iran operations taking a serious interest in the latest events in Iran? Surely he is. That’s his job, isn’t it? BY […]
Naturalisation questions: Becoming Swiss: ‘Where do I sign?’
By Thomas Stephens This content was published on January 4, 2018 (Keystone) Swiss citizenship is highly sought after – and correspondingly hard to get. After changes introduced on January […]
Where does Pakistan stand seven years later?
Pakistan Wasay Ibrahim January 4, 2018 It has been seven years since Salman Taseer was assassinated by his own security guard for raising his voice against Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws […]
Why do Ismailis Pray Dua instead of Namaz like many other Muslims?
Source: Ismaili Gnosis The prayer-form that most Muslims use today – called Namaz or Salah – was not taught by the Prophet Muhammad himself; it was actually derived and interpreted […]
Why Don’t Ismailis Perform the Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca?
The hajj as interpreted by Sunni Muslims is made to the physical Ka‘bah in Makkah, which is revered as the House of God. However, there are three major Qur’ānic […]