http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:47:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26483/dutch-government-going-ahead-with-burqa-ban http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26483/dutch-government-going-ahead-with-burqa-ban#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:52:43 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26483 People wearing burqas, balaclavas or all-in-one motorbike helmets in public in the Netherlands will soon face fines. On Friday, government ministers voted to outlaw all clothing which covers the face.

"People must be able to look each other in the face and be recognisable to one another. The wearing of face-covering clothing does not fit in with the Netherlands' open society, in which participation in social traffic is actually crucial," the cabinet said Friday.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26483/dutch-government-going-ahead-with-burqa-ban/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26392/dutch-government-to-appoint-commission-on-ritual-animal-slaughter http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26392/dutch-government-to-appoint-commission-on-ritual-animal-slaughter#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:45:53 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26392 The Dutch government said it will appoint a commission to study new tightened rules for ritual slaughter to satisfy animal rights activists without infringing on  Jewish and Muslim traditions.

Before voting in January, the Senate will review a compromise offer by Henk Bleker, state secretary for agriculture.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26392/dutch-government-to-appoint-commission-on-ritual-animal-slaughter/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26313/dutch-christian-civil-servant-fired-for-opposing-gay-marriage http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26313/dutch-christian-civil-servant-fired-for-opposing-gay-marriage#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:45:25 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26313 A Christian civil servant has been fired by the Dutch city of The Hague for refusing to oversee same-sex marriages on Biblical grounds.

Wim Pijl, 67, said Tuesday, November 15, he would take legal action against the dismissal despite parliamentary support for gay weddings.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26313/dutch-christian-civil-servant-fired-for-opposing-gay-marriage/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26163/netherlands-to-ban-the-burqa http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26163/netherlands-to-ban-the-burqa#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:06:40 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26163 Holland is to become the latest European country to ban the burka, despite the fact that fewer than 100 Dutch women are thought to wear the face-covering Islamic dress.

A ‘burqa ban’ formed part of the minority Dutch government’s programme agreed with the populist Freedom Party (PVV) on whose parliamentary support the cabinet relies.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26163/netherlands-to-ban-the-burqa/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26048/geert-wilders-acquitted-of-all-charges http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26048/geert-wilders-acquitted-of-all-charges#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:12:24 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26048 A court in Amsterdam has acquitted MP Geert Wilders of charges of inciting hatred and insulting Muslims as a group.

The charges had been brought by individuals who felt they had been discriminated against by the anti-Islam nationalist MP. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26048/geert-wilders-acquitted-of-all-charges/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25384/shariah-danger-in-netherlands http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25384/shariah-danger-in-netherlands#comments Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:41:33 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=25384 Frits Bolkestein says the poor quality of Muslim-operated Islamic schools in the Netherlands distance Muslims further from Dutch society.

He fears this may result in ethnic segregation, creating areas in the Netherlands where Shariah is the rule of law.

Bolkestein warns against Islamic schools "where boys and girls are segregated, where Holocaust history is not taught, where anti-Semitism is not combated, and where the curriculum militates against the emancipation of women."]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25384/shariah-danger-in-netherlands/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25273/100-churches-in-friesland-netherlands-face-closure http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25273/100-churches-in-friesland-netherlands-face-closure#comments Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:12:11 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=25273 highest density of churches in Europe. But the number of worshippers is falling, and this is creating financial problems for the churches.

As a result, 100 of the province's 700 churches are going to have to close.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25273/100-churches-in-friesland-netherlands-face-closure/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25202/dutch-prosecutor-requests-some-charges-against-geert-wilders-be-dropped http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25202/dutch-prosecutor-requests-some-charges-against-geert-wilders-be-dropped#comments Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:26:12 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=25202 hate speech case against Dutch politician Geert Wilders on Tuesday requested the court drop charges of insulting Muslims from the list of crimes being considered.

Although prosecutors would continue pushing for a conviction on charges of discrimination and inciting hatred against Muslims, they said incendiary statements Wilders had made about the Koran and Islam could not be construed as a direct insult to people of the Muslim faith. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25202/dutch-prosecutor-requests-some-charges-against-geert-wilders-be-dropped/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25177/dutch-anti-islam-lawmaker-geert-wildes-on-trial-for-inciting-hate http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25177/dutch-anti-islam-lawmaker-geert-wildes-on-trial-for-inciting-hate#comments Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:32:15 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=25177 Dutch anti-Islamist politician Geert Wilders, who plays a controversial but pivotal role in the formation of a new Dutch government, went on trial on Monday for inciting hatred against Muslims.

Wilders is charged with inciting hate and discrimination against Muslims in comments he made in the media and for insulting Muslims by comparing the Islamic faith to Nazism.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25177/dutch-anti-islam-lawmaker-geert-wildes-on-trial-for-inciting-hate/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24700/psychic-parakeet-picks-netherlands-as-world-cup-winners http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24700/psychic-parakeet-picks-netherlands-as-world-cup-winners#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:06:58 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24700 picked the Netherlands to trump Spain for the championship, local media said Friday.

Local media reports said Mani used its beak to pick a card bearing the flag of the Netherlands over one with Spain's national colours.

May it be so, said the Amsterdam-based publishers of Religion News Blog.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24700/psychic-parakeet-picks-netherlands-as-world-cup-winners/feed 0