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News & Submissions 7/1/2010

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Wall of Separation
A Texas-based Christian group is arguing in a California court on behalf of the California Department of Corrections that the First Amendment to the US Constitution protects only major religions beliefs, but offers no protection for minority religions. Read full story from auburnjournal.com

Somali radio station defies Islamist ban on music
(CNN) — Somalis in Mogadishu could once again hear songs coming from their radios Thursday, as one of the city’s biggest independent stations resumed playing music. Read full story from cnn.com

Religious intolerance ‘the new racism’
RELIGIOUS intolerance is “the new racism” and one of the main causes of persecution of minorities across the world, according to the annual Minority Rights Group International report published today. Read full story from heraldsun.co.au

My Take: New York’s schools should observe Muslim holidays
I was recently eating dinner at a restaurant with a friend near Times Square when it became time for me to pray. Muslims pray five times a day and this particular prayer, called Maghrib, is performed at sunset. Read full story from cnn.com

Pastor Outs Coach for Being Gay
Steve Gaines doesn’t like gay people. He banned a woman from coaching in his church’s softball league because she admitted to being gay: Read full story from unreasonablefaith.com

Gathering strength through the water
LITTLE PRESQUE ISLE POINT, Mich. – As if emerging from the icy depths of Lake Superior, the fiery yellowish-orange sun rose the morning of June 19 to greet American Indians and non-Natives praying during the “Honoring Our Water” ceremony by Ojibwa women and gave them the strength to continue battling an international mining company that is desecrating sacred Eagle Rock on the nearby Yellow Dog Plains in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

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News & submissions 6/30/2010

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Is Italy right to fight for crucifixes in classrooms?
Tons of comments coming in on Italy’s decision to fight to keep crucifixes in classrooms in the face of a European court ruling that such symbols violate students’ religious freedom rights. Here’s one that applaud’s Italy’s effort: Read full story from cnn.com

Annual fairy congress draws diverse crowd
CARLTON — A few have seen fairies. Others have heard them. And many more are hoping, one day, to connect with their realm.

The three kinds of humans made their way to the 10th Annual Fairy & Human Relations Congress west of Carlton over the weekend. Read full story from wenatcheeworld.com

Statues of chiefs and peace park envisioned near Zion
ST. GEORGE, Utah – A peace park featuring a collection of sculptures that represent a grand council of famous chiefs from across Indian country is envisioned near Zion National Park by Four Winds, a group working to bring the idea to reality. The park is to serve as a center of Native wisdom and cross-cultural healing. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Concern over Long Man ‘desecration’
THE LONG Man of Wilmington has had a phallus painted on it and efforts are being made to remove the heavy-duty paint as soon as possible.

The addition appeared on Friday morning (June 18) and was spotted by many dog walkers and motorists driving along the A27.
While it raised a smile and giggle among some passers-by, others have been upset by the vandalism and the Sussex Archaeolo gical Society, which is responsible for the historical site, is now working to remove the outline. Read full story from eastbourneherald.co.uk

Michelangelo hid brain image in chapel, scientists say
The great Italian Renaissance artist dissected cadavers to familiarize himself with the human body, so he could better paint it. And, according to a new analysis, he included a representation of the brainstem in his representation of God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which he painted from 1508 to 1512. Read full story from cnn.com

Protest at Brighton Centre as doctors vote to ban homeopathy on NHS
Scores of pro-homeopathy supporters demonstrated outside the Brighton Centre today ahead of doctors voting on whether homeopathic remedies should be banned on the NHS. Read full story from theargus.co.uk

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News & Submissions 6/25/2010

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Couple get hitched Pagan style
Steve Beedan, 50, and Kerry Church, 18, invited 70 of their friends and family to their home in Rectory Road to share their Wiccan wedding with them. Read full story from thurrockgazettte.co.uk

Lunar eclipse ‘magnified’ in US
A partial lunar eclipse taking place on 26 June will appear magnified in the US by an effect known as the “moon illusion”.

The eclipse will begin 10:17 GMT when the Moon enters the shadow of Earth. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Vatican expresses shock over police raids following sex abuse claims
The Vatican is expressing “shock” over the manner in which raids were carried out Thursday in Belgium following accusations of child sex abuse involving church figures. Read full story from cnn.com

Richard Fahey talks about the Burning Times
Richard Fahey, pagan, scholar of religion and history, and resident of Chelmsford MA, shares with the Boston Pagan Examiner his knowledge of the Burning Times, the period in European history between the 15th and 18th centuries when people were accused of Witchcraft and killed, often by being burned alive. Read full story from examiner.com

German court legalises euthanasia with patient consent
A top German court has ruled that it is not a criminal offence to cut off the life support of a dying person if that person has given their consent.

The Federal Court of Justice acquitted a lawyer who had advised the daughter of a comatose woman to cut off her feeding tube. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Court: same-sex marriage is not universal right
BRUSSELS—The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that countries are not obliged to allow gay marriage, rejecting a bid by an Austrian couple to force the state to let them wed. Read full story from boston.com

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News & Submissions 5/27/2010

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Advice for employers: Employers have nothing to fear from faith
With recent headlines announcing pagan police officers’ right to attend rites and dance naked, it’s no wonder that employers are unsure about what they are expected to do to support their employees’ religious and philosophical beliefs. With legislation also covering less well-known religions and beliefs, such as paganism, Rastafarianism, druidism, Darwinism, creationism and atheism, there’s understandable concern about tripping up and being taken to an employment tribunal. Read full story from independent.co.uk

Judaism, a self serving monotheism
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it, a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak, a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser, a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. Read full story from veteranstoday.com

Courtesy of Twitter, God speaks
A new website launched this week called almightytweets.com culls tweets in which God’s advice is shared. Take, for instance, this one from this afternoon: “Yesterday Eli said ‘God told me we had to go to dippin dots.’ So we did.” Read full story from cnn.com

Wicca, Witchcraft & Wizardry on Long Island
Main Street in Smithtown is just like any other Main Street on Long Island—local pubs, delis, and places you’ll find the best and worst coffee you’ve ever had, all within a 1-mile radius. Just outside the center of town, winding roads are dotted with small churches scattered among sprawling ranches with wind socks flying from front porches and lawns that stretch to meet cherry tree-lined streets.

It is here where the annual summer craft fair will take place in the church basement next week, where mass begins at 8 a.m. on Sundays, and church bells ring at noon sharp every day of the week. It is on Main Street where bars and cafes will soon open their doors to the summer crowd. And it is in the backyard of one of these idyllic suburban houses where a group of women stand in a circle once a month under the full moon, one holding a sharp blade toward the sky, all of them trying their best not to scare the neighbors. Read full story from longislandpress.com

Monks and money: A business beyond prayer
Their surroundings are idyllic, their lives contemplative, their needs simple. But don’t assume monks who live in monasteries and dedicate their lives to prayer aren’t feeling pressure in this economy. Read full story from cnn.com

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News & Submissions 5/26/2010

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Native woman recognized as a pioneer in the aviation field
SAN MANUEL, Ariz. – On a sunny spring day in April a small crowd of people gathered at the San Manuel Airport outside of Tucson. They traveled from as far as Colorado and California to attend the two-day Gyrocopter “Fly-in” event.

In attendance was a woman known as the “Gyrocopter Queen,” 81-year-old Marion Springer, a Choctaw pioneer in the rotorcraft – or rotary wing aircraft – industry. The first female certified flight instructor, she has been flying gyrocopters since the late 1960s. REad full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Hertfordshire Constabulary recruit two Humanist advisors
In the same week as Pagan police officers were officially recognised by the home office, Hertfordshire police have recruited two Humanist advisors to help support their staff. Read full story from watfordobserver.co.uk

Listening to Signs from Nature
We are used to thinking about nature as sending “messages” with big things like weather and earthquakes–though we often scoff at the idea as superstition. But there is a whole tradition around the world of looking at the little signs from nature and examining the personal messages that may be there for us. Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

Christian group enters rosary case
A Michigan-based attorney representing the American Center for Law and Justice said he visited Raymond Hosier’s house on Monday to prepare a case against the Schenectady City School District for suspending Raymond from Oneida Middle School because he wore the rosary. Read full story from timesunion.com

The Dalai Lama is wrong
Like the Dalai Lama, who writes of how he was influenced by Thomas Merton, I believe we can learn greatly from other religions. I too hope for tolerance and harmony in our interreligious interactions. I am convinced, however, that true tolerance and lasting harmony must be built on reality, not fantasy. Religious exclusivism is dangerous and naïve. But so too is pretend pluralism. The cause of religious harmony is not advanced in the least by the shibboleth that all religions are different paths up the same mountain. Read full story from cnn.com

Prosecutors: Witchcraft-fueled murder was premeditated
EVERETT — Prosecutors believe modern witchcraft drove a Gold Bar man to kill his girlfriend, dismember her body and scatter her remains around Snohomish County. Read full story from seattlepi.com

Two centuries of non-conformist history go online
The names and details of half a million UK radicals and religious dissenters covering a period of 225 years are available online for the first time. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

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News & Submissions 5/25/2010

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Pagans use fest to show their beliefs
VALPARAISO — Lizz Frenzel was drawn to the first May Faire Sunday at Taltree Arboretum and Garden because of the maypole.

Fresh from a trip to the Bavarian region of Germany, Frenzel, of Valparaiso, saw maypoles in many of the small towns, though she missed the May 1 celebration of the ancient tradition there. Read full story from post-tribune.com

Mummies galore: 57 ancient Egyptian tombs discovered in secret underground network
Archaeologists have unearthed a labyrinth of rich Egyptian tombs that had been hidden under the ground for thousands of years.

Most of the 57 ancient tombs contained an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said. Read full story from dailymail.co.uk

Separation of church and state: fact or fiction?
Not so very long ago, “separation of church and state” was as American as motherhood and apple pie. Despite perennial debates over the degree of separation, public support for the principle itself has been strong for much of our history. Read full story from firstamendmentcenter.org

‘God must have something specific in mind for me’
From CNN’s Sara Sidner in Mangalore, India: It’s puzzling how we human beings can fight so fiercely over our differences, but when it boils down to it we are all so similar. No matter what religion we believe in or don’t believe in, it never escapes me that in life’s most extreme circumstances our differences suddenly fade away and what is left are the simple human traits we all share. Read full story from cnn.com

Using humor to bridge religious divides

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News & Submissins 5/24/2010

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Holy water allegedly sprinkled on atheist teacher
POMPANO BEACH — Two teachers accused of sprinkling holy water onto an avowed atheist colleague have been removed from the classroom, and may be fired. Read full story from sftimes.com

Calif. bill would block Texas textbook changes
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California may soon take a stand against proposed changes to social studies textbooks ordered by the Texas school board, as a way to prevent them from being incorporated in California texts. Read full story from mercurynews.com

You Have The Right To Your Own Religion
There are many religions and faiths in this world. Which one do you wish to choose? Lots of people believe Jesus is God, while others acknowledge him only as The Son of God. If your comfortable in believing that Jesus is God, then you have that right, to feel so. Read full story from modernghana.com

Tribute to Kiva’s sacredness
The cities of Albuquerque, N.M. and El Paso, Texas have erected bronze monuments that glorify a violent time in American Southwest history. Albuquerque’s monument, “La Entrada” (the entrance), was dedicated in May 2005 and placed in front of the Albuquerque Museum of Art in Old Town, N.M. Likewise, the world’s largest bronze monument, the “Equestrian” in El Paso, Texas was dedicated in April 2007 at the El Paso International Airport, under protest by Indian rights groups against honoring a “genocidal conquistador,” Juan de Onate. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Shamans use their unique perspectives to seek healing
A group of 20 shamans gather in a circle, bringing totems that connect them with their ancestors and other spirits. They summon these forces with drums, crystals, meditation and song, hoping the energy of the circle transmits vibrations of love and compassion around the globe. Read full story from sunsentinel.com

Take a tour of the new CNN Belief Blog

Shamans use their unique perspectives to seek healing

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News & Submissions 5/20/2010

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Sefton and West Lancashire Pagans hit out at UKIP attack over holidays
The region’s Pagan community has reacted with uproar this week after a political party branded moves to let police officers celebrate their festivals as “madness”. Read full story from champnews.com

BP Contractors and Coast Guard Prevent CBS From Filming Oil Spill Devastation
CBS News reporters have been turned away and threatened with arrest, prevented from reporting on the impact of oil coming ashore in Louisiana, by contractors from BP, apparently working in conjunction with the US Coast Guard. Earlier in the drama of the Gulf oil disaster, US Fish & Wildlife Service cut off access to certain wildlife refuges to limit the impact of troops of journalists marching over nesting habitat, but this seems different. Read full story from treehugger.com

FEMA Photographer Asked Church Volunteers Not to Wear Religious T-Shirts in Video on Tornado Aftermath
Jackson, Miss. (AP) – The top officer for FEMA said one of the agency’s videographers was “absolutely wrong” to ask Mississippi church volunteers not to wear religious T-shirts for a video about tornado cleanup. Read full story from cnsnews.com

Onondaga Nation and environmental partners win prestigious EPA award
NEW YORK – The Onondaga Nation and its environmental partners were honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with the highest recognition presented to the public. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Gathering of Nation’s glucose testing flawed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – People who received free blood glucose testing at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center April 24 may have been exposed to blood borne diseases and are being urged by public health officials to contact the University of New Mexico for follow up risk assessment and care. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Did My Dog See Something Paranormal?
It was about 1:38 am and my girlfriend and I were sound asleep. The blinds were all closed, blocking the city lights and creating a very dark atmosphere. The only light was from our DVR’s blue LED glow. It illuminates our couch and rug in the living room just enough so that you don’t stub your little toe on the leg of the couch when clumsily walking around in the middle of the night. Read full story from ghosttheory.com

Indigenous Tribesmen Storm Brazilian Congress
In a dramatic scene of protest today in the Brazilian Capitol Building, several dozen indigenous tribesmen clashed with security outside the chamber of the House of Representatives–some armed with batons and sticks. Capitol Police managed to hold back the protesters, most of whom were dressed in traditional garb, from their attempts “to invade the House.” The leader of the indigenous group, however, claims their motives were peaceful, and that they wanted simply their voices to be heard by the governing body over issues of encroachment on their native lands. Read full story from treehugger.com

Archaeologists Unearth 7,000-Year-Old Swastika in North-western Bulgaria
20 May 2010 | A pottery fragment with the image of a swastika, dating to 7,000 years ago, and an ancient female adornment with a phallus are among the artefacts shown for the first time as part of the on-going exhibition “Gods, Symbols and Ancient Signs” in the museum in Vratsa in north-western Bulgaria. Read full story from balkantravellers.com

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News & Submissions 5/19/2010

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Gulf Oil Again Imperils Sea Turtle
The sea turtle, affectionately nicknamed Thelma by a National Park Service employee, has already beaten some terrible odds. Still in the egg, she was airlifted here from Mexico in the years after the 1979 blowout of the Ixtoc 1 rig, which spilled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and covered the turtles’ primary nesting place. Read full story from nytimes.com

Panel moves ‘Religious Freedom Act’
A Senate panel narrowly approved legislation Tuesday whose supporters say reaffirms constitutional guarantees of freedom of religious expression. Read full story from 2theadvocate.com

New designation would protect an ancient site
PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo. – Every 18.6 years, the moon rises between ancient twin pinnacles in an event known as the Northern Lunar Standstill, inspiring awe among those who witness it in southwestern Colorado’s San Juan National Forest near the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. Read full story from indiancountrytoday.com

Former Erin cult leader headed back to prison again
OTTAWA — A former Erin resident who once led a sex cult made up of teenage boys has been sent back to prison for threatening to kill his parole officer. Read full story from guelphmercury.com

Ann Phillips: A ‘self-absorbed crackpot shaman’ responds
In his Saturday feature (May 8, 2010 Delusional: Movement to depose psychiatry emerges from the shadows), writer Joseph Brean referred to me as a “self-absorbed crackpot shaman”. This has spurred me to share some of the rich traditions of shamanism that I have been learning for the past few years. Read full story from nationalpost.com

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News & Submissions 5/18/2010

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Humanists join Hertfordshire Police chaplaincy team
The chaplaincy team has 20 members from a range of faiths, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Paganism. Read full story from bbc.co.uk

Religion, Bigotry, and Political Hypocrisy
Pat Buchanan, in his usual less-than-charming manner, brought up a point last week about the religious diversity (or lack thereof) of the Supreme Court. Buchanan pointed out that, if Elena Kagan is confirmed to the highest court (as seems likely), there will be only two religions represented on the court — Judaism and Catholicism. He further points out that the court will be one-third Jewish, when Jews account for only two percent of the American population. Now, aside from the highly amusing spectacle of right-wingers advocating some sort of quota system, I think there’s a deeper point here than Buchanan’s “pity the unrepresented Protestant majority” theme. Because, even though virtually no politician would ever admit it, there is indeed a widespread (but unacknowledged) religious bigotry in America. Read full story from huffingtonpost.com

Pagan police ‘madness’
The right for pagan police officers to celebrate their festivals has been described by a Euro MP as “politically correct madness.” Read full story from rochdaleonline.co.uk

Have a voodoo curse? You can call police, but there’s not much they can do
Delray BeachMost people would have walked right by the small rock sprinkled with orange dust. But Farel Paul became paralyzed with fear. He was convinced someone cast a voodoo spell on him by leaving the rock by his car door. Read full story from sun-sentinel.com

Does postcard solve ghost riddle?
One of Shropshire’s most sensational mysteries – the spooky riddle of “The Wem ghost” – may at last have been solved by eagle-eyed Shropshire Star reader Brian Lear. Read full story from shropshirestar.com

Malawi convicts couple for being gay
A Malawi gay couple have been convicted of having a criminal relationship and could face up to 14 years in jail under the country’s colonial-era laws. Read full story from independent.co.uk

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