Obama's special Message to Hajj

Los Angeles Times Article

President Obama sent out a special message to all the people who were performing Hajj this year, and to the Muslim's in the United States and all around the world who were celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. Even with the scare of H1N1 flu, many traveled to perform the Hajj with such dedication and love for there God. Many of the white-robed men who went out to perform Hajj, came prepared with masks to protect themselves from any viruses. The Department of Health Services warned the whited-robed men to stay away from large crowds, but many still showed. The department had set up many stations and thermal cameras to ensure they safety of all the people. The government had helped a religious event, to make sure that millions of men wouldn't not get sick and return to their homes and endanger there communities. The government and religious groups work together more often then thought because of the large amounts of people traveling for religious purposes or for celebrations.

Rebuliding the Economy

Article

As our economy keeps getting worse, many people are turning to religion as something that they can count on, something that is consistent. Many charities are losing money since many are not able to donate because of the tight leash we are all on this holiday season. Many understand that this will no be a quick recovery but they are worried that they will not be able to within stand this economic recession. For example the article discuss that donations to the nation's largest nonprofits, including prominent universities, hospitals and foundations, are expected to fall 9% this year, according to a survey by The Chronicle of Philanthropy last month. This is the steepest drop the publication has reported in 17 years of surveying the 400 largest charities in the United States. The countries richest people had met in New York for a secret meeting to discuss this downfall and how they could help these charities survive since they help hundreds of American citizens. Countries are looking to religious groups to help out there charities, they are looking to religious groups to volunteer and to donate money to their organizations.

Hate Crimes Spike

Article

The article discuss the recent hate crime spikes within religion, race, and sexual orientation. In October when the federal legislation expanded federal hate crime laws to include protections for homosexuals many of the conservation religious leaders were the biggest opponents of these laws. Many of these religiously motivated hate crimes were racially against African American, in 2008 there was an 8 percent increase. As the rise in anti-black crimes increased the attacks against whites decreased from 2007 to 2008. The article discusses the 208 survey, on data about more law enforcement agencies than ever, but just 15% of them had been reported a bias crime and nearly and 85% reported no hate crimes in there areas.
These crimes are against different religions and races, and the lawmakers have to make laws to ensure that these people don't get killed. As the economy goes down and many more people will be unemployed, hate crimes will spike even higher.

Religion-based Hate Crimes

Article

In Washington a "Report finds religion-based hate crimes on the rise", people being attached because for their religious views has been increasing since 2001. The article discusses the number of crimes that are targeting Jews or Jewish institutions has increased in 2008. There were a reported 1,013 hate crimes just against the Jews last year, which according to statistics is two-thirds of all the religious hate crimes last year. This past year has been the highest percent of hate crimes since the 9/11 attack in 2001. From 2007 to 2008 hate crimes had rose slightly, but this years the attacks aimed at ethnicity and sexual orientation accounting for much of the balance. The religious attacks seem unreal in a country that is based on freedom of religion, the fear factor in the hate crimes account for most of the damage. Since many of us don't understand other religions other than the ones we follow there is a constant misunderstanding and prejudice against one another. The saddest part is that people are not curious enough to just understand and respect each other religious views but are afraid and want to challenge one another.

Indian Celebrities Speak Out

Article

A year after the attacks in Mumbai, bollywood celebrities, politicians, sportsmen, and man more gather to remember those that were lost that day. Actor Shah Rukh Khan spoke about the many "rakshas" in every religion causing terror. Many of them spoke on how the city had united in this time of difficulty and how the city had grown tremendously because of it. The reminded everyone that terror had no religion and that these people were just causing harm by corrupting what is supposed to pure and holy.
The message was clear that terror has no part in religion, though it seems to affect every country. In America, terrorists crashed into the beloved Twin Towers, in London terrorists bombed the underground railway system which is used many thousands of residents, and in India these grand hotels were held hostage and killed. Though there are many terrorist attacks I didn't not mention, the occurrence of terrorist attacks are becoming more frequent. Even though President Bush called a war on terror, nothing has changed since these terrorists find Americans not in the United States but in other countries to kill to send America a message that they won't stop. But in this article they call on people to unite, to understand that terrorism is not a religion and if we stay together they can do no harm.

So Much Jumble with Religion and Politics in the Swiss Land

Article

The article focuses on Swiss voters who backed minaret ban. Many Swiss voters have approved a right-wing backed proposal to ban construction of new minarets, initial projections showed on Sunday, a surprise result that could damage Switzerland's economic ties with Muslim states. Both the Swiss government and parliament had rejected the initiative as violating the Swiss constitution, freedom of religion and the nation's cherished tradition of tolerance. The United Nations human rights watchdog has also voiced concerns. In Geneva, home to United Nation humanitarian agencies, voters appeared overwhelmingly to have rejected the initiative by nearly 60%, according to Swiss television. The United Nations need to step in the voting issues in Switzerland, shows how interconnected the world government and sate governments are connected.

Religion Dictates Politics

Article

The Manhattan Declaration was a propaganda stunt sponsored by conservative right wing Christians intent to portraying Christians as victims of a secular America. The Declaration is in actuality an attempt to hi-jack American culture, and force a theocracy upon an unsuspecting and unwilling American public. In America, we dont have to bow to the ignorance and supersition of silly pretenders thumping their magic book, no matter how important those pretenders might think they are. The Manhattan Declaration represents the greatest threat we face as a species, the threat from religious ignorance and superstition. The article discuss how people use think their belief in the bible will just automatically give them power in America. That people will listen to them because they believe they are connected to a high power and the rest of us are not.

Economic Effects of Religion

Article

The article discusses a pair of Harvard researchers recently examined 40 years of data from dozens of countries, trying to sort out the economic impact of religious beliefs or practice. They found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell. The two collected data from 59 countries where a majority of the population followed one of the four major religions, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism. They ran this data which was covered from 1981 to 2000, measuring things like levels of belief in God, afterlife beliefs and worship attendance. Their results show a strong correlation between economic growth and certain shifts in beliefs, though only in developing countries. All developing countries are persuaded easily and are vulnerable to help if religious organizations go in and show that they will be there people are willing to commit to them and become apart of their communion.

"Imam: Fort Hood suspect asked help finding wife"

Article



Though CNN's article "Imam: Fort Hood suspect asked help finding wife" subtly leads us to believe that Hasan's acts were rebellious. Brian Todd's article on CNN, had interviewed the few Islamic leaders willing to speak out about Hasan, all stated "everything that he did is against the teachings of Islam. Killing fellow soldiers, fellow citizen men and women, the shooting, the bloodshed, speaks of someone who did not understand his faith very well.Islam is against going to strip clubs, but it's also against going to strip clubs, but it's also killing fellow citizens." Imama Yahya Hendi, a Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University was one of the few that spone out stating that Hasan's actions were not based off of his religion but as some sort of hatred act. Ford discuss how Hasan was in search of a wife, Hendi was the third imam to discuss this CNN, which makes readers believe that he was in search for someone who would remain with him throughout his military career but was unable to find one. The manager of a local strip club states that he has seen Hasan vist periodically. All these statements made by Ford in his article don't seem to exhibit any substantial evidence to why Hasan would do such a horrific thing. The article just confuses readers to believe that Hasan's search for a wife was because he was a traditional Islamic man, but he had visited strip clubs which was against his religion. These statements subtly make it seem as if Hasan was a devoted Muslim but moved away from his religion when he could not find a campanion. The article seems to neglect the many men who are in the army, who are said to be devoted Christians, Catholics, or any religion may visit strip clubs frequently.

Injecting Religion into Politics

Article

The article is on religion and politics during the subsequent discussion about the point that religious and political issues are blurred and meshed into one. IT then discuss the common practice to use religious means for political ends and preventing these institutions to become separate. Personally, I do not see how the government is trying to beat down our religious beliefs. I do seem them insuring the free practice thereof for all people, regardless of their belief system. The founders and the framers of the Constitution had a wide range of religious faith, from atheism to deism to Christianity. The document they produced avoided anyone faith to ensure everyone's freedom. Saying that our nation and constitution was founded on Judeo-Christian principles is not completely try.

Africa Needs Help

Article

On November 30, the world will come together to spread the awareness of the global epidemic of AIDS. But in Africa, it is another story. The continent seems to occupy the leading number of men and women who are HIV-positive. Travis Kavulla asks the world to please help him in this fight against AIDS in Africa, and calls to the world to donate money to his charity so that they can afford to pass out more condoms. Many Pentecostalism's faith healing treatment for AIDS is spurious in the extreme, it's mistake to think, as Westerners often do, that it's the refuge of the desperate and the poor. Relying on spiritual intervenes is standard practice even for the upwardly mobile which is stemming from the sensible position that when is problem has a spiritual cause, a spiritual solution is called for. There is no cure for AIDS but there is a solution that can help Africa which is a break through of behavioral change. In a society that associates ailments with individual and collective moral wronging doing, so that people understand sexual behavior. In Africa, the governments of the different states are not stepping up to prevent this on going crisis so many religious groups have stepped in to spread awareness and to help provide medical help many of the people need.

Talking about Religion

Article

Tim Allen, the journalist of this article, starts of the article with asking the most controversial universal question that always tends to stir up passion, curiosity and self- reflection: "What is God?" Peter Rodger's new film, "Oh My God", in which he asks this question in 23 countries around the world in which these process creates a tapestry that is both breathtaking and hopefully according to Allen. Peter Rodger wanted to look at at God as a concept and be as objective as possible. He wanted to get as far way from preconceived ideas as possible to see what he could actually find. He would change the phrase from "who is god?" to "what is god?" which would have people look at God from an outside perspective rather than an inside perspective. The movie shows how people tend to make their political decisions off of religious views, and how people want a president or just any politician to be religious. Many believed that a politician must believe in God because of His importance in our world.

Fort Hood Shootings

Dallas New: Fort Hood capitain: Hasan wanted patients to face war crime charges



The Dallas Morning News took a different stance on the Fort Hood Shotting, than President Obama would have wanted. Brooks Egerton the journatlist who titles his latest article on the Fort Hood Shootings, "Fort Hood captain: Hasan wanted patients to face war crime charges." Just within Egerton's title we can feel the harsh tone he has taken to Nidal Malik Hasan's unexplainable act. In Egerton's article he believed that "the revelation add to portrait of Hasan as a man at odds with many of those around him - emotionally , religiously, and ideologically. He was, by various accounts, lonely, paranoid, and increasingly zealous in his fundamentalist Islamic believes. He has been writing e-mails to a radical cleric in Yemen who called the U.S. war on terror a "war against Muslims" and advocated killing soldiers." The harsh implications Egerton makes about Hasan's intentions make readers assume that it was his Islamic beliefs that caused him to do such a horrific thing. Egerton uses words "lonely" and "paranoid" to describe Hasan, then he goes on to subtly offended Islamic beliefs by stating that he was some sort of terrorist.

Salt Lake City Mormons

Article

There's been a lot to talk about on the Mormon-media front -- everything from PBS's "Religion and Ethics" coverage of the makeover of Salt Lake's downtown to an independent look at the coverage of Mormons during the Maine same-sex marriage campaign. I guess the Mormon point of view is supposed to be represented in the report by an LDS store owner and the former editor of Sunstone. That said, I didn't hear any balance from voices explaining the benefits of this project. Instead, there is much speculation and many unanswered questions. The Mormon Media Observer is usually impressed by the quality, accuracy and fairness that the Religion and Ethics brand carries with it. In particular, some are worried an influx of Mormons will change the downtown culture. Some of the statements border on fear-mongering. Salt Lake City, Utah is a city that is predominantly Mormon, but those that are not and have been living there for decades fear that the culture of the city is changing to the needs of Mormon families. There is a fear that this religious will change the state in all, already a conservative state may change many of its laws to fit into the Mormon way.

Abortion Restrictions

Article

The title of the article "Abortion Restrictions In House Bill Show Power of Organized Religion in Politics" by Dan Carter, discuss the Catholic Church successfully weaseled their abortion rights into the newly passed House health care bill. Carter states that this is not the first times that a religious organization has persuaded the lawmakers by using their power, money, and influence to merge their views into public policy. As many Democrats celebrated the passage of the health care reform bill, the win was bittersweet since Democratic Rep. Bart Stupack offered an amendment that blocks those who receive federal health care subsidies or sign up for the public option from receiving any coverage for elective abortions. This past summer, Catholic bishops had began writing the campaign threatening to pull support for any health care bill that allowed federal dollars to directly or indirectly be spent on selective abortions. For many years the Catholic Church has advocated for universal health care, and has become the Democratic Parties biggest allies on this issue, and their loss of support would be a major let down for the reform. But the Catholic Church is not the only religious organization in the recent years to use its power to change public policy. Religious groups have major influence in public policy since of the lawmakers are religious, or they use there power and money to persuaded people to be against the laws.

Lets Talk about Health Care

Washington Post Article

Perry Bacon Jr. came online to answer questions about the new health care bill that many people had. Many worried that abortion laws would change, and that the coverage that they may be receiving now might be taken away. Bacon answered the questions about abortion on how the Republican party compared to the Democratic party has been reacting to this new bill. Since abortion gets some many religious people very rallied up Bacon, seems to answer the questions with careful analysis and with proper words to ensure not to offend anyone. Many were concerned that every member of the congress pushed their personal beliefs on ever issue. I think the members who voted for that amendment live in conservative places and will do just fine in a primary. One viewer was concerned that it was a mistake to think that the bishops speak for all Catholics. Since the sex-scandal cover-up the bishops have lost a great deal of moral clout with the laity. They obsession with abortion over all other moral issues make them look like a mere arm of the Republic party. Many Catholics don't tend to agree with many bishops on this health care issue.