The Cancun “Green Dragon” Freak Out!
Remember how I mentioned the invocation of the Mayan goddess Ixchel at the opening of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico? At the time I noted that it would most likely confirm the greatest fears of those conservative Christians who see environmentalism as a stalking horse for Pagan religion, a “Green Dragon” that must be opposed. Read full story from wildhunt.org

Pagan prisoners and press prejudices
The Metro‘s news room yesterday must have echoed to the sound of the bottom of barrels being scraped, as the paper chose to put a story about the rights of Pagan prisoners on today’s front page (7 December).

Pagan prisoners are to be allowed four religious festivals off work each year, in a similar way to Jewish, Muslim or Christian prisoners. This is a welcome recognition of the right to freedom of religion. Many offenders have abused others’ freedom, but a civilised society responds by upholding human rights for all, not denying them. Read full story from ekklesia.com

Two maids jailed, to be lashed for sorcery
A Saudi court gave heavy jail sentences to two Indonesian housemaids and ordered them lashed 700 times with a whip on charges of practising witchcraft to extort money from their employers, a local daily reported on Monday.

The two maids, aged 33 and 25 years, had used clothes and other personal items to cast a spell on the man and his family in Riyadh since they started working for him nearly three years ago, ‘Alyoum’ newspaper said.

The court in the Saudi capital was told that the two maids used their magic skills to control the family’s life and drain their employer’s financial resources. Read full story from emirates247.com

Retreating Mountain Glaciers Pose Freshwater Shortage
Norway said yesterday it will spend $12 million to expand monitoring of Himalayan glaciers and help the region’s communities adapt to climate change.

The Hindu Kush-Himalayas Climate Impact Adaptation Assessment Programme will run for five years, carried out by Norway’s Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, the U.N. Environment Programme and the Katmandu, Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

“The overarching theme is people plagued by either too much or too little water in these regions,” said Bjorn Brede Hansen, deputy director-general of the Section for Environment and Sustainable Development within Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “This is really the framework for everything — agriculture, livelihoods … [the role of] women.” Read full story from scientificamerican.com

Embattled N.Y. imam launches initiative to bridge discord
New York (CNN) — The controversial head of a Muslim congregation in New York announced the launch of a “multinational, multifaith movement” meant to improve understanding and build trust between “people of all cultures and faith traditions,” according to a statement released Tuesday.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the public face of a recent political firestorm surrounding the construction of an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan, is now spearheading what he calls the Cordoba Movement.

The initiative is meant to broaden his groups’ work in promoting religious tolerance and “expand learning among Muslims, Jews, Christians and people of all faiths,” the statement said.

“We must retake the discourse among religions and cultures from the hands of the extremists around the world who benefit from hatred and violence,” Rauf said in the statement. “We must stop this downward spiral of hatred, mistrust and misunderstanding if our world is to have a peaceful future.” Read full story from cnn.com

Divine dispatches: a religion roundup
Don’t know about divine dispatches but I could certainly do with some divine inspiration. Maybe it will bite me on the bum while I’m writing this. Am suffering from a terrible bout of existential angst.

✤ Retailers in Japan have pulled a Nazi costume from their stores following a complaint from a US-based Jewish group. The Simon Wiesenthal Centre wrote a letter asking the Don Quixote discount chain to remove the uniforms “replete with swastikas” from its shelves. Rabbi Abraham Cooper said: “I note also your corporate guidelines which states in part, ‘Besides following the law as a member of the corporate citizen, we believe taking social responsibility is true compliance … We do not accept any unreasonable requests from antisocial sources’.” The outfits consisted of a black jacket with a red swastika armband in a package featuring an illustration that resembled Adolf Hitler, while also carrying the phrase “Heil Hitler” in Japanese characters. The outfit cost £38 and was available in at least two stores in Tokyo.

The company making the product said it had never received a complaint in seven years. “This was meant purely as a joke, as something that would easily be recognisable. If we have complaints we will certainly stop sales,” said a spokesman for Aico. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Sufi’s mark annual ritual in Egypt (source cnn)

Skeptic Michael Shermer on Atheism, Happiness, and the Free Market(source ReasonTV)

Christians Hire Stalker-Truck for Atheist Bus Ads (source AtheistMediaBlog)