The news that matter in Europe
The news that matter in Europe
… that portray the role of religion in the society.
Smithsonian … the Public Understanding of Religion in American History and … focusing on the influence of religion in American history and … and appreciate the significant impact religion has had and continues …
Enyioha Opara, Minna
The Niger State Police Command said on Tuesday it arrested a suspected armed robber, Abubakar Mohammed, along Suleja-Minna Road, in the Suleja Local Government Area of the state.
The police operatives attached to ‘A’ Division, Suleja, were said to have been on the trail of the 25-year-old suspect from Eminence area, Suleja, before he was apprehended.
One locally-made pistol with two live cartridges and a jackknife were recovered from the suspect.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspect bought the pistol from one Chukwuka of Ogbaro village in Anambra State for N10,000, to facilitate his security job in Suleja.
Mohammed denied using the gun to rob.
He said, “I was a bricklayer, but due to economic hardship, people stopped building and I had to find security work to sustain myself and take care of my siblings.
“Originally, my name is Martins Osadebe and I hail from Ogbaro in Anambra State. I have lived in Suleja for years, but my people did not know that I converted to lslam just because I was desperate to get a job.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, said the suspect would be arraigned at the end of investigations.
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SIR: Recently in a very perspective analysis in his column on the back page of Nigerian Tribune, the noted columnist Obadiah Mailafa pointed out that, “Our own Yoruba people, Muslims and Christians live together in the same households. We are not enemies; we our brothers”.
This in the present firmament should not be dismissed as a statement of the obvious. Mailafa obviously felt he had a compelling reason to emphasise this point in this our season of discontent. And sensibly so, for in a republic enfeebled with crisis on numerous fronts, there is every reason to be fearful about adding Lebanon-type religious fault lines into the mix. Such a reality will be combustible.
In spite of the commercialization of religion on all fronts, religion still matters. It is an essential ingredient in the human composition. It always will. From this perspective let us recall a really outstanding dissection of 20th political economy which has become a classic, R.H. Tawney’s “Religion And The Rise Of Capitalism “. Tawney was both unusually a Marxist as well as a practicing Christian. He seminally addressed the question of how religion has affected social and economic practices largely for the good. The conflict entrepreneurs’ hand-in-glove with the peddlers of Snakeoil solutions as ‘religion’ should therefore not put us off from looking at the positive effect.
The interior minister, Rauf Aregbesola bears a reflection to Tawney. He is a social democrat who also practices and has a deeply rooted and abiding faith in Islam. Like Tawney, he has demonstrated in practice that the teachings of a faith can and indeed should be a trigger for progressive change. Last week the former governor widely credited with putting social intervention thrusts into the heart of the discourse on political economy was in his element straddling two events in Osun State put together by the Christian and Islamic communities.
At both events he used the opportunity to explain the interwoven relationship linking faith and a progressive thrust for inclusiveness leading to a better society. Conferred with the “Episcopal Ecumenical Award” by the Diocese of Ijesha North Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, the minister conveyed a clear understanding of the social disconnect and the issues of inequities underpinning the recent #EndSARS protests. He portrayed empathy in pointing out that, “The youths must be commended for organising a protest that awakened the nation from its lethargy and arouse our consciousness to the state where we found ourselves. We must commend the government for its prompt action in addressing the demands of the youths. These are a blessing to any society…Today’s youths are a peculiar breed, a generation of the social media and hub of ideas and internet; they appear more intelligent and far more enterprising than the previous generation”.
A Christian Social Democrat would have used the same adaptation of the key underpinning of the Bible to understand and explain the social disconnect which triggered off the crisis and find solutions.
Presented with an award of excellence from Ta’Awunu Islamic Group two days later in Iwo, the minister, while commissioning a symbolic mosque built by the group, again used the bully pulpit to link the testament of faith as derived in the holy book to burning contemporary issues. The former governor urged Nigerians to adhere to the Holy Prophet’s teachings that states that when there is an outbreak of epidemic in a particular place, nobody should go there and the people in the affected place should not also go out until the epidemic subsides. This is a helpful way in which the position should have been presented from the start in a society in which people wear their religion on their sleeves.
There is everything to be said for a Bully Pulpit used as a trajectory to promote positive change.
Nine months of coping with the coronavirus has taken a toll on marginalized communities. Scientology Volunteer Ministers respond with needed help.
Budapest, December 8, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Budapest continue to respond to those in need. This time they did so with 1.5 tons of canned goods and other staples, cleaning supplies and fruit for more than 300 children and their families. And with Christmas fast approaching, they also included a selection of special toys.
“The list of people in need is growing,” said one of the Volunteer Ministers as the team set out with their supplies. But despite the recent spike in COVID-19 cases and casualties, she is confident that by understanding and applying prevention protocols, the country will make it through these difficult times.
In addition to providing food and supplies, Volunteer Ministers ensure communities know how to protect themselves from the virus. As soon as the pandemic began, the most effective measures were researched for ensuring the safety of Scientology staff and parishioners, and these were implemented internationally as protocols.
The new home of the Church of Scientology Budapest, which is headquarters for the country’s Volunteer Ministers outreach, was dedicated in 2016 by Mr. David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion. The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard.
A Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.” Their creed: “A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”
Hefajat-e Islam is now more than a political party with a strategic disclaimer of having no political agenda.
The recent leadership and their activities only proved that they are working just like a political party, observed political analysts about Hefajat, which made the headlines for the last few days by inciting hate against sculptures, including the ones of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“Basically, they are a political party but in a very strategic way they are working in disguise of a non-political organisation,” said Dr Tareque Shamsur Rahman.
“They are using religion in a very strategic way to gain their political goal,” he told The Daily Star.
At least one-third of Hefajat leaders, who last month seized control of the new committee of the Qawmi madrasa-based organisation, have direct links with Islamist political parties that took part in elections alone or under the platform of the BNP-Jamaat alliance.
The inclusion of leaders of Jamiyat-a-Ulamaye Islam, a component of the 20-party alliance led by the BNP, is the prime example. Thirty-four of its leaders made it to the 151-member new committee of Hefajat. Jamiyat is registered with the Election Commission as a political party.
In fact, this is for the first time Hefajat made the general secretary of Jamiyat its secretary general, although there was an understanding that any active political leader would not be able to get top posts in Hefajat, said its leaders.
Six top leaders of Khelafat Majlish, another component of the BNP-led alliance, were also included in the new committee.
At least 16 leaders of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, four of Islami Oikya Jote and six of Khelafat Andolon were accommodated in the Hefajat’s new committee.
Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish and Islami Oikya Jote earlier were in the BNP-led alliance and both are registered with the Election Commission as political parties.
On November 15, Junayed Babunagari was declared Hefajat ameer at the end of its council held at Darul Ulum Moinul Islam Hathazari Madrasa in Chattogram. Before this committee was announced, Junayed served Hefajat as its secretary general.
The council was held around two months after the death of Hefajat amir Ahmed Shafi, who passed away in September.
The formation of the new committee sparked an outcry within the organisation with Moulana Mainuddin Ruhi, joint secretary general of the previous committee, terming the new committee completely illegal.
He said Hefajat had never had any top leader who had affiliations with any political party.
Soon after the formation of the new committee, Hefajat hogged the headlines as it strongly opposed the construction of Bangabandhu’s sculpture in the capital.
During a meeting on November 19 in the capital’s Mohammadpur, Junayed Babunagari vowed that they were ready to sacrifice their lives to establish rule of Allah in the land of Allah.
He even warned the government of facing consequences if it did not meet their demands.
The political analysts said the presence of political leaders in its new committee and its recent activities and demands signalled that it has turned into a political party.
Different religion-based political parties are using the platform to gain popularity and achieve their political goals as Hefajat has thousands of its dedicated followers across the country, they said.
“Hefajat is indeed a political party and they are working targeting to achieve a certain political aim,” said Serajul Islam Choudhury, professor emeritus of Dhaka University.
Hefajat’s demand to change the existing structure of the state is nothing but a political demand which manifests that they want to go to power.
He said they don’t bother to talk on different public interest issues.
“They are using religion to do politics and they are depending on madrasa students to do it.”
Prof Serajul said the present government’s “compromising and soft stance” was also responsible for Hefajat’s gaining strength and acting against the state.
Prof Dilara Chowdhury, another political analyst, said the present government is to be blamed if Hefajat enters politics.
She said Hefajat’s activities were centred around Hathazari Madrasa in Chattogram. But through accepting all demands of Hefajat, the government has shown them that they can act as a pressure group.
“There is nothing to be surprised about Hefajat coming to politics as it was the present government that has invited them to politics,” said Dilara, a former professor of political science at Jahangirnagar University.
Hefajat first appeared on the scene in 2009 by protesting a draft national women development policy that provided equal inheritance rights to women.
On April 6, 2013, Hefajat leaders and activists marched towards Dhaka and held a rally at Shapla Chattar with a 13-point demand, including enactment of anti-blasphemy act and stringent punishment of “atheist bloggers”.
Then came the May 5 mayhem.
As Hefajat activists turned increasingly violent and kept Motijheel occupied for nearly 12 hours after their rally there on May 5, 2013, law enforcers swung into action after midnight and drove them away.
Damascus, SANA-President Bashar al-Assad on Monday participated in a meeting held by the Ministry of Endowments at al-Othman mosque in Damascus for religious scholars and clergymen.
President al-Assad said that what defines the capability of societies to face the destructive storms are the factors of stability and fortifying it from mental infiltrations.
The President highlighted that ” a society’s adherence to religion can only be measured through the moral commitment of this society and the behavior of its citizens.”
He underlined that the security and livelihood issues are reversible ones which would be removed when their causes are removed while the issues of ideology and thought are chronic ones, so in the issues of thought, it is hard to abandon what would be acquired, likewise, it is difficult to restore what we may lose.
President al-Assad said that when we talk about Thought, today this thought is religion.. religion forms the essence of thought because it influences all aspects of life -mentality, behavior and emotions, to the past, present and also to the future, so it is enough to ruin this thought in order to ruin societies.
“This has been taking place since nearly a century or more, and overall, after a hundred of years, enemies of the societies have achieved big successes in this domain… and the religion which has been descended to be as a tool for the development of societies, instead, it has been used to be as a tool to ruin those societies… here I want to assimilate the situation and the world in which we live as a large ocean… huge waves that strike in all directions… strike security through terrorism… strike economy through siege,” President al-Assad said.
“Those waves are continuous and don’t stop, they hit our society, hit the structure of the society, hit the ideologies of the society as well as the symbols of the society, these waves are not spontaneous, but they are formed by the international interests and there is a contradiction between these interests and the structure of our societies,” President al-Assad said.
The president went on to say that let us start with our responsibility, normally, when those offenses would happen, such as the last offense, offending our beliefs and symbols, the first natural response to any assault or offense is a decisive condemnation and decisive stance.
This has happened through the stance of the Levant scholars or through the stance of the Ministry of Endowments, the first stance expresses the religious institution in general and the second stance expresses, through the speech of the Endowments Minister, the stance of the Syrian State.
“But Why any changes have never been made… why those offenses continue… because we only express anger… all what we make revolves around our emotions, not around our interests and when we talk about our interests, they can’t be separated from our ideologies ” President al-Assad said.
“Between the offense and the offense, condemnation and anger, the religion turns into a ball that is kicked by the opportunistic politicians… the first in France who will have elections next year and he wants to attract those who are infected with Islamophobia.. and the second has elections in 2023 in Turkey… Erdogan.. and he has no longer lies that could convince his people in, so he has decided to make himself as a protector for Islam,” the President said.
“But actually all what is happening is a mere reaction.. they fight us through action , and we respond through reaction, , anger would achieve nothing, we have to confront, how and where to start this confrontation… the confrontation starts by knowing the real enemy and its whereabouts… the fact is that the first enemy doesn’t come from outside which means that whatever they have offended or plotted, they can’t,” President al-Assad said.
” We have intuitive and self-evident ideologies that we have learned since we were at schools, and it is supposed for any Muslim to have the minimum point of belief… those intuitive ideologies are existed in his/her mind… religion has come to support and save humanity ,” the president said.
The President added that one of the self-evident ideologies that we all know is that prophets are greater than to be offended and they are more stronger than to be weakened, so it is not permissible to accept that the prophet has been offended.
President al-Assad affirmed that the killing of innocents is one of the grave and evil sins, the siege of Iraq in the 90th followed by the invasion of Iraq in 2003, reaching to Yemen, Libya and Syria, asking how the Muslim express anger over a speech for ribald persons and doesn’t get angry over the grave sins… where are the demonstrations.. where is the outrage… where are the actions to defend those innocents and prevent those evil-sins.
He affirmed that “We are in a state of war… this war might be economic, or it could be military, and it would be in thought which goes towards beliefs, but if we want to confront, we have to be like a solider in his post, the soldier must take the right position, direction and method in order to win the war.
He added that the danger always comes from inside, the danger comes from extremism, backwardness and the inability to have correct and right mentality. “As for terrorism, I didn’t talk about it and didn’t say that terrorism constitutes danger because terrorism is a mere result, not a reason,” President al-Assad said.
The President affirmed that terrorism is not an Islamic product, the Western society has stirred terrorism in the region, and the most important point is that part of terrorism, which strikes there in Europe, has no relation to the terrorism existed in our region, they have brought in the Wahabbi mentality in turn for the petro-dollar, in turn for money and they are paying the price now.
“So, confrontation starts from knowing the danger and it also starts from knowing the points of weakness… defining the identity of the real enemy… this is the problem,” President al-Assad said.
The President added that the neo- liberalism now resembles the talk about marketing the democracy by the US.
“They use democracy in order to dominate peoples and they use human rights in order to wage wars… they have used the neo- liberalism which has begun to develop since nearly five decades in a gradual and malicious manner like cancer,” President al-Assad said.
The President added that the neo-Liberalism method is to reject the beliefs as it demands from Man not to belong to any religion or belief, its method is to turn the individual reference from collectiveness- as the natural case for all humanity- into individuality.
“So, large part of the attack on the religious institution comes from outside… and we have to see the war on Syria and the war on the religious institution in a deeper context… this war is not separated, it is not the newborn of the last 10 years and this what we all have to understand,” President al-Assad said.
As for self-evident concepts, the President added that there are a lot of self-evident points which represent values, traditions and thoughts on which any society is built, so it is very important to strengthen those concepts as our societies loss them, the beliefs are self-evident points and so the national symbols and belonging, traditions and also the family.
“If they wanted to realize the political collapse, they have to realize the social collapse… and here comes the role of religion… religion without a right society has no real meaning,” the President said.
He added that at the same time, it is not possible to talk about a right application for religion without a right interpretation that expresses the challenges of this stage, it is the starting point to a right understanding and also combating extremism through the right application for religion, the understanding, application and combating extremism. As for Arabism, President al-Assad said that the role of Arabism is central and it is in the core of this culture, that means we can’t imagine the Islamic religion without the central role of the Arabs and this is a normal impact of the language and the culture.
“We all know that the war which used the religious idioms in Syria has begun before the military war, they hoped that the sectarian status will push people to carry the weapon and go to fighting, but when they have failed, they decided to go towards terrorism,” President al-Assad said.
“Those who attack the religious institution, based on suspicion, not on evil-mind, they don’t know the role of this institution in preventing sedition and division.. they don’t know its role in preventing sectarianism, extremism and in purification of the regions which were liberated from the remnants of the takfiri mentality… they don’t know that it has accomplished a modern interpretation that suits with the challenges of this stage,” the President said.
Mazen Eyon
A shadow minister was wrong to say religious registrars should be able to opt out of providing same-sex marriages. And her comments are a reminder that we don’t need a ministerial office for faith, says Stephen Evans.
Janey Daby, Labour’s shadow minister for ‘women, faith and equalities’, resigned from the party’s frontbench this week after suggesting that religious registrars should be permitted to refuse to carry out same-sex marriages.
In doing so she reopened an old argument that was settled in 2013 when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that requiring religious civil registrars to perform their duties fully and without prejudice does not amount to religious discrimination.
The case concerned Lillian Ladele, a civil registrar who objected to being required to officiate at same-sex civil partnership ceremonies due to her Christian beliefs. Her request for an accommodation of her faith was turned down by Islington Council, which insisted that all registrars should perform civil partnership duties – a secular task – in accordance with its ‘dignity for all’ policy.
Ladele took them to court claiming harassment and discrimination on grounds of religion or belief. After her case was dismissed by the UK courts, she went all the way to the ECtHR, which also dismissed her complaint.
The NSS intervened in that case to argue that any further accommodation of religious conscience would create a damaging hierarchy of rights, seriously undermining UK equality law.
As we argued at the time, anti-discrimination laws are not solely about ensuring provision of services. It’s not enough that another civil registrar can step in to provide the service to same-sex couples. If such discrimination became normalised, there may be cases where this becomes impractical anyway. But discriminatory acts have a moral significance beyond the deprivation of a service. Accommodating discriminatory demands causes serious moral harm, undermining the dignity of those discriminated against.
But Daby, apparently prioritising the ‘faith’ bit of her ‘faith and equalities’ portfolio, suggested this should be revisited. She said there should be a conscience clause to protect people of faith being penalised for objecting to performing certain tasks because of their religious duties.
Evangelical Christian groups have long argued for such a ‘conscience clause’ to give Christians and other religious people an unfettered right to manifest their beliefs in the workplace. They’ve lobbied for a ‘duty of reasonable accommodation‘ that would allow them to discriminate – usually against gay people – on religious grounds.
Their efforts even persuaded the UK’s equality watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to carry out a major review of Britain’s equality and human rights legal framework to see if it sufficiently protects individuals with a religion or belief.
It found that it did. It dismissed calls for a duty of so-called ‘reasonable accommodation’, saying the law “should not be changed to permit individuals to opt out of work duties, to accord with their religious or non-religious beliefs, where this has an actual or potential detrimental or discriminatory impact on others”.
It reasoned that the law struck the right balance between protecting religious freedom and upholding the right to non-discrimination.
It was therefore alarming to see someone in Janet Daby’s position again advocating for religion to be used as justification for discrimination. Any further accommodation of religious conscience would drive a coach and horses through equalities legislation – and undermine the equal dignity of gay people. As spokesperson for equalities, her job was to protect equality, not undermine it. Hopefully, her resignation indicates that hers is not a position shared by the Labour Party.
The party may also now wish to consider whether rolling the portfolios of ‘faith and equalities’ together is such a good idea when the two are so often in conflict with each other.
Better still, how about we just drop the minister for faith role altogether? The non-religious and religiously unconcerned don’t have a minister for their philosophical views; it’s not clear why the religious should have one. Religious organisations and faith groups are, as with any other voluntary and special interest groups, at liberty to advance their own interests. And they are perfectly able to do so without the additional support of a minister to champion and celebrate their causes.
Let’s hope Labour’s next shadow equalities minister works to roll back the many religious exceptions in equalities law, not extend them further.
Image: Official portrait of Janet Daby MP (cropped), via parliament.uk / Wikimedia Commons, © Richard Townshend [CC BY 3.0
<div id="attachment_654951" class="wp-caption alignnone" readability="32"> <p id="caption-attachment-654951" class="wp-caption-text">Mohammed educates U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on religious freedom in Nigeria</p>
By Rotimi Ijikanmi
The Nigerian Government has faulted US inclusion of Nigeria in a Religion Freedom blacklist, offering some education to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In a statement on Tuesday, the government debunked the allegation by the United States of engaging in systematic and egregious religious freedom violations.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said Nigeria does not have a policy of religious persecution.
The minister described the allegation as a case of honest disagreement between the two nations on the causes of violence in Nigeria.
“Nigeria does not engage in religious freedom violation, neither does it have a policy of religious persecution.
“Victims of insecurity and terrorism in the country are adherents of Christianity, Islam and other religions,’’ he said.
Mohammed said Nigeria jealously protects religious freedom as enshrined in the country’s constitution and takes seriously any infringements in this regard.
The U.S., reportedly on Monday placed Nigeria on a religious freedom blacklist.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Nigeria as “Country of Particular Concern’’ for religious freedom, alongside nations that include China, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Pompeo, however, did not elaborate on the reasons for including Nigeria on the list.
THE Yoruba living in the North have resolved to support the laudable programmes and policies of the government of northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A communiqué issued at the end of the delegate meeting of Yoruba communities in 19 northern states and the FCT said the Yoruba had resolved that the country must remain a single, united and indivisible entity as enshrined in the constitution.
The communiqué was signed by Chief William Alabi, Afeez Adigun, Chief James Bokirunduro and Yinus Alao, who are officials of the Yoruba community in the North.
It said: “Members of the Oduduwa nation living in northern Nigeria must be law- abiding, obedient and have respect for constituted authorities and traditional institutions in the North.
“Members of Yoruba nation must carry on legitimate and lawful businesses within the ambit of the law, norms, values, customs, culture, tradition and way of life of the other tribes and nationalities residing in northern Nigeria.
“The Yoruba community shall prioritise education, health care, security and welfare of each and every member of the community with the aim of taking care of the children, widows, the less-privileged, the vulnerable and the down trodden.”
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The Trump administration released a finalized rule on Monday that will clarify religious protections for federal contractors. Many critics argue it will allow for discrimination.
The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs said its upcoming rule will provide a “clearer interpretation” of the exceptions of Title VII and the 1965 executive order that established non-discriminatory practices for federal contractors, but noted that “religious organizations may prefer in employment ‘individuals of a particular religion.’” The department first issued the proposed rule in August 2019, and it was immediately met with widespread criticism that it would sanction discrimination. It received over 109,000 comments during the public comment period and is one of the “controversial and consequential” regulation changes the administration is pursuing during its lame duck period, according to a ProPublica tracker.
“First, the rule adds definitions of key terms. Second, it adds a rule of construction to provide the maximum legal protections of religious exercise permitted by the Constitution and law, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” a senior Labor Department official said during a press briefing on Monday. “The rule also adds several examples within the definition of ‘religious corporation, association, educational institution or society’ to better illustrate which contractors may qualify for the religious exemptions. And lastly, the rule and associated preamble demonstrate an abiding respect for religious organizations and allowing these organizations to fully participate in federal contracting without sacrificing their right to be religious.”
It will take effect on January 8, which is 12 days before President-elect Biden is sworn in. The senior official directed Government Executive to the public affairs office when asked if the department has spoken to the incoming Biden administration about the upcoming rule, as part of the transition process, and what its reaction was, if so.
The initial, proposed rule was based on an opinion by the father of Labor Solicitor Kate O’Scannlain, Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, in Spencer v. World Vision Inc. (2010), which was brought before three judges and had no majority opinion.
Under Judge O’Scannlain’s test, an organization would be exempt if it: “1) Is organized for a self-identified religious purpose (as evidenced by Articles of Incorporation or similar foundational documents), 2) is engaged in activity consistent with, and in furtherance of, those religious purposes, and 3) holds itself out to the public as religious,” according to Brigham Young University’s law review.
The department added a fourth requirement to the final rule that says a contractor “either operates on a not-for-profit basis; or presents other strong evidence that it possesses a substantial religious purpose.” This is because “in certain, rare circumstances, an organization might be for-profit, yet still be fairly considered a religious rather than secular organization.” The department does not believe many for-profits will be seeking the exemption.
Lastly, in accordance with various Supreme Court rulings, the U.S. Constitution and other laws, “the rule clarifies the protections and obligations for religious organizations that qualify for the exemption,” said the senior official.
While religious advocates and two Republican members of the House Education and Labor Committee applauded the new clarifications (as Bloomberg Law reported), there was still much backlash to the rule.
“The final rule would significantly expand eligibility for federal contractors to claim a religious exemption from non-discrimination rules,” Matt Kent, regulatory policy associate at Public Citizen, an advocacy nonprofit, told Government Executive. “It’s an invitation for any contractor that’s loosely affiliated with a religious purpose to discriminate against LGBTQ employees. Yet another major, ideologically driven last-minute rule change from the Trump administration.”
American Atheists, an organization advocates for civil liberties for atheists and separation of religion and government, also criticized the rule. “Job applicants and workers should not have to pass a religious litmus test, especially when it comes to government funded contracts,” said Alison Gill, the group’s vice president for legal and policy. “The American taxpayer should not be forced to fund discrimination, period.”
Additionally, Jennifer Pizer, director of law and policy for Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest legal organization that protects the rights of LGBTQ individuals and all those with HIV, said in a press release “it is hard to overstate the harm that [Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs] is visiting on LGBTQ people, women, religious minorities and others with the sledgehammer it is taking to nondiscrimination protections.” The new rule has “a grotesquely overbroad exemption that will be used by many federal contractors as a totally improper, catch-all defense to discrimination complaints.”
The senior Labor official tried to quell some of those concerns on the call by stressing that the rule neither allows for discrimination, exempts religious organizations from undergoing the contracting office’s compliance reviews or favors religious organizations over non-religious ones.
The department doesn’t expect a majority of the 25,000 federal contractors to seek religious exemptions. Additionally, it noted in a statement that the rule also complies with President Trump’s 2017 executive order on deregulation because it minimizes confusion under the 1965 executive order.
Christian geneticist Dr. Francis Collins is advising churches to avoid in-person services as countries around the world fight to bring COVID-19 rates down.
The advice of the Templeton Prize laureate of 2020 came as some religious leaders are pushing for the right to worship as the COVID-19 pandemic rages in the United States, Christian Today reported.
He had an online conversation with theologian Russell Moore about vaccines, and said churches could be sources of “superspreading” events.
Collins was attending an online church at the moment as a practising Christian himself.
While in some places, churches are open and holding public worship, his recommendation is that in-person services are shelved until at least 2021.
Collins explained his and said some restrictions were working in the fight against COVID-19, but they would falter if people started ignoring them.
“I know people are tired of hearing these messages and having to be acting upon them, but the virus does not care that we are tired,” he said.
“The virus is having a wonderful time right now spreading through this country, taking advantage of circumstances where people have let their guard go down.
“We need to be just absolutely rigorously adherent to things that we know work. But they don’t work unless everybody actually sticks to them faithfully without exception.
“Churches gathering in person is a source of considerable concern and has certainly been an instance where superspreading has happened and could happen again.
ADVICE TO CHURCHES
“So I think most churches really ought to be advised, if they are not already doing so, to go to remote, virtual kinds of services. That’s the way I’m having my experiences as a churchgoer,” he said.
Not heeding his advice San Francisco’s Catholic archbishop in response to the U>S. Supreme Court’s Dec. 3 order saying federal judges should take another look at pandemic limits on California churches, said: “The time is overdue for our civil officials to work with us and other churches on worshiping safely.”
“Catholics need the body and blood of Christ this Christmas, in California as everywhere else. And they have every right to access it,” said Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone in a statement issued late Dec. 3.
The court’s decision was based on its Nov. 25 ruling to lift similar restrictions on congregations in New York due to the pandemic, Catholic News Service reported.
“Worship is not less important than shopping for shoes; it is certainly more important to people’s spiritual and psychological health; it is a natural and constitutional right,” he continued, “and we Catholics have shown for months that we can worship safely — with masks, social distancing, ventilation, and sanitation,” said Cordileone.
TEMPLETON PRIZE
Back in May, the Templeton Foundation had named Collins as the 2020 Templeton Prize Laureate.
“In his scientific leadership, public speaking, and popular writing, including his bestselling 2006 book, The Language of God, Collins has demonstrated how religious faith can motivate and inspire rigorous scientific research, said Templeton when it made the award.
“This book argues that belief in God can be an entirely rational choice,” he writes in the introduction, “and that the principles of faith are, in fact, complementary with the principles of science.”
In the book, he endeavors to encourage religious communities to embrace the latest discoveries of genetics and the biomedical sciences as insights to enrich and enlarge their faith.
Collins, 70, was selected as the 2020 Laureate by the Prize judges lin late 2019, but the announcement was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Valued at 1.1 million British pounds (about $1.83 million or €1.3 million), the prize is one of the world’s largest annual awards given to an individual.
It honors a living person who has made exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.
From 1993 to 2008, Collins directed the National Human Genome Research Institute, guiding the Human Genome Project in its mapping and sequencing of the three billion DNA letters that make up the human genetic instruction book.
There has been a lot of debate about COVID-19 vaccines, but Collins said people should take one and also adhere to other guidelines like wearing face masks and social distancing.
He said he was optimistic that with the vaccines on their way, larger gatherings in church and other places like sports arenas would be possible again by next summer.
“And certainly, by next fall, I’m hoping we can get back to things like normal schools and businesses, and our economy can get back on its feet,” he said.
“But there are a lot of steps between now and then.
“And of course, it will go better if we don’t have our healthcare system utterly devastated by the ongoing pandemic that we could have potentially turned around by all of us taking those public health actions we just talked about.”
VIENNA, Austria — A new vlog to explore issues of national concern in Austria was launched Saturday by the country’s Bahá’í Office of External Affairs.
“Like everyone else, most of our conversations with other social actors have moved online. Although this has had its challenges, it has also presented new opportunities,” says Leyla Tavernaro of the Office of External Affairs.
“For example, we can now document parts of our conversations and make them available to many other people interested in the same topics.”
Dr. Tavernaro explains how the new vlog, titled “Themes that move Austria,” will explore topics including environmental protection, migration, social cohesion, and the role of youth in social transformation.
In the first episode, environmentalist Marlene Nutz from an organization called Fridays for Future Austria discusses the relationship between science and religion as it relates to the future of the planet. “I think if we only have science, then we might be familiar with the facts … but do we feel connected to our planet? Can we really feel that our house is on fire?”
Another episode, which will be posted in the coming weeks, explores the question of identity and migration with Kenan Güngör, an expert on the issue. He says of this initiative of the Office, “It is refreshing to see a religious community actively engage in these important societal topics.”
In explaining other aspirations for the vlog, Dr. Tavernaro states: “By documenting conversations in this way, this initiative will allow people to follow the evolution of ideas as certain concepts are explored over time.
“For example, in conversations where we are looking at the question of identity—asking ‘what does it mean to be Austrian, European, or someone who has come from a different country?’—those engaged in related national discourses will be able to come back periodically and see how thinking is expanding and new insights are emerging.”
Upcoming episodes planned by the Austrian Bahá’í Office of External Affairs will include discussions on the issue of racism and social cohesion, and the role of education in raising public consciousness about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The vlog can be found at https://www.bahai.at/diskurs/.
Many secondary school students in Sokoto State do not know much about HIV and AIDS due to cultural and religious restriction to sex education in schools in the state.
Some of the students, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Sokoto on Sunday, expressed little knowledge about the virus, mode of transmission, prevention and care.
One of them, Abdullrasheed Umar, a Senior Secondary I (SS1) student at Sultan Bello Secondary School, Sokoto, said: “I have heard of HIV, but I have no idea what it really is.
“All I know is that it is a terrible disease and nothing more.”
When asked if there is HIV club or any form of sex education in his school, his response was negative.
“Sex education is not allowed in schools. No one talks to us about that,” he said.
Bello Mohammed, another student at the school, said he was ignorant of the diseases and its implication in the human body.
Similarly, Hussaini Abubakar and Abdul Mukaila, students of Community Demonstration Secondary School, told NAN that they had no idea what HIV was, or what it does to infected persons.
Also, Abduallhi Nura, a Junior Secondary School II (JSS II) at Sheikh Abubakar Gumi Memorial College, Sokoto said he only heard of the name HIV, but nothing more.
But Yunusa Mohammed, another JSS II student at the college, said he had some “useful” knowledge about HIV.
Mohammed said: “I heard that the disease is dangerous and one that can be infected through the use of sharp objects or blades used by an infected person. That is all I know,” he said.
Alhaji Umar Alkammawa, Executive Secretary, Sokoto State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Leprosy (SOSACAT), confirmed that culture and religion had made it “nearly impossible” to sensitise students on HIV.
“We have not been fair to ourselves by rejecting sex education in schools.
“But there is no way you will bring HIV education in schools without talking about sex and sex education is a no-go area in Sokoto State,” Alkammawa said.
Mohammed Garba, Deputy State Coordinator, Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN), has also said that the connection between HIV and sex had made it difficult to carry out HIV sensitisation in secondary schools.
Garba explained that corps members, under the Peer Educator Trainers (PET) programme, used to create awareness on HIV/AIDS among young people in secondary schools.
“The corps members conduct HIV sensitisation campaigns and most importantly train secondary school students as change agents among their peers, immediate families and communities.
“But about 10 years ago, the programme was stopped by the state’s ministry of education on the ground that the corps members were teaching students sex.
“But in the past three years, CiSHAN has been training youth corps members on HIV and reproductive health, after which they go to Churches, Mosques and other public places to sensitise people,” he said. (NAN)
Each week here at YNaija, we round up the best Nigerian writing on the internet, highlighting the stories, profiles, interviews and in-depth reporting that rise above the daily churn.
Here are the ones that caught our attention:
Timaya: Original over best – Joey Akan
Timaya’s existence has been dedicated to a steady pursuit of wealth and artistic value. Even his weed—recently delivered in fancy wrapping—looks and smells rich. “Look at this strain,” he picks up a black pack, emptying the herbs into his palm and pushing it forward for me to catch a whiff. “This is called Purple Punch,” he says. “The other one is ‘Creative Sativa.” His assistant begins to roll some for the occasion. “Because of weed, I have to buy a house in Amsterdam,” Timaya declares. While we smoke, the dumbbells saw constant action.
The Christian right to crusade in Africa – Paul Hildebrandt, Birte Mensing and Kiki Mordi
In no other country in the world do so many pregnant women die as in Nigeria: around 58,000 women per year . Many of them die of an abortion that is performed under unsafe conditions – a 2019 study estimates that there are around 6,000 women annually – others die in childbirth or from its sequelae. For every woman dead, there are hundreds more who suffer from the health consequences of unsafe abortion .
Love life: We were scared of going from best friends to lovers – Eris Ekanem
LMAO. I stayed over that night. The next day, we went out for ice cream. We kept smiling at each other from across the table. We came back to his, and started watching a movie. He paused it, turned to me and said, “We’ve known each other for so long, we care about each other very much. I think we want to make each other happy. I think we should date.”
FK Abudu’s aspirations transcend her Twitter influence – Alexander O. Onukwue
“I could call Dapo Abiodun [the state governor] but obviously you don’t just call him; he’s no longer Uncle Dapo.”
“My daddy gave me the commissioner of Police’s number. I called him, he said I was disturbing his sleep. I said ‘my dear, you will wake up.’”
“I called my grandpa, I said ‘sir, for your legacy – phone Obasanjo, start waking everybody you know. People are being imprisoned in our state, it’s not normal.’”
The secure #Naira life of an Engineer in oil and gas – Fu’ad Lawal
Immediately after NYSC, I got a job at an oil company. The starting pay was ₦350k/month. For the first time, I had more money than I knew how to spend. Anyway, I earned this for about 10 months before I moved jobs, another oil company, this time the pay was ₦500k.
I got a few promotions, and by the time I was leaving the company in 2019, I was earning roughly ₦1 million a month, excluding bonuses. I left to a bigger oil company and currently earn about ₦4 million/month.
He said at the meeting that the Bill, will ensure that no religious conversion is carried out forcefully, or by tempting someone or through marriage.
<
p class=”artconfp”>Conversion through marriage or by any other fraudulent means will attract prison term of up to 10 years and fine of up to Rs 1 lakh under the proposed
Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Act, an official said on Saturday. A marriage solemnized only for the purpose of converting a person will be held as null and valid, he said.
If a person wants to undergo conversion, he or she would need to make a declaration before a district magistrate at least a month in advance under the proposed law.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting on Saturday to discuss the proposed law, said an official of the state Public Relations Department.
Under the proposed law, no person in the state will be able to convert anyone directly or otherwise through marriage or by any other fraudulent means by luring or intimidating anyone, the official said, quoting the chief minister.
A person involved in converting another person by misleading, luring, threatening or through marriage will be prosecuted.
The sentence could be up to 10 years in the cases of religious conversion of minors, groups, or of those belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Blood relatives, including parents of victims of such religious conversion, can file complaint, the official said.
A marriage solemnized with the intention of religious conversion would be considered null and void. These cases would be investigated by a police officer not below the sub-inspector’s rank.
On November 28, governor of the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh gave assent to the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, against forcible or fraudulent religious conversions.
The ordinance provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of Rs 50,000 under different categories.
BHOPAL: Conversion through marriage or by any other fraudulent means will attract prison term of up to ten years and fine of up to Rs 1 lakh under the proposed Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Act, an official said on Saturday.
A marriage solemnized only for the purpose of converting a person will be held as null and valid, he said.
If a person wants to undergo conversion, he or she would need to make a declaration before a district magistrate at least a month in advance under the proposed law.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting on Saturday to discuss the proposed law, said an official of the state Public Relations Department.
मध्यप्रदेश सरकार ‘म.प्र. धर्म स्वातंत्र्य अधिनियम 2020’ लाने वाली है। मुख्यमंत्री श्री @ChouhanShivraj ने आज मंत्रा… https://t.co/Ovevxkhs4h
— CMO Madhya Pradesh (@CMMadhyaPradesh) 1607181130000
Under the proposed law, no person in the state will be able to convert anyone directly or otherwise through marriage or by any other fraudulent means by luring or intimidating anyone, the official said, quoting the chief minister.
A person involved in converting another person by misleading, luring, threatening or through marriage will be prosecuted.
The sentence could be up to 10 years in the cases of religious conversion of minors, groups, or of those belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Blood relatives, including parents of victims of such religious conversion, can file complaint, the official said.
A marriage solemnized with the intention of religious conversion would be considered null and void.
These cases would be investigated by a police officer not below the sub-inspector’s rank.
On November 28, governor of the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh gave assent to the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, against forcible or fraudulent religious conversions.
The ordinance provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of Rs 50,000 under different categories.
CHENNAI: Superstar Rajinikanth’s spiritual politics has got nothing to do with any particular religion and the actor will embark on a political journey of inclusiveness without any kind of discrimination, his close aide Tamizharuvi Manian said on Saturday. Spiritual politics was first proposed by Mahatma Gandhi, he noted.
Rajinikanth had on Thursday announced he will float his political party in January 2021 to face next year’s Assembly polls and take forward spiritual politics.
Manian, a former Congress leader, has been appointed by the actor in a supervisory role in the proposed party and for its launch.
Speaking to reporters here after holding discussions with Rajinikanth, Manian said there was no link between spiritual politics and religion politics.
“Spirituality has no religion. A spiritualist is one who sees him in every living being and all of them in him. He has no caste, religion, no discrimination. Spirituality is all about embracing everyone with love. Rajini is going to do that,” Manian said.
Rajinikanth’s spiritual politics should not be construed as for or against any particular religion as the actor is “indebted” to all of Tamils who have taken him to great heights, he added.
“There is nothing like only a particular caste or religion stood by him. Beyond caste and religion, the entire Tamil Nadu has taken him to such heights and therefore he brings in a brand of spiritual politics encompassing all,” he said.
Mahatma Gandhi first proposed spiritual politics where the one practising it should remain selfless.
“Spiritual politics is not some discovery of Rajini. Mahtama Gandhi said it first… there will be no selfish interest and it is all about public welfare which Rajini will strive for.”
“Further, the actor does not want the party to be strengthened by criticising others or “talking about the mistakes of DMK and AIAMDK” but will reach out to people with “what I intend to do for people,” he added.
Rajinikanth aims to provide corruption-free, transparent administration where there will no discrimination based on caste or religion, Manian said, echoing what the superstar said on Thursday.
The actor’s politics will be a departure from the current “hate politics” in Tamil Nadu where attacking each other is the order of the day, he said.
Asked about Rajinikanth’s earlier announcement that he did not intend to be Chief Minister even if his party captured power, Manian said that matter was not being discussed now.
(RNS) — This week, the University of Vermont announced that it is eliminating two dozen academic programs, including its entire religion department. This comes as a surprise, given the caliber and credentials of the department’s faculty; in addition to being prolific scholars, they are regular recipients of grants, awards and fellowships for teaching and research.
The real shock of UVM’s announcement is its timing: devaluing of religion after an election cycle in which the president’s spiritual adviser called for African angels to intervene on election results, when our president-elect ran on restoring the “soul of our nation,” when the Supreme Court is busy reappraising the establishment clause and the outgoing secretary of state has sought to redefine religious freedom.
Even more troubling is that this is not an isolated incident; the University of Vermont’s proposal comports with a larger pattern of cutting religion programs in academic institutions.
Teaching about religion is not just about understanding politics. It’s also about creating cultural literacy, ensuring that our young people are familiar with the diverse people they meet on the street. University brass often refers to this kind of literacy as a civic good, but as a brown-skinned, turban-wearing, beard-loving man in Donald Trump’s America, I submit that people knowing who I am and having an appreciation for my religious heritage can mean the difference between life and death.
Think about it from the perspective of those who are minoritized: By stripping away our commitment to religious diversity, we are actually making our communities less safe.
At a moment when everyone is clamoring for more resources devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion, why would an institution take away resources that already exist and are not easy to replace?
The University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. Photo by Michelle Maria/Creative Commons
The counterargument goes that cutting programs like these is purely business: The departments don’t bring in enough majors and therefore don’t serve the university’s bottom line.
We have spent the better part of the past few decades thinking of our educations as pathways to professional careers. Look what has happened to our society in the process. We may have a more polished workforce, but at what cost? There’s nothing wrong with going to college to get a well-paying job. But what are our educational institutions doing to shape our moral and ethical outlooks?
What expanded my mind in college, more than anything else, was coming to terms with the reality that my way wasn’t the only way, or the best way. Learning about others’ faiths and cultures challenges our self-centered chauvinism and helps us meet others where they are.
When done right, the work of the humanities is the work of anti-racism. If this sounds limiting, let me put it this way: It’s the work of undercutting assumptions and stereotypes about the people around us and bringing nuance to our perspectives, so that we stop seeing in black and white and begin seeing the richness of our human experiences.
It also, I might add, makes business sense. In this moment when corporations and institutions are leaning into diversity and inclusion and equity, some still see religion outside of this scope. I have consulted with corporations long enough to see that there is a discomfort with religion. Of the traditional categories represented in diversity and inclusion work — race, gender, religion, sexual orientation — religion is often overlooked and neglected. Organizations are often uncomfortable talking about religion for fear of doing it wrong.
Public universities, meanwhile, often worry about the separation of church and state. But this concern belies a fundamental misunderstanding of what a religion scholar actually does. While many worry about being accused of proselytizing, religion scholars aim to understand historical developments in context. We’re scholars with an interest in religion; not in imposing our views on religion.
Take from me, a practicing Sikh who has spent a majority of his academic career teaching Islamic studies and Buddhist history. I wish that I had a penny for every time someone asked me how I could teach a religion other than my own. They don’t understand that I’m not in it to seek conversions; I’m in it to open hearts and minds and to help people grapple with the beautiful diversity of our world.
If we want our kids to grow up to appreciate people from all the various backgrounds they will encounter in their lives, we must first equip them with the appropriate knowledge. To not do so, to tell them that understanding faith is not important, is setting them up for failure.