Teach Them Young

Hopefully, classrooms across the world will one day communicate the importance of religious tolerance to children.

Violence Toward Christians in India

I was reading an article posted two days ago, about the escalating violence toward Christians in India. Then, I decided to go to YouTube and see what I could find, and found this "secretly obtained" footage of preachers and Christians being beaten because of their beliefs. I do not like this violence, but the hurt we see when we watch this is nothing compared to the hurt these people must be feeling-- both physically from the beatings, and spiritually from the inability to express their beliefs.

At the end of the video, a man says, "You all have to pray for us. We have homes there [India] and we don't have freedom to worship openly... So [everytime] we are persecuted and we are jailed."

"Islam & Women in USA after 9/11"

Christianity Explodes in Sub-Sahara Africa

There are now twice as many Christians as Muslims in Sub-Sahara Africa, "where once Christians and Muslims combined made up less than a quarter of its population, the region now has 21 percent of the world[']s Christians."  

This video notes that the Muslims and Christians have no hard feelings toward each other, which leads me to believe that they have a good sense of religious tolerance and the ability to freely communicate what they believe.

Hugs in Thailand Show Religious Tolerance

The main religion in Thailand is Theravada Buddhism, but the country is a big supporter of religious tolerance. I think this new video does a great job of communicating the country's openness to other religions by showing how loving and accepting it is through "hugs." If you watch the video on YouTube, you can read an entire summary about the importance of religious tolerance.

Religious Freedom in U.S. Elementary and High Schools

Ever wondered what the official "rules" are when it comes to worshipping aloud in public schools? I found this article, written by the U.S. Department of Education, to be very informative, and I've listed some examples below. School students and teachers have more religious freedoms than one may have guessed. Read the article for a complete list of protected freedoms.

Did your high school follow these freedoms?

Religious Expression and Prayer in Class Assignments

Students may express their beliefs about religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions. Such home and classroom work should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by the school. Thus, if a teacher's assignment involves writing a poem, the work of a student who submits a poem in the form of a prayer (for example, a psalm) should be judged on the basis of academic standards (such as literary quality) and neither penalized nor rewarded on account of its religious content.

Teachers, Administrators, and other School Employees

When acting in their official capacities as representatives of the state, teachers, school administrators, and other school employees are prohibited by the Establishment Clause from encouraging or discouraging prayer, and from actively participating in such activity with students. Teachers may, however, take part in religious activities where the overall context makes clear that they are not participating in their official capacities. Before school or during lunch, for example, teachers may meet with other teachers for prayer or Bible study to the same extent that they may engage in other conversation or nonreligious activities. Similarly, teachers may participate in their personal capacities in privately sponsored baccalaureate ceremonies.

Organized Prayer Groups and Activities

Students may organize prayer groups, religious clubs, and "see you at the pole" gatherings before school to the same extent that students are permitted to organize other non-curricular student activities groups. Such groups must be given the same access to school facilities for assembling as is given to other non-curricular groups, without discrimination because of the religious content of their expression. School authorities possess substantial discretion concerning whether to permit the use of school media for student advertising or announcements regarding non-curricular activities. However, where student groups that meet for nonreligious activities are permitted to advertise or announce their meetings—for example, by advertising in a student newspaper, making announcements on a student activities bulletin board or public address system, or handing out leaflets—school authorities may not discriminate against groups who meet to pray. School authorities may disclaim sponsorship of non-curricular groups and events, provided they administer such disclaimers in a manner that neither favors nor disfavors groups that meet to engage in prayer or religious speech.

Religious freedom in the Muslim world?




 

White Collar's Matt Bomer Speaks on Religious Tolerance

In my last post, I talked about USA Network's new campaign, Characters Unite. Now other media outlets are starting to cover news and stories from the campaign, including TV Guide Network. Last Tuesday, TV Guide posted this video and article about White Collar's Matt Bomer, who is speaking out about religious tolerance.

It's great to see celebrities using the spotlight to focus in on important issues, like religious tolerance. You can also check out our classmate's blog (celebsfightback) to see how other celebrities are communicating and using publicity to help their causes.

USA Network Uses Media to Promote Religious Tolerance

USA: "Characters welcome." And now the network is using that slogan to help promote the acceptance of all characters and types of people.

USA network recently launched Characters Unite, a public service announcement (PSA) campaign "designed to help form a more perfect union by combating intolerance, prejudice, discrimination and hate, and promoting greater acceptance, understanding and mutual respect of all people."

My friend was reading our blog and passed on this website to me, detailing USA network's new communication strategy to help the United States combat social issues like bullying, hate crimes, gender-based issues, and religious tolerance. It's an awesome campaign, and it's exciting to see a well-known organization take a stand against these issues.

I would like to applaud USA network's efforts and the effective ways in which they are using communications and getting people involved. The network recruited many of its TV characters to speak up on issues that they feel passionate about, and show many meaningful 30 second clips for each issue. Religious tolerance is one of the main subjects, and there is a whole section devoted to it with facts, PSAs, and ways to help.

To help USA network take a stand against these issues, you can take a pledge online and the company will donate $1 to its non-profit partners.

Giving Thanks

Today, I just want to take the opportunity to say how thankful I am for religious freedom. In the United States, I am free to worship God in public without harmful repercussions, and others may choose to worship as they wish as well.

The Hudson Institute advocates religious freedom as a component of U.S. foreign policy and believes in freedom to communicate those freedoms. The group mentions how "pivotal" it is to society, and how Thomas Jefferson and America's founders found it important enough to be dubbed the "first freedom."  I like how they've chosen to define religious freedom:

"Religious freedom has two dimensions. It belongs to individuals and also to religious groups. It includes a person's right to walk down the street wearing a cross, a yarmulke or a headscarf, or not to do so, and to express and live out one's beliefs in society. It also includes the rights of groups to worship God as they wish in community, to run schools, hospitals and other institutions, to publish and possess sacred literature, and order their internal affairs."

Let's count our blessings today-- Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Rally to Stop Abductions & Allow Religious Freedom in Japan

"Clergy, civil rights leaders and Japanese victims of religious freedom violations protest the Japanese government’s failure to protect the rights of minority religious believers." Photo taken from religousfreedom.com.

On Friday, demonstrators in Boston were invited to speak with the Deputy Consul General after protesting in ten cities across the U.S. The demonstrators want the Japanese government "to stop the abuse and discrimination of minority believers in that country." People who choose to practice minority religions have been abducted and abused in an attempt to force them to leave their religions, and this has been going on since 1966.

It's interesting to see how these demonstrators are using the United States as their marching ground for help in Japan and to freely communicate their religious needs. You can follow this issue at stopjapanabductions.org, and hopefully see how the Japanese Government will react to this cry for help.

Insulting Prophet Mohammed = Death in Pakistan

Taken from religion.blogs.cnn.com

Can you imagine being put to death for insulting a religious figure? In Pakistan, insulting the Prophet Mohammed (a violation of the country's blasphemy law) will earn you life in prison or a death sentence.

Asia Bibi has been jailed for 15 months, but she will most likely avoid the death sentence. Officials believe she was falsely accused, after investigating her petition for mercy. Bibi says that women "who don't like her" made the claim against her.

My hope is that Bibi will be found innocent. It's still shocking that words-- simple communication-- can bring about death in Pakistan. The people are clearly allowed to talk about Prophet Mohammed and their religion, but only if it's in a positive light. Not freely.

Pastor on trial for sharing faith with Muslims

From www.klove.com/news/top-stories.aspx

Mark Holick was communicating his faith by sharing Christian packets outside of a mosque in Kansas when he was arrested. The officer gave no answer when Holick asked what he was being charged with.

Holick is no stranger to speaking out about his faith, and won a previous trial after being arrested for sharing his faith on a public sidewalk down the road from a homosexual event.

Holick may have annoyed both of these groups by sharing his faith outside of these functions, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the write to share and communicate.

Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, 2010

Photo taken from www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148657.htm

On Nov. 17, this year's Report on International Religious Freedom was published. The United States feels that religious freedom and tolerance is important, and publish this report to praise the countries that are doing well and document the countries where repression is highest. Notice that the cover pictured above was designed to show "places of worship found in some unexpected places." The report also acknowledges all contributors and says: "The work of all of these individuals advances the cause of freedom, ensures accuracy in our reporting, and brings hope to repressed people around the world."

I had no idea a report like this existed, and I'm glad the U.S. is leading a movement toward religious freedom and communication around the world. 

Take a look at some countries listed-- do any of the results surprise you?

Chinese Perspective

My boyfriend's parents grew up in China. While visiting them this weekend, they were reflecting on Christianity in China, as they just returned from a visit. Mrs. Juang returned to the exact church she attended as a child and was able to sit in the same seat. She said that in China, there are two Christian churches that are "allowed" by the communist government-- but the kicker is, the pastors are hired and paid by the Chinese government as well. However, she also said that there are many underground churches, as we've commented on in past posts. According to Mrs. Juang, Chinese youth have been rapidly converting to Christianity in recent years.

Even in places where people may not be allowed to worship freely, they are still defending their faith and worshiping how they choose. I would be interested to learn about the communication structure of these underground churches-- how they recruit, how they obtain religious materials, where they gather together, and how they keep from being discovered.

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.

Religious Americans = Higher Well-Being

Americans who choose to practice some form of religion have higher rates of well-being than those who choose not to practice religion, according to this article discussing a recent Gallup poll.

The context of this study brought some questions to my mind:

- If this study was conducted in a country that's less tolerant of religious freedom or practices, would the same results be true?

- Would people feel more stress instead of well-being if they must practice their preferred religious beliefs in secret-- especially if they're going against their government's choice religion? Or would they still feel a sense of well-being because they are choosing to defy everything that's going against them to stay true to their beliefs, even if they must remain behind closed doors?

- Does the freedom Americans have to express and communicate their religion play a role in this heightened sense of well-being?

Obama's Remarks on Jihad

While in India, President Obama spoke to a group of Muslims about "jihad" and his interpretation of the religion. He said, "I think all of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is never justified."

Obama also added that "Islam is one of the world's great religions and people of all faiths need to treat one another with respect and mutual dignity." Do you think people will begin to better respect  and understand different religions if top leaders continue to address religious issues? I think communication can only enhance respect between religious groups.

And speaking of communication, it was neat to see the difference between the United States and India's coverage on Obama's remarks-- both audiences seemed to be receptive and appreciative.

The Tony Blair Foundation

Michelle shared The Tony Blair Faith Foundation's website with us, and I've been exploring it today. The goal of this foundation is to "promote respect and understanding about the world's major religions and show how faith is a powerful force for good in the modern world." The site emphasizes that different faiths can make a difference by joining together and fighting issues like illness and poverty around the world.

I like that the site is committed to teaching others about understanding different religions. If people understood why different religions work the way they do, then there may be less of a fear or intimidation factor among individuals when encountering someone of a different religion for the first time. In this way, communication is a top priority for the foundation. To build on the importance of communicating about religions, the foundation is trying to implement a Faith and Globalization course into universities and institutions around the world. Maybe one day it will make it to Penn State-- check it out!