Muslim

Voodoo Brings Solace To Grieving Haitians
Erol Josue lost more than two dozen friends and extended family in Haiti’s devastating earthquake. The Voodoo priest, who lives in New York, says he has spent the past week saying traditional Voodoo prayers. Read full story from wbur.org

What is an Atheist?
When defining something it often helps to define what it is not. Because of the many misconceptions (to be polite) about atheists, let’s start that way. An atheist is not an amoral or an immoral person, not licentious, and not un-patriotic. An atheist is your neighbor, practicing his/her constitutional right to hold his or her own freedom of thought. Read full story from madisoncountycourier.com

Paganism, Christianity, Wicca, Muslim, Protestant, Jewish and Catholic are all terms that we’re intimately familiar with. Each term represents a group of people with like minded beliefs on God, religion, and to a certain extent, how individuals should regard and live their life. In theory, and according to the books of each denomination, the faithful should be the kindest, most tolerant, devoted, and accepting philanthropist in the world. Sadly, this is not how things usually work out. History has shown us that in the early days Christians used every trick in the bag to turn the old world Pagans to Christianity by leveraging terror tactics not unlike those used by the Muslim extremists since 9/11. Following the establishment of Christianity as THE religion for Roman Europe, no less than 12 Crusades were documented between 1095 and 1234 where Christians, Jews, and Muslims were pitted against each other under the guise of religious cleansing. Believe what you will, though, it seems that this was really just a simple ploy to expand the reach of the Roman Empire and the authority of the Pope himself. Let’s not forget one of the most significant and well documented example of ethnic and religious cleansing, Hitler and the Nazi regime in Germany (followed by most of Europe) where the movement accounted for more than 12 million deaths (before World War 2) of which over 6 million were of Jewish faith.

Wiccan to sit out two Christmas songs
Fifteen-year-old Katarina Keen won’t sing along to “Silent Night” or “Listen to the Stars,” two Christian songs planned for her choir’s upcoming Christmas concert at Borger High School. But she will sing “Jingle Bells” and “A Carol in Winter.” Read full story from amarillo.com

Glitzy, fun – but soulful too
I grew up singing “Deck the halls with boughs of holly” but never actually stopped to think why we were decking the halls at all. Each year we take the time to decorate our homes during the festive season, hanging baubles on the Christmas tree and placing holly and ivy around the house but how many of us stop to wonder why we participate in such traditions? Read full story from ft.com

NASA finds ‘significant’ water on moon
(CNN) – NASA said Friday it had discovered water on the moon, opening “a new chapter” that could allow for the development of a lunar space station. Read full story from cnn.com

Oz Muslim students bully 11-year-old kid for eating a salami sandwich
Melbourne, Nov 13 (ANI): A Sydney couple has withdrawn their two children from a public primary school because Muslim students bullied their 11-year-old son for eating a salami sandwich during Ramadan. Read full story from yahoo.com

The fantasy and folklore of All Hallows
Halloween had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. Read full story from KMPH.com

Angel Valley Resort Sweat Lodge Incident: 2 Die, 19 Overcome at Arizona Retreat
PHOENIX — A sauna-like sweat lodge at an Arizona resort meant to provide spiritual cleansing became the scene of a police investigation Friday when more than a dozen people became ill during a two-hour session and two later died. Read full story from The Huffington Post