Veda, Atman, Brahman

Teaching Hinduism?  Here's an excellent explanation of Atman and Brahman from Sanskrit scholar and physicist, Dean Brown.

Religion Cheat Sheet Infographic

Church Tech Today has a fun, "tongue and cheek" infographic that allows you to work out your faith by answering  questions along the maze beginning with "one  god or many?" 

Rouhani and the Human Rights of the Baha’i

Studying the Baha’i faith? Here's an article about their persecution in Iran and how their human rights should be the real test for Iran’s Rouhani.

Writing for the Washington Post, Reza Aslan, author of the new book "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth," argues that if the Iranian president is really serious about reform, "he must address the proverbial third rail in Iranian politics: the horrific human rights abuses aimed at Iran’s small yet historic Baha’i community."

The Bahá'í faith originated in Iran in 1863. A young Iranian who called himself “The Báb” founded the religion which today claims about 6 million adherents. The Bahá'í accept all religions and the divine nature of Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad.

The Iranian government has persecuted the Bahá'í community since its beginning. Muslims saw it as heretical to Islam and killed almost 20,000 followers in the mid-1800s. Bahá'í literature was banned in the 1930’s and Bahá'í marriages were not recognized. Persecution developed again in 1979 after the Iranian revolution. Authorities imprisoned thousands of followers, suspended services in holy places and shrines and destroyed or vandalized them.

Here is a 20/20 news story about Baha’i persecution in Iran. It originally aired in 1983.

Here are a few links to stories about the Baha’i persecution.

• "Silenced in Iran: The Plight of Bahai Prisoners of Conscience," from the Daily Beast
• "The systematic persecution of the Baha’i in Iran," from Iran Presswatch
• "Op-Ed: Propaganda desensitizes Iranian public to Baha'i persecution," from the Digital Journal
• "Baha'i is most persecuted religion in Iran - U.N. investigator" from Reuters.

Five Myths about Jesus

In an article for the Washington Post, author Reza Aslan outlines five common myths about Jesus. He says in the article that "no historical figure is more deeply mired in legend and myth than Jesus of Nazareth."

Aslan is the author the book, “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.”  He explains the truth behind each myth in his Post story.

1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
2. Jesus was an only child.
3. Jesus had 12 disciples.
4. Jesus had a trial before Pontius Pilate.
5. Jesus was buried in a tomb.

Sikh Professor Responds To Hate Crime Attack With 'Gratitude'

"I'm thankful for a few reasons. If they had attacked me any more violently, I may not be awake right now to tell my story. If they had attacked me even half an hour earlier, they would have harmed my wife and one-year-old son. And if they had attacked me anywhere else, I may not have had bystanders there to save me." (quoted from the Huffington Post Story)

Prabhjot Singh is a professor at Columbia University and a Sikh.  He wrote about the murder of Sikhs in a temple in Wisconsin last year. Now he is a victim.  A few  days ago he was beaten by a gang of boys.

You can read the story here at the Huffington Post. Here is another story from the New York Times and from India Ink.

Debate: Niqab or Restrictions on Niqab

Here is a very civilized and interesting five minute debate about whether there should be restrictions on wearing the niqab. Two columnists debate the issue, Nabila Ramdani and Joan Smith, both of whom write for the Guardian. The debate is part of the Guardian's Five Minute Debates, which they bill as "short, to-the-point debates on key issues of the day."

Smith argues that there are instances when the niqab should be banned. For example, if you are getting surgery you might want to see the face of your surgeon in order to build trust and  children might want to see the face of their teacher for the same reason.  The state, Smith believes, should be the guarantor of these laws.

Ramdani argues that these assumptions are based on the idea that women wearing a niqab pose a threat but can find no statistics to back it up.  Moreover, she believes that the debate has been hijacked by radical and extremist  groups. In Britain, she says that right wing politics has become acceptable, even institutionalized, and the niqab has become a "convenient problem" around which the base can rally.

Students might find the debate interesting and  could use it as a basis for further debate.

New Book: Schama's Story of the Jews

Studying Judaism? Here's a new book by Simon Schama called, The Story of the Jews, 1000 BCE to 1492.  It will come out in the US this Spring with a series from the BBC airing on PBS.

Schama is a British historian who teaches at Columbia University.  He is most well known for his book on the French Revolution called, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. He has also written widely about art. But this book covers the major events in Jewish history from the beginning to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in the late 15th century.

Here is an interview about the book and BBC series that Shchama gave Christina Amanpour earlier this week.

Here some links to reviews of the book from several British newspapers.

• Here is an excerpt from the book from The Telegraph
• A review in The Independent, in which the reviewer questions Schama's style: " ..the book reveals a surprising lack of consistency. The writing style ranges from high seriousness to Woody Allen."  
• Here is a favorable review from The Guardian and an interesting story about Schama in another issue of the Guardian.

India's Blame the Victim Satire Goes Viral

Here Bollywood actresses use sarcasm to destroy common arguments about rape in India. The clip is called "Its your Fault"  and was made by a comedy group called All India Bakchod.  According to Al Jazeera, "the video added fuel to India's ongoing debate on tackling rape, as well as raised questions about whether sarcasm was the best vehicle for the discussion." 

A Mongolian Shaman in Atheist China

We study the role of shamans in World Religions when we study indigenous religions in Africa and North America. Here is the story of a Mongolian shaman in atheist China. The Guardian suggests that the shaman's position is becoming "increasingly precarious in atheist China."

A shaman in any indigenous religion serves as an intermediary between the human and spiritual world. You can read more about shamans here at the National Geographic .

Pope Bluntly Faults Church’s Focus on Gays and Abortion

Wow! The Pope said that the the Catholic Church was "'obsessed' with preaching about abortion, gay marriage and contraception.." According to the New York Times,  the Pope was very blunt in one of his first interviews in six months. He said that the Church " should be a 'home for all' and not a 'small chapel' focused on doctrine, orthodoxy and a limited agenda of moral teachings."

One Catholic, Rev. James Martin, an editor-at-large of America, the Jesuit magazine in New York, was surprised by the Pope's comments. "He seems even more of a free-thinker than I thought — creative, experimental, willing to live on the margins, push boundaries back a little bit.”

Sukkot Explained

The Jewish festival of Tabernacle, Sukkot, begins tomorrow, Wednesday, September 18 and ends at nightfall on Tuesday, September 25. The Huffington Post has a good story about the festival and its meaning. And the website, Chabad, has more material worth investigating about the holiday as well as the animated video below.

The Niqab Debate in Britain

The debate over the veil has become a big topic in Britain. First, a judge ordered a Muslim woman testifying in court to remove her head covering or niqab while testifying. Now, Home Office minister Jeremy Browne calls for debate on whether young Muslim girls, under 18, should be allowed to wear a full head covering in public places.

Do you agree with the minister?  Read the story in the Guardian here and this one from the New York Times.

The Guardian has another interesting story in which the author argues that "the veil is a perfectly proper subject for debate in a liberal democracy – so long as Muslim women are not excluded."

It might be interesting for religion students to compare how different countries deal with this issue.

Veil or No Veil: Giving Evidence in Court

Should a Muslim woman who wears a full head covering (Niqab) remove it when giving evidence in court?  That's what a judge in a London court ruled.  He did say that the woman could be shielded by a screen and would only be seen by the jury and lawyers.

According to a story in the BBC, the judge said: "The ability of the jury to see the defendant for the purposes of evaluating her evidence is crucial."   The judge indicated that he was "uneasy" with his ruling and urged a national debate.

This might be an interesting case to discuss in a World Religions class.

Nepal or India: Where was the Buddha Born?

Where was the Buddha born? Nepal or India? Know your audience when you answer. Some Indians will be furious if you say Nepal and the Nepalese will be equally angry if you say India.

Most scholars agree that the Buddha was born around 623 BCE in Lumbini on the plains of southern Nepal. But the misconception persists, according to a story in the Huffington Post. For example, CNN analyst, Fareed Zakaria, sparked a big protest when he wrote in a recent book that the Buddha was born in India. 

To quell the debate and put the record straight, next month the Nepal government will, according to the Post, "circulate a new 100-rupee note with the imprint, “Lumbini: The Birthplace of Lord Buddha."

The Huffington Post story also has good short slide show of Buddhist sacred places.

The Five Most Contested Sites in Jerusalem

What are the five most contested sites in Jerusalem?  How many of them do your religion students know?  Here's what CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor, Daniel Burke, argues are the most contested:

1. The Temple Mount: It's here, inside the Dome of the Rock, that Abraham almost sacrificed his son, Issac, before an angel intervened.
2. Haram al-Sharif: Muslims call the Temple Mount "Haram al-Sharif' or Noble Sanctuary. After completion of the Dome of the Rock, Muslims, soon after the death of the prophet, built the Al-Aqsa Mosque,which became a center of learning and attracted teachers from all over the world.
3. The Western Wall: Located at the western foot of the Temple Mount,  is the last link to the temple that Solomon built.
4. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Pictured below, the Church is the place where Jesus was crucified and buried. It is an important pilgrimage center for Christians all around the world.
5. The Garden Tomb: Believed by some to be the site for the resurrection of Jesus.

Thich Nhat Hanh Live Calligraphy Performance

Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh began auctioning his calligraphic work last week in a silent auction called "Calligraphic Meditation: The Mindful Art of Thich Nhat Hanh."  The proceeds from the sales will go back to Hahn's various monasteries. On the opening night, September 6th, Hahn gave a live performance where, according to this review in the Huffington Post, "he crafted five additional pieces of art to be auctioned off."

Hahn says that writing calligraphy is like meditation. “In my calligraphy, there is ink, tea, breathing, mindfulness and concentration. I write words or sentences that can remind people to be mindful, to wake up.,"

Thich Nhat Hanh, maybe the second most well-known Buddhist after the Dali Lama, was ordained a Buddhist monk in 1949. During the Viet Nam War he worked to bring about a reconciliation between the north and the south. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. He now lives in southern France where he founded Plum Village for monks and nuns.

Art and Activism in India since 1989: The Sahmat Collective

An exhibit of Indian art representing the work of the The Sahmat Collective opened this week at the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill.  It's a fascinating exhibit that demonstrates that art can have a clear political purpose. That's because the Sahmat Collective protests political violence, religious fundamentalism and anti-democratic forces.

The collective started in 1989 after the murder of a progressive political critic and artist, Safdar Hashmi. His death made him a symbol for the collective and according to this review,"the driving force behind its leadership in the worldwide activist art arena."

The Collective exhibit moved from Chicago to North Carolina.  The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago  has a good web page dedicated to the exhibit with a number of short clips about the Collective. Here's a clip abort Sahmat's beginning.

Photographer Transforms Hindu Deities into Contemporary Images

Manjari Sharma's photographs of ancient mystical and spiritual Hindu figures are stunning. You can see some of them here at the Huffington Post.  Some are very large and you will get a sense of this magnitude when you scroll through the images at the Post.  You can view them as a slideshow here, if you click on the show's title, Darshan, on the left sidebar.

Sharma, born in India, now works and lives in Brooklyn, NY, where she is exhibiting her photographs  at Champ Art beginning toady.

The Huffington Post characterizes Sharma's art like this: "the painstaking progress, from casting to costume design to the final digital touches, bridges the space between art and spirituality, the present and the imagined."
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What is Religion?

Andrew Brown, editor of the Guardian's Cif belief blog, wrote a series about "what is religion?"  In part 1, he discusses civil religion and the state. In Part 2, he discusses why football doesn't measure up and in part 3, he explores the role of ritual in religion.

All three parts are interesting and might work for a World Religions class and provide a basis for some discussion.

Happy Birthday Lord Ganesh!

Happy birthday, Ganesh, Hindu patron of the arts and sciences and deity of intellect and wisdom. Ganesh is one of the most popular Hindu gods and his birthday begins a 10-day festival.  According to this short overview of the celebration from the Huffington Post, the festival is celebrated all over India with special prayers,  devotional chants, and singing.

The holiday is based on the Hindu calendar and, says the Post, usually falls between August 20 and September 15th.The festival for Ganesh begins today, September 9th.  The Huffington Post has a nice slideshow of preparations for the festival and includes some great photographs of Ganesh.

Here are some links to more information about Ganesh.

•  Here is a video clip of the Ganesh Mantra
• Here's another slideshow about the birthday celebration from the BBC
• The Sanatayan Society has some great information about Ganesh and other Hindu gods
• Indian Heritage also has information about Ganesh and other Hindu gods

The Importance of Jewish Holidays by Generation

Here is a great graphic from the Public Religion Research Institute. It shows the changing values of Jews, by generation, on the importance of specific holidays. My thanks to Emma Le Neve Foster for tweeting the link.

Auschwitz Commandant's Daughter Hiding in Northern Virginia

Here is Rudolf Höss, Kommandant of Auschwitz. His daughter, Brigitte Höss, 80 years old, lives in northern Virginia and has never talked about her father's role in the Holocaust.

In a remarkable story in the Washington Post Magazine section,  we learn that "it was Rudolf Höss who designed and built Auschwitz from an old army barracks in Poland to a killing machine capable of murdering 2,000 people an hour."

Now, diagnosed with cancer, Brigitte Höss, begins to talk about the story she has kept secret even from her grand children and closest friends.

Reps Bachman & King Support Overthrow of Morsi, Praise el-Sissi

Here is Michelle Bachman, Steve King and Louie Gohmert, in Egypt supporting the overthrow of Morsi as a radical Muslim. “Together, our country, the United States and Egypt have dealt with the same enemy. It’s a common enemy," notes Bachman.”

Max Fisher of the Washington Post put the video on his blog and notes that "Bachmann’s remarks appeared deeply consistent with Egyptian state propaganda that has portrayed the Muslim Brotherhood as a secret terrorist organization and an internal enemy."

Bar Mitzvahs Get New Look to Build Faith

American Jews, like Christians, struggle with membership and youth engagement. In an attempt to reverse this trend, members of the liberal branch of Judaism called Reform, want to change the nature of the Bar or Bat Mitzvah, which has sometimes become ostentatious. (see blog post on Sam Horowitz,  and another called Bar Mitzvah Boy Goes Viral)

According to this story in the New York Times, leaders of the Reform branch believe that Bar Mitzvahs do not produce a good understanding of the Jewish faith or its spirituality.

The new initiative allows individual congregations to come up with their own program and share it with other congregations. The New York Times says that many congregations are moving in a similar direction. They want to involve the parents so the kids do not leave the synagogue after the Bar Mitzvah and, says the Times, many "want the children to spend less time learning Hebrew and memorizing prayers, and more time working as a group on sustained “social action” projects."

Religion students might read this story and compare the efforts of Jewish Reform leaders to reverse falling membership with efforts of Christian leaders to reverse similar trends in its membership.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New year festival, begins on September 4th and lasts two days. And ten days after that, Yom Kippur begins. Those ten days are called the High Holy days. The first video offers an easy to watch overview of the holiday and the second comes from students of Aish Jerusalem.

Read more about Rosh Hashanah here at the BBC and here here at Chabad. Sources for Yom Kippur also include the BBC and Chabad.

The 4 Tallest Buddhas

Statutes of Buddhas are among the tallest in the world. The Wall Street Journal recently published a slideshow of the five tallest statutes in the U.S. and  the five tallest in the world.  Four of the five tallest in the world are Buddhas. Two are in China, one is in Myanmar, and one is in Japan. The one above is the tallest at 420 feet. It's called the Spring Temple Buddha and is in China.

This is the Laykyun Setkyar Buddha in Myanmar. It is the second largest statute in the world at 381 feet.  

And here is a Japanese Buddha,Ushiku Daibutsu in Ibaraki,in Japan. It's the third largest statute int he world at 360ft.  

The fourth largest statute in the world is this Buddha called The Guanying. It's in the South Sea of Sanya, in China, and stands 354 feet tall.