May 2
By Papri
Book: “
Strong Religion, Zealous Media”; Author: Pradip Ninan Thomas; Publisher: Sage Publications; Pages: 207
The book is a result of a two-year study done in Chennai by Pradip Ninan Thomas, an associate professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland, and naturally an academic point of view.
“(It was) inspired by a comment about conversions and riots in Gujarat by the historian William Dalrymple in an article several years ago,” Thomas told IANS.
“It suddenly opened my eyes to the fundamentalism that is getting entrenched in Christianity across the world, in Brazil, (South) Korea, Africa and also in India.”
One of the reasons why Thomas took up the study of modern-day Christian fundamentalism in Tamil Nadu is because as many as 62 million people in the southern state follow the religion.
“
Chennai is today considered the fastest-growing hub of Christianity in South Asia,” he says.
May 4
Re: The National Identity Project
Aditi makes a very important point:
I feel that this forum is a great avenue but
we are not harvesting the power of social networking to the fullest to
promote this concept of a "National Identity" - aptly named by Mr.
Malhotra as "the National Identity Project". Any thoughts on how we can
best utilize social media to this end.
Rajiv Malhotra agrees and really exposes the state of mind of most Hindus online:
"I couldn't agree more. Most of the so-called "activists" are hyper-excited to voice their sentiments loudly, but they are not taking up the Indian National Identity Project in a strategic, systematic sense.
They want to make an occasional noise here and there, one that brings instant visibility to them, a brief moment of glory in cyberspace. They tend to repeat this in one forum after another, saying more or less the same things they and
others have said for 10 years or longer. All this is the easy, lazy way to feel important. But where's the hard working, dedicated and intelligent person who is willing to sacrifice time, personal resources and even considerable risk?
Ask them to do something SPECIFIC and CONCRETE and they will run away with all sorts of excuses or lofty theories to argue that nothing needs to be done. I am sad to say that most of these "activists" are a self-aggrandizing bunch... "
May 4
Chitra posts:
Here's a sign of things to come. The
same conditions that help Islamic fundamentalism to take root –
economic hardship, political demagoguery – are working relentlessly and
insidiously not just to weld religion and politics -- but to establish
Christianity as the sole defining faith of America.
... Mike Huckabee …recently said that all Americans should be "forced at gunpoint" to listen to this guy.
May 4
China and the breakup of India
A fascinating article that details China's very long-term strategy
in relation to India can be found at the link below. Here are a several
very revealing...
May 8
Barton’s Contempt for Religious Freedom
By Dan
So did the nation’s Founders intend the
Constitution to treat all Americans equally, regardless of their
religion? A court brief recently filed by his Texas-based WallBuilders
organization makes it pretty clear that David Barton doesn’t think so.
WallBuilders, which opposes separation of church and state, has filed the brief in a federal appeals court that is considering a religious discrimination case
in California. The case involves a Wiccan clergyman the state of
California would not hire as a prison chaplain because of his religious
beliefs. California law limits the position only to Protestants,
Catholics, Jews, Muslims and Native Americans...
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