Link roundup: 29 May - 31 May

• The Washington Post chronicles a Mormon church for singles.
• A new piece from Stanley Fish in the New York Times, which considers the two faces of Judaism in American public discourse.
• Thew New York Times also considers Oprah's theology of suffering.
• A Philadelphia Imam helps his congregants fight back against crime.
• An attempt by Veteran Affairs to stop a Christian prayer on Memorial Day has been blocked by the courts.
• Got some spare cash? Consider buying the Crystal Cathedral.
• The bible will become a Mark Burnett television series.
• A church in Ottawa is planning a gasoline giveaway.
• Malta, which is mostly Catholic, votes to allows divorce.
• How is finance like religion? 
• A surprising group shows up to counter-protest the Westboro Baptist Church on Memorial Day.

'Eco'-Link roundup

Thanks to the marvelous work of Nicholas Dion, you’ve seen religion in the news, but have you seen religion AND ecology in the news?

Due to the industrious work of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University - which gathers emails sent out by UNEP, the United Nations Environment Program - news on religion and ecology is but a mere mouse click away (for an archival inventory of such articles visit FORE). Here are a few to whet your whistle:

• April 18, 2011 - "EPA Launches Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Initiative/EPA’s coordination with White House effort will support environmental education and healthier families." Visit Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

• April 13, 2011 - "Hindu Perspectives on the Environment: Interview with Pankaj Jain:" Paradise Parking Lot. Progressive Radio Network. To listen to this podcast, visit: Paradise Parking Lot
  

• April 9, 2011 - "Green Passover: Taking Responsibility for People and Planet," by Rabbi Edward C. Bernstein. The Huffington Post. For full story, visit: Judaism and the Environment
  

• April 2, 2011 - "Tibetan Glaciers Melting, Dalai Lama Claims." The Huffington Post: NEW DELHI -- The Dalai Lama said Saturday that India should be seriously concerned about the melting of glaciers in the Tibetan plateau as millions of Indians use water that comes from there. For full story, visit: Tibetan Glaciers Melting
  

• March 1, 2011 - "Movement to save the Yamuna gains momentum," by Brij Khandelwal, Indian News Post: A movement launched by the ascetics and Sri Krishna devotees of the Braj Mandal to save the Yamuna river from pollution is now gaining momentum. For full story, visit: Ascetics to save the Yamuna river from pollution
  

• February 20, 2011 - "Hindus back Catholic Bishops on Climate Change policy protecting world’s poor." Press Release, Merinews: Hindus have commended the Global Climate Change policy statement of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) which says, “Policies addressing global climate change should enhance rather than diminish the economic situation of people in poverty”. For full story, visit: Hindus back Catholic Bishops
  

Link roundup: 20 May - 27 May

• In case you haven't heard, the Rapture begins tonight. Get your playlists ready!
• If you have some spare time tomorrow evening, be sure to attend a Rapture party.
• Turns out the same pastor who has predicted this apocalypse has done so before... and been wrong.
• According to the US government and the CDC, the apocalypse is more likely to come in zombie form.
• In other news, Romans are disappointed with a new statue of Pope John Paul II.
• The head of the IMF's arrest this week is dashing the hopes of Jewish communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
• A former boxer now fights for reproductive rights in the Filipino congress.
• A Catholic church in Florida intends to pray for bin Laden on Sunday.
• Is Apple a religion?
• The Huffington Post has a piece about the wave of anti-Sharia sentiment sweeping US state legislatures.

• Well... the Rapture didn't happen.
• The Pope speaks to and blesses astronauts at the ISS.
• A Saudi woman is campaigning for the right to drive.
• Leonard Nimoy speaks about his Jewish roots.
• The Pope has closed a monastery after unusual practices are discovered.
• Is atheism a religion?
• A psychologist argues that religion is not delusional.
• Oprah owes her success to god.

Truth is the easy part- what kind of reconciliation?

Dale Turner’s recent post on FEDCAN blog, “Aboriginal Relations in Canada: The Importance of Political Reconciliation” asks the question: What is the meaning of reconciliation? Turner suggests that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is about both the healing of estranged relationships as well as “an expression of Indigenous nationhood” and as such, it is political.

Why does Turner think this? According to Turner, section 35 (1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (which reads: “The existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed”) affirms individual rights, but only within Crown sovereignty. Meaning, Aboriginal laws, customs, and practices have to be “articulated in the language of the common law, as opposed to Aboriginal peoples looking to their spiritual practices and philosophical systems of though as logical sources of their rights” (Turner 2011). For Turner then, the concern for the TRC lies not in whether or not is a good idea to have the TRC, but the kind of reconciliation happening- one that seems to ignore the political dimension of this form of reconciliation. If reconciliation includes self-government, then the TRC needs to address constitutional and political problems for actually reaching this type of reconciliation. While Turner doesn’t want the TRC to turn into a reassessment of s. 35 (1), he does suggest that the Commissioners need to pay more attention to what Aboriginal people are saying about the past, and see that the vision for healing is an expression of Indigenous nationhood, and therefore political.

Turner is making an excellent point here- what *is* the model for the TRC? The TRC website seems to suggest there are many communities events in which survivors (direct experience or children of survivors) are able to tell their stories and discuss their experiences in residential schools. These statements are meant to provide an outlet for First Nations to express their experiences, but they are also taken in order to create a historical record or the residential school system. The TRC will also create a report including recommendations to the Government of Canada in regards to residential school history, purpose, operation, effect and consequences (intergenerational included) and the impact of the ongoing legacy of the schools.

While the TRC website seems to suggest that involvement with First Nations is paramount in the TRCs mandate, I understand what Turner is suggesting and it’s a valid point- isn’t all of this reconciliation sort of dancing around a much larger issue- land claims and treaty rights? Turner defines for us using the Oxford English Dictionary- 1. The action of restoring estrange people or parties to friendship; the result of this; the fact of being reconciled. 2. The action or an act of bringing a thing or things to agreement, concord, or harmony; the fact of being made consistent or compatible. I can understand that the TRC wasn’t created to directly deal with these sorts of issues, the mandate seems to put the first possible definition of “reconciliation” into action- reconciling estranged parties. But *how*? This seems to be the more pressing question. While I can’t argue against the inherent value of the telling of stories and the airing of grievances I can’t help but wonder about the actual practical outcomes of the TRC. Treaties and land claims are certainly the elephant in the room when it comes to First Nations rights and treatment. It will be very interesting to see what the government plans on doing after the TRC finishes. I suspect some of the “what happens next” may well be based upon the recommendations of the commission itself. Of course this kind of situation only reminds of the previous attempt at suggestions for improvement for First Nations. In 1996 the Royal Commission released a report that provided a detailed summary of the history of treatment of First Nations in Canada, as well as suggestions to renew relations between the government and First Nations. So, not to be too cynical here, but it seems to me the TRC report might end up in a similar situation- dying a few months after birth. Of course, I try to remain optimistic, and I suppose the answer to this will not be answered for some time, but I appreciate Turner’s reminder than no matter what the venue, politics is at play.

Read Turner’s article here: http://blog.fedcan.ca/2011/05/03/aboriginal-relations-in-canada-the-importance-of-political-reconciliation/#more-1483

Link roundup: 10 May - 19 May

• Quebec is becoming a leading producer of green (as in ecologically sound) communion wine.
• Want to be a rock star? Go to Christian rock camp.
• A California college offers a major in secularism.
• A Jewish newspaper apologises for removing Hilary Clinton from a photograph.
• Mitt Romney must be serious about his presidential big - he's now courting religious conservatives.
• One of the Sudanese 'lost boys' is heading back home after having completed seminary in the US.
• A progressive Christian group rejects a gay rights ad that uses the church setting.
• In case you missed the news, the world will end on 21 May.
• Is Vladimir Putin the new Paul?
• Al Jazeera looks at how the government of Bahrain has persecuted its Shi'a minority.
• According to a new book, half of the New Testament is forged.
• A new cross-cultural study in evolutionary biology suggests that religion is part of human nature.
• A piece looks at the portrayal of Norse mythology in the new movie 'Thor'.
• A new bill in the US proposes that the State department make international freedom of religion rights a priority.
• A group of Turkish creationists are touring France to denounce Darwin.
• In a new interview published Monday, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking calls the notion of an afterlife 'a fairy-tale for those afraid of the dark'. 
• A proposed ban on circumcision in San Francisco will be voted on by city council in November.