Articles – Page 51

Azerbaijan: State hounds Muslim leaders

By Gulnara Mamedzade, 16 April 2002

The Azerbaijani government, apparently concerned over religious extremism and corruption, is cracking down on the country’s main Muslim organisation. When the government set up a special body to deal with religious groups last year, its founders said it had limited ambitions. But over the last few months, the new office, State Committee for Relations with […]

Gulnara Mamedzade is a correspondent with Echo newspaper in Baku.

This article was first published on 12 April 2002 (CRS No. 124) by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), London. Posted on Religioscope with permission.

Articles published by the IWPR on Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus as well as other topics can be accessed on its website:
http://www.iwpr.net
IWPR supports recovery and development in crisis zones by providing professional training, financial assistance and an international platform to independent media, human rights activists and other local democratic voices. IWPR’s primary beneficiaries are local journalists who participate in its reporting, research and training programmes.

Kyrgyzstan: Ahmadi community fears for its future

By Igor Rotar, 12 April 2002

“Currently we have no problems in Kyrgyzstan, but we fear that problems may arise after approval of a new law on freedom of conscience and religious organisations, which is due to be adopted at the May parliamentary session,” the leader of Kyrgyzstan’s Ahmadiyya community told Keston News Service in Bishkek on 1 April. Keston News […]

Central Asia: Fetullah Gülen’s missionary schools

By Bayram Balci, 11 April 2002

The Nurcu movement founded by Said Nursi (1873-1960) is probably one of the most important religious organizations in Turkey. After Nursi’s death in 1960, the Nurcu brotherhood fragmented into several sub-communities with different interpretations of religion, different goals and different positions on political issues [1] . Nowadays, Fethullah Gülen controls the most powerful of these groups. […]

Bayram Balci is a French scholar, who received his political degree in political science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Grenoble) in October 2001. His doctoral thesis was devoted to Fetullah Gülen’s schools in Central Asia.

This article was originally published in ISIM Newsletter, No. 9, 2002. Posted on Religioscope with permission.

[ISIM does no longer exist, and its newsletter is no longer published. However, all past issues can be accessed online from the following website: http://religionresearch.org/closer/isimreview/ – 21.08.2016]

China: battle with tradition spills into cyberspace – Traditional funerals and the internet

By Antoaneta Bezlova, 9 April 2002

A long-standing battle of the Chinese Communist Party with costly traditional funerals and superstition here has transcended secular boundaries and leapt into cyberspace. IPS – 7 April 2002 – People marking the Qingming Festival – China’s traditional day for sweeping the graves and remembering the dead this week – are being encouraged to pay homage through […]

China: leaders sound caution on Bibles for China project

By Bettina Krause, 8 April 2002

The Institute for Christian Studies at People’s University in Beijing is planning a Bible translation in modern Chinese to be sold in ordinary bookstores throughout China. Adventist News Network – 2 April 2002 – According to Professor Yang Huilin, his institute is cooperating closely in this project with Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in Jiangsu Province. To […]

ANN World News Bulletin is a review of news and information issued by the Communication department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. It is made available primarily to religious news editors.

Internet Church starts english worship service: Christ preached in English from Hungary

By Stefan J. Bos, 11 March 2002

The International Christian Internet Church (ICIC) has launched its English language worship services in cyberspace to reach especially those who otherwise don’t visit a regular church, its Hungarian co-founder announced. “Many people live in countries such as Saudi Arabia or China where being a Christian can be dangerous,” said Rev. Lazlo Banfi, who himself suffered […]

According to information provided by ANS, award winning journalist Stefan J. Bos was born on the 19th of September 1967 in a small home in downtown Amsterdam, in the Netherlands not far from the typewriter of his father, who was (and still is) a Reporter and ghostwriter. Already at a very young age Bos decided to become journalist and finally arrived in Hungary, the same country where his parents had smuggled Bibles during Communism. Bos has traveled extensively to cover wars and revolutions throughout the region and received the Annual Press Award of Merit from the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his coverage about foreign policy affairs including Hungary’s relationship with NATO and the European Union.

This article was published by ANS (ASSIST News Service). ASSIST is an evangelical ministry started by journalist and author, Dan Wooding, as a way to help Christians living under difficult circumstances, and to share the Gospel with those who do not know Christ.

[Assist News Service can now be found at the URL: http://www.assistnews.net/ – 21.08.2016]

United States: scholars get religion

By Mark Clayton, 2 March 2002

More academics are starting to see the ‘religion factor’ as key to understanding forces in economics, politics, and society, reports Mark Clayton, staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor. Christian Science Monitor – 26 February 2002 – When it comes to academic scholarship, blue sky and dollars are often the only limits on research. But Luis […]

This article was first published in The Christian Science Monitor on 26 February 2002. URL for the article: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0226/p12s01-lehl.html

The article is posted on this website with permission from the CS Publishing Society. It can not be re-posted or re-printed without permission from the CS Publishing Society. RELIGIOSCOPE thanks the CS Publishing Society and recommends The Christian Science Monitor, a fine newspaper with a nice and interesting website.

Turkey: court ruling shows authorities’ refusal to see Alevism as a religious community

By Jean-Christophe Peuch, 26 February 2002

Until a few years ago, Kurdish separatism was the only movement in Turkey that openly challenged the official view that the country was a homogeneous nation-state. But the past two decades have seen a resurgence of Alevis, a minority religious group that has had difficult relations with both the state and Sunni Islam, Turkey’s predominant […]

This article was first published on 18 February 2002 by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty). Posted on RELIGIOSCOPE with permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, funded by the United States Congress. RELIGIOSCOPE highly recommends the RFE/RL website, with its informative daily newsline and various other reports: http://www.rferl.org/

Saudi Arabia: an ancient ritual, this year’s hajj wore a modern face

By Don Hill, 26 February 2002

Nearly 2 million Muslims descended on Saudi Arabia in February for the hajj, the pilgrimage required at least once in the lifetime of all Islamic faithful able to make the trip. Muslim clergy customarily use the occasion for sermons on established themes, including calls for Islamic unity. RFE/RL correspondent Don Hill talks to Muslim scholars […]

This article was first published on 26 February 2002 by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty). Posted on RELIGIOSCOPE with permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, funded by the United States Congress. RELIGIOSCOPE highly recommends the RFE/RL website, with its informative daily newsline and various other reports: http://www.rferl.org/

The “last anchor” of Serb presence: Serbian orthodox sites in Kosovo

By Geraldine Fagan and Branko Bjelejac, 25 February 2002

Since the arrival of NATO forces in Kosovo in mid-June 1999, some 108 Serbian Orthodox churches in the province have been destroyed or vandalised; the work, according to the Serbian Orthodox Church, of Albanian extremists. At present, these churches are under the protection of KFOR, the international Kosovo Force, but there are worrying signs that […]

Source: Keston Institute <http://www.keston.org>