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This is the shocking moment an enraged elephant swang a worshipper around with its trunk during its rampage through an Indian temple. Footage shows the elephant grabbing the man by the leg and tossing him around at a religious festival at BP Angadi Mosque in Malappuram, Kerala, on January 6. This prompted frantic worshippers to stampede, running away from the animal and scrambling to safety. Nearby elephant riders can be seen comforting the distressed animal, which had a gold headpiece adorning its head, and removing some of the ornaments in an attempt to alleviate its aggression. The man thrown around...

This past weekend, the Heartwood-Northwestern Symposium on Sexual Violence in Buddhism: Centering Survivor’s Voices took place at Northwestern University in Chicago. This groundbreaking gathering brought together a diverse group of participants to address the sensitive subject of sexual abuse within Buddhist communities, which is often overlooked in academic and scholarly settings. It was my honor to be invited to attend as a member of the Buddhist media, an ally, and someone who’s been part of several Buddhist communities affected by guru abuse. “It was truly transformational to have people from diverse backgrounds come together to openly discuss abuse within Buddhist...

CV NEWS FEED // Multiple faith groups, 20 state lawyers, and legal scholars have backed New York Catholics in the Supreme Court case Diocese of Albany vs. Harris, a lawsuit over New York’s requirement that religious workers provide abortion coverage. The religious liberty legal institute Becket, which is representing the Diocese of Albany, published an article stating that multiple religious groups, including Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and Christians, asked the Supreme Court to block New York’s abortion mandate. The lawsuit began in 2017, when New York initially mandated that employers cover their employees’ abortions. The only exception was for religious employers...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Earlier today, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a bill that would create a new official holiday here in the Keystone State. Senate Bill 402, introduced by State Sen. Greg Rothman and co-sponsored by Sen. Nikil Saval, would make Diwali an official state holiday.

Dozens of children tragically drowned during ritualistic bathing in rivers and ponds at a three-day Hindu festival in eastern India's Bihar state, officials have said. Heavy monsoon rains had recently raised water levels across the state, killing dozens and displacing thousands as houses collapse into the Ganges. At least 46 people, including 37 children, drowned in separate incidents across 15 districts during the Jitiya festival, a statement from Bihar's disaster management department said. Authorities have recovered 43 bodies so far, and the three missing people are presumed to be dead. The state government has announced compensation of 400,000 rupees (£3,572)...

Pro-lifers are often accused of opposing abortion solely for religious reasons. If you follow Secular Pro-Life on Twitter long enough, you will see tweets from pro-choicers claiming SPL is really a Christian group. Some pro-abortion people say that atheists like me who oppose abortion are closet Christians who have no reason for our views except for our (alleged) faith. Pro-abortion people have also used this argument to discredit religious pro-lifers. Even when a religious pro-lifer relies solely on secular arguments, they almost invariably hear that they only oppose abortion because their religion tells them to. Sometimes, though, it is pro-choicers...

(RNS) — The White House will play host to a Vesak ceremony on Thursday afternoon (May 23), the fourth time President Joe Biden’s administration has marked the annual Buddhist holiday celebrating the Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment. Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff will once again host the ceremony commemorating the holiday, which had never been celebrated by the White House until Biden came into office in 2021. According to a White House official, the event, which coincides with the full moon, will include the lighting of lamps and feature ambassadors and representatives from the embassies of Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,...

Union Theological Seminary has a storied history that dates back to its Presbyterian founding in 1836. Despite its origins, the seminary has always been a center for liberalism, never truly grounding itself in the Scriptures or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over the decades, Union has further devolved, abandoning any pretense of Christian orthodoxy in favor of progressive cultural trends. According to a press release on its website, Union Theological Seminary recently appointed Dr. Simran Jeet Singh, a Sikh, as an Assistant Professor in Interreligious Histories. This decision highlights Union’s ongoing departure from Christianity and rebellion against God. This latest...

On January 30, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) razed the Akhoondji mosque and a madrasa, describing them as “illegal structures” in Sanjay Van, a reserved forest area. No one’s quite sure when the Akhoondji Masjid was built in Mehrauli. But the “Mosque of Akhondji” was listed in a 1922 publication by an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India who recorded that while its construction date was “unknown”, the mosque was repaired in “1270 AH (1853-4 AD)”, and that it lay west to to an old Idgah that “existed when Timur invaded India in 1398 AD”. “Removal of the illegal...

AP) – The Vatican has issued a new document rejecting the concept of changing one’s biological sex – a setback for transgender people who had hoped Pope Francis might be setting the stage for a more welcoming approach from the Catholic Church. Around the world, major religions have diverse approaches to gender identity, and the inclusion or exclusion of transgender people. Some examples: Christianity The Catholic Church’s disapproving stance toward gender transition is shared by some other denominations. For example, the Southern Baptist Convention – the largest Protestant denomination in the United States – adopted a resolution in 2014 stating...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The federal government is asking a court to halt California’s enforcement of a rule requiring prison guards to be clean-shaven, saying it amounts to religious discrimination for Sikhs, Muslims and others who wear beards as an expression of their faith. The civil rights complaint filed Monday by the U.S. Justice Department says the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s prohibition on facial hair denies on-the-job accommodations for officers of various religions. It seeks a temporary court order “allowing these officers to wear beards while CDCR fully assesses options for providing them with religious accommodations while complying...

RNS) — A Hindu advocate has called for an official apology from General Mills after learning Yoplait brand yogurts contain gelatin sourced from beef. Rajan Zed, the president of the Universal Society of Hindus, released a statement on March 19, which included a call for the resignation of General Mills CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening. Zed said he was told by a friend that the popular yogurt product contained gelatin, but he did not know from where. He wrote a query to the consumer care department of General Mills and received a response, he said, after several tries: “The source of...

A north Indian town is preparing for a mega event next week, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a grand Hindu temple that symbolizes the country’s surging Hindu cultural nationalism, a movement also known as Hindutva. The inauguration of the grand temple in Ayodhya, India is set for Monday, January 22. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu deity Lord Ram and stands on the site of a demolished 16th-century mosque. Some Hindu leaders have begun calling the town a "Hindu Vatican." Many Hindus claim that Ram was born in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh — exactly...

Tragedy struck in India when a five-year-old boy diagnosed with terminal cancer was drowned as his family tried to cure him with water from the River Ganges. Police say the child, who had leukemia, died after his parents submerged him in the river flowing through northern India in a superstitious bid to cure him. The family had reportedly travelled from their home in Delhi to Haridwar on Tuesday to perform the ceremony and pray for the unnamed victim. Their taxi driver said the child was accompanied by his parents and a female relative identified as his aunt by local media....

The pastoral center of Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw, Myanmar, was bombed on Nov. 26 and occupied by the Burmese military the next day, according to reporting by Agenzia Fides, the news arm of Pontifical Mission Societies. Though no one was killed in the bombing, the pastoral center’s ceiling collapsed and Bishop Celso Ba Shwe and the 80 refugees taking shelter in the church were forced to flee, per the Hong Kong Catholic news service UCA News. Shwe said in a statement published by Agenzia Fides that “the Burmese army tried to take the Christ the King Cathedral complex...

A senior Victorian Buddhist monk is facing a new allegations of child sexual abuse after media reporting earlier this year. Wearing traditional orange robes, Vijitha Naotunne, 68, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court via videolink from his lawyer’s office on Friday. Representing Mr Naotunne, Joanne Poole said they intended to fight the allegations, which he denied had occurred. Mr Naotunne, who is the chief monk at the Dhamma Sarana Buddhist Sri Lankan Temple, was charged in August over alleged child sexual abuse of three girls dating back as far as the mid-1990s. In September, Victoria Police revealed two more alleged...

The Church of England (CofE), also known as the Anglican Church, is a historic institution that has its roots in the 16th century when King Henry VIII sought to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon but was denied annulment by the Pope. As a result, Henry broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and established the Church of England, with himself as its head, setting the stage for centuries of close ties between the Church and the British monarchy and state. The Church of England’s evolution towards progressivism is a part of a larger historical trend in Western Christianity, where...

A former high school student in Chicago was awarded $150k in damages from her public school after alleging that they tried to force her to worship a literal idol worship. Mariyah Green is a dedicated Christian who felt coerced into participating in the Quiet Time meditation program that was implemented at Bogan High School in Ashburn. Summarized by Chicago Sun times: In the lawsuit, Green alleges the “Transcendental Meditation” program was held during school hours, and students were required to participate in an initiation ceremony called a “Puja” — an “expression of gratitude” to the dead founders of the practice....

NEW DELHI — Not even a judge’s reprimand of police spared an impoverished pastor in India from being jailed on baseless claims of fraudulent conversion, one of the latest examples of how Hindu extremists misuse “anti-conversion” laws. Pastor Bajarang Rawat, a 47-year-old convert from Hinduism in Mohanlalganj, Lucknow District in Uttar Pradesh state, faces charges of converting people by “allurement” even though police could find no witnesses against him, and the only evidence they presented was his Bible, the pastor said. “Reprimanding the policemen, the magistrate told them that it was not a crime to possess a Bible and that...

Earlier this summer, the Southern Baptist Convention garnered considerable attention for its disfellowshipping of two churches that allow women to serve in the office of pastor.Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and a smaller congregation known as Fern Creek Baptist Church of Louisville, Kentucky, were disfellowshipped following a majority vote by messengers at the SBC's Annual Meeting in June. Some 90% of messengers voted to disfellowship churches that have women in the role of pastor. That is 9 in 10 messengers.Several other Christian denominations allow women to serve as pastors, however. As The Christian Post previouslyreported, this number even includes...