For those of us who see only death and destruction on the horizon, there is some indication that things are not aways what they appear on the surface.
Every religion has fundemental aspects, some of which haven't kept up with the times.
But religions are what the adherents choose to emphasize.
Take a look at these two stories:
1. Azerbaijan: Hijab Ban in Schools Fuels Debate in Baku on Role of Islam
January 6, 2011 - 2:06pm, by Shahin Abbasov
Azerbaijanreligious freedom
Women wearing hijabs come out of the mosque in Nardaran following a prayer service on Ashura Day in February 2006. Islam has been steadily gaining in popularity in Azerbaijan since the Soviet Unions collapse in 1991. (Photo: Rena Effendi)
Azerbaijans unofficial ban on Islamic head coverings for girls in public schools is stoking an increasingly emotional debate over how Azeri culture reconciles re-emerging Shiite Muslim beliefs with Soviet-era secularist practices.
2.Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek Preparing Ground for Crackdown on Religious Radicals
January 5, 2011 - 2:04pm, by Deirdre Tynan
KyrgyzstanIslamic ExtremismReligion
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan appear to be laying the groundwork for a broad crackdown on perceived religious radicals, following January 4 firefights that left four law-enforcement officers and two alleged militants dead.
Top security officials in Bishkek described the incidents as a call to arms against perceived Islamic militants. A war has been declared on all of us. We must distinguish between good and evil. Today evil is wearing the mask of a believer, trying to intimidate us, to cause panic and division, Interior Minister Zarylbek Rysaliyev was quoted as saying in a statement posted on the ministrys website.
Azerbaijan: Hijab Ban in Schools Fuels Debate in Baku on Role of Islam | EurasiaNet.org
Rather than the great war that some suggest is in the cards, this great conflict may end, a Eliot suggests, 'not with a bang, but with a whimper.'
Every religion has fundemental aspects, some of which haven't kept up with the times.
But religions are what the adherents choose to emphasize.
Take a look at these two stories:
1. Azerbaijan: Hijab Ban in Schools Fuels Debate in Baku on Role of Islam
January 6, 2011 - 2:06pm, by Shahin Abbasov
Azerbaijanreligious freedom
Women wearing hijabs come out of the mosque in Nardaran following a prayer service on Ashura Day in February 2006. Islam has been steadily gaining in popularity in Azerbaijan since the Soviet Unions collapse in 1991. (Photo: Rena Effendi)
Azerbaijans unofficial ban on Islamic head coverings for girls in public schools is stoking an increasingly emotional debate over how Azeri culture reconciles re-emerging Shiite Muslim beliefs with Soviet-era secularist practices.
2.Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek Preparing Ground for Crackdown on Religious Radicals
January 5, 2011 - 2:04pm, by Deirdre Tynan
KyrgyzstanIslamic ExtremismReligion
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan appear to be laying the groundwork for a broad crackdown on perceived religious radicals, following January 4 firefights that left four law-enforcement officers and two alleged militants dead.
Top security officials in Bishkek described the incidents as a call to arms against perceived Islamic militants. A war has been declared on all of us. We must distinguish between good and evil. Today evil is wearing the mask of a believer, trying to intimidate us, to cause panic and division, Interior Minister Zarylbek Rysaliyev was quoted as saying in a statement posted on the ministrys website.
Azerbaijan: Hijab Ban in Schools Fuels Debate in Baku on Role of Islam | EurasiaNet.org
Rather than the great war that some suggest is in the cards, this great conflict may end, a Eliot suggests, 'not with a bang, but with a whimper.'
