An openly lesbian Lebanese stand-up comic and LGBTQIA+ rights activist is facing criminal charges from Lebanon’s Islamic religious authorities on May 9th after her sketch about Muslim Friday prayers went viral and sparked controversy online.
A well-known Hindu nationalist organization went to court to prevent two lions named after a 16th-century Mughal emperor and a Hindu deity from sharing a zoo enclosure in the state of West Bengal.
Hindu nationalists go to court over lion named after Muslim emperor in India https://t.co/EevKjGvU4i
Lawmakers in a small Indian state have voted to approve a landmark civil code that will unify personal laws for marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption for Hindus, Muslims, and other religious communities, including legislation that will require couples living together to register with the government or face punishment.
From a Mughal-era mosque that was razed by radical Hindu nationalist militants more than three decades ago, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a newly constructed and highly anticipated Hindu temple that was built in the former mosque’s place, drawing both support and criticism from various groups and sectors of Indian society.
NPR: India's Modi inaugurates a long-promised but controversial Hindu temple in Ayodhya https://t.co/47r8d9zlj4
Egypt has recently unveiled its decision to ban the niqab, a type of Islamic religious garment worn by women, at schools, sparking a debate in one of Africa’s largest Muslim-majority countries.
"Females always pull the short straw."
Egyptians talk to Al Jazeera about the recent government decision to prohibit students from wearing niqab https://t.co/OhPSgafG81
Since the rise of Israel’s most right-wing government in its history, which included ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties in its alliance, many activists and ordinary Israelis are worrying about the rise of sex segregation in many areas of public life.
Growing Segregation by Sex in Israel Raises Fears for Women’s Rights https://t.co/A11e7lZdWW
Religion has continuously declined worldwide in the 21st century, including in the United States. There are different ideas as to the factors that contribute to this decline. However, a recent paper suggests that automation in the form of artificial intelligence and robotics is a primary driver in the current downward trend of global religiosity.
A request by parents of children attending public schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, to let their children opt out of classes where LGBTQIA+ books are being read and discussed was dismissed by a US District Court on August 24th.
A former top military recruitment official of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) warned that the country’s armed forces must find secular alternatives to religious chaplains, which has increased in recent years, or there would be risks to the members’ health and wellbeing.
Wellbeing of non-religious ADF personnel at risk, former recruiter warns https://t.co/phvgDEMs5w
A spokesperson for a key ministry in Afghanistan’s Taliban government declared on August 17th that Afghan women would lose their value if men could see their faces uncovered in public. He also claimed that many religious scholars agree that women should cover their faces when outside their homes.
