Free Republic

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – As he awaits prison after a wrongful conviction for proselytizing, Pastor Keshab Raj Acharya fears his case will set a precedent for authorities in Nepal to incarcerate other Christians, he said. The 35-year-old pastor said he fears police and judiciary will cite his case as an example to send Christians to prison for either proselytizing or forcible conversion even without evidence. “In case someone wilfully converts to Christ, the police and the court will convict the person through whom this believer has heard the message of Christ and His salvation,” Pastor Acharya told Morning...

Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, was on Tuesday spotted in Prayagraj for participation in the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025. She was given the Hindu name “Kamala” during her visit by the Niranjani Akhara, as if granting her the right to solidify her inter-connection with Hinduism. Powell Jobs, in her philanthropy and as Emerson Collective’s CEO, has openly professed being an admirer of Hindu thought. This journey to Prayagraj comes as a direct reflection of these interests as Powell Jobs interacts with spiritual leaders and surrounds herself with religious and cultural celebrations of the Kumbh Mela. The...

Millions of Hindu devotees are bathing in sacred waters as the world’s biggest religious gathering begins in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Over the next six weeks, a staggering 400 million people are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the riverbanks in the city of Prayagraj.

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.

A grand Pran Pratishtha ceremony was held in Texas, on Sunday, August 18, where a 90-foot-tall Hanuman statue was inaugurated. A grand Pran Pratishtha ceremony was held in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, August 18, where a 90-foot-tall Hanuman statue was inaugurated. This is the third tallest statue The statue was named ‘Statue of Union,’ and it commemorates Lord Hanuman’s role in reuniting Sri Rama and Sita. The temple has been built at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple in Sugar Land, Texas. The visionary behind the project happens to be His Holiness Sri Chinnajeeyar Swamiji. The website of Statue of Union says...

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...

A new Pew Research Center in-depth report, “Spirituality Among Americans,” revealed that “7 in 10 U.S. adults describe themselves as spiritual in some way, including 22% who are spiritual but not religious.” The 95-page report released on Thursday found that: 83% of all U.S. adults believe people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body. 81% say there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it. 74% say there are some things that science cannot possibly explain. 45% say they have had a sudden feeling of connection with something from beyond this...

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....

After 12 years of planning and construction, the largest Hindu temple outside India in the modern era is ready to open to the public in Robbinsville, New Jersey If stones could talk, sing and tell stories, Yogi Trivedi believes the marble and limestone that adorn the spires, pillars and archways of the stunning Hindu temple in central New Jersey would compose a paean to the divine. The tales these stones tell are those of seva (selfless service) and bhakti (devotion), which form the core of the Swaminarayan sect, a branch of Hinduism, said Mr. Trivedi, a scholar of Hinduism at...

NEVADA, Iowa — Republican voters eager to learn more about Vivek Ramaswamy are especially curious about one thing: his religion. “What is your opinion of Jesus Christ?” an Iowan asked Ramaswamy at a campaign stop in Nevada on Saturday. When Ramaswamy explained that in his Hindu faith, Jesus is “a” son of God and not “the” son of God, the potential caucusgoer followed up with another question about “the fact that the only way to heaven is Jesus Christ.” It’s a common occurrence as Ramaswamy hits the trail in Iowa. It was the second time he had been questioned about...

“We reckon that no evil can be done to us unless we be convicted as evildoers or be proved to be wicked men; and you, you can kill, but not hurt us” — Justin Martyr (First Apology).Disturbing news emerged from New Delhi, the capital of India, a few weeks ago, where Hindutva vigilante groups barged into a prayer gathering at the Siyyon Prarthna Bhawan with shouts of “Jai Shree Ram,” beating up the believers, which included several women. The attackers alleged that the Christians were attempting religious conversion. Such incidents have been on a steady rise for the last few...

[Image] Hank Kunneman (left), Vivek Ramaswamy (right), image via Amazon and Al Diaz / Tribune News Service / Getty 48 On Sunday (July 23), an American pastor and televangelist named Hank Kunneman went on an anti-Hindu tirade against Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy for running as a Republican candidate for the upcoming 2024 US Presidential elections. At about 51 minutes and 30 seconds into his programme, Kunneman claimed, “We are in danger as a country and listen to me Generation Z and millennials. Those of you, who are watching, may like this new young guy (referring to Vivek Ramaswamy). “If he...

Standing outside the local police station in her village in northeast India, 19-year-old Nureja Khatun is anxious. Cradling her 6-month-old baby in her arms, she has been waiting to catch a glimpse of her husband before the police take him away to court. Nearly an hour later, she sees her husband, Akbar Ali, for just a few seconds when he is shuffled into a police van. An officer slams the door in her face before she is able to get any answers. “Please release my husband. Otherwise take me into custody as well,” she pleaded. Khatun’s husband is one of...

Amid widespread protests over a ban on hijabs in schools, an Indian court has temporarily prohibited all forms of religious dress in schools while it considers a legal challenge to the hijab ban. The current conflict began in September 2021 when a girl’s preparatory school in the Indian state of Karnataka moved to ban hijabs, saying the Muslim headscarves violated the school’s dress code. In the months and weeks since, students at various schools in the region have protested the ban by wearing their hijabs and demanding to be let back into school. At the same time, mobs of Hindu...

Winner of Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Director in the year 1988, filmmaker Ali Akbar who has directed more than 20 films, has announced that he is quitting Islam and converting to Hinduism. The director took this step after discussing with his wife, who too is converting to Hinduism. As he said, "They have lost faith in religion." he said, "Today, I am throwing away an attire I received by birth. From today onwards I am not a Muslim. I am an Indian. That is my reply to those people who posted thousands of smiling emoticons against India."

This is huge. Those of us who have had hopes that Saudi Arabia can be transformed from a sponsor of hardline jihad into a modernizing force in the Islamic world have cause for optimism.Remarks made by the real ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), suggest that he is carefully laying the grounds for a fundamental reinterpretation of orthodox Islam.Tarek Fatah, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, writes in the Toronto Sun:When the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, challenged the fundamental precepts of Islamic Sharia in an interview on April...

The same symbol whose sight would make me feel uncomfortable, even unsafe, back home, sparked in me some sort of relief and sympathy on this distant island onsidering that we would be in Taiwan for 24 hours total, my travel buddy and I didn’t worry too much about finding kosher food. We’d arrive on a plane in the morning and leave on another plane the following morning. We’d bring our usual picnic bag with challah rolls and other sorts of Jewish foods we always take with us when we fly abroad. Still, I wanted to make sure we’d easily find...

New Delhi: Stand-up comic Munawar Faruqui, jailed over allegations of “insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses” during a show, was granted interim bail today by the Supreme Court, which also issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh government. Munawar Faruqui was denied bail thrice before. The Madhya Pradesh High Court refused to grant him bail on January 28. A complaint by a BJP MLA’s son that the comedian made objection remarks on Hindu deities in a show in Indore led to his arrest on January 1. Four others were also arrested. All of them were accused of making “filthy and indecent jokes”...

A coalition of more than 350 faith leaders endorsed Joe Biden for president this week, citing a need for “moral clarity” to “restore the soul of this nation.” “Faith 2020 is raising awareness, mobilizing faith-rooted voters to get out the vote and doing our part to restore the soul of the nation,” the group wrote on its website. “We’re a group of progressives, independents and conservatives seeking change.” Faith 2020 received endorsements from faith leaders of various religions — Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Muslim and others. Its list includes well-known names, such as Nadia Bolz-Weber, a Lutheran minister who founded the...

Vice President Mike Pence joins military officers and a chaplain on Aug. 23, 2019, in a prayer for two Army men who died during operations in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) (The Conversation) -- In 1919, Lee Levinger buried four soldiers in France. The responsibility to preside over a funeral was not unusual for military chaplains. But during World War I, most Americans would have been surprised to learn that a rabbi led a service for four Christian soldiers. In 1917, when the United States entered the war, chaplaincy was a majority white and fully Christian organization. No law specifically stated...