akarshkain-blog

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'Evil Acts': Son Of Sheriff's Deputy Is Chief Suspect In Black Church Arson Cases

According to the news going on from past few weeks, police have arrested the suspect associated with the fire in the black churches. In the past few days, three historical black churches were lit by some people and after the investigation, it was found out that the man involved in the whole situation was no one but the son of the Louisiana sheriff’s deputy. The name of the suspect involved is Holden Matthews who is 21 years old. The act would be considered as one of the triple evils known as Militarism because it caused a lot of violence. Fortunately, no lives are in danger but still, this act has taken the house of worship of many people. This act stood as a barrier to our living in the beloved community. The deputy/the father of the suspect didn’t know anything about the situation and was shocked.

Black churches are the most important institutions in America for the black community and are considered the safest places to be sane in the insane world. But people got really hurt after this evil act. Some of the people who knew the suspect said that the act was not because of racial discrimination but was related to some religious tension.

Holden was linked to “black metal” which is a music genre having the history of being associated with lots of church arson attacks in Norway and many other places from the last few years. Since the civil rights movement, black churches in the south have been attacked a lot and because of which, this time, pastors prayed that this should an act of racism. According to Beirich, many religious places and black Churches have always been the targets of hatred. This act has been considered as a despicable act by the U.S. Attorney David Joseph.

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/11/712173532/authorities-arrest-suspect-linked-to-3-burned-black-churches-in-louisiana

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Shia cleric demands Yogi's apology on Ali-Bajrang Bali comment

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/68837899.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

As we have discussed in the class that Shia makes up 20% of the Muslims and live in Pakistan, India, Iran, and Iraq. As elections are going on in India, a new controversy came up related to the Shia Muslims because of a statement made by a Hindu politician. According to the article, in one of the rallies of Aditya Yogi, CM of one of the states of India made a comment about the religion and gods as a strategy to get more votes. He said that the followers of their political party believe in Lord Hanuman. The general secretary of Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind (MUH), Naqvi replied that the CM cannot make such speeches to get votes in the name of Hazrat Ali and Bajrang Bali. In the class, we have also discussed that Ali is the prophet's rightful successor of Shia and they give importance to Ali. That's is why Naqvi was against the statement of Yogi and wanted him to take back his words.

Religion and politics should remain separated and politicians should not take the support of any religious comments to increase their voters. It might hurt the feelings of some people. Also, Naqvi feels that being a CM of UP, Yogi should abstain himself from making such statements. As Hazrat Ali is just not only supported and followed by the Muslim community but by all the communities, that comment may have hurt the sentiments of a lot of people. 

In India, Muslim and Hindus always have some controversies and they get offended really easily and fast. It causes a lot of problems. As elections are over the head, politicians are looking for these controversies to gain some good credibility. Some politicians think that bringing religion to politics will benefit them but they don't know that sometimes it will hurt more people and take off their votes from them.

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The 2020 campaign is already turning into a war on 'elites'

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/31/politics/elites-trump-buttigieg-ocasio-cortez/index.html

Groups that stand outside of everyone and have superior abilities or qualities from other groups are considered as elites. But if we talk about politics, the word “elite” is not considered positive and as a compliment, as it is considered when we talk about athletics, NCAA teams and or a person in our classroom. In the class, we have discussed that the elite groups mostly exist in North America and how they impact the people. The campaign in 2020 is going against elites and turning into a war against them. According to Trump, from his speeches and telling, elites in politics are those people who think they are superior of everyone. According to the article “The 2020 campaign is already turning into a war on 'elites'”, in American politics, if someone is being out of touch with these group of people then it is considered to be the worst thing they did. Trump is against the elites and he keeps saying that some of the important things like jobs, careers, and freedom are being taken away from by the coastal elites. Politicians like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders had made some anti-elitist comments like wall street is creating inequality in the country. This inequality becomes more noticeable as we move far from the US economy incriminators like urban engines. Warren went to Alabama to make people aware and encourage them so that they will have more expectations form the government. Also, Trump says that he and his supporters are better than all the elites out there. During his rallies, he also told everyone that he is better, richer and more educated than the elite groups.

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New Zealand mosque terror attacks

https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/live-updates-new-zealand-shooting-christchurch-terror-attack-intl/index.html

One of the major attacks that stunned everyone in the Christchurch was the mass shooting that happened last month on March 15th, 2019.  It was the most terrifying and massive mass shooting that happened in New Zealand. The suspect behind this assault is a 28 years old Australian who got all those weapons legally. He traveled from Australia to New Zealand to give Muslims a message that no place is safe for them and he gave his message by killing them. The name of that man is Brenton Harrison and he killed about 49 people praying in two different mosques. He led this attack because he hated the Muslim. Everything was planned as he knew that he will find a lot of Muslim in the mosque because it was Friday and Friday is the holy day of Muslims. They all got to church on that day to pray. I know about this because I have a lot of friends who are Muslim, and this attack really traumatized me. I felt really bad for the families of the people who died in that attack. Muslims come under minority and hence they are not treated equally. People discriminate and have hatred against them. Even politicians become two-faced in such cases. Boris Johnson from Britain offered thoughts and prayers when that attack happened, but he was the one who made a comment on Muslim women a time ago that they look like bank robbers when they wear a burqa. Also, the Senator of Australia blamed Muslim community for that attack. He said that the bloodshed on the streets of New Zealand was because of the immigration program which gives the right to Muslim fanatics to Migrate to New Zealand. Muslims are migrating to different countries because they feel that they will be safe there from violence and attacks that they face in their own countries. But because of some people’s wrong mindset about Muslims, they are still facing discrimination.

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Portland bans discrimination against atheists, other nonbelievers

https://religionnews.com/2019/03/04/portland-bans-discrimination-against-atheists-other-nonbelievers/

In this world, we find a lot of people who believe in god and are super religious. But, on the other hand, there are also people who do not believe in god at all. Some think that there is nothing like supernatural in this world. They are known as an atheist. There were lots of cases regarding the discrimination against atheists but from the past few years, these cases are coming down. According to the article “Portland bans discrimination against atheists, other nonbelievers” people who do not believe in god got a sense of relief because the city council has increased the protection against the discrimination to atheists and other non-believers. According to the president of Portland-area Cheryl Kolbe, the city of Portland thinks that all of the people, believers, and non-believers, should be treated equally and all of the people are same and there should be no bias between these two groups. According to the survey, there are a lot of people in Portland who are non-religious and hence the civil right code should make rules that all those people should be allowed to engage equally in employment, housing and other public occupations in the city and should not be discriminated on the basis of race, religion, gender and their nationality. 

Portland has become the second city now to vote for a ban against atheism discrimination. As this policy is made for the city Portland though but Kolbe thinks that it will spread all around the Oregon and impacts the non-believers. If it happens then other cities will get inspired and they will also increase their protection for atheists. In Portland, there is a lot of discrimination against atheists and they really wanted to be accepted by society. They don’t need any special rules for them, but they just wanted to be validated by the city similar to the rest of the people.

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Where Is American Christian Outrage on Russia’s Treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses?

The article that I read named “Where Is American Christian Outrage on Russia’s Treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses?” tells about how American Christians got to know that their believes and religion is being altered by the country they live in. They are getting alarmed about the confiscation of the bibles, evangelization being criminalized, and the believers are getting abused. In this article, it has been mentioned that about 15 of Jehovah’s Witnesses were found by the police when they raided in Surgut. Those 15 people were tortured while they were imprisoned. Some of them were abused severely. Russia is doing really bad in terms of religious freedom and the results are growing rapidly according to the US Commission International Religious Freedom. At first, in 1997 the nation had a law which supported the Russian Orthodox churches but later in a few years, it became hard to practice the religion and in 2016, according to “Yarovaya Law”, it became unlawful to pray, preach and respond to the religious questions outside the designated sites that are officially declared by the government. We see the absurd law in Russia where a Jehovah’s Witnesses is not allowed to hold up to anyone’s doorstep presenting a copy of “The Watchtower”. We have discussed Jehovah Witnesses and Christianity in class, I think that despite having lots of things in common, they are still a sperate religion. Also, these groups also oppose wars and violence but still they are being tortured.

https://rewire.news/religion-dispatches/2019/02/26/where-is-american-christian-outrage-on-russias-treatment-of-jehovahs-witnesses/

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On the Road With the Amish

As I read the article named “On the Road with Amish” I found out that there are most of the Amish that gets into road accidents as they ride a buggy. The article mentions the man who died because of his collision with a car. This article also explains that the number of people from this community who ride horse-drawn buggies has been increased on New York State’s roadways. One of the reasons for that is the rush of their population across the state. Another factor that comes into the article is their religion. Their religion is against adding any safety precautions and features into the buggy. Although they have battery-operated lights and reflectors in their buggy, they still avoid installing some safety properties.

In the class, we have also studied that they have strong beliefs and they believe that their religion and the way they spend their life is inseparable and interconnected. Their living style is full of old-fashioned traditions and they have accepted it as their lifestyle choice. Because of their strong beliefs and traditions, I think they are still avoiding accepting the different culture and are sticking to their own. But their decision is somehow backfiring on them and this causes a lot of life loss within their community. This article is not saying that they should change their believes but it wants to convey that they should come up with some ideas that can increase their security and safety.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/insider/amish-buggy-traffic-accidents.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAmish&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection

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Is Religious Freedom for Christians Only?

As this class is about religion, we should first know what religion is and why it is important for everyone to know the true meaning of religion. In class, we have discussed a lot about religions and politics. Religion is a belief, faith, and divinity for a personal god.

The article “Is Religious Freedom for Christians Only?” talks about the foundational principles of religious tolerance and how those principles were undermined. This article shows how the court is spreading their message to the minority religious groups that they don’t belong to this country and are outsiders and also not considered as an inclusive member of the political community. Most of the times, members of the Muslim community are targeted by the court. There is a policy that the prisons of the Christian community can have a minister of their own choice depending upon their faith and that minister can come with them while the prisoner says their last rites. But a member of any other religious community like Judaism or Islam cannot die with the minister of their own faith. A story about the prisoner named Dominique Hakim Marcelle Ray has also been mentioned in the article that he wanted an imam during his death because of security reasons they did not allow it.

So, what I think is that there should be no discrimination on the basis of religion and every religion should be treated equally. Religion is a spiritual power that holds up humans and allows humans to believe in something. It builds up the community, cure them and keep them on the ground. We are no one to judge people on the basis of religion. As we have discussed in the class that every religion has its own importance and it should be kept that way only.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/09/opinion/supreme-court-alabama-execution.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FReligion%20and%20Belief&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection®ister=google