Posts Tagged ‘ Islam ’

A congruence of comments on my last post, and media broadcast/articles on this subject resulted in my selection of this topic. Hawkgrrrl commented: “Interestingly, we are now in a position to have to tell converts in countries that allow polygamy that we don’t allow it as we spread to African and Asian countries. India allows [...]

Samira and Firas are a Muslim couple married in August 2009.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been watching the TLC program, Strange Sex (also available on Netflix.)  For Firas and Samira, it was love at first sight.  One week after meeting, Firas asked Samira’s father for permission to marry.  Muslims have even [...]

Once again, I’m thinking about the temple.  Why do women wear veils, and why are they supposed to veil their faces when participating in the true order of prayer?  At a wedding, many women wear veils for the ceremony.  For a wedding, it seems to hold a bit of romance.  In Islam, it is a [...]

Unable to sleep a few nights ago, I sought mind-deadening through cable TV. I chanced upon a movie I thought would do the job — a murder mystery set in a mountain abbey in 14th Century Italy. I didn’t get what I expected. Instead, the movie, The Name of the Rose, starring Sean Connery and [...]

Civilization V’s religions will look nothing like real-world ones. So how do they capture the religious story so well?

I am a Mormon.  I haven’t made a fancy ad of me skateboarding or anything like that, but still, I’m a Mormon.  But “why” am I a Mormon?   What makes me say that? Like many people in the Church, I was “born Mormon”.  I have ancestors who were born in Winter Quarters in 1846 on [...]

Being willing to give away what we have is essential.  Christ told us that we need to be willing to impart of our possessions and to have charity towards others.  Zakat (almsgiving) is one of the fundamental Five Pillars of Islam.  Dana (generosity or giving) in Buddhism is essential to purify oneself and is one [...]

OK, I thought I was done talking about other patriarchal societies, but then I ran across this little gem from Malaysia:  The Obedient Wives club.  This club was formed by a Muslim fringe group called Global Ikhwan on June 4th (earlier this year they also set up a Polygamy Club for women), so it is very much [...]

Canadian filmmaker and non-Christian Simcha Jacobovici (aka History Channel’s The Naked Archaeologist) is a magnet for Jesus relics.  In 2007 he claimed to locate Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem – with Jesus and other family members intact.  His latest find is a pair of nails he posits were the crucifixion nails, found in Caiaphas’s tomb (the high priest of [...]

About a year ago, I participated in an informal discussion group on religious harmony. Is it possible to achieve? What would it look like? What are commonalities between cultures and religions that might lend themselves to a foundation for harmony? There were a few interesting developments in the class. The first was that the group [...]

Last time we talked about Flatland and 4-dimensional angels.  Now, we move on to 10-dimensions, finer matter, and more.  It might seem a bit daunting, but it will all make sense.  To start with, though, if you haven’t read the last post in this series (or Flatland itself), it will be easier to start there. [...]

A few months ago, I picked up a book called Lost Books of the Bible by William Hone on the clearance rack at Barnes and Noble.  It is one of the coolest books I have ever picked up.  There are 26 ancient books included in the compilation, dating to the earliest centuries after Christ.  These ancient [...]