What Makes People Tick?

Mary of Magdala, or Mary Magdalene, is possibly one of history's most misunderstood women. A follower of Jesus, she is mentioned in the Christian Bible a number of times. Many think of her as a whore or a prostitute, despite the fact that she isn't actually called anything like that. Ever. I recently came across an article that described the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and was fascinated by what I read. Having read it, now it's time to share it with others. In the age of #YesAllWomen and #MeToo, I believe that it is important to look at how women are portrayed today, and how they were portrayed in the past. Mary, the Magdalene, is a woman branded by history as something she probably wasn't at all - a prostitute, an 'easy' woman, a whore as modern-day people might describe her. Yet upon reading the Gospel of Mary Magdalene , one's views may change, if only a little. While it's never been an official or unofficial gospel, the fragmented pieces of writing ...

The Times of Israel reports that Pope Francis spoke out about anti-Semitism: In comments made to veteran Portuguese-Israeli journalist Henrique Cymerman Thursday, Francis was quoted as saying that “anyone who does not recognize the Jewish people and the State of Israel — and their right to exist — is guilty of anti-Semitism.” Source: ‘Not recognizing Israel as Jewish is anti-Semitic, Pope says’ | The Times of Israel | 28 May 2015 Below, the Tweet from international journalist Henrique Cymerman: In an email we got from Pope Francis:"Whoever does not recognize the Jewish People and the State of Israel falls in antisemitism" — Henrique Cymerman (@Henrique_B_C) May 28, 2015 Seventy years after the end of the Holocaust, as the internet connects and unites the world and people are able to make up their own minds based on the information freely available to them online, isn't it about time that we all kick anti-Semitism to the curb? The Nazis and those who helped th...

In October 2001, almost thirteen years ago, Robert Worth published an article in the New York Times entitled "The Deep Intellectual Roots of Islamic Terror." In the article, he quotes Princeton professor of Near Eastern Studies Michael Doran who talks about terrorist group Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. Remember, this article was published only a month after the horrible events of September 11, 2001. ''Many Americans seem to think that bin Laden is just a violent cult leader,'' said Michael Doran. ... ''But the truth is that he is tapping into a minority Islamic tradition with a wide following and a deep history.''  Although many Muslims are horrified at the notion that their faith is being used to justify terrorism, Mr. bin Laden's advocacy of jihad, or holy war, against the West is a natural extension of what some radical Islamists have been saying and doing since the 1930's. These radicals were jailed, tortured and oft...

Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Hamas founding member Sheikh Hassan Yousef. After realising that Hamas was a violent organisation that he did not want to be a part of, he left Hamas and eventually moved to the United States. Mr. Yousef is also the author of the book " Son of Hamas " published in 2010. Judging by the reviews on Goodreads, it looks to be a very interesting book. I have to admit that I'd not heard of this book nor of Mosab Hassan Yousef until about an hour ago when I was alerted to the video below. In this video , Mosab Hassan Yousef speaks to CNN about his decision to leave Hamas and explains candidly why he could no longer be a part of such a brutal regime. If you watch anything today, watch this video! "In the mosques Hamas taught us that without shedding innocent blood for the sake of the ideology we wont be able to build an Islamic state. They were preparing us from the age as young as five years old.   This is the ideology that Hamas w...

Source : Pew Research Center Sometimes you need to read the numbers and see the statistics to understand just how often something happens. Take harassment or discrimination based on one's religion, for example. Pew Research reports that in Europe, 51% of Christians, 69% of Jews and 71% of Muslims face harassment. In other parts of the world, the numbers are just as shocking. Take the Middle East and North Africa where 65% of Christians, 70% of Jews and 75% of Muslims face religious harassment. "In nearly three out of every four countries of the world, religious groups experience harassment by individuals or groups in society. The harassment and intimidation take many forms, including physical or verbal assaults; desecration of holy sites; and discrimination against religious groups in employment, education and housing." Source : Social Harassment of Religious Groups , Pew Research Center

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I say that is equally true about trends and fashion. What serves as inspiration for one person is sacred religious imagery to another... Fashion designer Roberto Cavalli has used religious imagery in the past and it appears he is now doing so again. The logo for his Just Cavalli brand looks an awful lot like a Sufi religious symbol, as Chris Dickman reports. "In 2004 Roberto Cavalli was taken to task for a line of underwear and swimwear ... based on representations of Hindu goddesses. This shocked the Hindu community to the extent that the line had to be withdrawn...  Ten years later and Roberto Cavalli [does it] again, this time in the form of a logo for its Just Cavalli brand. The design [bears a] marked resemblance to the registered logo employed by the MTO Shahmaghsoudi School of Islamic Sufism . Sufism is a branch of Islam, with the school having more than 500,000 students in centers worldwide. ... The school's emblem ....

Browsing my Facebook feed today, I came across a friend's post asking if shops'd be open tomorrow in her area. I'm in Europe, my friend lives Down Under. I assumed there must be a local holiday I didn't know about until reading the comments - It's "Good Friday" tomorrow. Right. Took a while but : Click. When it dawned on me that I couldn't for the life of me remember what the whole Good Friday and Easter thing was about exactly, I checked Wikipedia. While I understand that Wikipedia is not an encyclopaedia or infallible or anything of the sort, the information it provided still surprised me greatly. Source :  Wikipedia "Easter (...) is a festival and holiday celebrated by Christians and non-Christians" So, according to Wikipedia I celebrate Easter? Uh... NO. I really, really don't! I was raised secular in a mainstream 'Christian' country in western Europe. Even though my family didn't care a...

The Kingdom of Israel. Established over 3000 years ago. Capital city: Jerusalem. The State of Israel. Established over 60 years ago. Capital city: Jerusalem. In the book of Genesis - the very first book in both the Jewish and Christian scriptures - the story of Abraham is told. The One God makes a covenant with Abraham, the father of Isaac and Ishmael. God promises Abraham, before he has any children, that his son by Sarah whose name will be Isaac, will be the beginning of a chosen people special to God. Isaac's grandson Judah is the person the Jewish people are 'named for'.  It is my personal opinion that both Israelis/Jews and Palestinians/Muslims should make more concessions when it comes to negotiating a peaceful two-state solution. It is also my personal opinion that both sides have very valid interests and concerns that need to be heard, respected and addressed. There are a great deal of issues that stand in the way of a two-state solution. According to a recent Mi...

An interesting study by the US-based Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project takes a look at religious diversity around the world. The study compares religious diversity around the entire world, per region and per individual country. The world's five main religions Buddhism, Christianity,

I've been trying to think of religious topics to write about that won't upset too many people, none at all if possible. So, I started thinking. What can I write about and what experiences can I share with an audience to help foster understanding and respect between peoples? One of my main interests when it comes to the world's religions is to look at the similarities instead of the differences. So, I've decided that I will be focusing on just that - our similarities. What kind of similarities? Many believe that the world was created by a Higher Power or Creating Force. Most have a basic system of laws like those against murder and theft. Many religions hold that there are clean / good and unclean / bad / forbidden foods. Prayer, meditation and becoming a better person are encouraged by all religions I know of. It is similarities like the ones above that I want to write about and focus on. I want to look at the basics that connect people of all religions - the...

Apparently, when two people love each other and want to get married to seal that love, this man's idea of the Christian God gets angry and punishes an entire country. Why? Read on at the BBC website .  "[UKIP councillor David] Silvester, from Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, defected from the Tories in protest at Mr Cameron's support for same-sex unions. In the letter to the Henley Standard he wrote: "The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war." Religion fascinates me in all its ways, shapes and forms. Religious people also fascinate me, as do their actions, reactions, responses and modern-day interpretations of (for instance) Old Testament stories. How do religions adapt to modern-day society, if they do at all? And how do religious people adapt, if they do? ...

 I am looking forward to reading Reza Aslan's newest book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (ISBN 9781400069224). I must admit that I hadn't heard about Aslan until reading about and watching the sensational Fox News interview (which you can see here at Al Arabiya for instance) in which the author is (my words:) attacked by the news anchor for being a Muslim writing about the founder of Christianity. I do not understand why the news anchor would question that someone interested in the history or religions and religious development would want to write about the founder of the world's largest religion. To me, that feels the same as telling me (a female) that I am not allowed to write about a male, simply because I myself am not a male. It also seems to me as if the news anchor is not aware of the fact that Jesus is considered a prophet in Islam. This alone would be a valid reason for ay Muslim to want to learn more and write about Jesus. Aslan does not...

The Jewish Shema Yisrael and the Qur'an's surah (chapter) 112 known as Al Ikhlas share quite a few similarities. While in today's world many Muslims seem to believe that it is their duty to kill as many Jews as possible and the two religions don't always get on as well as they could, when one looks to the texts and the teachings of these two religions, one finds a lot of similarities. Of the world's three monotheistic faiths, Judaism came first, Christianity came second and Islam came third. While Christianity believes in a three-in-one package deal, as opposed to the only-one beliefs of the other two religions, the three religions are still considered connected monotheistic religions. While Judaism has remained a religion of roughly 20 million people or less, both Christianity and Islam have become huge religions with adherents numbering in the billions, in most countries of the world. All three religions have gone through many changes and developments since thei...

Many people around the world celebrate a worldwide religious or cultural holiday in December. This holiday may be the a version of Christmas, the Jewish Hanukkah, it may be Kwanzaa or a pagan or Wiccan Yule / midwinter celebration. To top it off, there is the world-wide counting down to midnight on December 31st and the communal celebrations of the start of the new year. Every person who celebrates a holiday in December will have a different reason for doing so. Some may celebrate for religious or religion-based reasons. Some enjoy the holidays in a secular way. Some enjoy any excuse to go shopping. Some enjoy the feeling of celebrating with others and the sense of community that it brings. Some commemorate the middle of winter and the changes that will bring. Some may simply go along with what others do and celebrate only because of chance or coincidence. No matter how or what one celebrates - What matters is that all across the world, people are doing the same thing in Decemb...

Copy of a short piece I wrote for another blog of mine. First published 12-06-2011 Happened across an article in the Daily Mail today from back in 2009 that caught my fancy. In short, it describes the find of a bunch of carved ancient stones long buried at Gobekli Tepe in eastern Turkey / Kurdistan. This site predates other ancient sites such as Stonehenge or the Pyramids by several thousands of years, meaning it is the oldest such site that has been uncovered to date. Not only does this site teach us amazing new things about our (humanity´s) past, we also learn more about the region, the practices and possible lifestyle and beliefs of the people alive at the time, and oh as an afterthought - reshapes what we thought we knew to be true about human development. Isn´t is just awesome when history, religion and science come together! Some quotes from the article: Carbon-dating shows that the complex is at least 12,000 years old, maybe even 13,000 years old. That means it was b...

Happenings like the most recent quake and tsunami in Japan, the Christchurch quake in New Zealand, the draughts in Australia, widespread war, unrest, and disease in the world, the most recent uprisings in the Middle East, coupled with it now being 2011, make me think about the End of the World prophesies and how it´s all supposed to happen at the end of 2012. What if? What if pretty much every religious and spiritual system in the world is warning us in some way or another, and we are too busy with our electronic gadgets, our cars, our appearance and popularity to see these warning before it is too late? I don´t follow any one religion or system of beliefs. I believe in a higher power, a creating force that shaped the world we live on, the universe we live in, and everyone and everything we see and know. I believe that all roads lead to Rome, and that no matter what one believes exactly , eventually we all worship the same divine force and all religious systems teach the...

According to USA Today, novelist Anne Rice, famous for her books on vampires ( Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned ), creator of the ever-interesting Lestat and sister of noted novelist Alice Borchardt, is rejecting Christianity while sticking with Christ. On her Facebook page, the author said the following: For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being "Christian" or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to "belong" to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else. - Anne Rice's Facebook page Anne Rice grew up a Catholic, married Stan Rice (an atheist) in 1961 and started writing her vampire books while living in San Francisco after the death of her daughter Michele to leukemia i...