Zoroastrian temple erected in New York
Source: USA Today By Peter D. Kramer, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News RAMAPO, N.Y. — Drive along Pomona Road in Ramapo, and you’ll find the new home for followers of one of the […]
Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism?
Source: The New York Times When the University of California regents condemned “anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism,” supporters of Palestinian rights said the university was suppressing criticism of Israel. In New York, […]
Mormon leader on refugees: ‘Their story is our story’ — Monson announces more temples
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune By PEGGY FLETCHER STACK In a stirring speech Sunday, an LDS British general authority called on the Mormon faithful to see themselves in the suffering […]
Migrant crisis: Greece starts deportations to Turkey
Source: BBC The first boats carrying migrants being deported from Greece have arrived in Turkey as part of an EU plan aimed at easing mass migration to Europe. Most of […]
Why babies all over the world are now sleeping in boxes
Source: BBC By Vanessa Barford BBC News Magazine Nearly three years ago, the Magazine reported on the Finnish baby box – a starter kit of clothes, sheets and toys the […]
Guantanamo is being emptied – but its legacy of making the guilty innocent and the innocent guilty will continue
Almost half the remaining inmates are Yemeni, but I have to say that I don’t remember many Yemenis in Osama bin Laden’s camps – and I met the man twice in Afghanistan Robert Fisk @indyvoices Friday 1 April 2016 They could go on hunger strike. They could talk to […]
Religious Divisions over Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law
Source: Tony Blair Faith Foundation Yasser Latif Hamdani The recent execution of Malik Mumtaz Qadri, who assassinated the governor of Punjab, shines a spotlight on Pakistan’s religious puzzle. The recent execution of Malik Mumtaz Qadri, the police guard who shot and killed Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011, has once […]
Campaign Exposes Fissures Over Issues, Values and How Life Has Changed in the U.S.
Source: Pew Research Center Just 38% of GOP voters say party would ‘solidly unite’ behind Trump The 2016 presidential campaign has exposed deep disagreements between – and within – the two parties on a range of major policy issues. But these divisions go well beyond the issues and extend to […]
Man offers free hugs at Sanders and Trump rallies and gets shockingly different responses
Source: Salon By JANET UPADHYE Ken Nwadike, founder of Free Hugs Project, attended both a Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders rally and offered attendees free hugs. The reception he received from the two parties is shockingly different. The Trump rally attendees denied the hugs, claimed there is “no love in this world” […]
10 demographic trends that are shaping the U.S. and the world
Source: Pew Research Center By D’VERA COHN and ANDREA CAUMONT At its core, demography is the act of counting people. But it’s also important to study the forces that are driving population change, and measure how these changes have an impact on people’s lives. For example, how does immigration affect U.S. population growth? […]
Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite’s tax havens
Source: BBC By Richard Bilton A huge leak of confidential documents has revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth. Eleven million documents were leaked […]
Here’s Why Uncertainty Makes You So Miserable
Source: Time By Alexandra Sifferlin People like to know what’s coming for them, even if it’s bad, a new study suggests. A small study published Tuesday found that people are more stressed out when there is the possibility they will experience discomfort as opposed to when they knew for sure […]
Obama Acknowledges Civilian Deaths by U.S. Drones
Source: Time WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama acknowledged Friday that “civilians were killed that shouldn’t have been” in past U.S. drone strikes, but said the administration is now “very cautious” about striking where women or children are present. Obama was asked at a news conference about an increase in the number of […]
My Voice Is My Right, Not “Your Gift”
Source: Huffington Post By Zoha Qamar Student at Columbia University The caramel dunes and rocky hills melt up into the sky. It is night, almost morning; it is dark, but not quite black-almost the last sparkling shade of heavy purple that bleeds from the spectrum between blue to black. A thick […]
Me, My Phone and Mecca
Source: Huffington Post By Zoha Qamar Student at Columbia University The black silk was cold and soft. The protruding layers of thread that spelt out “Allah” in neat Arabic curls absorbed the tears and prayers sprayed at the cloth’s delicate font, while still reflecting the flood of light that shone from […]
Laughter the best medicine
A PANEL OF DOCTORS –WERE ASKED for their opinions concerning a proposal to build a new wing to their hospital. The allergist voted to scratch it The neurologists thought the admin had a lot of nerve The podiatrist thought it was a step forward The ophthalmologists considered the idea short […]
Does Monotheism Breed Religious Violence?
Book Review:Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself Source: Amazon Why have the monotheistic religions failed to produce societies that live up to their ethical ideals? A prominent […]
How Pakistan’s Religious Right Uses ‘Blasphemy’ to Usurp Political Power
Huff post: The horrific suicide bombing at a park in Lahore on Sunday that killed over 70 people, mostly women and children, is one of many assaults by religious hardliners in Pakistan who are striving to remain politically relevant and in the media limelight. Attacks on soft targets like parks […]
Today’s new terrorists were radical before they were religious
Washington Post: The attacks in Brussels, on the heels of those in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., have stoked an already white-hot debate about Islamic terrorism in the United States. Many in the West, including the two Republican presidential front-runners, Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), urge a campaign […]
Book Review: ISIS: A History, by Fawaz A. Gerges
Source: Princeton University Press Read the Introduction of the book online: Introduction The Islamic State has stunned the world with its savagery, destructiveness, and military and recruiting successes. What explains the […]