‘Poland – Birmingham’ Facebook Page Shows that Some Poles Need to Curb Their Prejudice

We have been notified of a Facebook page called ‘Poland – Birmingham‘ which highlights an area of growing concern for us. Over the last 4 years, we have not highlighted this issue since we have believed that a migrant community that has also suffered a great deal of prejudice and bigotry deserves support and no

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Asian, Muslim and Hindu holidays added to school calendars in Howard County, Maryland

A Maryland county will allow Muslim and Hindu students a day off from school to celebrate Diwali and Eid al-Adha. The Howard County Board of Education faced a tough decision: to foster inclusion by removing all religious holidays from the academic calender; Or add extra days to include non-Abrahamic celebrations. A unanimous decision in favour of the latter will result in school closings or professional development days for staff in the 2016/17 academic year. The board also voted to allow staff to take a professional development day off for Lunar News Years Eve, after requests from the local Chinese and Korean communities. As it falls on a Saturday, students remain unaffected. Schools in the county have shut during Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  But a recent motion threatened to end this  tradition. It proved controversial enough to attract more than 300 people to a public hearing in December. State and federal laws prevent schools from closing on religious holidays (unless mandated otherwise). Adjusting academic calenders requires a secular reason. Baltimore County had recorded a large levels of absenteeism during these Jewish holidays. Art Abramson, Executive Director of Baltimore’s Jewish Council, welcomed changes to academic calenders on the [...]

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Why do people want Titanic priest Father Thomas Byles sainted?

A campaign to canonise a Catholic priest who stayed on the RMS Titanic instead of fleeing remains ongoing despite renewed interest in his story. The story of Father Thomas Byles and his acts of selflessness, however, deserves re-telling. Roussel Davids Byles was born in 1870 to a Protestant family in Leeds. His father, Reverend Dr. Alfred Holden Byles and mother Louisa Davids also had six other children. He excelled at mathematics and  gained a scholarship to Balliol School, Oxford. When at Oxford, Byles gravitated towards the Church of England. His younger brother, William, however, converted to Catholicism first. In 1894, he had a conditional baptism (sub conditione) at St. Aloysius Church in Oxford. Upon entering the Catholic faith, Roussel adopted the name of Thomas. After spending two years in Rome, Byles became the ordained priest of St Helen’s Church, Chipping Ongar, Essex in 1904. In 1912, he had boarded the ship to attend the wedding of his younger brother William, in New York. This last minute decision to board the Titanic instead of a different ship cost him £13 (roughly £1,100 today). His second class ticket was number 244310. His duties included performing mass for second and third class passengers. [...]

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Why Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric will continue to endure

Donald Trump proposes a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States“. The shift in rhetoric follows the shootings in San Bernardino, California. His proposed ban would also include Muslim tourists and citizens based abroad. In a press release, Trump cited growing hatred of the United States in Muslim communities. The localities of these communities are not contingent to Trump’s argument – only a perception of truth matters. Recent data from Pew offers added nuance. It found the countries with the most unfavourable views of the United States were Jordan and Russia. Positive ratings in Turkey had increased from 19 per cent to 29 per cent. In Lebanon, 48 per cent of its Sunni Muslim population had expressed favourable views of the United States. Its Shia population, had for the most part, expressed anti-American sentiment. Other polls from Pew point to a broad rejection of terror groups like ISIS and suicide bombing among Muslims across the globe. Pew data also found that many Muslim Americans want to assimilate into American culture. It’s also noteworthy that 81 per cent of Muslim Americans hold U.S. citizenship, including 70 per cent born abroad. Foreign-born Muslims take up a higher rate of [...]

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Union for Reform Judaism adopts historic transgender rights policy

The Union for Reform Judaism in North America has adopted a resolution for transgender rights. This move continues a long tradition of supporting minority rights. In 1977, both the Union and the Central Conference of American Rabbis passed resolutions affirming “the rights of homosexuals”. As Trans Media Watch note: “[Trans] is an umbrella term, describing people who experience the need to present themselves as and/or who identify as other than the gender they were assigned at birth“. The resolution also supports the rights of individuals who define their gender outside of societal expectations and norms. According to the Office for Justice Progams (OJP), one in two transgender individuals are sexually abused or assaulted in their lifetimes. A high number of trans individuals are survivors of sexual abuse. Many live with these traumas and the fear of repeat victimisation. People of colour in LGBTQ communities also face disproportionate levels of violence. In 2014, The New York City Anti-Violence Project (NCAVP) recorded 12 transgender murders. All victims were people of colour. These communities experience higher rates of homelessness, poverty, and job discrimination. This increases their risk of violence. The NCAVP also found that “LGBTQ and HIV-affected people of color, LGBTQ youth and [...]

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The Release of Shaker Aamer After 14 Years Highlights the Excesses of the ‘War on Terror’

Faith Matters warmly welcomes the release of Shaker Aamer after 14 long years. Many of them were spent in the legal black hole that is Guantanamo and it is clear that the long periods of solitary confinement have also had an impact on his mental and physical health. Yet, it should never have come to […]

Family of Mushin Ahmed of Rotherham, Release a Statement

This is the statement that was released after the burial of Mushin Ahmed, the grandfather who was murdered when returning from Fajr prayers. This was released via the South Yorkshire Police web-site. The brief statement from his wife reads: “My husband and the father of our four children was the most sincere, kind and gentle

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What is the Hindu festival of Navratri?

The festival of Navratri (nine nights) celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Navaratri begins around harvest time in October, and, celebrations last for nine days. Navarati sits within the wider festival of Durga Puja, which honours the mother goddess Durga. In one retelling of the triumph of good, a demon named Mahisha, who took the form of a buffalo, threatened the gods. To meet this threat, the gods pleaded with Durga to do what they could not – kill the demon Mahisha. Bestowed with the weapons and strength of the gods, including Shiva’s trident, Vishnu’s disc, Yama’s iron rod, and Indra’s thunderbolt, Durga took on this mission. But it did not prove an easy victory. For the demon Mahisha’s blood created new demons to attack Durga. A prolonged battle ended with the demon’s decapitation. Another popular story in northern India concerns the slaying of the ten-headed demon King Ravana. In a final and epic battle with Rama, who pursued Ravana in his chariot. Rama’s golden arrows, which transformed into serpents as they reached the demon King. The arrows had decapitated Ravana’s many heads but they regrew in an instant. This prolonged the conflict for many nights as Rama fired [...]

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After the fire, why the Ahmadiyya community will not give into hate , by Rima Amin

Why Facebook must do more to challenge anti-Muslim hate posts, by Rima Amin “Love for All, Hatred for None” is the motto carried by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. A motto that has been tested in recent days after a surge of hateful comments towards Muslims on social media following a fire at the Baitul Futuh mosque

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Four men accused of ‘anti-Christian’ hate crime to appear in court

Four men accused of a faith-based hate crime will appear at York Crown Court on October 9 after a Christian teenager was allegedly the victim of four incidents that took place between July 2014 and May 2015. The York Press detailed how Andrew Addison, 30, and three others, are alleged to have filmed themselves assaulting the victim with a lit aerosol, taping a dummy to his mouth as he was bound to a chair, sending him a threatening message on Facebook, and binding the young churchgoer to a crucifix in early 2015. Christopher Jackson, 21, Alex Puchir, 37, and Joseph Richard Rose, 21, are charged alongside Addison with a religiously-aggravated assault in Hull. At an earlier court appearance, at York Magistrates Court, the prosecution alleged that the four accused men knew the victim was a committed Christian. Rose also faces additional charges relating to allegations of sending him a threatening message over Snapchat. Lee-Anne Robins-Hicks, defending the accused, indicated they would plead not-guilty.  

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