QuIRP

Yippee!

2011-11-16T07:27:00.001Z

I hope u like it http://by-abcblog.com/inf.php This really works!

[Fwd: Google Alert - "ritual abuse" OR "ritual killing"]

2010-01-28T19:57:00.001Z

Google News Alert for: "ritual abuse" OR "ritual killing"

Malaysian men jailed for ritual killing of parents
BBC News
Two Malaysian cousins have been jailed for 10 years each for beating the parents of one of them to death during a ritual to expel evil spirits. ...
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We the Corporations
Connect Savannah.com
Benito Mussolini You witnessed a ritual killing last week, a public execution. Or was it a suicide? It took Republicans several years to convince Americans ...
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Tackling FGM in refugee camps

2010-01-23T22:35:00.000Z

irinnews
GOZ BEIDA, 6 January 2010 (IRIN) - The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Chad is identifying pregnant women in refugee camps who have had their genitalia cut, in order to better prepare for potential complications, according to UNHCR and its medical partners. The exercise is part of efforts in the camps to tackle the health fallout of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) as well as prevent new cutting.
Since September 2009 heath clinic workers at the Djabal camp in eastern Chad started recording how many prenatal patients had been cut; for September it was 22 among 330 women. "This helps us identify at-risk pregnancies because women with closed vaginas [resulting from FGM/C] can tear while giving birth," camp health director Nassourou Drassadou told IRIN.

Contributed by Gandolf

Google Alert - "female circumcision" OR "genital mutilation" OR "genital cut"

2010-01-23T07:55:00.001Z

Google News Alert for: "female circumcision" OR "genital mutilation" OR "genital cut"

Mauritanian Muslim imams initiate rare ban on female circumcision
Ethiopian Review
Human rights campaigners who have been struggling for years to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM) in West Africa got a boost this week as news ...
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Uganda Urged to Stop 'Anti-Gay' Bill
OneWorld.net
In another triumph for sexual and women's health, the Ugandan parliament unanimously passed a bill in early December banning female genital mutilation. ...
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Torture in Health Care
Huffington Post (blog)
Female genital mutilation is another practice that can cause severe suffering for no medical purpose. Human Rights Watch spoke with midwives and government ...
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Health Buzz: One Fifth of U.S. Kids Have High Cholesterol
U.S. News & World Report
Opponents of circumcision nevertheless call the procedure unnecessary and compare it to female genital mutilation; many contend that it's child abuse and ...
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WeNews 21 Leader Survives Quake; 4 Haitian Activists Killed
Women's eNews
A group of 30 Muslim leaders have issued a religious edict banning female genital mutilation in the West African country Mauritania, the Associated Press ...
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Many here misunderstand Islam's teaching on violence, women, member says
Evansville Courier & Press
Oppression, female circumcision and families who murder or mutilate female relatives they believe have dishonored them are all cultural trappings, ...
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Police laud Bongo Civic Union for promoting peace
Ghana News Agency
He said negative cultural practices that were against the law including female genital mutilation, elopement and widowhood rites had reduced drastically. ...
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UNICEF (press release)

UNICEF and the European Commission support campaign to end female genital ...
UNICEF (press release)
It's part of a programme that promotes human-rights-based development and encourages communities to abandon female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and ...
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Hairdos now in Indonesia Muslim clerics` crosshairs
Moneycontrol.com
... need to [proscribe] everything as haram or not. Some injustices such as polygamy and female genital mutilation are more important" than rebonding, she said.
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Where Do We Go from Here? Getting Rid of the Oligarchs
OpEdNews
No genital mutilation. No disease. No neediness. No lack. No starvation. No hoarding. No ownership. No cheating. No adultery. No hidden agenda. ...
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Vancouver Courier

Hey diddle diddle, Joni Mitchell's Fiddle
Vancouver Courier
Fans of onscreen genital mutilation and talking foxes rejoice. Things get heavy and disturbing at Vancity Theatre as Lars Von Trier's controversial and ...
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MPs debate Violence Against Women
DeHavilland (press release) (subscription)
The Government have developed a number of linked national action plans on domestic violence, which includes tackling female genital mutilation, ...
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Ending the culture of FGM

2010-01-22T21:57:00.004Z

Guardian.co.uk

When I was "circumcised" I was five or six, but it happens to girls as young as four. It starts as a ceremony – the girl is bought clothes, gold earrings and bangles. She has henna put on her hands and feet: the preliminaries are regarded as a celebration where she is the centre of attention.

But later they take her and put her in a gadha, which is shaped like a deep dish. They lay her across it and hold her legs open; there are often three people holding her very tight when she's on the gadha, two holding her legs and hands, and one holding her chest and head.

The equipment is handmade: a sharp curved knife which is not sterilised. And the girl is given no anaesthetic. It is usually mostly women in attendance. They leave a little hole for urination. There are no stitches; they treat the wound with herbs, salt and water. It bleeds a lot and the victim is in great pain. I was horribly frightened and crying. The "ceremony" takes as little as 20 minutes or as long as an hour, depending on how much the girl struggles.

Contributed by Gandolf

Doctor Graeme Reeves may face more charges

2010-01-21T21:48:00.001Z

The Australian
POLICE are considering laying a further 24 charges against a NSW doctor who is already facing 69 charges of aggravated sexual assault and female genital mutilation.
Graeme Stephen Reeves, 59, a former obstetrician from Bega on the NSW South Coast, was originally facing 17 charges, including aggravated sexual assault, indecent assault, female genital mutilation, and grievous bodily harm offences, after being charged by police in September 2008.
Last month Sex Crimes Squad detectives laid an additional 52 charges in relation to further allegations of sexual assault, indecent assault, and grievous bodily harm, putting his March trial date for the previous offences in doubt.

Contributed by Gandolf

Google Alert - animal sacrifice

2010-01-21T17:47:00.001Z

Google News Alert for: animal sacrifice

Demonizing Haiti, ignoring slavery
Ekklesia
Yet Robertson, one imagines, finds animal sacrifice and blood vows repellent, and he has no reason to be accepting of any religion other than his own, ...
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Google Alert - "the great satan"

2010-01-21T15:25:00.001Z

Google News Alert for: "the great satan"

Putting the Ph.D.'s to Work
Inside Higher Ed
... even affection, while revealing — perhaps to the astonishment of many abroad — that Americans are not the horned minions of the Great Satan. ...
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Iran blacklist puzzles Yale
Yale Daily News
... Secretary of State went to Yale Law School. America is the Great Satan. Yale hosted the infamous artist Mr. Westerfeld whose art amounts to heresy in Islam.
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A pragmatist of ease and grace
The Australian
On Iran, he helped the green movement immensely by removing the "Great Satan" card from the leadership's weakening hand. If he can target sanctions ...
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Why They're Really at War With Us
Human Events (blog)
To bin Laden and his ilk, we are the Great Satan. They hate us more than they hate Israel. As for Hamas and Hizballah -- which Pat paints as if they have ...
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History lost, history found
Cabinet.com
Perhaps Saudi Arabia will. Or Iran. Or, will they, as usual, leave it up to The Great Satan to help those who can't help themselves?
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Google Alert - religious exemption

2010-01-21T10:31:00.002Z

Google News Alert for: religious exemption

Runoff charge debated
Charleston Post Courier
There's at least one small problem with the exemption -- figuring out how to exclude the religious campgrounds and not exempt business campgrounds. ...
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Google Alert - church abuse sex OR child

2010-01-21T05:08:00.004Z

Google News Alert for: church abuse sex OR child

Chicago Breaking News - Tribune

Church music director, roommate face child porn charges
Chicago Breaking News - Tribune
The music director of a Roman Catholic parish in Glen Ellyn and his roommate have been charged with possession of child pornography. ...
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Priest taken into custody on sex assault charge
Joliet Herald News
4 by Kane County's Child Advocate Center. Detectives were reportedly on the way to interview Flores on Jan. 6, when he went missing. ...
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Google Alert - church homosexual OR gay

2010-01-21T05:08:00.003Z

Google News Alert for: church homosexual OR gay

Trial Airs Mormon Church's Role in Fight Over Prop 8
Law.com
He testified that his parents discovered a journal in which Kendall confessed homosexual thoughts, and often berated him over his orientation. ...
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Google Alert - "female circumcision" OR "genital mutilation" OR "genital cut"

2010-01-21T04:58:00.001Z

Google News Alert for: "female circumcision" OR "genital mutilation" OR "genital cut"

FORWARD Awarded £30000 To Help Protect Bristol Girls From Genital Mutilation
eGov monitor
"Female genital mutilation has very serious health implications for girls in this country. Cutting is usually performed before puberty and we estimate that ...
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Raising Awareness At Davos
Forbes (blog)
The 2010 winner, Julia Lalla-Maharajh, is pitching the cause of ending female genital mutilation. Now she gets a free trip to Switzerland--five days of ...
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Kelis makes fun of PETA
News Trends
Or female circumcision. Or the Rights of Women in America, we are still paid less for the same work as men. "Moreover, the singer took the opportunity to ...
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Live: Charlotte Gainsbourg's First Live Solo Show Literally Ever
Village Voice (blog)
... this year, she won Best Actress at Cannes for a graphic role that included her own genital mutilation; her gamine allure is frequently, mercifully, ...
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Pro-Life is a misdirection
Amador Ledger-Dispatch
In other areas, female genital mutilation, foot binding, women burning ("witch burning") and other forms of violence go back five to ten millennia after a ...
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Google Alert - religious vaccination

2010-01-21T04:56:00.005Z

Google News Alert for: religious vaccination

Muslim anger over US 'Jesus' rifles
Ninemsn
The report said the religious codes - referencing passages from the New Testament ... Disease threat as vaccination rate dropsAustralia is facing the ...

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Please donate something to help HAITI.

2010-01-21T04:56:00.003Z

Donate Directly to help Haiti, click here

Instead of praying, or being "skeptical" about praying, do something useful and give your time or money to some reputable relief organization. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS, AND MONEY TALKS.
Thanks in advance.

Google Alert - "child bride" OR "child marriage"

2010-01-21T01:52:00.001Z

Google News Alert for: "child bride" OR "child marriage"

Board of Ulema member rebukes minor marriage
Saudi Gazette
"It is impossible to use the marriage of Ayesha, the Mother of Believers (May Allah be pleased with her) as a measure for child marriage because of the ...
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Battling Female Genital Mutilation

2010-01-20T21:41:00.005Z

AllAfrica. com
Kigali — Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Lesotho and Sierra Leone have numerous cases of female genital mutilation in Africa.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) sometimes called female circumcision or female genital cutting involves the cutting of the girl's genitals in order to curb their sexual desire and preserve their sexual honour before marriage.
It comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It has no health benefits and harms girls and women in many ways.

Contributed by Gandolf

Google Alert - faith heal

2010-01-20T19:57:00.002Z

Google News Alert for: faith heal

OregonLive.com

Live blog: Prosecution calls witnesses in day two of faith healing trial
OregonLive.com
ARCHIVE: Previous stories about faith healing in Oregon. Jeffrey and Marci Beagley, members of the Followers of Christ church, are charged with criminally ...
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Google Alert - suicide bomb

2010-01-20T05:07:00.002Z

Google News Alert for: suicide bomb

Taliban Using Suicide Attacks to Hold Sway Over the US
The Epoch Times
A group of Taliban fighters stormed Kabul's capital killing five people and injuring more than 70 through the use of suicide bomb vests and firearms. ...
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World datelines
Deseret News
30 suicide bombing that killed seven CIA employees at a remote base in Khost province. JERUSALEM — Israel is arresting a growing number of prominent ...
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After Afghan Attack, Some See US Role
New York Times
Amrullah Saleh, the chief of intelligence, said the original target had been the government's central bank, which a suicide bomber tried to enter, ...
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Independent Appeal: Saved from the agony of female circumcision

2010-01-19T19:54:00.000Z

The Independant
This is Hanna Abera. She is seven. Her mother and grandmother wanted to slice off part of her genitals. But she was saved by an extraordinarily brave intervention from her aunt after a British charity launched a programme of education on the consequences of female circumcision – which is still widely practised throughout parts of Africa and the Middle East.
No one knows how many women are subjected to the procedure but it is thought that over two million procedures are performed every year. Amnesty International estimates that over 130 million women worldwide have been affected by some form of what it calls female genital mutilation.

Contributed by Gandolf

Muslim Child Brides in Britain

2010-01-18T14:49:00.001Z

FrontPageMag.com

First, when I say that the marriage of nine-year-old girls in today’s Britain (and the rest of the EU, for that matter) is unsurprising, my statement is based on my own 17 years of experience in the field of immigration: forms of assault based on tradition and religion – including child marriage, forced marriage, genital mutilation, so-called honor-related offenses such as rape and murder – have become established here as a result of immigration, mostly from Muslim countries.

Census launches faith-based initiative

2010-01-17T16:23:00.000Z

MyWestTexas.com
So while Census Day, when all responses are due, won’t arrive until April 1, local workers already are preparing to reach Midland’s population groups. It launched a faith-based initiative outreach Friday asking local churches to urge members to participate in the Census. It also has partnered with Midland Independent School District and Midland College to recruit potential employees and to spread the word the 10-question survey should be arriving in mail boxes starting in March.
...
“You’d be surprised how many people don’t even know we have a Census,” McBride said.

The Census is important, McBride said, because its numbers help determine how about $300 billion in federal funds are awarded each year. It also determines the number of representatives a state will have in the U.S. House and is useful in state and community planning that ranges from redistricting — as will occur in Texas during the next legislative session — to building new roads and schools.

The Cycle of Action

2010-01-17T08:28:00.005Z

The Cycle of Action

Adapted from pg. 20 of "Turning Numbers Into Knowledge", by Johnathan G. Koomey, and from "The Design of Everyday Things", by Norman, See it at Amazon

Credibility Index Research Project

2010-01-17T06:49:00.001Z

This is a project that was derived from the "Unpacking the Atonement" project. There is a need to define what "Accuracy" and "Credibility" are in normative standards. This project will attempt to derive a method that can be used to assign a credibility value to Textual Information that can be compared to a normative standard derived by the application of the method initially of up to 10 textual information sources. The project will be carried out in english from a "Western" viewpoint.

Document Index

Credibility Quantification Notes

Priest accused of abuse plunges from church balcony

2010-01-16T12:27:00.002Z

ChicagoBreakingNews.com
A Shorewood Catholic priest who parishioners described as a "very holy man" apparently tried to kill himself by jumping from the balcony of a shuttered downtown Joliet church Wednesday as Kane county investigators began looking into allegations he molested a 13-year-old boy, authorities said.

White House calls Evangelist Pat Robertson's Haiti comment 'stupid'

2010-01-16T08:31:00.000Z

Donate Directly to help Haiti

BBC
The White House has dismissed as "stupid" comments by evangelist broadcaster Pat Robertson suggesting that quake-struck Haiti was cursed.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs said he was amazed by the remarks.

During a broadcast on his Christian Broadcasting Network, Mr Robertson suggested the Haiti's earthquake was divine retribution.

He said Haiti had sworn a pact with the devil when it freed itself from French colonial rule.

The White House said the comments were completely inappropriate.
"It never ceases to amaze, that in times of amazing human suffering, somebody says something that could be so utterly stupid," Mr Gibbs said.

"But it, like clockwork, happens with some regularity."

Former minister facing sex charges

2010-01-15T12:00:00.001Z

London Free Press

A former Anglican minister is facing historical sexual offences after a woman came forward and reported alleged abuse.
Meurig Pari Lloyd, a 79-year-old Chatham man, is charged with two counts of rape, two counts of gross indecency, two counts of intercourse with a girl under 14 and indecent assault on a female. Lloyd is scheduled to appear in court March 16.
Det. Jim Niven of the Chatham-Kent Police Service's major crime unit said the alleged incidents happened more than 40 years ago
The crimes allegedly took place inside St. Paul's Anglican Church, Holy Trinity Church and a private residence.
The complainant, who resides in Chatham-Kent, recently told police of incidents she says happened when she was between the ages of eight and 15. Niven said it's not uncommon for a sexual assault victim to wait decades before coming forward.

The spiritual war at Achiase

2010-01-15T11:12:00.000Z

Joy Online

The girl, Patricia, had practised witchcraft for five years and, practically overturned the fortunes of her family.

She was exorcised by Prophet Michael Osei of the Ebenezer Healing Church, Kasoa, after she delivered a live snake in the presence of hundreds of worshippers during an all-night service at the church's premises last month.

God revealed to the holy man that the spiritual pot belonging to Pat in her hometown, Achiase, would have to be exhumed before the witchcraft spirit allegedly given to her by a grandmother, would be totally off her.

Opposition came from the witches' camps in the area and the evil ones, according to the prophet, mounted a full spiritual and physical attack on him and his prayer warriors who went with him.

"When we reached the town, the first thing I saw was a 10-year-old-boy who was playing with his colleagues in an open space. He was walking about upside down, that is, his head was on the ground, his legs high in the air with fire coming out from his backside (anus).

Contributed by Gandolf

Playing with forms

2010-01-14T15:48:00.000Z

This is a test of the googledocs forms feature. It allows you to create questionaires and saves the responses in a spreadsheet.
<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
View the results here

Zim police recruited in measles vaccination drive

2010-01-14T12:19:00.004Z

Eyewitness News
Zimbabwe police have been co-opted to try to force a religious sect to have its children vaccinated against measles.
Members of an apostolic sect have been locking their sick children in huts or hiding them in the hills to evade vaccination.
The Health Ministry said at least 41 people have died of measles, many of them children, since the outbreak began last month.
Members of the Johannes Marange sect’s beliefs allow them only to pray and use holy water to treat measles.

Maasai warriors take on AIDS

2010-01-14T01:50:00.001Z

Irin Plus News
MAGADI, 29 December 2009 (PlusNews) - Attempts to promote HIV awareness among Kenya's Maasai community have often foundered on the community's unwillingness to accept externally driven change; but a new initiative is using Maasai 'morans', or warriors, to spread the word.
"The Maasai are very traditional people and the best way to reach them is to go in without trying to dilute their culture - we give them free space to learn by using cultural systems to integrate reproductive health education," said Peter Ngura, programme manager for a nomadic youth project of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), a health and development NGO.
"Because I have been taught about the dangers of sex without a condom and circumcizing girls and beating women, I have made it my duty to tell the same to my fellow 'morans'," he told IRIN/PlusNews. "There are things we have done like cutting women [female genital mutilation/cutting] but I think there haven't been valid reasons for doing it."

Contributed by Gandolf

Vaccination: it's a mitzvah

2010-01-13T18:48:00.001Z

The White Coat Underground
Being a physician and a father, I keep an eye out for news about childhood vaccinations. I've always been concerned about local statutes that allow kids to be admitted to school unvaccinated, especially when all that is required is an affirmation or a letter from a doctor or religious figure. This not only endangers these individual children but also others. As the rates of vaccination drop vaccine-preventable diseases regain a foothold.

Animal sacrifice suspected in Feltonville house

2010-01-13T08:41:00.001Z

Philly.com
Through a broken blind, a bizarre scene of animal sacrifice was visible yesterday inside the otherwise completely closed front porch of a Feltonville house.
There were bones and feathers arranged in a ritualistic pile. There were bloody knives and a machete, figurines of African or Caribbean design, candles and incense.
On Sunday, Pennsylvania SPCA officers used a warrant to search the property after receiving a tip that two emaciated dogs were being kept at the house, in the 4800 block of North Front Street.
They found the dogs, but only after confronting an elaborate altar and the bones of possibly several hundred animals that had been killed, apparently as part of Santeria - a combination of African religions and Catholicism that originated among slaves in the Caribbean.

Contributed by Gandolf

Fallacy Project, Canceled, not enough resources

2010-01-13T04:38:00.002Z

This is a new collaboration with John W. Loftus to analyze fallacies that appear at Debunking Christianity.

INTRODUCTION

Document Index

Not started

Uganda Bans Female Circumcision

2010-01-13T01:14:00.002Z

EmpowerHer
The Ugandan Parliament unanimously passed a bill in the beginning of December, 2009, that bans female circumcision which is also known as female genital mutilation, or FGM.
According to the United Press International, people who are convicted of performing FGM will have to spend up to 10 years in prison and will face life sentences in those cases where the girl dies from this brutal procedure. The Ugandan Parliament is considering an amendment that would give compensation to the victims of this form of mutilation.

Contributed by Gandolf

Eagle feather issue moves one step closer to resolution

2010-01-12T18:40:00.003Z

IndianCountryToday
The case before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerns a non-Indian Utahn who insisted on his right to possess eagle feathers for Native religious practices.

Female Circumcision is a human rights violation

2010-01-12T13:53:00.000Z

cocorioko.net
Article 21 of the African Charter is on the rights and welfare of a child, protecting him/her against harmful social and cultural practices and this includes the elimination of all harmful practices affecting the welfare, dignity normal growth and development of the child.
In Africa about 140 million girls have undergone female genital mutilation (or circumcision as others would want to call it) and 2 million are subjected to it every year. Several basic human rights are violated by the procedure. These primarily include the right of physical integrity, the right to freedom from violence and discrimination and in most severe cases, the right to life.
FGM is an irreversible operation that removes part or all of a girl's external genital organs. It's performed on women but mostly done on girls between the ages of 4 and 12. The practice is performed in various ways which include just the removal of the clitoris; removal of the clitoris and surrounding labia; infibulations –where all the external genitalia are removed and the opening is stitched so that only a small hole remains; a variety of unclassified traumatic procedures of cutting, stretching or piercing performed on the external genitalia, such as cauterization by burning of the clitoris and tissue surrounding the opening of the vagina.

In addition to the above, research done by World Health Organisation involving 30,000 African women found that 'circumcised' women were 31% more likely to have a caesarean delivery, 66% higher chances of having a baby that needed to be revived and 55% more likely to have a child who died before or after birth. In addition to the physical complications, there are psychological and sexual impacts including severe trauma, depression and/or frigidity.

Contributed by Gandolf

Atonement Project Schema

2010-01-12T11:39:00.006Z

"Unpacking" The Atonement Project
Draft: Atonement Project Schema

Define:
If you can't explain it clearly, you don't understand it yourself. Talk about it with other people. Engaging your speech in your thinking will help you understand it better.

* Describe specifically what we are trying to solve.
* How many are affected?
* How should we expect it to work?
    |_Why should we expect it to work like that?
* Do I have all the information?
* How can I restate the problem?
* Restate the problem as a question.
* What does everything have in common?
* What are the differences?
* What is the most important thing?
* Where does it come from?
* Where does it go to?

Brainstorm:
Write things down, make lists, draw pictures. This "extends" your brain and lets other people read your mind.

* What are the assumptions?
    |_Verify assumptions
* What is known about it?
    |_What do I know about it?
    |_What do my peers know about it?
    |_What do experts say about it?
    |_Who is an expert?
    |_Why are they an expert?
    |_What does the documentation say about it?
    |_Is the documentation reliable?
    |_What is the source of the documentation?
* Have I ever seen anything like it?
* What confirms it?
* What disconfirms it?
* What else could cause this?
    |_How would it cause it?

Create Timeline
* When was the last time it happened?
* Is it happening now?
* When was the last time it worked?
* When was the last time it failed?

Diagrams:
Lists, Functional Block, Flow Chart, Hierarchy, Timeline, Venn, Causal, Hypothesis Matrix

* What does it depend on?
    |_How much of what it needs is it getting?
    |_What is the hold up?
* What depends on it?
    |_How much is it producing?
    |_How good is what its producing?
* What relationships does it have, what does it connect to?
* How many "connections" does it have to which "neighbor"? How "tightly coupled" is it to anything?

Divide and conquer
* Can I solve part of the problem or improve it?
* Does it work somewhere else?
* Pick a point in your diagram and start there. The point that most things have in common is a good place to start.

Test
* Figure out a way to test it.

Atonement Project Questionaire

2010-01-12T11:22:00.004Z

"Unpacking" The Atonement Project
[The questionaire in the lower part of the article was an attempt to define some terms. Feel free to try your hand at filling in the questionnaire in the bottom portion and join the discussion. I'd like to get feedback from Adherents to other religions, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, etc]

One of the theist commenters said
The atonement gives God the ability to have justice completely fulfilled while allowing him to be merciful. If we repent of our sins, the justice has already been fulfilled by Christ so God can fully forgive the transgression without the need for added punishment. You don't have to use the atonement, free agency, but it is available for all. Without the atonement it is impossible to have a perfect God.

so then Harlan Quinn said...

I'm trying to understand your answer to your question, so below I've tried to "unpack" it for closer inspection.

would you mind correcting and filling in the missing pieces please?
=====
God shows mercy
and is 100% justice
because he is required by, or is a consequence of his perfect state

Gods perfect state depends on the atonement.

* The atonement is defined as _________________

* Mercy is defined as _________________

* The atonement is merciful because _____________

* The atonement is 100% Just because ____________

* Justice is defined as ____________________

if we repent of our sins
AND
the atonement has been done
There is no need for added punishment

* Normally there is a need for punishment because _________________

* Normally punishment for our sins is ___________________

* Our sins are described as _________________

* Repenting of our sins is not sufficient to fulfill the criteria for punishment because _________________

* Free Agency is defined as __________________.

Atonement Project Document Index

2010-01-12T11:18:00.009Z

"Unpacking" The Atonement Project

James Ankrah, 37, opened fire on him with a shotgun,

2010-01-12T00:29:00.001Z

The Post
The incident took place in a district known for gold mining—Obuasi in the Ashanti Region. The "wizard" in question is a 17-year-old boy I will not name for ethical reasons even though he is named in the news report. Apparently, he was sitting on top of a tree in a forest when a James Ankrah, 37, opened fire on him with a shotgun, wounding him in both hands and his shoulders.

The only evidence of witchcraft was villager suspicion, no more.
But the facts are that the boy is still in hospital and his assailant is cooling his heels in a police cell awaiting trial for attempted murder.
I wondered: what fate awaits the teenager when he returns to his village? For sure, there will be no welcoming committee to drape a garland of flowers round his neck when he is discharged. Instead he might find a lynch mob, which is not uncommon in this part of the world.

In the same edition, The Spectator regaled readers with another bizarre report of an 11-year-old witch who was exorcised by a prophet from the Ebenezer Healing Church to a small village, also in the Ashanti Region. The prophet also exhumed a "spiritual pot" containing a snake which belonged to the girl. According to the report, she'd used the pot to impoverish the village and to cause the businesses of family members to fail.

Contributed by Gandolf

People of Hawaii Pass Resolution Against Forced Vaccination

2010-01-11T18:32:00.004Z

Foodconsumer.org
The Resolution urges State and Federal legislators in Hawaii "to amend vaccine laws to include medical, religious, and philosophical exemptions from any vaccine program," including those declared urgent by health officials.

Kenyan witch-hunt targets elders

2010-01-11T11:02:00.001Z

aljazeera.net
Dozens of villagers in the Kenyan district of Kisii are falling prey to superstitious groups accusing them of witchcraft.
The poverty-stricken western district, known as Kenya's sorcery belt, has seen an increase in mob attacks on individuals and even killings.
The poor and elderly in particular are being targeted.
Three months ago, a group of youths tortured five suspected witches before setting them on fire.
Joseph Ondiek's 65-year-old mother was one of those killed. He says says he and his family are living in constant fear and cannot even think about getting justice for their mother's killing.

Contributed by Gandolf

Rabbi's Skype exorcism

2010-01-11T00:15:00.001Z

thejc.com
A renowned Israeli master of kabbalah, Rabbi Dovid Batzri, has attempted to remove a dybbuk, or disembodied spirit, from a Brazilian man via the internet.A video posted on Charedi website ladaat.net, shows Rabbi Batzri, surrounded by dozens of supporters, reciting kabbalistic verses and praying for the exorcism of the dybbuk. He connected with the possessed man via Skype.
According to another Charedi site, kikar.net, the story began when a Brazilian yeshivah student started shouting in shul that he could "smell many sins" and that "the end is very near".
Although he could only speak Portuguese, he was yelling in Hebrew and Yiddish, and "his lips did not move". The commotion caused the women of the unnamed synagogue to flee.

Contributed by Gandolf

Peres also came out strongly against ethnic or religious discrimination

2010-01-10T18:27:00.007Z

JerusalemPost
Peres also came out strongly against ethnic or religious discrimination in Israel, declaring that "every expression of discrimination should be crossed out."
The Interior Ministry must make sure that young people of all faiths have the same opportunities to acquire higher education, he said, mindful that many young students from minority communities have difficulty in getting past security checkpoints to attend institutions of higher learning.
...
Theophilos was diplomatic in his references to the Israeli authorities, specifically in relation to "free movement of the faithful, provision for entry visas for clerics, honoring the privileges of tax exemption sanctioned by sacred history and the historic standing of the ownership of Church property

Accused Say No Intention To Kill Couple In Exorcism Ritual

2010-01-10T13:06:00.002Z

BERNAMA.COM
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- An Al-Arqam follower who is charged with murdering a couple admitted in the High Court here today that he had hit the victims with a piece of wood, crash helmet and mop handle to exorcise them.

The accused Muhammad Ilyas Abdul Razak, said he, however, had no intention of causing death to the couple as they were his uncle and aunt, and was unaware that his action during the exorcism would cause their deaths

"I had hit my uncle with a helmet and a piece of wood from a broken table. He did not protest, cry or say that he was in pain.
"I also asked my aunt to sit on the floor and hit her with a mop handle, the helmet and a detached table until she bled," Muhammad Ilyas said from the dock.
He said after the house had been cleaned of the blood spots, he ordered Muhammad Fauzi to pour hot water over the couple's motionless body to revive them.

"I had no intention of causing the death of my uncle and aunt as they were among the people closest to me and we loved each other. I only wanted to do good for them.
"Nobody, including my uncle and aunt, had restrained me and I only knew that they had died when the police came to arrest me," he said

Contributed by Gandolf

Vaccine 'holy war'

2010-01-09T18:19:00.002Z

NewYorkPost
"Plaintiffs sought the exemption because they hold sincere and genuine religious beliefs, based upon Christian doctrine and Christian teachings that are contrary to vaccinating, that prevent them from injecting diseases into their bodies," the suit says.

Child marriage still prevalent in Kutch, finds study

2010-01-09T18:13:00.003Z

IndianExpress.com
A Survey conducted by a group of students on the status of child rights has found that child marriage is still prevalent in Kutch district and cases of abuse of young girls and physical harassment are being reported from the urban areas.

"would not the Covenant also exclude any African Anglican bishop practicing or promoting female circumcision?"

2010-01-09T18:07:00.005Z

Virtueonline.org
The covenant (section 4) talks of "interdependence" and argues that "where a shared mind has not been reached...every effort must be made to facilitate agreement." It is true that the Standing Committee may request a Church to defer a controversial action, say consecrating Mary Glasspool, a lesbian, as the next Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles, but would not the Covenant also exclude any African Anglican bishop practicing or promoting female circumcision? Why infer that homosexuals are the only persons at risk of breaking up the communion.

Rugby star Gareth Thomas: I'm gay

2010-01-08T17:00:00.002Z

CNN
"I've been through all sorts of emotions with this -- tears, anger and absolute despair," he said. "I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to let people know and, to be honest, I feel anxious about people's reactions and the effect it might have on my family."
...
"I could never accept it because I knew I would never be accepted as a gay man and still achieve what I wanted to achieve in the game," he said.
...
"It's pretty tough for me being the only international rugby player prepared to break the taboo. Statistically I can't be the only one, but I'm not aware of any other gay player still in the game.

Neuroscientists Store Information in Isolated Brain Tissue; Possible Basis of Short-Term Memory

2010-01-08T04:17:00.004Z

ScienceDaily (Dec. 28, 2009)
When stimulating electrodes were inserted in the hippocampal brain slice the spontaneous activity in the mossy cells remembered which electrode had been activated. The memory in vitro lasted about 10 seconds, about as long as many types of working memories studied in people.
...
"This is the first time anyone has stored information in spontaneously active pieces of mammalian brain tissue. It is probably not a coincidence that we were able to show this memory effect in the hippocampus, the brain region most associated with human memory," said Strowbridge.
...
Strowbridge's group is now looking into how much information they can store in the hippocampus.
...
"It took us four years to be able to reproducibly store two bits of information for 10 seconds" says Larimer. "Our findings should progress faster now that we know what to look for and have found the brain circuit that actually holds the memory."

Upholding the Rights of Women And Children

2010-01-07T10:54:00.000Z

Africa.Com
Forms of gender-based violence in Ghana include, but are not limited to, domestic violence, sexual abuse, rape, sexual harassment and female genital mutilation among others. Some gender advocates have argued that since the success of any democratic process presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct of the affairs of society, it is necessary that women are empowered to see themselves as equal partners in that endeavor.
Violence against women who are branded witches is reported from all regions but it is more visible in the northern parts of Ghana. In these parts, old women considered to be witches are often violently driven from their communities and homes and forced to take refuge in "witch camps". They lose their inheritance and their livelihoods as a result and become destitute.

Contributed by Gandolf

Ancient Homeowner Association Rules

2010-01-07T09:55:00.000Z

Smithsonian.com
Ah, the homeowners association, which dictates everything from the shape of your shrubs to the color of your house. Such meticulously planned communities are generally thought to be a modern phenomenon, but a recent archaeological excavation near England's Hamme-on-Rye unearthed a 14th-century document that suggests otherwise:
A covenant set to hand this Twelfth Day of June in the year of our Lord 1365 between the Manor by the Meadow Association of Freeholders and the owner in fee symple. Whereas the owner hath entered into this covenant in order to enjoye the especial liffestyle offered by the Manor and to avoid all unnecessary discord, the owner doth hereby acknowledge and acquiesce to certaine rules to ensure the faithful and serene enjoyment of the properties hereby governed, to witte:
...
Clinic
Manor doth operate a clinic at the barbershoppe to provide physic and the healing artes to all residents. Bledeing, leeches and the treatment of excess humours are available upon request. Herbes and medicines will be administered to those possessed of the supplementary potion plan. (Please note that neither exorcism nor treatment for curses is available on site.)

Contributed by Gandolf

Strange irony of bishops' multiculturalism

2010-01-07T09:52:00.000Z

Irish Times .Com
There are profound philosophical and practical problems with this version of multiculturalism. Philosophically, it ends up eating its own tail, as respect for one "identity" ends up canceling out another. If female genital mutilation is a protected part of an African identity, what happens to women's rights?
If it's okay for imams to preach hatred of homosexuals, is it okay for homosexuals to teach hatred of Muslims?
And who gets to define a "tradition" anyway? (Usually, of course, middle-aged or elderly men in dresses.)
Most obviously, of course, the purveyors of this ideology in the religious sphere don't actually believe it themselves. With a very few exceptions, religions are founded on the idea of a unique and superior access to the mind of God. The relativism that they sometimes adopt is merely strategic. If the Catholic bishops actually believed the stuff that they are currently spouting – that everybody's faith or lack of faith has the same status in a lovely world of pluralism or diversity – they would be Bahais or Unitarians.

Contributed by Gandolf

Jewish Exorcism Text Discovered

2010-01-06T11:13:00.002Z

Physorg.com
The 150 word neatly written fragment - discovered by Dr Renate Smithuis from The University of Manchester - describes a ceremony to dispel the evil spirit of Nissim Ben Bunya from his widow, Qamar Bat Rahma.
Dr Smithuis thinks the Hebrew document was most likely written in the eighteenth century and probably originated from Egypt or Palestine.
The fragment provides what is likely to be unique evidence of the prayer ritual's actual use in a synagogue.
It is one of the 11,000 manuscript fragments held at The University of Manchester's John Rylands Library - rescued from a 1000-year old storeroom - or Genizah - at the Ben Ezra synagogue in Cairo.
The fragment contains the second part of a prayer ritual in which the husband - or husband-to-be - of a widow recites an exorcism prayer, to which the other men gathered in the synagogue respond with a similar prayer.

Contributed by Gandolf

India's Karnataka State to lose baby-tossing ritual

2010-01-06T11:08:00.008Z

Digital Journal

It's a ritual that is supposed to imbue the participant with health and luck. The age of the participants is under two years of age, and Indian authorities are looking to shut it down.

click "Read more >>" to access the video.

The ritual, said to be at least 100 years old, if not centuries old, is practised by both Muslims and Hindus participate in the ceremony, in which babies are dropped from a roof or a tower onto a cloth held by people below whilst others sing and dance. The Telegraph reports that there are 200 children "tossed" every year in India, although the practice is being cracked down on by the Karnataka Commission for the Protection of Children. State officials have enacted a ban on the ritual. The ritual is normally held during the beginning of December in Karnataka State. No babies have been reported as injured through the ceremony.

India, however, is not the only country that practices rituals or festivals that have long ago been stamped out in many other nations. In Spain, a Catholic-rooted ritual involves grown men jumping over babies in order to cleanse the infants of "evil." Parts of Africa practice what we call female genital mutilation. In South Africa, an annual ritual to ensure the fertility of agricultural crops is practiced, during which a bull is smothered to death. In Nigeria, ritual killing is a normal part of life.

Contributed by Gandolf

"accused of putting a spell on him that caused his death."

2010-01-06T10:28:00.001Z

Nepali Times
In November Jug Chaudhary, a 30-year-old mother of four children, was beaten up by her family members and paraded naked around a village in Kailali.
They dragged her out from her home, beat her mercilessly and then forced her to eat human excreta. Her mother-in-law's brother had just passed away. She had been accused of putting a spell on him that caused his death.
When Chaudhary's husband, a labourer in India, returned the couple went to the police station but could not file a complaint. "They said it was a personal matter, it should be solved in the community." Jug Chaudhary did not receive justice. She is living in the same village, in the same Dalit community as those who accused and assaulted her.

Contributed by Gandolf

Yay, I'm under attack by Faith Based Thinkers! I'm somebody now!

2010-01-06T05:29:00.001Z

Link to Faith Based thinking commenter
"you really need to add comment moderation to your blasphemy…"

"Please don't throw me in that briar patch!"
I'm going to feature you over in the sidebar. I'm even going to give a label for quick reference.
Please feel free to try your best to bring the blog down. You only make my case for me and drive my ranking up!
You silly person, you'll probably be the only one commenting.
*:O)
GOATS ON FIRE! YEE HAH!
And away we go!
thank you, thank you, thank you!

He'll face trial in slaying over religious issues

2010-01-05T09:45:00.010Z

Philly.Com
It's often been said that one should never argue over religion.
Just such an argument led Christian Hernandez to use a sawed-off rifle to fatally shoot another man in the head in May, according to a statement he gave to Philadelphia homicide detectives.
Yesterday, Hernandez, 18, was held for trial on first-degree murder by Municipal Judge Patrick F. Dugan.

Santeria is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on the Yoruba beliefs and traditions that originated in West Africa, with Roman Catholic elements added.
Believers of Santeria, which grew out of the slave trade in Cuba, seek to build bonds with powerful spirits through the use of drums, dance, song and animal sacrifice while worshiping, according to various sources.

Contributed by Gandolf

Muslim gangs of men were raping Christian minorities.

2010-01-05T04:03:00.003Z

Freethought Nation
Once again, not a good year for women around the world. Several times this year it was reported that female US soldiers had a probability and fear of being raped. Yesterday it was reported in Egypt that Muslim gangs of men were raping Christian minorities. It breaks my heart. I sincerely hope that 2010 will be safer and religious war free for the entire world.
Happy New Year and thank you.

Contributed by kriss the sexy athiest

"There are faith healers stealing sick peoples money"

2010-01-05T03:52:00.001Z

Link
First of all I love my beautiful Philippines. Second, the islands have not developed through recent decades like other Asian countries have. Why? Superstition is rampant in the islands. There are faith healers stealing sick peoples money. The Catholic North will not let the Muslim south govern their own land and people (that is what that war is about) and they are still fighting communism and pirates. Thanks for posting the article, it shows that my people are still steeped in superstition. FYI there is a small atheist community of bloggers and freethinker groups representing, and I do mean small. thanks again.

Contributed by kriss the sexy atheist

Prayer Free Problem Solving Procedure

2010-01-04T16:04:00.002Z

Here is a problem solving procedure that I've made from a lot of different ones that I've researched over the years. I never found one comprehensive and general enough to use for training new technicians in a wide range of troubleshooting skills so I made this one which I have hanging in my office (in pieces with tape). You can call it a critical thinking guide if you want but I prefer "Analytical Thinking". Try it out, apply it to your religion, but be careful! I did and look what happened! Give me some feedback. You can find another copy of it in the sidebar.

Define:
If you can't explain it clearly, you don't understand it yourself. Talk about it with other people. Engaging your speech in your thinking will help you understand it better.
* Describe specifically what we are trying to solve.
* How many are affected?
* How should we expect it to work?
    |_Why should we expect it to work like that?
* Do I have all the information?
* How can I restate the problem?
* Restate the problem as a question.
* What does everything have in common?
* What are the differences?
* What is the most important thing?
* Where does it come from?
* Where does it go to?

Brainstorm:
Write things down, make lists, draw pictures. This "extends" your brain and lets other people read your mind.
* What are the assumptions?
    |_Verify assumptions
* What is known about it?
    |_What do I know about it?
    |_What do my peers know about it?
    |_What do experts say about it?
    |_Who is an expert?
    |_Why are they an expert?
    |_What does the documentation say about it?
    |_Is the documentation reliable?
    |_What is the source of the documentation?
* Have I ever seen anything like it?
* What confirms it?
* What disconfirms it?
* What else could cause this?
    |_How would it cause it?

Create Timeline
* When was the last time it happened?
* Is it happening now?
* When was the last time it worked?
* When was the last time it failed?

Diagrams:
Lists, Functional Block, Flow Chart, Hierarchy, Timeline, Venn, Causal, Hypothesis Matrix
* What does it depend on?
    |_How much of what it needs is it getting?
    |_What is the hold up?
* What depends on it?
    |_How much is it producing?
    |_How good is what its producing?
* What relationships does it have, what does it connect to?
* How many "connections" does it have to which "neighbor"? How "tightly coupled" is it to anything?

Divide and conquer
* Can I solve part of the problem or improve it?
* Does it work somewhere else?
* Pick a point in your diagram and start there. The point that most things have in common is a good place to start.

Test
* Figure out a way to test it.

"exorcism and prayer were used to treat serious health problems."

2010-01-04T09:54:00.002Z

6minutes
Former directors of an evangelical Christian charity have admitted to falsely claiming their residential counselling program offered professional support from GPs and other health professionals.
A ruling from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has declared this claim to be a misrepresentation, saying the now-disbanded Mercy Ministries only allowed access to health professionals at the direct request from residents who were being treated for eating disorders, self harm, and the effects of drug, alcohol, physical and sexual abuse.
The 18-month ACCC investigation originated from complaints from former residents that exorcism and prayer were used to treat serious health problems.
Through a range of advertising the organisation also claimed to offer its services for free, however the ACCC found most residents were required to sign over their Centrelink payments for the duration of the treatment.

Contributed by Gandolf

When race, religion and 'culture' must come second to what is right

2010-01-04T09:49:00.017Z

Mail Online
When I saw the tear-stained face of Hanim Goren, the mother of 15-year-old Muslim schoolgirl Tulay, who was murdered by her own father (I refuse to dignify the crime with the word 'honour'), I'm afraid all politically correct niceties and notions of acceptance, tolerance and inclusion went flying straight out of the window.

Social workers, too, are terrified of upsetting people who are clearly monsters, because of their race and religion. This was obviously the case in the murder of Victoria Climbie when socalled professionals failed to interfere, dazzled by respect for something they mistook as 'culture' there's an overused word if ever there was one) when in fact it was just plain old 'cruelty'.
...
The policing of crimes that are 'alien' to our culture (there is also the nasty practice of female genital mutilation) needs to be far tougher, if the training video shown to officers who deal with such matters is anything to go by.

I wish, when I was stopped for speeding, that I had been treated with such care for my feelings.

Contributed by Gandolf

Kidnappers demand animal sacrifice

2010-01-04T09:43:00.008Z

The Star
Prosperidad, Philippines - Tribal gunmen refused to hand over 47 hostages on Sunday as a four-day kidnap drama in the southern Philippine jungle took a bizarre twist with demands for animal sacrifices.

"The negotiations are in stand-off," said Alfredo Plaza, a government spokesman for the negotiating team.

Contributed by Gandolf

Defrocked Zambian cleric demands pension

2010-01-03T09:53:00.002Z

AFP
LUSAKA — A former Zambian archbishop Saturday said he wanted the Roman Catholic Church to pay him pension for the 23 years he worked in Italy, after he was defrocked for consecrating married men as bishops.
Emmanuel Milingo, 79, who has practised exorcism and advocates optional celibacy for priests, told the private Radio Phoenix station he was still a fully ordained Catholic cleric.

Contributed by Gandolf

Organizations cash in on Female Genital Mutilation

2010-01-03T09:48:00.016Z

Daily Nation
Unscrupulous non-governmental organisations have flocked to the Kerio Valley area and are soliciting cash from donors on the pretext of fighting female genital mutilation (FGM).

More than 300 girls have undergone the dangerous rite of passage in the region this year despite intensified anti-FGM campaigns by the government and religious groups.

At the same time, more than 100 girls rescued from forceful circumcision in Marakwet District have undergone an alternative rite of passage.

Contributed by Gandolf

"they had allowed the tribals to observe the festival by sacrificing 10,000 animals"

2010-01-03T09:41:00.016Z

Express buzz
BALANGIR: Acting Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court Justice I M Quddusi today issued show-cause notice to the Home Secretary, the Endowments Secretary, the Balangir Collector, the Sub-Collector, the SP and the DSP regarding animal sacrifice at Sulia festival at Khairguda this year.

Hearing a petition filed by Sulia Sanskar Manch (SSM) joint convener Debashis Biswal, Justice Quddusi directed the officials concerned to explain how they had allowed the tribals to observe the festival by sacrificing 10,000 animals.

Contributed by Gandolf

Somali charged with murder attempt on Muhammad cartoonist

2010-01-02T16:11:00.002Z

The Guardian ‎

Kurt Westergaard sheltered in a safe room with his grandchild as the attacker raged outside. Photograph: Preben Hupfeld/EPA A Somali man has been charged with trying to murder a Danish artist whose cartoons of the prophet Muhammad sparked a storm of ...

NEPAL: Witch Tag Only on Dalits, Minorities

2010-01-02T10:14:00.003Z

IPS
KATHMANDU, Dec 23 (IPS) - Just 40 kms away from the capital Kathmandu, in Thasingtole, Lalitpur District, Kalli Kumari B.K., 46, a local Dalit woman, was mercilessly beaten up. She was accused of being a 'witch', imprisoned in a shed and forced to eat her own excreta

The headmistress of a local school along with a local shaman accused her of practicing witchcraft and tortured her for two days.

"They kept hitting my head and my bruises. They fed human excreta and then they took a blade out and started cutting my skin. I couldn't bear it anymore and was forced to admit that that I am a witch so they would stop giving me so much pain," said B.K. in a public forum here in Kathmandu

Contributed by Gandolf

Long-Term Fight Continues Against Genital Mutilation Practice

2010-01-02T09:47:00.002Z

Coastweek.com
NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Since Kenya outlawed female genital mutilation (FGM) in 2001, the vice, however, still goes on almost unabated.
And much more so despite the various campaigns that have been fronted by the government, organizations and individuals to eradicate this human rights violation against women and girls.
It is estimated that more than one third of the women in the world are circumcised and in some ethnic communities, almost each and every young woman is subjected to the cut.
But what is even more worrying is that what was once practiced traditionally by ethnic groups is taking a new turn and now parents and health experts are collaborating in this cruel act on their girls and women.

Contributed by Gandolf

Sulia: A gory ritual goes on

2010-01-02T09:35:00.002Z

Expressbuzz
BALANGIR: In a major setback to anti-sacrifice campaign, animals in droves faced the axe during the annual Sulia festival at Khairguda in Balangir district today. Cocking a snook at the district administration, the tribals went on butchering animals much to the disappointment of Sulia Samskar Manch (SSM), an outfit spearheading a campaign for curbing animal sacrifice at Sulia.

This year the tribals sacrificed animals at three main seats of Sulia Pitha. Earlier, owing to some reform measures taken up by SSM there was no sacrifice of animals at least at the main site.

Problem of Evil/Suffering/Victimization Must be A Design Flaw

2010-01-02T07:20:00.001Z

This is a response I made to a Christian on the "Problem of Suffering".
The problem of suffering is really a problem of victimization, where gods 'gift' of free will enables the stronger to victimize the weak, with god allowing it in some of the most horrible ways imaginable, and Christians blame humans for it. Effectively blaming the victim. One persons free will impedes another. Obviously a SUBOPTIMAL design.

A lot of the 'sins' are committed because they are LIKED or are PLEASURABLE for people. This is a reaction that is built into people, conversely like the nausea reaction people get around vomit. If God had built the urge to vomit into people when they think of having sex with children the there wouldn't be so many church authorities wanting to molest children.

Additionally a lot of harm is done in the name of religion because of religious texts ambiguity, which is a common human problem of Information Quality. It leads to low scores in the category of "interpretability". This interpretability problem manifests itself in causing lots of women and children suffer needlessly, at the hands of Christians looking for witches and forcing genital mutilation on girls and women. You can see recent cases detailed in the news at my blog QuIRP

There are some impediments to free will that are built into us that make it less likely humans are going to do some act, such as eat vomit or feces. Since god did not build the nausea reaction into us for things that displease him, then we can only infer that he built the pleasure reaction into us for things that displease him on purpose. We can infer from this that he built them into us to make it more likely that we would sin. It is a trap. He has baited a harmful trap for us.

He could have built an aversion to sin into us but he didn't, so its not 100% humans fault that we sin, we sin because we are made to be predisposed to be more likely to sin.

In common sense terms, to have a goal, then to make the design parameters undermine the goal flies in the face of reason. For god to want us not to sin, then to build the mechanisms into us that make it more likely we are going to sin is inchoherent.

Fifa in a stew over ritual slaughter of cows in World Cup stadiums

2010-01-01T12:10:00.002Z

Guardian
Fifa was silent yesterday about a proposal to slaughter a cow at every 2010 World Cup venue in a blessing ritual. The Makhonya Royal Trust, a body to promote traditional South African cultures, has called on World Cup organisers to permit his organisation to "slaughter a beast" at a cultural ceremony in each of the stadiums ahead of the tournament

Contributed by Gandolf

Unpacking "The Atonement" Project

2010-01-01T11:42:00.013Z

This Project has been moved here, please follow the link and resume at the new location.
This is a long term project intended as a collaboration with theists using shared documents with diagrams to Analyze the Concept of the Atonement as much as possible to assess its coherence.

STATUS 20100116

Currently coping with interpretability issues

INTRODUCTION

Project Documentation Index

[The questionnaire in the lower part of the article was an attempt to define some terms. Feel free to try your hand at filling in the questionnaire in the bottom portion and join the discussion. I'd like to get feedback from Adherents to other religions, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, etc]
So now I ask you, how can God show any mercy at all if he is required by his own perfect state to be 100% just?

One of the theist commenters said
The atonement gives God the ability to have justice completely fulfilled while allowing him to be merciful. If we repent of our sins, the justice has already been fulfilled by Christ so God can fully forgive the transgression without the need for added punishment. You don't have to use the atonement, free agency, but it is available for all. Without the atonement it is impossible to have a perfect God.

so then Harlan Quinn said...

I'm trying to understand your answer to your question, so below I've tried to "unpack" it for closer inspection.

would you mind correcting and filling in the missing pieces please?
=====
God shows mercy
and is 100% just
because he is required by, or is a consequence of his perfect state

Gods perfect state depends on the atonement.

* The atonement is defined as _________________

* Mercy is defined as _________________

* The atonement is merciful because _____________

* The atonement is 100% Just because ____________

* Justice is defined as ____________________

if we repent of our sins
AND
the atonement has been done
There is no need for added punishment

* Normally there is a need for punishment because _________________

* Normally punishment for our sins is ___________________

* Our sins are described as _________________

* Repenting of our sins is not sufficient to fulfill the criteria for punishment because _________________

* Free Agency is defined as __________________.

Woman accused of posing as a witch in court

2010-01-01T09:55:00.003Z

CBC News
A Toronto woman accused of posing as a witch in order to defraud a lawyer of tens of thousands of dollars has made her first appearance in court.
Vishwantee Persaud appeared through a video link for a brief preliminary hearing at a Toronto courtroom on Thursday morning.
She has yet to retain a lawyer, so her case was adjourned until Jan. 12. She remains in custody.
None of Persaud's family members was in the courtroom. Neither was the man she is alleged to have defrauded, Noel Daley, a veteran criminal lawyer.
Persaud was arrested earlier this month for allegedly defrauding Daley of more than $100,000. Police said Persaud told Daley that she came from a long line of witches and could do tarot-card readings.

Contributed by Gandolf

UK fails to halt female genital mutilation

2010-01-01T09:46:00.001Z

The Independent
Hundreds of British schoolgirls are facing the terrifying prospect of female genital mutilation (FGM) over the Christmas holidays as experts warn the practice continues to flourish across the country. Parents typically take their daughters back to their country of origin for FGM during school holidays, but The Independent on Sunday has been told that "cutters" are being flown to the UK to carry out the mutilation at "parties" involving up to 20 girls to save money.
The police face growing criticism for failing to prosecute a single person for carrying out FGM in 25 years; new legislation from 2003 which prohibits taking a girl overseas for FGM has also failed to secure a conviction.

Contributed by Gandolf

At least 109 girls and women were subjected to rape, genital mutilation or kidnapping

2009-12-31T13:59:00.003Z

The New York Times
The U.N. report, based on 687 interviews conducted by investigators in Conakry and elsewhere in late November and early December, corroborated witness reports that more than 150 people were killed or went missing during a rally.
At least 109 girls and women were subjected to rape, genital mutilation or kidnapping, with hundreds more subjected to torture and abuse, the report said.
Asked by a legislator what France, the former colonial ruler of Guinea, was doing to ensure that these findings resulted in prosecutions, Kouchner said that the International Criminal Court had taken on the issue of its own accord.

Contributed by Gandolf

Coconut-Carrying Octopus: Tool Use in an Invertebrate

2009-12-31T12:47:00.001Z

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2009) — Scientists once thought of tool use as a defining feature of humans. That's until examples of tool use came in from other primates, along with birds and an array of other mammals. Now, a report in the December 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, adds an octopus to the growing list of tool users.
...
"There is a fundamental difference between picking up a nearby object and putting it over your head as protection versus collecting, arranging, transporting (awkwardly), and assembling portable armor as required," said Mark Norman of the Museum Victoria in Australia.

Annise Parker: Openly Gay Mayor Elected In Houston, Texas

2009-12-31T08:50:00.005Z

Huffington Post
The election battle leading up to Saturday's balloting was marked by fierce campaigning and anti-gay rhetoric. Parker is a lesbian who has never made a secret or issue of her sexual orientation. If she wins, Houston will become the largest U.S. city to ever have an openly gay mayor.

Strange irony of bishops' multiculturalism

2009-12-30T18:56:00.002Z

Irish Times .Com
There are profound philosophical and practical problems with this version of multiculturalism. Philosophically, it ends up eating its own tail, as respect for one “identity” ends up cancelling out another. If female genital mutilation is a protected part of an African identity, what happens to women’s rights? If it’s okay for imams to preach hatred of homosexuals, is it okay for homosexuals to teach hatred of Muslims? And who gets to define a “tradition” anyway? (Usually, of course, middle-aged or elderly men in dresses.) Most obviously, of course, the purveyors of this ideology in the religious sphere don’t actually believe it themselves. With a very few exceptions, religions are founded on the idea of a unique and superior access to the mind of God. The relativism that they sometimes adopt is merely strategic. If the Catholic bishops actually believed the stuff that they are currently spouting – that everybody’s faith or lack of faith has the same status in a lovely world of pluralism or diversity – they would be Bahais or Unitarians.

Contributed by Gandolf

New Screening Tool Helps Identify Children at Risk for Developmental Issues

2009-12-30T12:39:00.002Z

ScienceDaily (Dec. 13, 2009)

"There has long been interest in the use of newborn neurobehavior to forecast the future development of children," said Dr. Lester. "Many babies are considered 'at risk' for having behavioral, emotional or cognitive problems, especially as they reach school age, because of prenatal factors such as prematurity or substance exposure and postnatal factors like poverty or violence."

Oregon City faith healers say son's death was not a crime

2009-12-30T08:26:00.002Z

The Oregonian
The Beagleys belong to the Followers of Christ, an Oregon City church that relies solely on spiritual healing and rejects doctors and medicine. The hearing today in Clackamas County Circuit Court will preview some of the prosecution and defense arguments but won't delve into medical evidence.

Attorneys also will revisit issues that arose during the Carl and Raylene Worthington case. The Worthingtons, also Followers of Christ, were accused of manslaughter in the death of their 15-month-old daughter, Ava.
...
Both cases involve questions about the rights of parents to treat their children with faith healing and allegations that church members are targeted for prosecution because of their beliefs.

Scientists Decode Memory-Forming Brain Cell Conversations

2009-12-29T12:31:00.001Z

ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2009) — The conversations neurons have as they form and recall memories have been decoded by Medical College of Georgia scientists.

The breakthrough in recognizing in real time the formation and recollection of a memory opens the door to objective, thorough memory studies and eventually better therapies, said Dr. Joe Tsien, neuroscientist and co-director of MCG's Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute. He is corresponding author on the study published Dec. 16 in PLoS ONE.

"Carlos Magalhaes, confessed to pushing supposedly "blessed" sewing needles deep into the child"

2009-12-29T09:03:00.001Z

CBS
Magalhaes told detectives the woman would enter into trances and give him commands to insert the needles, police inspector Helder Fernandes Santana said. The stepfather told police the rituals happened every few days for a full month, with him inserting several needles during each session.

The lover, Angelina Ribeiro dos Santos, paid to have the needles blessed by a woman who practiced the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble, Santana said.

Authorities initially estimated the boy had as many as 50 needles were inside the boy. After batteries of tests were performed, doctors now believe there are closer to 30 needles inside, but they don't know for sure.

Faulty interpretation

2009-12-29T08:14:00.001Z

theage.com.au
IT IS because the Catholic Church opposes embryonic stem cell research that xenotransplantation remains the only option for many researchers and sufferers of serious diseases (Letters, 12/12).

Such research offers the potential to one day be able to grow tissue to replace diseased organs, hence curing many of these diseases and significantly reducing the number of animals killed for medical research.

We can only hope that eventually religious organisations will stop using their interpretations of ancient texts to hold back new forms of scientific research. In the meantime, the suffering of human and animals continues unabated.

Antidepressant May Change Personality While Relieving Symptoms

2009-12-28T12:25:00.001Z

ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2009) — Individuals taking a medication to treat depression may experience changes in their personality separate from the alleviation of depressive symptoms, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Two personality traits, neuroticism and extraversion, have been related to depression risk, according to background information in the article. Individuals who are neurotic tend to experience negative emotions and emotional instability, whereas extraversion refers not only to socially outgoing behavior but also to dominance and a tendency to experience positive emotions. Both traits have been linked to the brain's serotonin system, which is also targeted by the class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Man urged son to rape cousin, 12

2009-12-28T08:47:00.001Z

BBC
A man who encouraged his teenage son to marry and rape his 12-year-old cousin has been jailed.

The 54-year-old organised a sham Muslim ceremony between his son, then 16, and the girl at his home in Woolwich, south-east London, in March last year.
...
Scotland Yard child abuse detectives then discovered several relatives of the boy had urged him to rape his cousin.

Churches to escape property tax

2009-12-28T08:02:00.000Z

Guardian.co.tt
The bill lists the following as tax-exempt:
1. land used exclusively as churches/cemeteries;
2. school buildings, offices, playgrounds, UWI, COSTATT, UTT, state land;
3. Land used for educational, philantrophic/religious purposes, or owned/occupied by charitable institutions;
4. land used for public hospitals and relief of the poor, whether publicly/privately-owned;
5. land owned/occupied by a foreign government/international organisation of which T&T is a member.
6. Landowners have 21 days in which to file objections to taxed amounts.

Study Confirms Association Between Tobacco Smoke and Behavioral Problems in Children

2009-12-27T12:18:00.002Z

ScienceDaily (Dec. 10, 2009)
"We were able to show that children who are exposed to tobacco smoke prenatally and during the first years of life have a higher risk of developing abnormal behavioral symptoms when they are of school age," said Dr. Joachim Heinrich of the Institute of Epidemiology at Helmholtz Zentrum München. "Moreover, it makes a difference whether the child was exposed to tobacco smoke first after birth or was already confronted with it during prenatal development."

"crime has manifested in a number of ways, the most prominent of which is human sacrifice"

2009-12-27T05:26:00.002Z

allafrica.com

This year, crime has manifested in a number of ways, the most prominent of which is human sacrifice. In September, the anti-sacrifice trafficking taskforce chief, Moses Binoga, said out of the 21 people murdered between January and August, 13 were juveniles.
Binoga, who was issuing guidelines to the public to curb ritual murders, said the Police had arrested 91 suspects since January, 32 of whom had been taken to court.

He said most of the victims of child sacrifice have not been under the care of their biological parents and that the killers take advantage of the laxity of the caretakers. Among these cases is that of a prominent city tycoon, Kato Kajubi, who is facing trial in Masaka High Court over child sacrifice.

Pilgrims killed in Baghdad bombing

2009-12-26T18:22:00.000Z

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)
Two Shiite pilgrims were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad on Saturday afternoon, the latest strike targeting people marking Ashura, one of the most important annual holy periods for Shiite Muslims across the globe.

Eight other people were wounded in the strike, which occurred in the New Baghdad district of southeastern Baghdad, Interior Ministry officials said.
The incident comes amid a large troop presence...to protect Shiite pilgrims from attacks.
Hundreds of thousands of the pilgrims are expected in Baghdad and Karbala for the commemoration, which reaches its peak over the next 24 hours.

The period commemorates the martyrdom of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed who was killed in battle in Karbala in 680, one of the events that helped create the schism between Sunnis and Shiites, the two main Muslim religious movements.

From Saturday evening until Sunday in Karbala and Baghdad, Shiite pilgrims will be chanting, beating their breasts in penance, cutting themselves with daggers or swords and whipping themselves in synchronized moves until next morning.

Ex-First Bank Chairman's Son Identified as US Plane Attempted Bomber

2009-12-26T14:14:00.000Z

Thisdayonline.com
The young man, who yesterday night attempted to ignite an explosive device aboard a North-West Airlines flight going from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan in the United States has been identified as Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old son of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, former First Bank chairman, who just retired from the bank's board a fortnight ago.
The older Mutallab... was said to have noticed the extreme nature of the boy's religious belief and has taken several measures to tame him.
The suspect, Abdulfarouk Muttalab who is an engineering student at the University College, London had been noted for his extreme views on religion since his secondary school days at the British International School, Lome, Togo.

At the secondary school, he was known for preaching about Islam to his school mates and he qwas popularly called ëAlfaí , a local coinage for Islamic scholar. After his secondary school, the young man, family sources said, once relocated to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from where he declared to his family members that he did not want to have anything to do with any of them again.

Why does the Pope need security? Aren't the prayers of the faithful enough?

2009-12-26T12:42:00.001Z

While I'm glad nothing happened to the Pope on a personal level, logically, they should get rid of security and let faith handle it. It would be like putting his money where his mouth is. If God wants a Pope, he'll provide one, right?

LAtimes.com
Father Federico Lombardi, the pope's spokesman, said it's not realistic to think the Vatican can ensure 100% security for the pontiff because he is regularly surrounded by tens of thousands of people for his weekly audiences, services, papal greetings and other events.

"It seems that they intervened at the earliest possible moment in a situation in which 'zero risk' cannot be achieved," he said of Vatican security officials. They will nonetheless review the episode and "try to learn from experience," Lombardi said.

Modern Behavior of Early Humans Found Half-Million Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

2009-12-26T12:04:00.001Z

ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2009) — Evidence of sophisticated, human behavior has been discovered by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers as early as 750,000 years ago -- some half a million years earlier than has previously been estimated by archaeologists.

Animal Sacrifices are Atonement, but Christianity uses a Human Sacrifice Instead

2009-12-26T04:57:00.007Z

Local 5 News

The sacrifices of the Bible were offered not only to atone for sins but also as free will offerings to celebrate some joyous event, and as holiday offerings for the three biblical pilgrim festivals of Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles). Each of these three holidays was called, in Hebrew, a hag. The Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca called the Haj takes it name from this word.
..
Some theologians consider such animal sacrifices spiritually primitive and in general, I, along with every single animal, agree with them. Although animal sacrifice is arguably the oldest religious ritual on earth, it's based upon a very dubious belief--that the death of an animal can correct your own moral failings.
...
The rabbis introduced a daring change in Jewish worship - replacing every sacrifice with a prayer from a newly created prayer book. The prayer times were the same times as the sacrifice times, but no blood was spilled.
...
This change was made necessary by historical events but had enormous impact on Judaism and the newly emerging religion of Christianity. Surrogate atonement through animal sacrifice was basically abandoned in favor of the direct and ethically superior command of confession and personal apology to anyone you had hurt. Sins were human acts that needed to be fixed by human actions, inspired, of course, by God's commands to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Contributed by Gandolf

Is the Republic of Guinea a blessing or a curse ?

2009-12-25T21:22:00.001Z

Inter religious marriages are very common among the people, and these relationships work very well. The country's constitution is monogamous although polygamy is acceptable here. Female genital mutilation is being practiced equally by Moslems and Christians alike. Traditional beliefs go side by side with religion, even among Christians. Tribalism/ racism are on the rise but the nation unites as one people to protect their country. Guineans are known to segregate the 'slaves'/ griot (praise singers) from the upper class. No matter one’s status in life, the cast system affects a lot of people. But most people do get along. I have made Guinea my home for the past 12 years. I’ve witnessed many internal problems escalate, only to dissipate quietly. It's a blessing.

Deschutes kids forgoing shots

2009-12-25T15:41:00.001Z

The Bend Bulletin

“Those underimmunized popu- lations are the ones that get diseases,” said Dr. Peter Boehm, a pediatrician at Mosaic Medical Bend.

“Overall, community protection is going up among the young ones,” Young said. “Religious exemption data doesn't tell us specifically which shots (are not given), so we don't know where the vulnerabilities are.”

Scary Talk about "taking back" Christian America from the Geopolitical Conspiracy

2009-12-25T15:06:00.003Z

www.newswithviews.com, Rev. Ted Pike
"He enthusiastically agrees with my explanation of why Christian America is losing our God-given freedoms and what can be done to redeem them.
...
In my discussion with Coach Daubenmire, we arrive at new, workable, and biblically sound answers and solutions. But they are definitely not what you will hear in the mainstream of either left or right. Nevertheless, now more than ever, telling the whole, undiminished truth and acting upon it is the only effective way to take back America.
...
In the same way, we can see the insanity of attempting to hold back an extremely complicated social and geopolitical conspiracy by only providing half the truth. No wonder we are losing!"

East Africa’s Albino Underworld

2009-12-24T21:32:00.002Z

ISN

“More than 1,000 have been arrested since 2008. These include witchdoctors, businessmen and women, hired killers, members of the clergy, some police officers (released on bail), parents and relatives of the victims. Hitherto, only seven have been convicted and sentenced to death by hanging [including three] for the killing of a 14-year-old boy. This has not yet been implemented, as President Jakaya Kikwete has yet to sign the execution orders,” Ntetema told ISN Security Watch.

QuIRP

Yippee!

[Fwd: Google Alert - "ritual abuse" OR "ritual killing"]

Tackling FGM in refugee camps

Google Alert - "female circumcision" OR "genital mutilation" OR "genital cut"

Ending the culture of FGM

Doctor Graeme Reeves may face more charges

Google Alert - animal sacrifice

Google Alert - "the great satan"

Google Alert - religious exemption

Google Alert - church abuse sex OR child

Google Alert - church homosexual OR gay

Google Alert - "female circumcision" OR "genital mutilation" OR "genital cut"

Google Alert - religious vaccination

Please donate something to help HAITI.

Google Alert - "child bride" OR "child marriage"

Battling Female Genital Mutilation

Google Alert - faith heal

Google Alert - suicide bomb

Independent Appeal: Saved from the agony of female circumcision

Muslim Child Brides in Britain

Census launches faith-based initiative

The Cycle of Action

Credibility Index Research Project

Priest accused of abuse plunges from church balcony

White House calls Evangelist Pat Robertson's Haiti comment 'stupid'

Former minister facing sex charges

The spiritual war at Achiase

Playing with forms

Zim police recruited in measles vaccination drive

Maasai warriors take on AIDS

Vaccination: it's a mitzvah

Animal sacrifice suspected in Feltonville house

Fallacy Project, Canceled, not enough resources

Uganda Bans Female Circumcision

Eagle feather issue moves one step closer to resolution

Female Circumcision is a human rights violation

Atonement Project Schema

Atonement Project Questionaire

Atonement Project Document Index

James Ankrah, 37, opened fire on him with a shotgun,

People of Hawaii Pass Resolution Against Forced Vaccination

Kenyan witch-hunt targets elders

Rabbi's Skype exorcism

Peres also came out strongly against ethnic or religious discrimination

Accused Say No Intention To Kill Couple In Exorcism Ritual

Vaccine 'holy war'

Child marriage still prevalent in Kutch, finds study

"would not the Covenant also exclude any African Anglican bishop practicing or promoting female circumcision?"

Top Religious Stories of 2009

Rugby star Gareth Thomas: I'm gay

Neuroscientists Store Information in Isolated Brain Tissue; Possible Basis of Short-Term Memory

Upholding the Rights of Women And Children

Ancient Homeowner Association Rules

Strange irony of bishops' multiculturalism

Jewish Exorcism Text Discovered

India's Karnataka State to lose baby-tossing ritual

"accused of putting a spell on him that caused his death."

Yay, I'm under attack by Faith Based Thinkers! I'm somebody now!

He'll face trial in slaying over religious issues

Muslim gangs of men were raping Christian minorities.

"There are faith healers stealing sick peoples money"

Prayer Free Problem Solving Procedure

"exorcism and prayer were used to treat serious health problems."

When race, religion and 'culture' must come second to what is right

Kidnappers demand animal sacrifice

Defrocked Zambian cleric demands pension

Organizations cash in on Female Genital Mutilation

"they had allowed the tribals to observe the festival by sacrificing 10,000 animals"

Somali charged with murder attempt on Muhammad cartoonist

NEPAL: Witch Tag Only on Dalits, Minorities

Long-Term Fight Continues Against Genital Mutilation Practice

Sulia: A gory ritual goes on

Problem of Evil/Suffering/Victimization Must be A Design Flaw

Fifa in a stew over ritual slaughter of cows in World Cup stadiums

Unpacking "The Atonement" Project

Woman accused of posing as a witch in court

UK fails to halt female genital mutilation

At least 109 girls and women were subjected to rape, genital mutilation or kidnapping

Coconut-Carrying Octopus: Tool Use in an Invertebrate