Recently in Religion Category

I know this doesn't sound like it belongs here by the title, but I think it has some important points to make. Last night, South Park was censored by Comedy Central (Viacom) for attempting to depict Muhammad (the prophet of Islam forbidden to be shown). His image was censored as well as any his name being bleeped out and the end message (ironically the end message was supposed to refer to what fear and terror does to our freedom). Do we really have free speech in this country? The episode was censored beyond what the creators allowed due to threats from one Muslim group. Also ironic is the fact that the show depicted Muhammad once before prior to 9/11, but now it's not allowed? 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36648454/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

There has been recent lawsuits against a christian club on the campus of Hastings in San Francisco.  A homosexual student wanted to join the Christian club, but wasn't allowed membership due to their sexual orientation. 

"A federal judge threw out the Christian group's lawsuit claiming its First Amendment rights of association, free speech and free exercise had been violated, a decision that was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a two-sentence opinion in 2004."

There have been heated debates on if this should be allowed or not between the people in power.  There have been previous rulings on interracial dating beliefs.  There has been past troubles with the Christian Legal Society and them having members join, who didn't, at least what they thought, have the same beliefs as their own. 

Their are many arguments in the article for both sides.  I think that if someone is a Christiam they should be able to join the group, especially if they are a college funded group, people who go to that college should join.  In not having members of the college join, who do believe in the Christian faith, they are creating discrimination on the campus, and it is letting students discriminate against one another based on either race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc...

 

I came across the following article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36449471/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts about a man named Albert Snyder. His 20 year old son was killed in Iraq four years ago and now he is in a legal battle against the Westboro Baptist Church. Church members picketed his son's funeral with signs reading "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "You're Going to Hell". The church, which is mostly comprised of the Phelps family, has targeted several soldier funerals and claim that "military deaths are the work of a wrathful God who punishes the United States for tolerating homosexuality." This is completely perposterous to most people, but the question becomes: When do we draw the line when it comes to freedom of speech? It is illegal for someone to yell "Fire!" in a public place, but it is perfectly legal to express such hatred towards others because of their sexuality, race, ethnicity, and the like. I have a serious problem with this. Next week the U.S. Supreme Court decide whether or not the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church are protected by the first ammendment. What do you guys think? Where do we draw the line in terms of freedom of speech?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MRWqlf_8M8

 

This video comes from a supposed organization/church. Along with this video there are many other videos from the same guy preaching hate against gays. A lot of controversy has risen from the videos, because it is questionable if this is a joke or real. It is hard to say for sure, because the videos contain "humor" like referring to things such as back door or get on your knees, but then there is a full website dedicated to his "organization".

Do you think this is real, or not? I encourage people to look at his website that they show at the beginning of the video. If you think it is real, what are the implications? such as religion and how he is trying to "change" gays to straight. If you think it is fake, how is it that this type of thing is funny? what are the implications of this side?

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/57389/bias-incidents-at-u.c.-campuses-raising-alarm-of-bigotry/

I thought this was a fitting article after reading Billig. Do you think the incidents on some of California's campuses could be attributed to pockets of hate or something else (the article mentions media attention and adolescence as a couple)?

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=487661&gt1=28102

ATLANTA (AP) -- A Georgia man who posted a video of himself on the Internet holding a sign that said "Elton John must die" has been arrested for making terroristic threats.

"What Elton John has done is desecrated the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ," Horsley said in the video.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-catholics-gay-parents,0,7661246.story

 

This is an article about a preschooler who was not allowed to re-enroll in a Catholic school because of the sexual orientation of his parents. It is hard to believe that something like this happened in such a socially liberal town like Boulder, CO. What do you think of the school's "reasoning" for not allowing this student to come back? There is probably a certain degree of hypocrisy going on here.....if the school were to find out that one of its students or faculty was gay, would they react the same way?

Pope Benedict XVI has expressed his opinion against the proposed anti-discrimination laws in the U.K., which seek to prevent discrimination against job applicants based on race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. These new laws would also apply to religious organizations that employ lay people, which could mean legal actions against the Catholic Church for denying employment to homosexuals or transsexuals.   

One news article quotes Pope Benedict: "The effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal [of equality] has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed."

His remarks have caused discontent among secular groups, who are already planning protests during the Pope's visit to the U.K. next September. The president of the U.K. National Secular Society said: "The taxpayer is going to be faced with a bill for £20m for the visit in which he has already indicated he will attack equal rights and promote discrimination."

The news articles can be found here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/02/world/main6166603.shtml 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/02/equality-laws-unjust-pope-uk

http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=11953503

Friday afternoon  I learned about this incident while having a meeting with the Cedar Falls Police Chief, Mayor, and City Attorney. As I was showed pictures of the graffiti, seeing it i was upset knowing that this type of activity is still going on here in the city. This is the first time  mentioning anything about it, because seen it on the news.      

http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/804/

This is the link to the episode of South Park that Matt Sienkiewicz referred to multiple times in his talk tonight: "What's Under Kyle's Hat?: South Park, Antisemitism, and the Jew Joke in Multicultural America". See my comment on this under the post for this lecture if you're interested in my take on the subject.

This episode could be very offensive to some people, so just a warning. Are there any aspects of this episode (or South Park in general) that seem to cross the line of what is humor and what is wrong? Or does this type of thing seem to be the norm in popular culture today? Are you for or against some sort of regulation on offensive humor in the media? See my comment post for more discussion questions....

A parliamentary panel that wants Muslim women to stop veiling their faces recommended Tuesday that France ban such garb in public facilities, including hospitals and mass transit, and a leading panel member said he foresees such an interdiction by the end of 2010.

http://scpr.org/news/2010/01/26/french-report-wants-limits-muslim-face-veil/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+893KpccSouthernCaliforniaNews+%28KPCC%3A+News%29

And you thought your neighbor was upset when he found out the courthouse downtown WASN'T going to put up a Nativity scene this Christmas?  Try this on for size:  You know that tradition your people have had for centuries that is simply a choice of clothing?  Yeah, you're going to have to stop that now. 
     While the article linked above explains that the purported motive behind this move to ban the face coverings is driven by issues of gender equality, what happens when cultural traditions are jeopardized by those claiming to be "helping" ?  Tell you what, if they try to take away my "Noah's Ark" T-shirt and my gold cross necklace, I'm gonna lose it!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/21/muslims-face-more-bias-in_n_431004.html

"Americans are more than twice as likely to express prejudice against Muslims than they are against Christians, Jews or Buddhists, a new survey found. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they have little or no knowledge of Islam. Still, a majority dislike the faith."