Owner: The Faith Column URL:http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-faith-column Join Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 05:54:49 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Every week a different believer gives the inside track on their religion or philosophy. Site statistics:Click here
Inside the head of a new cult member 2008-06-30 07:06:53 Allen Tate Wood, a counselor who specialises in the mental and spiritual rehabilitation of former cult members, explains the process by which cults recruit new blood. Much of the early discourse on the reasons for cult involvement missed the boat entirely by focusing on real or suspected pathology in the newly converted cult member. Though individual psychopathology should not be entirely dismiss
What unites all Muslims? 2008-08-11 10:34:39 The Quran is the one thing which all Muslims
have in common writes Tajudeen bin Tijani, a researcher and member of the UK Community of Submitters Where does one who lives in the UK begin with regards to identifying the essence of Islam (submission)?Well, one will have to embark on a journey of seeking answers to our questions from those who call themselves Muslim (submitter to the will of Allah), Read more:unites
A philosophy, not a religion 2008-08-06 09:51:14 Becer Gul says that for Alevis God is more about love then fear... I consider Alevism to be a philosophy and not a religion. That is because in most religions the believers say that one has to do good things, that a person must do this and that they have to do that. However when it comes to actual practise you can't see it. This is not the case in an Alevi society where one must practise what one
Will they tolerate me if I wear shorts? 2008-08-05 06:35:18 Becer Gul gives her views on the current government in Turkey, which some claim has an hidden Islamic agenda. Ever since Ataturk became the leader of Turkey and established a secular country, the Alevi people were able to speak out openly and say: “Yes we are Alevis. We have our own practices and, indeed, we pay taxes like everyone else.”
For years we have been asking for more rights but the Read more:tolerate
Who are the Alevis? 2008-08-04 09:27:23 Becer Gul is an Alevi Kurd who grew up in the Turkish town of Tunceli. According to some estimates, close to 20% of Turkey's population are Alevis.After the Prophet Muhammad died, people started to fight over who should take his place. Muhammad had said that Hazret Ali was to be his successor. They were cousins and also Ali was his son-in-law. Ali was a very great man, and when finally his turn c
17 Pieces of Peace 2008-07-31 05:27:09 The Mennonite Church has often been stylized as an historical peace church, Dr. James Jakob Fehr says. Here he talks about his observations on how to achieve peace When I was a child, I thought like a child. When I was a hippie, I thought like a hippie: Why can’t everyone live in peace? Growing up was painful. I learnt that when you bump into sharp objects, it hurts. And I learnt that when you b Read more:Peace
A balancing act 2008-07-30 05:22:35 Dr. James Jakob Fehr talks about the Mennonite movement's struggle to distinguish community from the world. The question is not unlike Zeno’s paradox. How does one form a peace community that engages the world and yet embodies a social alternative? Connecting with the world means conversing with the world. But as soon as you start to talk like everyone else, you think and behave like everyone e Read more:balancing act
With the Grain of the Universe 2008-07-29 05:23:22 Dr. James Jakob Fehr says the Mennonite Church is an attempt to revive the original form of Jesuan community that began in Palestine... One intriguing approach to reading the Bible goes behind those doctrines like sin or divine grace that strike many of us as hackneyed and dreary and asks how specific concepts were actually intended and understood “back in the day”. You know, before the theol Read more:Grain
, Universe
Travel Stories 2008-07-28 04:31:42 Dr. James Jakob Fehr is Director of the German Mennonite Peace Committee. Here he talks about the history of the Mennonites, and about people's reactions when he tells them his first language was Low German Understanding who the Mennonites are is an issue connected to their travels. The journey has brought them to a place quite different from their starting point.
Where do I as a Canadian Mennoni Read more:Travel
, Stories
Are Dalai Lama's critics backed by China? 2008-08-27 06:25:43 Followers of the Dalai
Lama claim that China
is behind dissent by those who question his ban on the worship of Dorje ShugdenIt has been 12 years since I first heard Dorje Shugden’s name. Under normal circumstances it's best not to talk about protectors openly. This is because protectors can lose their strength for a person, and you don't really want them to expire. Best kept in silence, they ser Read more:critics
, backed
The deity banned by Dalai Lama 2008-08-26 04:56:19 Meindert Gorter talks about Dorje Shugden, a Buddhist deity
whose worship has been banned by the Dalai
Lama I am a Dutch student of Kundeling Rimpoche, one of the Dalai Lama’s major critics in the Gelugpa tradition. I’ll try to give an explanation of the Dorje Shugden controversy that is both understandable for those who are not initiated in the Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhist tradition and still
Falun Gong: defying the odds 2008-08-21 05:01:57 Leeshai Lemish talks about Falun Gong’s resistance and the complicity of the WestIf this persecution is so severe, why is it so rarely in the news and why isn’t more being done about it?
Last month, I sat down with a journalist in a Taipei pub. ‘The media have a blackout on Falun Gong’, he said. ‘You mean Chinese or Western media’? I asked. ‘Both’.
Indeed, despite notable support f
China’s other world 2008-08-20 05:11:15 Leeshai Lemish tells of his and Ethan Gutmann’s journey into the persecution of Falun Gong It was 2:00 am and we were sitting on the floor of a Bangkok slum. We had a flight to catch the next morning, but after interviewing Falun Gong refugees for a week we still couldn’t pull away from what they were telling us.
‘At first I thought it was just me. But then, one after another, more Falun Gon Read more:China
Why is Falun Gong Banned? 2008-08-19 04:34:10 Leeshai Lemish looks at the history and causes of the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign against Falun Gong‘If Falun Gong is benign, why is the Chinese government afraid of it?’ After nine years of persecution this basic question remains common. I’ll try answering it here.
In the 80s, Chinese parks brimmed at dawn with some 200 million people performing slow-movement exercises known as qig Read more:Banned
Being a Falun Gong practitioner 2008-08-18 05:16:23 Often in the news but rarely understood, Falun Gong is regularly associated with Chinese human rights issues. Leeshai Lemish gives his understanding of what Falun Gong practitioners actually believeI would have laughed if ten years ago you told me that my search for a meditation practice would land me on Beijing’s blacklist.
At that time I was an athlete with more determination than talent. My
A world system 2008-08-14 06:26:32 Do you know what the system of this world is? Tajudeen bin Tijani writes that the Quran claims to have the answerThose of us who are curious enough to find a "winning formula" for success in this world engage ourselves in all sorts of activities such as observation, investigation, evaluation and so on. This in turn leads to selecting from the options made available as a result of these activities
Islam - pro women’s rights? 2008-08-13 05:44:23 The beating of women is not advocated in any form by the Quran, writes Zubia Malik from the UK Community of Submitters The most common justification for ridiculing Islam
is that the religion is "backward", particularly towards women, as a fundamental part of its beliefs. There have been many articles and incidences within the press and media suggesting that "women are treated as chattels". And it'
Hijab, the dress code for Muslim women? 2008-08-12 05:08:53 Zubia Malik from the UK Community of Submitters writes why she stopped wearing the Hijab
... The first step seemed somewhat simple for me: wear the ‘hijab’ (veil) and that would be making a statement to me and to others that I am a true ‘Muslim
woman.' Modest and dignified. I know for a lot of women embracing Islam that this is fundamental to their journey because either their understanding Read more:dress
Celebrating faith in numbers 2008-09-19 05:46:43 In the last of our series on what faith means to students, Elliot Cowan, a third year Neuroscience student from London, studying at Manchester University explains the joys of being part of the student Jewish community. It seems that almost every day there is an article in a newspaper or a programme on TV attacking religion and, by extension, mocking people of faith in general. But for me, my Ju
Faith in danger? 2008-09-18 06:31:03 David Masters is studying for an MA in Working With Communities at the University of Sheffield. He recalls his struggle with faith as an undergraduate Christian student.University, I was warned, is a dangerous place for faith. Brought up in an Evangelical Christian family, my father’s socks-with-sandals combination and rarely trimmed beard were enough to rival any Jesus-freak-of-the-year compe Read more:Faith
Spirituality on campus 2008-09-17 05:10:14 Continuing the series on what faith means to students, Varun Anand, a 3rd year medical student from Hull studying at the University of Birmingham writes about his journey of Hindu spirituality.Before I came to university I have to admit I was not very religious and did not know much about Hinduism, except that we have many religious scriptures and are not allowed to eat beef. Although we are a Hin Read more:Spirituality
Finding my faith 2008-09-16 05:14:33 What does it mean to practice faith as a student? Altaf Kazi, a 24 year old Muslim studying MSc Public Service Management at University of Birmingham shares his experiences. Over the summer before I started my Masters, I had decided to make some changes in my life. I had decided to make an effort to get closer to my religion. What inspired me? The realization of knowing that I needed to be closer
Are the Kalash being converted to Islam? 2008-09-04 09:37:26 Maureen Lines reveals how some Western journalists get disappointed when the truth they wanted doesn't turn out to be what they were looking for... “All wars are fought in the name of religion”, so said my grandfather. I can’t remember if that were during the doodle bug years, when we lived in the dugout at the bottom of the garden, or when I was going to the pukka school nearby, where my cl Read more:converted
, Islam
Temples of the Kalasha religion 2008-09-02 05:50:06 Most anthropologists believe that a good deal of the Kalasha religion may have been borrowed from Islam Most anthropologists consider the Kalasha Religion to be polytheistic, because it has many deities. In Rumbur, however, where the people are more progressive and there is a stronger belief in the monotheistic concept of one single creator of the universe, Saifullah Jan, the official representati Read more:Temples
Pakistan's ancient religion 2008-09-01 11:21:26 Maureen Lines gives insight into the ancient religion of the Kalash people who live in the mountains of Northern Pakistan
The Kalasha religion is a complex, convoluted subject with multi-layered and often paradoxical beliefs. Unlike religions such as Christianity, there is no separation between the religious and secular life.
Kalash is based on the strict separation of the pure (ONJESHTA) and imp
Will the Dalai Lama return to Tibet? 2008-08-29 06:09:55 Meindert Gorter gives his views on religious freedom in China today and the prospects of the Dalai
Lama return from exileThe Dorje Shugden Society is trying to put a stop to the ban on the worship of Dorje Shugden on the basis of India’s constitution, a country where you are free to worship almost anything. The Indian High Court is due to consider the case in September.
Advanced Buddhist hermene Read more:Tibet
Why did the Dalai Lama ban Dorje Shugden? 2008-08-28 06:30:37 Meindert Gorter explores the history and reasons behind the Dalai
Lama's ban on the deity Dorje Shugden The Dalai Lama has given several reasons to explain the excommunication of the protector, Dorje Shugden, back in 1996. However what he has actually seemed to be doing is adapting the gravity of the ban to match the level of protest against it within the Tibetan community. In some interviews he h
CaoDai, a faith of unity 2008-10-07 05:17:30 This week, the Faith Column explores CaoDai. Hum D. Bui starts the series with a look at its history and leadership hierarchies.
In order to relieve humankind’s religious crisis, in 1926, via spiritism, the Supreme Being founded an innovative faith called CaoDai in Vietnam, with the principle that all religions are one, have the same origin and principle, and are just different manifestations o
Mary's passage into Heaven 2008-10-03 05:38:41 Dr Harry Hagopian discusses the importance of St Mary to the Armenian Church.
On the 15th of August every year, or on the Sunday closest to this date, the Armenian Church world-wide celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God. It is called Verapokhoum, denoting that Jesus came down to earth and ascended again to heaven with his mother, or else Nentchoum, to highlight the beli Read more:passage
, Heaven
Democracy in the Armenian Church 2008-10-02 06:32:00 Dr Harry Hagopian continues our series on the Armenian Church
by examining the leadership and community of believers.
The Armenian Church spans a historical period of over 1700 years, from the year 301 AD when St Gregory the Enlightener witnessed Armenia become the first nation-state to adopt Christianity as state religion, to the 1600th anniversary of St Mesrop Mashtots who created our Armenian
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