Ultra-orthodox Jewish communities known as the Hassidim create a cocoon to protect their people from the influences of the outside world. At least when it comes to other groups that seek to separate themselves out, like the Amish, they live in fairly isolated rural communities. But the Hassidim live right in the middle of urban …
Category Archive: Religion
May 16 2013
Charles Knowlton and the golden age of freethought
If you asked me to list the names of 19th century American atheists, I would have said Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899) and stopped. He is clearly the most famous but it turns out that there is another person who preceded him, and that was Dr. Charles Knowlton. I became aware of him because of a …
May 13 2013
“And into the hole he goes”
The late Irish comedian Dave Allen often had a very funny take on religion, delivered with nice timing and facial expressions. I posted this clip a long time ago but came across it again and enjoyed it so much that I decided to repost it for the benefit of those who have not seen it …
May 13 2013
Saudi Arabia destroying ancient shrines
Islam, like all religions, is full of contradictions. For example, some of its adherents are very sensitive to slights and in those countries like Myanmar and Sri Lanka, there have been clashes between the majority Buddhists and minority Muslims sometimes resulting in mosques being damaged or destroyed, provoking great anger. But then we find that …
May 12 2013
Coda to the burial controversy
So Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body has been finally buried in a small private cemetery in Virginia, which I hope brings to an end a ridiculous chapter in the Boston bombing tragedy. Martha Mullen, a woman in Virginia, hearing about the difficulty the family and funeral director were having in finding a cemetery willing to accept it, …
May 10 2013
Misinterpreting the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment
We can sometimes forget that the First Amendment of the US Constitution actually imposes two restrictions on the government when it comes to religious matters. The amendment says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The ‘establishment’ part gets the most attention in church-state matters …
May 09 2013
The state of religious freedom around the world
Dwight Bashir, who is Deputy Director for Policy and Research at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) discusses the 2013 annual report released by his office that looks at the state of religious freedom across the world.
May 08 2013
A pope and a rabbi write a book …
So that is not the set up for a joke but just a way of introducing the idea that in 2010, current pope Francis (then cardinal Mario Bergoglio) co-authored with rabbi Abraham Skorka, an Argentine biophysicist and rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, a book titled On Heaven and Earth. In …
May 07 2013
The rights of the dead
The discussion in the comments following my post about the difficulty of finding a place to bury Tamarlan Tsarnaev raised some interesting issues. In that case, cremation was not considered an option since the family wanted to have a Muslim burial for him and the question was raised as to why they should have the …
May 06 2013
Religious rioting in Bangladesh
The Indian subcontinent is going through turbulent times as religious extremists try to demand that religious dogma drive each country’s legal system and social mores. Pakistan has been subjected to vicioius blasphemy laws. India has seen the rise of Hindu nationalists and Hindu-Muslim clashes, Sri Lanka has seen militant Buddhists, led by monks, attack ethnic …
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