Category Archives: Religion

French court upholds ban on girls wearing abayas in schools

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State council rejected complaints that ban was discriminatory and could incite hatred against Muslims

France’s top administrative court has upheld a government ban on girls in state schools wearing abayas, rejecting complaints that it was discriminatory and could incite hatred.

The government announced just before schools reopened this week that the abaya, a long, flowing dress worn by some Muslim women, would no longer be allowed because it violated the French principle of secularism, or laïcité.

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French schools send home dozens of girls wearing Muslim abayas

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Girls who refused to remove banned garment given letter saying ‘secularism is not a constraint, it is a liberty’, says minister

On the first day of the new academic year French schools sent home dozens of girls for refusing to remove their abayas, the education minister said on Tuesday.

Defying a ban on the Muslim garment, nearly 300 girls showed up on Monday morning wearing an abaya, Gabriel Attal told the BFM broadcaster. Most agreed to change, but 67 refused and were sent home, he said.

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Facility accused of exorcisms and gay conversion practices applied for funding a month after Morrison announced it

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Freedom of information documents show officials scrambling for information after then PM announced $4m for Esther Foundation

The Esther Foundation – a rehabilitation facility accused of performing exorcisms and gay conversions – applied for “promised funding” a month after the funding had been announced.

Freedom of information documents show the health department rushing to get information after the then prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced $4m for the group in the lead-up to the 2019 election.

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Travel firms urged to halt trips to Uyghur region over China rights abuses

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Exclusive: Report says optics of western firms organising Xinjiang tours amid ‘crimes against humanity are disastrous’

Uyghur advocates have called on western tourism companies to stop selling package holidays that take visitors through Xinjiang, where human rights abuses by authorities have been called a genocide by some governments.

The request comes as China reopens to foreign visitors after the pandemic, and as its leader, Xi Jinping, calls for more tourism to the region.

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The ‘false prophet’ v the pope: Argentina faces clash of ideologies in election

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Javier Milei, a culture war populist and sex coach who won country’s open primary, rages at ‘communist’ pontiff as he sets his sights on becoming president

In one corner of the ring stands Javier Milei, 52, self-described former tantric sex coach, outsider anarcho-capitalist and frontrunner in Argentina’s upcoming presidential elections; in the other, his compatriot Pope Francis, 86, world champion of the poor, repeatedly derided by Argentina’s likely next president as “a fucking communist” and “the representative of the evil one on Earth” for promoting the doctrine of “social justice” to aid the underprivileged.

Milei, a political unknown until 2020, has pledged to wage a “cultural battle” to transform Argentina into a libertarian paradise where capitalist efficiency replaces social assistance, taxes are reduced to a minimum and cash-strapped individuals are allowed to sell their body organs on the open market.

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Reforms needed after ‘horrendous’ Catholic church approach in paedophile priest cases, lawyers say

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Lawyers say strategy a ‘matter of continuing concern’ after church succeeds in permanently blocking claim by two Indigenous men

Lawyers for two Indigenous abuse survivors have called for reforms to address the “horrendous” Catholic church strategy of seeking to permanently block cases where alleged paedophile priests have died.

On Wednesday, the church was successful in permanently blocking a claim made by two Indigenous survivors relating to alleged abuse committed by David Joseph Perrett, an Armidale assistant priest and convicted child abuser, whose crimes the church has known about since 1995.

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Wellbeing of non-religious ADF personnel at risk, former recruiter says

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Number of evangelical chaplains has increased in recent years despite majority of Australian defence force personnel not being religious

Defence must recruit secular alternatives to religious chaplains or face increasing risks to its members’ health and wellbeing, according to a former top military recruiter.

Col Phillip Hoglin, now a reservist and military researcher, said the Australian defence force (ADF) is becoming less religious, but has only a handful of secular support officers.

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Alabama priest ‘groomed young girls’ before fleeing to Italy with 18-year-old

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Alex Crow was previously accused of acting inappropriately with students and remains under orders by archdiocese to return home

A Roman Catholic priest in Alabama who fled to Europe with a recent high school graduate whom he met through his work has drawn scrutiny from law enforcement and been told to stop presenting himself in public as a cleric.

Alex Crow, an expert in the theological study of demons and exorcism, is suspected of having “groomed [multiple] young girls” before going to Italy with an 18-year-old, according to an interview that local sheriff Paul Burch recently gave to Fox Nation’s Nancy Grace. The teen’s family has been trying to convince her to return home.

In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International.

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Catholic church uses death of paedophile priest in bid to stop survivor suing NSW diocese, court hears

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Church claims it cannot get fair trial over alleged abuse by the notorious David Joseph Perrett in legal tactic that has drawn widespread criticism

The Catholic church is seeking to use using the death of a “prolific paedophile” priest to permanently prevent a dying Indigenous man from seeking justice for alleged abuse suffered on camping trips in rural New South Wales.

Two survivors are suing the church’s Armidale diocese for the alleged abuse by notorious priest David Joseph Perrett during camping trips from an Aboriginal mission in the mid-1970s.

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Mob attacks churches in eastern Pakistan after blasphemy claim

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Christian family accused of desecrating copy of Qur’an, setting off rampage in Faisalabad

Hundreds of Muslim men have attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan, vandalising several churches and a cemetery and setting scores of houses on fire, after accusing its members of desecrating a copy of the Qur’an.

Hundreds of people armed with sticks and rocks stormed a predominantly Christian area in Faisalabad on Wednesday. Images on social media showed smoke rising from church buildings and people setting fire to furniture.

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Lebanon in move to ban Barbie film for ‘promoting homosexuality’

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Culture minister asks general security agency to act to prevent screening as anti-LGBT rhetoric ramps up

Lebanon’s culture minister moved to ban the film Barbie from the country’s cinemas on Wednesday, saying it “promoted homosexuality” and contradicted religious values.

Mohammad Mortada is backed by the powerful Shia Muslim armed group Hezbollah, whose head, Hassan Nasrallah, has ramped up his rhetoric against the LGBT community, saying it poses an “imminent danger” to Lebanon and should be “confronted”.

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‘How will any Muslim feel safe?’ Spate of attacks increases tensions in India

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With elections due next year, there are fears unrest will grow as the ruling BJP faces criticism over its alleged inaction

An imam stabbed and shot to death in a mosque that was then burned to the ground. A young doctor, walking home, set upon by an armed mob who thrashed and molested her. A railway officer, boarding a train, prowled the carriages for his targets and shot dead three men. The incidents, which all took place in India this week, were seemingly unconnected, yet the victims were united by a common factor: they were all Muslim.

Since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) came to power in 2014, led by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, incidents of sectarian violence targeting the Muslim minority, who make up about 14% of the population, have become increasingly frequent.

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‘Our biggest challenge is simply to exist’: atheist society fights for legal recognition in God-fearing Kenya

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Non-believers say their civil liberties are at stake in a court battle against a bishop who wants to strip them of legal recognition

Kenya’s first atheist group is battling to keep legal recognition in a case filed by a Christian bishop seeking to suspend its registration.

The Atheists in Kenya Society (AKS) said basic civil liberties hung in the balance as it prepares to file a submission on Monday in response to a petition presented against the group and the Kenyan registrar of societies by Stephen Ndichu.

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Rare stamp that offered fast track to heaven to go on display in UK

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Stamp for papers that enabled ‘fast-track’ through purgatory will be on show at a Hampshire priory

A seal matrix used to authenticate medieval indulgences and offer a fast track to heaven in exchange for cash is to go on display at a Hampshire priory after spending 500 years buried in a field.

The small carved mould, dating between 1470 and 1520, was found by a metal detectorist two miles from Mottisfont, an Augustine priory and site of pilgrimage near Romsey, Hampshire, that is now owned by the National Trust.

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Swedish PM ‘extremely worried’ as more apply to burn Qur’an

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Ulf Kristersson says ‘there is a clear risk of something serious happening’ amid growing Muslim anger at the attacks on Islam’s holy book

The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has said that he is “extremely worried” about the consequences if more demonstrations go ahead in which the Qur’an is desecrated, amid growing Muslim anger at a series of attacks on Islam’s holy book.

Attacks on the Qur’an in Sweden and Denmark have offended many Muslim countries, including Turkey, whose backing Sweden needs to join Nato – a goal of Stockholm’s after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Russia ‘using disinformation’ to imply Sweden supported Qur’an burnings

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Swedish government says ‘Russia-backed actors’ attempting to damage country’s bid to join Nato

Sweden has been the target of a disinformation campaign by “Russia-backed actors” attempting to damage the image of the Nato candidate country by implying it supported recent burnings of the Qur’an, its government has said.

“Sweden is right now the target of influence campaigns, supported by states and state-like actors, whose purpose is to harm Sweden and Swedish interests,” the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.

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Barbie release delayed in Pakistan’s Punjab province over ‘objectionable content’

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Film being reviewed to ensure it is not violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values

The launch of the highly anticipated Hollywood movie Barbie has been delayed in Pakistan’s Punjab province over “objectionable content”.

Officials said the film would be reviewed and needed clearance from the provincial boards that censor scenes violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values.

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Manipur: why is there conflict and how is the government responding?

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As violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities continues in north-east India, campaigners criticise the authorities’ reaction and both sides warn of civil war

Manipur is a state in north-east India with a population of more than three million. It has been embroiled in an ethnic conflict since early May, fought between the majority Meitei community and the minority Kuki tribe.

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Protests across Muslim nations after Sweden allows second attack on Qur’an

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Stockholm apologetic amid fears Turkey may delay lifting Nato veto following desecration of holy book

Thousands of people took part in protests across Muslim majority nations on Friday after a second incident in Sweden involving the desecration of the Qur’an.

The episode left the Swedish government apologetic and fearing that the outrage in the Middle East may delay Turkey lifting its veto on Sweden’s membership of Nato.

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Iraq expels Swedish ambassador after desecration of Qur’an in Stockholm

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Baghdad also recalls chargé d’affaires from Sweden as protesters storm Swedish embassy in Iraq

Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador on Thursday in protest at a planned burning of the Qur’an in Stockholm that had prompted hundreds of protesters to storm and set alight the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.

A government statement said Baghdad had also recalled its chargé d’affaires in Sweden, and Iraq’s state news agency reported that Iraq had suspended working permits for Swedish businesses such as telecom giant Ericsson on Iraqi soil.

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