Free Republic

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...

US President Donald Trump will celebrate Diwali at the White House on Thursday, three days ahead of the formal celebrations of the festival of lights in India. This would be Trump's third Diwali celebrations at the White House, a tradition that began with his predecessor Barack Obama in 2009. According to the White House, Trump will participate in the Diwali celebrations by lighting a ceremonial 'diya' (lamp) on Thursday. No other details of the celebrations were immediately available. Trump's first Diwali celebrations at the White House was in his Oval Office in 2017 in the presence of a select group...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police in Kentucky say a Hindu temple in Louisville has been vandalized in a hate crime, its windows broken and walls covered in hateful messages. Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad tells The Courier Journal that “repugnant messages of hate” were spray-painted on its walls during a break-in this week. He says xenophobic and sexist messages were scrawled along with images of crosses and phrases such as “Jesus Is The Only God.” Someone spray-painted the eyes of a Hindu religious figure, with black paint dripping down the image’s face. Swaminarayan Temple officials say there is no...

Thousands of brides are being burned alive in India despite the practice being illegal, a Christian ministry has warned. India Partners, a Christian organization that works alonside indigenous Christian grassroots agencies in India, told Mission Network News on Thursday that there are still as many as 8,000 bride burning cases a year in the Hindu-majority country. A representative with India Partners, identified only as John, said the low view of women is spread through parts of India's society. “This is true both of men and women. It’s not just of men itself. Most women see the other woman as in...

BALI’s highest volcano Mount Agung is sending a dark ash cloud into the sky as it erupts for the second time in less than a week. Here are live updates and the latest news. ... Sutopo Purwo Nugroho a spokesman for Bali’s Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), has said that some Bali residents living within Mount Agung’s danger zone are refusing to evacuate the area. He said: “Some people within a radius of 8-10km from the summit crater of Mount Agung have not been displaced. “They feel safe because the area was not damaged during the 1963 eruption. They will evacuate...

Last year, Ivanka, a presidential adviser, had visited Hindu temples in Virginia and Florida as part of Diwali. Next month, she will be in Hyderabad for two days to attend the annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit. US President Donald Trump's entrepreneur daughter Ivanka, who joined him in Tuesday's Diwali celebrations at the White House, also took to Twitter to wish Indians across the globe a joyous Diwali. Her "Saal Mubarak" greeting was accompanied by a reminder that she will be in India next month for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES). President Trump yesterday kicked off Diwali festivities at the Oval Office...

Yoga led Laurette Willis into a New Age lifestyle. Now she's warning others of the spiritual pitfalls—and offering an alternative. The attractive couple on the television screen gracefully moved their bodies into the next yoga pose: arms extended, head tilted slightly back, a deep breath in. In front of the TV set, a seven-year-old girl and her mother did their best to mimic the posture. The little girl, Laurette, loved this special time with her mom. It was 1965, and Laurette's mom, Jacquie, didn't think twice about exercising along with this yoga program that came on the TV after Jack...

Recently Duke Chapel at Duke University in North Carolina tweeted photos of yoga exercises on the floor of its majestic worship space as part of Healthy Duke Week of Wellness. Built in the 1930s as a Methodist sanctuary in the style of a Gothic cathedral for what was then a Methodist affiliated school, Duke Chapel is now nondenominational. There are Evangelicals and Catholics who critique yoga as wrong for Christians because its mantras originate in eastern religion. Setting aside that concern, should worship space be open to recreation and "profane" (i.e., secular) activities? Tai-chi? Kickboxing? Karate? Spinning? Ballroom dancing? Salsa?...

August 30, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – A Spanish bishop apologized for an event in his diocese during which a Hindu deity was processed around a Catholic church and the priest who allowed it resigned from his position as Vicar General. However, the bishop said Hindu beliefs don't need to be "rebuked" and that wasn't the point of his statement. It's unclear whether the priest, Father Juan José Mateos Castro, will remain in his position at that parish, Our Lady of Africa. Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of the Diocese of Cádiz y Ceuta issued the apology, portions of which Crux translated. A...

The protests are against CNN show 'Believer with Reza Aslan'. Washington -- US-based Hindu organisations have demanded an apology from CNN and asked the news channel to stop further airing of a show which they allege promotes xenophobia and 'Hinduphobia'. A series of protests small and big were held across the US on Saturday and more are scheduled against the airing of six-episode series Believer with Reza Aslan by the CNN. As many as 16 top Hindu organisations in the US have come together the umbrella of American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) to mount a joint campaign against CNN and...

WASHINGTON, Jan 5: Hindus and Jews have gained ground in the new US Congress, even as a latest research suggests that the members of the legislative body remain overwhelmingly Christians despite significant change in the religious demographic profile of the country in less than five decades. This is for the first time in American history that the Congress has three Hindus members -- Tulsi Gabbard, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Ro Khanna. After Jews, who have 30 members in the new US Congress, Hindus and Buddhism, each having three members jointly share the third sport in terms of religious ranking of US...

Another case linking domestic violence to abortion is being reported in India this week. According to First Post, police in India arrested a man on Monday after he allegedly murdered his wife and unborn child when she refused to have an abortion. The wife, Pratibha Gautam, 30, was three months pregnant when her body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her house in Kanpur, India, according to the report. Her husband, Manu Abhishek, said he found her body after returning home from a trip; however, a postmortem report indicates that she was murdered. Authorities found injury marks from...

When Brahmachari Vrajvihari Sharan led his first worship service in his new job as a Hindu chaplain Sunday, he knew his audience. As the service began, he asked worshipers to clear their minds. “Close all the tabs that are open, just as you would do to a Firefox window,” he said. The comparison — of a spiritual mindset to an Internet browser — worked at once. More than 40 college students, many of whom had been up until 3 a.m. the Saturday night before this 9 a.m. service, chuckled appreciatively and fell into a reverent silence. This is Sharan’s new...

Imran Yousuf, a bouncer at the Pulse nightclub, had an advantage. A Marine who had served in Afghanistan, Yousuf was able to use his training to quickly identify the impending threat and remain clear-headed as people died around him, according to the Marine Corps Times. Because of the 24-year-old’s decisive actions, he is being credited with saving dozens of lives.

American elections rarely make the Indian news. This massive democracy has perennial political changes of its own to worry about. But US presidential candidate Donald Trump has found his way into the hearts of a strident few in India, where his name is starting to grab headlines. The rhetoric of these fans is strikingly similar to some of Trump’s most extreme backers within the US — except that these aren’t American white supremacists who demonize Muslims. They’re far-right Indian Hindus who demonize Muslims. Last month, a group known as the Hindu Sena held a holy fire ritual in New Delhi...

An ancient Hindu phallic symbol believed to be more than 1,000 years old has been found at a local temple in Tha Sala district. Anat Bamrungwong, director of 14th Regional Office of the Fine Arts Department in Nakhon Sithammarat, said Thursday the shiva linga or Hindu phallic symbol is believed to be about 1,300-1,400 years old. Hinduism thrived in Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat around the 10th-12th centuries, Mr Anat said... The shiva linga has a base which is about 47cm wide and 1 metre long. Its base has flowers carved in relief which in the Tawaravadee style, Mr...