President Obama Praises US Muslims At Ramadan Dinner

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised American Muslims for enriching the nation’s culture at a dinner to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“The contribution of Muslims to the United States are too long to catalog because Muslims are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country,” Obama said at the iftar, the dinner that breaks the holiday’s daily fast.

The president joined Cabinet secretaries, members of the diplomatic corps and lawmakers to pay tribute to what he called “a great religion and its commitment to justice and progress.”

Attendees included Congress’ two Muslim members – Reps. Keith Ellison and Andre Carson as well as ambassadors from Islamic nations and

Source

BBC Appoints Muslim To Oversee Religious Content

Earlier this week the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, appointed a Muslim as head of its religious programming department — a move being hailed as a “radical departure from broadcasting tradition.”

Aaqil Ahmed, former executive at Channel 4, is the new of Head of Religion and Ethics and Commissioning Editor for Religion TV, a position some call one of the most influential religious roles in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is concerned over the appointment of a Muslim, claiming it comes at a time when Christian leaders worry their faith is being marginalized and criticized by authorities. The Church of England notes that Muslims make up only three percent of the country’s population while nearly 70 percent claim to be Christian.

However, other religious leaders are taking a wait-and-see approach, calling Ahmed a “respected professional” and the most qualified person for the position. Some even claim that turning him down because of his faith, despite his credentials, would amount to discrimination.

Source

U.N. To Make Ban On Criticizing Islam

Muslim-dominated nations at the United Nations are once again pushing a religious “anti-defamation” plan that would bar worldwide all criticism of their founder Muhammad and his teaching

According to a report by CNN’s Lou Dobbs posted on YouTube, the proposal that has been repeatedly brought in recent years by the Organization of Islamic Conference states is expected to resurface as early as this spring.

This time, however, the resolution wouldn’t allow nations to opt out.

“The United Nations has adopted what it calls a Resolution to Combat Defamation of Religion,” Dobbs said in the report. “The U.N. now wants to make that anti-blasphemy resolution binding on member nations, including, of course, our own. That would make it a crime in the United States … to criticize religion, in particular, Islam.”

Constitutional lawyer Floyd Abrams said in the report, “What they would do would be to make it illegal to put out a movie or write a book or a poem that somebody could say was defamatory of Islam.”

Source

Bishops Encourage Multi-faith Prayer Rooms In Catholic Schools

A document issued by the Catholic Education Service said facilities for other faiths should be made available in all primary and secondary schools if possible.

Catholic schools in England and Wales should also consider adapting toilet facilities to accommodate ritual cleansing, the document said.

The guidance also said “respectful understanding” should be shown to pupils of other faiths who are withdrawn from or remain silent during Christian worship.

The advice – issued on behalf of the Catholic bishops of England and Wales – comes in response to new rules forcing all state schools to promote “community cohesion”.

Schools must foster race relations and religious tolerance to stop communities becoming divided.

It followed a warning from the Commission for Racial Equality that Britain’s segregated schools are “a ticking time bomb waiting to explode”.

In a document, the Catholic Church said around 30 per cent of pupils in Catholic schools were from other faiths or none.

The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham, and chairman of the Church’s education board, said: “Dialogue with other faiths is a consistent theme in the life of the Catholic Church. Such dialogue is conducted in many parishes and neighbourhoods, in colleges, universities and other academic circles.

“It has become increasingly important as the presence of other faith communities grows and becomes more evident in our society.”

The guidance said schools should consider putting aside a prayer room “if reasonably practicable” for use by staff and pupils from other faiths.

Existing toilet facilities might be adapted to accommodate individual ritual cleansing “which is sometimes part of religious lifestyle and worship”, it recommended.

It said schools should ensure “pupils’ health is attended to in times of fasting” – and canteens should take children’s religious dietary requirements into account.

In a further conclusion, schools with large numbers of non-Catholic students are advised to read out “messages of goodwill” at assemblies or send them directly to parents during religious ceremonies. This includes the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu celebrations, the guidance said.

The new community cohesion duty was introduced after the Government shelved controversial plans to force all faith schools to admit at least a quarter of pupils from other religions.

The U-turn followed protests by the Catholic Church which said schools should not be “coerced” into the move. It insisted schools already admitted large numbers of pupils from other faiths.

Oona Stannard, chief executive of the Catholic Education Service, said: “I am confident that schools will find the new publication helpful as we live out our clear vision of Catholic education, increasingly undertaken with those of other faiths in our midst.”

Source