Source: HPI VIENNA, AUSTRIA, August 21, 2002: Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, from the International Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship, Vienna, Austria, has voiced his concern to Indian Prime Ministers regarding the Indian government’s support of meat production. Swami writes, “It has been brought to our attention by The International Theosophical Order of Service (Sevran, France) that the government of India…
Source: Yahoo.com ASPEN, COLORADO, August 28, 2002: Plans for a classroom yoga program were put on hold so administrators and parents could decide whether it would bring religion into the school. Some families at Aspen Elementary said the chanting that often accompanies yoga techniques might challenge the constitutional separation of church and state. The program, called Yoga Ed, would use…
GO TO SOURCE September 1, 2002: As Ganesha Chaturthi approaches, devotees are encouraged to check out the web site created by the Sanatan Society. A comprehensive “Campaign for awareness of spiritually correct way of celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi” details nine points including the history of Ganesh Chaturthi, the science behind the rituals, interesting facts about Lord Ganesh, and the science behind…
Source: Religion News Service USA, August 29, 2002: As diverse communities across America prepare to solemnly remember the day last year when thousands died and millions cried out to God, yearnings abound to see believers of all types mark the occasion by praying together. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, for instance, in July called on “all faith communities to participate…
Source: Hindustan Times WEST BENGAL, INDIA, August 22, 2002: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday brought back to Hinduism one Muslim and six Christian families at a paribartan (“transformation”) ceremony in the West Bengal’s Malda district. The ceremony, which took place in Bharat Sevashram Sangh’s ashram at Tajpur, kicks off a reconversion program planned by the VHP in the…
GO TO SOURCE HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 29, 2002: A court in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has ordered the state authorities to help free a monkey that has been confined inside a temple for the last month. The monkey has been kept within the temple’s inner-most chambers in the belief that it is the reincarnation of a much…
GO TO SOURCE USA, August 29, 2002: The Saudi government is censoring public Internet access to a degree that goes significantly but haphazardly beyond its stated central goal of blocking sexually explicit content that violates the values of Islam, according to a recent study by Harvard Law School researchers. The study’s detailed list of blocked sites offers a glimpse into…
GO TO SOURCE KENDALL PARK, NEW JERSEY, August 24, 2002: Poojaneeya Sadhwi Ritambara addressed a gathering of about five hundred Hindus at Durga Mandir, Kendall Park, New Jersey on August 24. A report forwarded by one of her devotees (“source” above) states that Ritambara gave investment tips to the audience. She advised Hindus to invest in the most undervalued stock…
GO TO SOURCE MADURAI, INDIA, August 25, 2002: Some 250 Scheduled Caste (the dalits or “untouchables,” who number 160 million in India) youths from the southern districts of Tamil Nadu were converted into Christianity at a function here on Saturday night, Seventh Day Adventist Church sources said. The Church had shot into the limelight in 2001 when it converted more…
GO TO SOURCE THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, August 23, 2002: Sree Narayana Guru Jayanthi (birthday) was celebrated all over Kerala with religious prayer meetings and communal harmony congregations. Hundreds of people from various parts of the state took part in the all-religious meeting at the Shivagiri math, founded by the Guru at Varkela and Guru’s birth-place Gurukulam at Chembashanthi near here. Special…