By Rod Benson The international outcry over Florida pastor Terry Jones’ decision to burn copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11, to “send a message to al-Qaeda,” raises an interesting ethical question: How can those who defend the right to symbolically burn the US flag (or any national flag) logically object to the symbolic [...]
Archive for the ‘religious freedom’ Category
What’s wrong with burning holy books?
Posted: September 10, 2010 by rodbenson in Islam, censorship, religious freedom0
Koran burning fuels protests
Posted: September 10, 2010 by rodbenson in Islam, censorship, religious freedomBy Rod Benson Yesterday was the 11th of September, and in the United States, as I speak, it is still the ninth anniversary of those tragic events of 9/11 in New York and Washington DC that changed our world. To mark the event, the pastor of a small church in Florida has announced that he [...]
What to do about Scientology?
Posted: September 8, 2010 by rodbenson in cults, religious freedom, taxBy Rod Benson Motivated by stories of alleged criminal behaviour by members of the Church of Scientology, South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon is on a mission to end the cult’s tax exempt status. Senator Xenophon has introduced a bill to amend tax laws to require that religious and charitable institutions meet a new public benefit [...]
Baptist pastor threatened by police
Posted: May 21, 2010 by rodbenson in Baptists, human rights, persecution, religious freedomBy Rod Benson This arrived in my email this morning: Washington (BWA) — Zaur Balaev, pastor of a Baptist house church in the town of Aliabad in the northwestern region of Zakatala in Azerbaijan, was warned that he does not have the right to gather church members for worship, as the church is not registered. [...]
The Westminster Declaration
Posted: May 7, 2010 by rodbenson in ethics, human rights, politics and faith, religious freedomBy Rod Benson The Catholic Church has its papal encyclicals, and Protestants – especially the evangelicals among them – have their declarations. “Westminster 2010” is a declaration of Christian beliefs about life, marriage and conscience, written by Christian leaders in the United Kingdom, seeking to encourage debate in the lead-up to last Thursday’s British general [...]
