Clipmarks | Deepti's 'religion' clips

Yemeni Girl Demands Divorce

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:03:01 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: According to Saba News, a 2006 study revealed that 52.1 percent of Yemeni girls are forced into child marriage

Clip Source: www.feminist.org

Eight-year-old Nojoud Muhammed Nasser filed a lawsuit in Yemen against her father who forced her to marry a 30-year-old man. Nasser arrived to court by herself because no one in her family defended her against her abusive husband and father

Nasser told the Yemen Times, "My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage. I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, 'We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.' So this is what I have done."

"There are hundreds of [cases like] Nujoud who have been subjected to sexual abuse by mature men. The problem is that there is no law to punish the father who marries off the child, the sheikh who allows the marriage, or the husband who takes the child home to serve him as wife."

Tags: culture, religion, girl, child, marriage, abuse, divorce, yemen

First Women to Conduct Marriages in Egypt

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:14:37 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.feminist.org

This week Amal Soliman became Egypt's first woman able to perform Muslim marriages. Soliman's appointment has generated controversy within Egypt's Muslim community, especially among Muslim men who insist that a woman should not hold the position of maazun, or marriage registrar. The BBC News reports that the court chose Solima over 10 male candidates due to her legal qualifications. Solima has a master's degree in law

Sheikh Fawsi Zafzaf, director of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, responded to Soliman's appointment stating, "There are no religious texts banning a Muslim woman from being a maazun. But when a woman is menstruating she must not enter a mosque or read Koranic verses and that will affect her job, so for that reason we say it is not advisable to have a woman maazun."

Solima focuses on the positive affects her gender can have on her job

Tags: egypt, woman, muslim, arab, islam, marriage, registrar, culture, religion

The Wisdom of Blasphemy

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 08:21:39 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Things to ponder.

Clip Source: atheistblogger.com

We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes. - Gene Roddenberry

A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows. - Samuel Clemens

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca the Younger

Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence. - Doug McLeod

Blind faith is an ironic gift to return to the Creator of human intelligence. - Anonymous

On the first day, man created God. - Anonymous

Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family. - Steven Colbert

Atheism is a non-prophet organization. - George Carlin

When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. - Robert Pirsig

Religious courts already in use in England

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:21:10 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Jewish litigation is more varied, but a typical dispute might relate to a partnership, a Jewish school, a Jewish charity or a transaction between two businessmen.

The court can hear cases concerning quite large companies, but they must always be privately owned, in that both parties must be Jewish in order to accept the authority of the Beth Din.

The service provided by the Beth Din is best described as binding civil arbitration, and they do not seek to replace the state's civil courts.

"If one side does not accept the authority of the Beth Din, concerning divorce or any dispute, we cannot act", David Frei clarifies.

"And in the case of divorce, the parties must still obtain a civil divorce alongside the religious one."

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

British Jews, particularly the orthodox, will frequently turn to their own religious courts, the Beth Din, to resolve civil disputes, covering issues as diverse as business and divorce

Both sides in a dispute must be Jewish, obviously, and must have agreed to have their case heard by the Beth Din. Once that has happened, its eventual decision is binding. English law states that any third party can be agreed by two sides to arbitrate in a dispute, and in this case the institutional third party is the Beth Din

The Beth Din also takes care of a multitude of Jewish community affairs, many of which never give rise to any dispute: the dates of the Sabbath, kosher certification of caterers and bakers, medical ethics for Jewish patients and religious conversions. But it is in the areas of divorce and litigation that the Beth Din acts as a court in the western sense

All criminal matters are reserved for the UK's state courts, and there is no appetite for change

Tags: religion, law, england, jews, religious, civil, courts, culture

Santeria: A Growing Problem For The Catholic Church

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:00:36 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.bohemionews.com

If the belief were to stand alone, it would likely simply be considered another cult oriented religious practice, much like an ugly form of shamanism. The problem is that most of its adherents consider themselves to be Roman Catholics and insist on incorporating their heretical practices into Catholic liturgy.

Santería undermines orthodoxy and attacks the very heart of Christian belief by insinuating a pantheon of sub-gods into Catholicism. In Santería, traditional figures in the Church, for example, the Virgen Mary, become the public personas of African deities. Traveling with this conversion of Christianity is a whole liturgical system that incorporates such acts as invoking spirits, assigning magical powers to objects or idols, and opening spiritual portals.

To understand the nature of Santería, it may be useful to look at the origin of the word.

Tags: catholic, church, santeria, religion, belief

'Tragic protest' of Iraqi Kurdish women

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:41:33 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: "When Saddam's regime was in power he did everything to subordinate women"

"The Anfal Campaign against the Kurds was exactly like that. He actually killed all the men but let the women stay and live that sort of misery with their children. There was 30 years of that kind of rule. It will take a long, long time for that to change. It is a very slow and painful process."

The human rights minister in the Kurdistan region admits that immolation is a problem that his government is struggling to deal with

There have been attempts to improve education and women's shelters have been built, but it will take years to change long-held customs.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The Kurdish region of northern Iraq is generally seen as a model for the rest of the country

This semi-autonomous area is relatively safe, the economy is flourishing and it is regarded in the West as a liberal haven in an often-conservative region

But since the fall of Saddam Hussein there has been an alarming trend - hundreds of women have died after setting themselves on fire

Anecdotal evidence from medical sources and women's activists indicate that on average a woman a day tries to kill herself in the Kurdistan region. Most of them do so because of family problems

Some believe that religion is to blame - if a woman does something wrong, so the theory goes, she faces burning in hell

Others argue that in a conservative, patriarchal society, the pain of women is only recognised through dramatic gestures. The kerosene heaters that are in every home provide a way to be noticed

Tags: iraq, kurds, kerosene, self immolation, women, suicide

Hindu gods get summons from court

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 07:02:02 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Judge Singh sent out two notices to the deities, but they were returned as the addresses were found to be "incomplete".
Local say the temple belongs to the gods.
This prompted him to put out adverts in local newspapers summoning the gods.

"You failed to appear in court despite notices sent by a peon and later through registered post. You are herby directed to appear before the court personally", Judge Singh's notice said.

:roll eyes:

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Judge Sunil Kumar Singh in the eastern state of Jharkhand has issued adverts in newspapers asking the gods to "appear before the court personally"

The gods have been asked to appear before the court on Tuesday, after the judge said that letters addressed to them had gone unanswered

Ram and Hanuman are among the most popular Indian Hindu gods

The dispute is now 20 years old and revolves around the ownership of a 1.4 acre plot of land housing two temples

The deities of Ram and Hanuman, the monkey god, are worshipped at the two temples on the land

Temple priest Manmohan Pathak claims the land belongs to him. Locals say it belongs to the two deities

The two Hindu gods have been summoned as the defence claimed that they were owners of the disputed land

"Since the land has been donated to the gods, it is necessary to make them a party to the case," local lawyer Bijan Rawani said

Mr Pathak said the land was given to his grandfather by a former local king

Tags: india, weird, god, lawsuit, temple, owner, summons, religion, hindu, stupidity

You have got to be kidding me....

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:34:54 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks:

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

A Hindu priest in central India killed himself with the promise he would come back to life after two days, police said on Monday

Manoj Baghel poisoned himself in front of a small crowd on Saturday at a temple in Raigarh in Chhattisgarh state, police said

He was taken to hospital, and died soon after

Police have registered a case of suicide, but have been unable to take the 25-year-old's body for an autopsy because supporters have insisted on returning the body to the temple

Police expect the crowds will give up their vigil by Monday evening

Tags: india, religion, hindu, stupidity, suicide, poison, death

Germany Acts to Legally Ban Scientology

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:11:00 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.christianpost.com

The homeland of legendary church reformer Martin Luther said over the weekend it will seek to ban the Church of Scientology – an organization considered to be in conflict with Germany’s constitution.

High level German officials, including all 16 state interior ministers, agreed to give the nation’s domestic intelligence agency the job of preparing necessary information to ban the organization, which is considered by most Christians a cult, according to The Associated Press.

The most recent annual report by their agencies criticized the church for disregarding human rights. The German government has also accused Scientology of brainwashing people, financial exploitation, and having political ambition in Germany, according to The Times of London.

Tags: religion, scientology, germany, cult

15 Quotes by Famous Atheists

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:17:14 GMT

clipped by: AcesLucky
clipper's remarks: Bertrand Russell:

“You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.”

Clip Source: www.dvorak.org

15 Quotes By Famous Atheists

9. Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. — Denis Diderot

15. It’s an incredible con job when you think about it, to believe something now in exchange for something after death. Even corporations with their reward systems don’t try to make it posthumous. — Gloria Steinem

5. Faith means not wanting to know what is true. — Friedrich Nietzsche

8. I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. — Frank Lloyd Wright

3. All thinking men are atheists. — Ernest Hemingway

11. The whole thing is so patently infantile, so foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to humanity it is painful to think that the great majority of mortals will never be able to rise above this view of life. — Sigmund Freud

2. I don’t believe in God. My god is patriotism. Teach a man to be a good citizen and you have solved the problem of life. — Andrew Carnegie

4. Lighthouses are more helpful then churches. — Benjamin Franklin

Tags: atheism, bible, christianity, god, life, religion, society

Pope in a tight corner over 'morning-after pill' speech

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:17:57 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

The pope told an international conference on Monday that pharmacists were to be guaranteed the right to conscientious objection in cases where medicines they distributed could block pregnancy, provoke abortion or assist euthanasia

Health Minister Livia Turco said that while the pope had the right to urge young people to be sexually responsible, he could not tell professionals such as pharmacists what to do

While some politicians defended the pope's right to speak his mind and the right of pharmacists to be conscientious objectors, others criticised him

Franco Caprino, head of pharmacists' professional group Federfarma, said that by law pharmacists had to distribute medicine prescribed by a doctor

Benedict did not mention any specific drugs but appeared to refer to the morning-after pill

available only by doctor's prescription in Italy

He also referred to RU-486, the so-called abortion pill, which is available on an experimental basis in some Italian hospitals

Tags: pope, speech, morning after pill, abortion, pill, prescription, pharmacy, pharmacists, religion, controversy

Jesus & Mo

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:09:41 GMT

clipped by: LittleRedRidingHood

Clip Source: www.jesusandmo.net

Tags: comic, satire, religion, funny

Women in Bihar break social taboo

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:59:45 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: *applauds*

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

Breaking the tradition and an orthodox mindset, two women of a sleepy village in Nawada district in central Bihar not only carried the body of their father to the cremation ground but also lit the pyre.

Traditionally, women are forbidden from entering cremation grounds.

However, backed by a local social organisation called Arjak Sangh, sisters Sharmila Devi and Meena Devi did something women in the state had never done before, even though they have three brothers in the family.

Even in families where there are no sons or where they are away, cremation is done by some other male family member. In some states, Hindu women are allowed to go to the cremation grounds, but they are not supposed to light the funeral pyre.

"We wanted to send a message to the society that there is no difference between sons and daughters. Even daughters can do anything in the world," Sharmila Devi told a private news channel. Interestingly, men in and around the village supported this call for change

Tags: india, taboo, society, women, men, tradition, bihar, religion

disturbing....

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:32:24 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: in.news.yahoo.com

The Blake Prize entry titled "Bearded Orientals: Making the Empire Cross" by artist Priscilla Bracks is exhibited in Sydney August 30, 2007. The "double vision" print, which depicts both Jesus Christ and Osama bin Laden, in a Christ-like pose, depending on which side the viewer looks at the artwork.

Tags: religion, al qaeda, osama bin laden, jesus, blake prize

Great Site - Check it Out!!

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:51:52 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I stumbled upon this today. LMAO!

Clip Source: uncyclopedia.org

Religion

Religion is a mental illness.

The most common infection in the world, with over 90% of the populace infected with one or another strain. Religion is usually brought on by infection by the group VI Fatal Anginal-Infective Transcribing Hepatitis virus more often known by the acronym FAITH. Symptoms involve believing something that is not only unproven but also outrageously illogical simply because someone (or occasionally a book), somewhere, says it's true. In this respect, faith can be considered the chronic form of the lesser mental disorder gullibility. For synonyms, see How To Make a Million Dollars. The official catch phrase of religion is "Give us your money, and you will have a good afterlife!", known to critics as the "Pie In The Sky" allegory.

Tags: parady, satire, religion, atheist