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Bangladeshi writer, Taslima Nasrin, has been driven from her home state by Islamic extremists. But the apparent sanctuary of India has turned into a prison. Fearing violence by its own muslims, India has imposed Draconian - and possibly illegal - restrictions on the author’s movements.
A group of Christians is working hard to bring about the deaths of members of an organisation dedicated to protecting the US Constitution. Wiley Drake, a Southern Baptist pastor, is leading his flock in so-called imprecatory prayers - or curses, if you prefer - as part of an attack against Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
A UK Government minister is in trouble - for telling the truth. While religions may like to glory in their revealed, universal verities, they often have problems with run-of-the-mill facts. Because when myth conflicts with reality, religion demands you choose the myth.
Mike Huckabee’s failed bid for the Republican nomination might seem to consign him to the list of also-rans. Yet the fact that he was ever in the running has profound and dark implications for America’s future.
At the time of writing, Mike Huckabee’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination looks all but over. Many will breathe a sigh of relief, but that may be premature. The significance of Huckabee’s run for the most powerful job in the world is not that he lost, but that he was taken seriously. That should be a matter of deep concern to anyone who truly values freedom.
If you are British, and think that government delegating its job to faith-based organisations is a problem limited to our American cousins, think again. The UK Government is increasingly using faith-based outfits to do jobs that should be entirely secular in nature. Now the god botherers are targeting prisons.
The resurrected controversy about the alleged Lost Tomb of Jesus raises an interesting paradox: are Christians better served by a mythological Jesus? Might discoveries about the real existence of Jesus undermine their faith?
After the death of Jesus, any number of sects emerged with him as their figurehead. So why did all but one fail and only Paul’s church succeed? The answer is, good marketing.
Pope Benedict XVI has had to cancel a visit to Rome’s leading university over suggestions that he approved of the church’s treatment of Galileo. The truth, as always, is somewhat murkier, but perhaps it’s just as well. Popes and science are not a good mix.
Once programmed by the self-loathing rituals of religion, can you ever be truly happy? Guilt, low self-esteem and a permanent sense of inadequacy are integral components of many religions. And maybe when they’ve got you, they’ve got you for ever.
In Japan, interest in Buddhism is waning so fast that not even bar-crawling monks can spark a revival. As with many other religions, people like the ceremony, but aren’t so fussed about the supernatural nonsense that goes with it.
