Latest update: 31/03/2011 

- France - religion - secularism - UMP


Sarkozy's UMP party to debate secularism - though religious leaders ask them not to

Religious leaders from France's six biggest faiths have come together to issue a joint statement, asking the ruling UMP Party not to hold a planned debate on secularism. There are fears that it could turn into a debate on Islam in France and even some senior members of the UMP are uncomfortable about the idea. However, others in President Sarkozy's party are adamant it'll go ahead, giving rise to yet more speculation about the divisions appearing within the UMP.

Students in Quebec march against tuition fee hike
23/05/2012 - CANADA

Students in Quebec march against tuition fee hike

Student protests in the Canadian province Quebec are into their fourth month. Hundreds were arrested at marches to mark 100 days since the protests began. Students are demonstrating against an 80 percent rise in tuition fees in Quebec, the Canadian province that has until now enjoyed the country's lowest rates for higher education.
Egyptians head to the polls
23/05/2012 - EGYPT

Egyptians head to the polls

Egyptians go to the polls in the country's first truly contested presidential election on Wednesday. With an array of candidates to choose from, voters will decide who's the best man to lead them through the last phase of the country's troubled democratic transition that began with Egypt's revolution in January last year. Cairo correspondents Kathryn Stapley and Sonia Dridi talked to some of the activists whose protests in Tahrir Square changed the course of Egypt's history.
A troubling time for Egypt's Coptic Christians
22/05/2012 - EGYPT

A troubling time for Egypt's Coptic Christians

Egyptians go to the polls tomorrow to vote for a new president for the first time since Hosni Mubarak was ousted during the revolution last year. Two of the front-runners in the presidential race with a realistic chance of winning are devout Islamists, which is troubling for Egypt's Coptic Christians. They are Egypt's largest religious minority and many of them don't think any of the candidates are capable of protecting them from the religious violence that has been steadily increasing.
'The Battle of the Empty Stomachs'
22/05/2012 - WEST BANK

'The Battle of the Empty Stomachs'

Palestinians nicknamed it "the battle of the empty stomachs". For weeks, 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails refused food and drink in what became the longest ever mass hunger strike. Israel finally capitulated and a deal was reached, allowing those in isolation back onto the general wards, and visas for those family members wishing to visit from Gaza. In exchange, prisoners agreed not to carry out "security activities" such as recruiting for terrorist missions.
Serbia's new president - nationalist or not?
21/05/2012 - SERBIA

Serbia's new president - nationalist or not?

Serbia has elected a new president - and it's not the one that most people were expecting. Tomislav Nikolic has unseated Boris Tadic, the man in power since 2004. Observers are worried about the new head of state, who used to be part of the ultra-nationalist Radical Party. He once said he would prefer to be allied with Russia than join the EU, but he has since toned down the rhetoric, saying he will take Serbia to Europe after all.

Comments (1)

faith leaders?

Who the hell do, these 'leaders' think they are?

They front up organisations, (or not as the case may be) that have no basis in FACT.

They peddle, and have been doing so for millennia, a fiction that has warped the mental state of both people and nations, they have resisted the development of secular Statehood wherever such ambitions have come to the fore, they have and do, represent a cancer that has proven difficult to eradicate.

Now we are being faced with the most despicable and evil of all of these systems, Islam.

Not 'evil' in the usual meaning of the word, but as a corrupting influence, that tolerates no diversion from it's tenets, with sanctions that to a rational person are both intolerable, and potentially, extremely dangerous.

The mere fact that all the main religions are ganging up to face the State gives credence to the concept, they are 'on the run' from the realisation by the people, that their pontifications no longer wear well, invoke belief, or bear sufficient fruit for their log term continuity.

The soundest base for the State will be to ignore their approach and do as any secular State should do, keep them outside the gates of the political arena.

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