Faith-based child abuse on the rise in Plymouth in the UK
PLYMOUTH, as we reported earlier today, has mercifully been spared a Christian prayer centre which was to be run by the dodgy crew who operate GOD TV, but it has other serious problems connected with...
View ArticleDefiant UK designer won’t withdraw Hindu goddess garments
DESPITE having been accused of disrespecting Hinduism by featuring a goddess on a range fashion garments, London fashion designer Sera Ulger, 30, has refused to withdraw the design. Ulger, above, who...
View ArticleHindu god gets his day in court – and wins his temple battle
LORD Ram, represented by some of India’s most influential lawyers, today (Saturday) won the right to have a temple built in his honour on land where the 6th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya in was torn...
View ArticleJesus’s ‘aroma of love’ failed to reach the nostrils of a UK priest
WHILE the toxic fall-out over the Catholic Church’s hugely divisive ‘pagan’ Amazon Synod rages on and on (see here and here), the Church of England has become enmeshed in a more parochial spat over...
View ArticleHypersensitive group targets ‘offensive-to-Hindus’ Brahma beer
WHEN representatives of various faith groups – normally at loggerheads with each other and sometimes murderously so – unite against a common enemy, you just know some innocent party will start getting...
View ArticleHoly cow! Hindu fanatic gets yoga lessons in a pasture banned
FOREVER on the lookout for things he regards as harmful to Hinduism, Nevada-based Rajan Zed went on the offensive when he discovered that a farm in the UK had launched yoga lessons in a field full of...
View ArticleComedians arrested, audience assaulted over alleged blasphemy
POPULAR Indian stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui and four fellow performers who were arrested last Friday were denied bail yesterday (Tuesday) by a court in Madhya Pradesh. They stand accused of...
View ArticleIndia’s nightmare ignited by religion, quackery & complacency
DONALD Trump instantly springs to mind when one thinks of a deranged world leader who surrounded himself with religious lackeys, conspiracy theorists and charlatans touting absurd cures during the...
View ArticleIndia adds one more deity to its 33 million – ‘Corona Mata’
THE number of gods and demi-gods in Hindu mythology beggars belief. Now one more has been added to the religion’s pantheon of 33 million deities. Reuters reported yesterday that devotees in Shuklapur...
View ArticleBang the Elephant Beer blasted over Hindu goddess image
A BREWING company in Nottingham, England stands accused of “trivialising the immensely venerated Hindu goddess Kali” by using her image on beer cans. In a message posted on Facebook this week, Nigel...
View ArticleRight-wing Hindu zealots torch copies of the Kama Sutra
A BOOKSHOP in the city of Ahmedabad in India was raided by a gang of 12 who seized illustrated copies of the world’s oldest book on erotic love and relationships, claiming that the Kama Sutra was...
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Religion and the decline of freethought in South Asia
Kunwar Khuldune Shahid Festivals are an important PR opportunity. When they are religious festivals, they become a way of exhibiting the beliefs that the organisers want to showcase, and the image of...
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Coerced faith: the battle against forced conversions in Pakistan’s Dalit...
Amree Maharaj, Chanda’s mother. Still from a filmed interview conducted by Shaukat Korai, Pakistan, 2023. ‘We are Hindus. Shoot to kill us, but don’t take our children away from us by force. We have...
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Faith Watch, February 2024
Faith Watch is a monthly round-up of the errors, disasters and absurdities following in the wake of religions around the world, by our assistant editor, Daniel James Sharp. Fanatics in all the wrong...
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The case of Richard Dawkins: cultural affiliation with a religious community...
image credit: Karl Withakay. image used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Every couple of years, whenever he declares that he is a ‘cultural Christian’,...
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The rise and fall of god(s) in Indian politics: Modi’s setback, Indic...
narendra modi in september 2021. During the campaign for the polls which have seen him suffer major setbacks in his bid to be elected for a third successive term today, Indian Prime Minister Narendra...
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How the persecution of Ahmadis undermines democracy in Pakistan
the aqsa mosque in rabwah is pakistan’s largest ahmadi place of worship. In Pakistan, the formation of a truly democratic government is increasingly hindered by the limited participation of religious...
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Why I am no longer a Hindu
a page of the 17th-century manuscript of the mewar ramayana portraying the slaying of ravana by rama. I was born to an Indian Bengali Hindu family. My childhood was drenched in the rich embroidery of...
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Can Religion Save Humanity? Part One
As a past and present adherent of two major religions—initially, I was a Christian missionary and now I am a Buddhist priest—I have long pondered the meaning and significance of religion. However,...
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Awry in the Orient: some problems with Eastern philosophies
‘The Oriental religio-philosophical persuasion—again, loosely defined—actively works to undercut or at least bypass [rational, step-by-step thought].’ cartoon by nicholas E. Meyer.Much of the...
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