SourceCHENNAI, JANUARY 11: Exactly two months after he was arrested in connection with the Sankararaman murder case, Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi was today released on bail. A beaming Shankaracharya came out from the Vellore jail at 4.30 pm and was received by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, VHP leader Ashok Singhal, former Union Minister S Thirunavukkarasar and many devotees. Maintaining a…
SourcePHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, January 9, 2005: As Western humanitarian organizations unleash an armada of relief supplies and workers into Asia’s crisis zone, some evangelical Christian groups aim to bring the Gospel to the victims, as well. Religious groups promise to be a major presence in the massive relief and reconstruction effort. InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based nongovernment organizations, reports that…
SourceALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, January 10, 2005: HPI Note: This article appears on the conservative web site Cybercast News Service. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a recent email to supporters, said Christian missionaries are “exploiting the tsunami suffering.” In its January 7 “American Muslim News Briefs,” CAIR included a report from the Agape Press, which noted that a Virginia-based Christian ministry…
SourceINDIA, January 7, 2005: Dr. Frank Gaetano Morales’ article on what he calls “Radical Universalism,” the idea that all religions are the same, says, in part, “Of the many current peculiar concepts mistakenly ascribed to Hindu theology, one of the most widely misunderstood is the idea that Hinduism somehow teaches that all religions are equal. that all religions are the…
News ReportsTIRUCHENDUR, INDIA, January 8, 2005: Tiruchendur Lord Murugan Temple is on the sea shore – within 100 metres of the waves. The temple entrance is near sea level, and the cave inside is sloping down to the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Lord Subramaniam (Murugan) . When we stand in front of the deity, the sea water level outside is…
HPIKAUAI, HAWAII, January 8, 2005: Patrick Harrigan (see his web site here) reports from Batticaloa: “About foreign volunteers, you know that skilled people are needed here badly. But without language ability in Tamil their use would be limited. I met a whole team of foreign doctors today at Ramakrishna College, now a refugee camp until school starts on January 20.…
SourceSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, January 8, 2005: An informative web site on the traditional Baul singers of India is on-line at “source.” The opening page reads, “Welcome to the home page of the Purna Das Baul Academy, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of Purna Das Baul and the Bauls of Bengal. Through performance, teaching, research, and education–as well…
SourceTWIN CITIES, U.S.A., December 26, 2004: This news release was written by Anantanand Rambachan, a Hindu and a professor of religion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, in response to another article written by Joe Soucheray. Apparently Mr. Soucheray was upset with St. Paul Region hospital for removing the cross from their chapel. Rambachan points out that as North American…
SourceNAGAPATTINAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA, Januayr 4, 2005: Barefooted Maria Selvan, 63, walks aimlessly along the shores sobbing and recollecting the moments before and after the gigantic wall of water came crashing down over him. At times he beats his chest in despair and then goes silent. Then he points a finger to a piece of flattened land where his house…
Religion Today SummariesCANADA, January 7, 2004: HPI note: The following item appeared in today’s Religion Today Summaries published by Crosswalk.com, a Christian evangelical organization. It reads: “The president of Gospel for Asia says the devastating earthquake and tidal wave that hit South Asian countries should make every true believer focus on evangelism. Indonesia was hardest hit, reporting nearly 100,000 deaths.…