Religion News on the Web
Selected religion-related news from around the Web
April 17, 2011
- Los Angeles Times
LA Times: Gay marriage's diamond anniversary
Ten years ago this month, when the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage,
most Dutch people were in favor of the law, but a vocal minority
insisted that gay marriage would mean the end of Western civilization.
It took a political slugfest to get the law passed.
April 15, 2011
- Religion News Service
RNS: Russian Jehovah's Witness cleared on extremism charges
A Jehovah's Witness on trial in Siberia was found innocent on
Thursday (April 14) of charges of "inciting religious hatred and
enmity," in a case that was seen as a litmus test of Russian religious
freedom.
April 14, 2011
- Irish Times
Irish Times: Egypt's religious extremists re-emerge to breed bigotry
Since the fall of Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, secular activists
striving to form new political parties have been fending off serious
challenges from the mainstream Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most
organised political movement, and anti-democratic radical
fundamentalists.
April 11, 2011
- The New York Times
NYT: France enforces ban on full-face veils in public
France
on Monday formally banned the wearing of full veils in public places,
becoming the first country in Europe to impose restrictions on a form of
attire that some Muslims consider a religious obligation.
April 08, 2011
- The Associated Press
AP: Dutch consider banning religious animal slaughter
One of Europe's first countries to allow Jews to practice their
religion openly may soon pass a law banning centuries-old Jewish and
Muslim traditions on the ritual slaughter of animals.
April 05, 2011
- The New York Times
NYT: French Panel Debates Secularism and Islam
France's
governing party pressed ahead on Tuesday with a controversial debate on
the nature of secularism and the challenges of Islam, an exercise
criticized by some in the government and numerous religious leaders and
ridiculed as cynical by both the Socialist opposition and the far-right
National Front.
March 31, 2011
- The Wall Street Journal
WSJ: Vatican seeks to clamp down on its finances
The Vatican is scrambling ahead of a Friday deadline to finalize new
rules for how the Holy See will monitor the movement of funds in and out
of Vatican walls and punish money launderers.