One of the great tragedies associated with Afghanistan’s recent history — aside from all the killing, which is both obvious and horrific — is our inability to explore this region’s rich, varied, and fascinating past. In this time of war, it is easy to forget that Afghanistan has always been a crossroads and meeting place [...]
Tags:Afghanistan·Bamiyan·Bamyan·Buddhas·Buddhism·Chinese mining·destruction·dynamite·idolatry·intolerance·Mes Aynak·mineral wealth·monastery·monks·Mullah Omar·radical Islam·Silk Road·stupas·Taliban·trade route
The inaptly named Dove World Outreach Center (an evangelical church) in Gainesville, Florida wants to create a bonfire of Korans but has been denied a permit by the fire marshal. Incredibly, Gainesville’s “burning ordinance” prohibits the open air torching of books — either some city councilman was worried about global warming or wanted to prevent [...]
Tags:apostasy·book burning·burning ordinance·Christian Bible·Christian colonialism·Christian history·Christian imperialism·content neutral·Crusades·Dove World Outreach Center·First Amendment·Florida·Gainesville·heresy·Inquisition·intolerance·Islam·Islamic colonialism·Islamic imperialism·Koran·Koran bonfire·Muslims·Nazis·Ten Reasons to Burn a Koran·Thirty Years War·zealotry
In an odd article that attempts to situate Anne Rice’s very public proclamation that she is leaving the Catholic Church within the larger context of American Christianity, Los Angeles Times religion reporter William Lobdell makes two apparently contradictory claims:
American Christianity is not well, and there’s evidence to indicate that its condition is more critical [...]
Tags:American Christianity·Anne Rice·atheists·Catholic Church·Christian diversity·Christian God·Christian nation·Christianity in America·Christopher Hitchens·Civil Religion·Cordoba Center·evangelicals·exclusivism·Ground Zero·intolerance·Islam·Islamic center·Max Fisher·mosque·Muslim·nationalism·Pew Forum·religious diversity·religious freedom·sacred space·Stephen Merino·unaffiliated·United States·William Lobdell
As usual, lots of weird news from religion land. Let’s start with this AP report about a Baptist minister in St. Cloud, MN who paid for a newspaper ad stating that Muslims “seek to influence a nation by immigration, reproduction, education, the government, illegal drugs and by supporting the gay agenda.”
This minister clearly knows nothing [...]
Tags:altruism·beatification·canonization·Catholic saint·compassion·ecumenical·Family Research Council·intolerance·Islam·James Dobson·James Verini·JC·Koran·liberal religionists·Muslims·Reverend Dennis Campbell·sainthood·Sharia law·South Park·Tenzin Gyatso·toddlers·wife beating
In a terse news item from Jerusalem last week, the AP reported that orthodox Jews rioted when construction crews broke ground for a new hospital building. The cause of the rioting? It was believed that Jews were buried there in an ancient cemetery and that the graves were being desecrated.
During the excavation, however, Israeli archaeologists [...]
Tags:grave desecration·Greco-Roman polytheism·incense altar·intolerance·orthodox Jews·paganism·pagans·Stephen Prothero·tolerance
A quick roundup today because I am leaving town tomorrow and will be blogging irregularly this coming week. We will begin with an examination of a theme from my earlier post on Fractured Faiths — The Myth of Unified Religious Traditions.
In this article, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche over at HuffPo Religon discusses what it means to [...]
Tags:Buddhism·Catholic·intolerance·monotheism·moral babies·moral rigidity·natural morality·Siddhartha·syncretism
Gallo-Roman Temple Complex Discovered
August 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology, History, Pagans, Ritual
Over at The Guardian, Pierre Le Hir reports on the discovery of an “enormous religious site” or temple complex in the French countryside near Le Mans, which during the first through third centuries common era (C.E.) was known as Vindunum. As viewers of HBO’s spectacular but short-lived series “Rome” and readers of Julius Caesar’s Commentarii [...]
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Tags:Celtic·Celtic gods·celts·Commentaries on the Gallic Wars·Commentarii de Bello Gallico·exclusivism·Gallic·Gallic gods·Gauls·intolerance·Julius Caesar·Le Mans·Mars Mullo·Mithras·Muslim·mystery cult·Obama·pagan pantheon·pagans·Persian deity·Pierre Le Hir·religious site·ritual offerings·Roman·Roman gods·Rome·salvage archaeology·syncretic·syncretism·temple complex·tolerance·Vindunum