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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
I have been in many masjids around the country, in some of them very little other than prayer goes on. In many there is an attached community centre with community projects. I wonder how many mosque-haters have been inside a mosque?
I recall that the first national event that we organised at the Christian Muslim Forum was an 'Imams and Ministers' conference. It was not the most inclusive name and few women (Christian or Muslim) were present. In fact, the feedback from the female Christian ministers was 'where are the Muslim women?'
Were one to say "there are some black people whose intelligence I find stunning and am challenged by it," we would quickly denounce it as racist - and rightly so... Needless to repeat then his opposition to equal marriage, which alone, according to Peter Tatchell, is enough to establish Mr Welby's prejudice against gay people.
The title of this article isn't a new question, but, even after Islam Awareness Week last week and the launch of statistics about Islamophobia and att...
Mali, along with several of its neighbouring countries in the Sahel region of West Africa, remains in a state of crisis. The rebel threat has not gone away, despite their withdrawal from strategic towns, and the recent fighting has increased tensions between different ethnic groups, some of whom have been associated with the rebels' cause.
I am constantly being challenged - 'Islam isn't really a religion of peace', 'Why aren't you as a Christian denouncing Islam'. This is the language of hate and enmity, erecting barriers between people who need to meet, understand and build relationships with each other. But Jesus said, 'love your neighbour'. We need to hold on to that, whether we are Christian, Muslim, Hindu or atheist...
It wasn't even the school holidays, but with impending Christmas and Hogmanay festivities, we were getting pretty stressed, which is insane considerin...
To the north, two miles away, lies the friendly cosmopolitan Bauhaus bustle of Tel Aviv; to the south some 40 miles distant, lies Gaza. The ancient city of Jaffa has been caught in a warp of time, with a heterogeneous population of Jews, Christians and Muslims all co-existing in an atmosphere of modulated unease.
The journey to the wonderful world of vicardom is not a particularly quick or easy one. I should know - I've been on it for about three years already, and I figure I've got another few years ahead of me before I'm fully cassocked-up.
Workfare is not only bad economics it is morally wrong. Workfare is a modern form of slavery. This may seem an extreme statement, for we tend to associate slavery with racial oppression, when black people were forced to work for white farmers. But slavery is not always racial and it is not always achieved by violence.
What would happen if the different faiths began automatically adding 'humanism' to their names, Islamic humanism, Buddhist, Judaic, Hindu, Christian humanism, for example - then explored what each meant. We'd probably end up with a rich dialogue based on a celebration of two great realities: our shared humanity and the richness of our different religious traditions.
Only last week, as part of my research for a new book, I became aware of the prophecies of Saint Malachy, made in 1143 AD. He fairly accurately predicted each and every pope from that time until... the end of time.
Will things ever change? Yes. My seven year-old is. Maybe the Conservative Party should talk to her.
I don't think that any of the good things which religions do are unique, and nor are they able to counterbalance all of the terrible things which they have done, which they continue to do, and which have been done in their name.
Marriage is a vital heterosexual institution because it caters to the unique consequences of heterosexual union - children. It cannot simply be extended to others without this purpose being devalued or lost.
If there's one message to take home from all the furore, it is that one should never underestimate the desire of the pious to dictate what other people do in their love lives.
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