Islam on the Rise

There seems to be a changing of the dominant religion in the World. For the last 1700 years, Christianity has held a significant position in the religious world. It has by far been the most dominant in Europe, parts of Asia, and Central and North America. America boasts a 78% Christian rate for all Americans. Granted, of those the number of true Christians would be much smaller, there is no religion even close to matching those numbers.
According to a CNN article however, it seems that Islam is quickly gaining on Christianity. In fact there seem to be at least 10 countries in the Middle East and Africa with more than 30 million Muslims in each. India actually houses the third largest amount of Muslims, although they comprise just 13% of the population.
Statistics also show that nearly one of four people in the world is Muslim. That is a very staggering number. That puts us at about 1.5 billion Muslims world wide. The question we have to ask is why is Islam growing so rapidly? There could be a number of reasons. One could be family size. The Quran does not outlaw having multiple wives and nor does it say anything against having many children. Muslim family size is proven to be quite larger than normal European or American households. Another reason could be forced conversions. Many countries such as Egypt and Morocco provide no separation of State and Religion. Thus, the government is Islamic, schools teach Islam, and society becomes Islamic. One cannot hope to stay in these countries as part of another faith without persecution.

Sikh allowed to retain turban in army

For those of you who know know anything about men in the army, you know that they are to have a shaved head and face. That stipulation is something of a problem for Sikhs that may want to enroll. It is a condition of the Sikh religion to never cut hair on the head or face, and to wear a turban. Sadly because the ignorance of American people, Sikhs have been persecuted for years for appearing to look like the Al-Quada. If Americans ever took out time to learn some new information and put their white supremest notions away, they would learn that Sikhs are a peaceful people that don't advocate violence unless in self defense.
Fortunately, there are some positive signs of greater acceptance. Recently the army allowed a Sikh man, Kamaljit Singh Kalsi, to keep his turban and facial hair as long as it was kept clean. The entire article can be found HERE. This is a major step in enticing more Sikhs to the army. In the past Sikhs would have to remove their turbans and facial hair to enroll.
So, hopefully this serves as a predecessor for others who have religious based adornments, such as Jews, Hindus, etc.

Conversion Causes Problems

I had posted an earlier blog about the teenager from Ohio getting perceived threats from her father because of conversion from Islam to Christianity. There was a similar case that occurred much closer to home. The article can be FOUND HERE.
A woman known as Gilda Ghanipour was constantly on the run because she feared deportation to her mother country of Iran. She was born as a Muslim, but had never truly been devout. She had lived with her husband in for a number of years in Germany, but was accused of being a spy upon returning to Iran. This experience caused her to fear her mother country and the imposing nature of Islam. After divorcing her husband, she would constantly visit her relatives in California. It was her where she had a life changing experience.
During a stay in California, an evangelical Christian knocked at her door and talked to her about Christianity. Gilda felt that this was what she had been long searching for, and was baptized in 2000. Unfortunately, her family did not take to the conversion as readily. They in fact alienated her and made her fearful of deportation. Apparently, converts from Islam can be put to death in Iran. It's no wonder Gilda was constantly on the run to avoid deportation. She would stay at the homes of fellow Christians and leave after just a few days. Unfortunately although she has been granted asylum, nobody knows where she is.
The questions stemming from this story are:
1. Why is Islam so stringent in keeping people within the faith. It is the only religion that provides for death of converts and non-believers. Muslims seem to really have an elitist perception of themselves.
2. Why is it that Christians seek converts by any means possible? Leave people alone and concentrate more on making current Christians more religious. How many Christians even follow the ten commandments or regularly read the bible? More importantly, how many people are converted by underhanded means? Examples of this are in the past of course, with Central and South Americans, as well as in the present, with South India.

The Power of Vegetarian

With America the leader in producing obese people, one question has to be circulating in the minds of Americans: What needs to stop? THE answer should be the consumption of meat. Today roughly 30 percent of Americans are obese. Over 60 percent are overweight. These numbers are mind blowing. In comparison, Gujurat, a state in India comprised mostly of Hindus, boasts a rate of only 16 percent obese and overweight combined. What is the difference? Hindus don't eat meat for the most part.
There are of course other reasons to stop or at least cut down severely on the consumption of meat. Sickness has been abundant because of uncooked food or presence of bacteria. One such example is the Jack in the Box E.Coli outbreak in 1993. If the animal had been in any way sick, there is a high chance that cooking the meat won't eliminate the threat. Hamburgers are specifically being targeted because of their susceptibility to E. Coli. More on this can be READ HERE.
So the questions remains: Of what purpose is meat to humanity?
Religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and partially Buddhism advocate the importance of being vegetarian. They do so for reasons that stem from scriptures and ethics. Americans on the other hand are being asked to save their lives.
What will the choice be?

Atheism Strong and Thriving in New York

The New York subway system is the busiest in the world. With over a billion people using the subway system in 2008, subway stations provide an ideal place for advertisements. And that is exactly what eight Atheist organizations want to do: advertise. They will post posters in 12 of the busiest subway stations, all of them with the same message: A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?.
It has already been stated by a representative that the posters are not there to belittle religion or to offend religious people. They are merely there to provide an option for people who feel the same way as established atheists. The entire article can be Read Here.
Personally, I believe these people have the right to post their messages on public domain. American Society is constantly exposed to messages of Love and Acceptance of Jesus from Christianity. There are crosses and images of Jesus throughout New York and other large cities such as Los Angeles. So who is to say that nonbelievers can't post their own message?

President Diversity

President Barack Obama took part in a lighting of wicks at the White House to mark the Indian New Year known as Diwali. The event took place on the 14th and shows at least one good trait that Obama has: the willingness to reach out to people of all races, religions, and cultures. The ceremony also included a special message from the president, which included a few words spoken in Hindi. The video can be SEEN HERE.
This in turn came after President Obama's address to the Middle Eastern countries for peace and correspondence. At the very least it seems as if Obama is at least attempting to rach out to ALL of the citizens in America rather than the whit majority.
My questions are frankly why has Obama made such an effort to reach out to others? Could it very well be that we comes from minority background and therefore appreciates the smaller groups around America?

His political policies aside, Obama has ventured into creating nationwide cohesion farther than any other prior president. This of course marks a positive growth of our country. Changing from the protocal of a white, elder, Christian president has proved extremely successful in one facet at least. Change has brought progession. Imagine that!

Forced Conversion in India

As is common knowledge, it is well known that religious groups who proselytize tend to venture to foreign countries. I have personally seen a large number of Christians in South India. Having talked to locals, I have heard that Christian missionaries have often given monetary aid to South Indians who have converted to Christianity. Apparently, there are a number of riots going on between Christians and Hindus in New Delhi and South India. An article giving more details on the situation can be FOUND HERE.
The issues of discussion here, are whether Christianity has a right to occupy foreign companies and use the method of bribes to convert poor South Indians. Don't missionaries have the duty to spread doctrine and leave it to their belief and faith for the religion to spread? Never have Hindus attempted to force Americans to convert to Hinduism. Nor have they gone out to vilify Christianity nor disgrace it.
So, what right do these Christian missionaries have to coerce people to convert? What right do they have to build churches in such abundance in South India? And more importantly, what right do they have in publicly condemning Hinduism?