Religious Freedom in Country X

This is my friend Josh, and he's going to talk about his experiences with religious freedom in an Asian country.

France Reacts to Christian Attacks in Iraq

Here's a quick video from a French correspondent. It was posted six days ago by France 24, a French News Station.

Christians continue to be attacked in Iraq

Iraqi Christians have been the targets of attacks for the past two weeks. I blogged last week about the massive attack on the Catholic church, but now terrorists are also targeting houses and cars owned by Christians. Some people are being "warned" before attacks, but others are being caught completely off guard. The New York Times has frequently been blogging about the attacks. Check this blog out.

Religious freedom? Isn't free.

Pope Encourages Religous Freedom in Iran

I posted on this a couple days ago...here is a video.

More Like Punishment by Religion...

We're talking about freedom of religion on our blog. Or, the opposite too I guess.

I just read this article in The New York Times about the exact opposite happening: punishment by religion. In Iran, a women convicted of adultery may be stoned to death. Stoned. And it's a shocking thing to media systems both there and here. It's shocking in Iran, because they are actually talking about it in the media-- a clip of the woman calling herself a sinner was shown on state-owned television. It's shocking in the United States, because of the severity of the punishment of adultery, and because her son specifically told people who knew about the situation to lie to foreign western media, to make it less of a deal.

So this brings up two good aspects:

• Because of the government's and her own strict following of the Muslim faith, this Iranian woman may be stoned to death (the punishment is under review by the court-- but she may still be executed in a different way), because she was convicted of having an illicit relationship. Is this religious freedom?
• It was controversial in Iran, because this story was broadcast on television. The woman's lawyer told her son to lie to western media, saying it would be prudent. Is this media freedom?
• 

Iran has a "Stop Stoning Forever" Campaign

Blogging Bishops?

Tonight, Catholic Bishops in the United States were asked to spread their religious teachings to a new continent and culture-- the "digitalized continent."

At the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, a present Bishop stated that the content of their religious material does not have to change, but the way in which they are reaching out to people should change if they are to meet the social media generation's needs. But Bishops are timid about this method, because they don't know how to use social media. And because United States citizens have the freedom to post whatever they want on a blog, it may be hard to keep up with user comments.

I think it would be interesting to follow this breaking trend in religious communications and see if the Bishops actually begin blogging. What would you ask a Bishop blogger?

Podcast: Religion & Media

Ever wondered how religion factors into the media? Jenna Ekdahl-- a Penn State senior majoring in journalism and religious studies-- gives her opinion on the issue. Jenna organized a "Religion and the Media" seminar at the Pasquerilla Center this semester.

US Making Strides?

It's hard to put yourself in someone else's shoes when you really don't have any clue how to relate to them.

This article highlights a new policy made by the United States two weeks ago, which will require the frisking of people with turbans as a security policy. The U.S. decided not to make the removal of turbans mandatory, but still reserves the right to "pat down" the turban to feel for anything suspicious. In my eyes, this seems like a good compromise, but many people are still offended by the decision.

Is the U.S. doing enough with this decision? Are they taking steps in the right direction?

The article at a glance:

"The turban — along with a comb, a sword, a specific undergarment and a metallic wrist bangle — are part of the required dress for Sikh men, according to the religion, which is a mix of Hindu and Islam founded in the 15th Century in Punjab. Sikh women are forbidden to cut their hair.

Men have long accepted they cannot carry a sword aboard planes, Badal said, and so have modified the religious requirement by carrying pendants or blades embedded in their comb 'as a symbolic symbol.' But this can mean they do not clear a metal detector, which prompts a second security screening."

Take a look. Did the U.S. make a fair decision?

Should I Be Laughing? Part 2

Pope Delivers Message to Ahmadinejad

In a recent letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Pope encouraged religious freedom in Iran. In the letter, the Pope referred to religious freedom as a human rights issue.
Here is an excerpt from the letter:
"When the promotion of the dignity of the human person is the primary inspiration of political and social activity that is committed to search for the common good, solid and enduring foundations are created for building peace and harmony between peoples."

Burqa Ban, What Do You Think?

As mentioned in previous posts, France has banned Islamic women from wearing the burqa. A lot of controversy is surrounding this law and many people are questioning its intentions. Is this a national security issue or an infringement on religious rights? Does this law suppress the rights of Islam OR the rights of women? I asked some female students at Penn State what they think.