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Western Civilization? A bigger challenge to evaluate, no?
Yes.
You win. The twin pillars of Juedo-Christiananity "meme's" are the most prevalent within 20th century western society, which were both heavly influenced by the Greeks...
But do you think maybe a 1,000 years of intellectual stagnation, and information control by the over-seers of these particular meme's have anything to do with their current dominance?
Would it be so if the Library of Alexandria hadn't been torched? Would it be so if the Church hadn't dominated intellectualism in Europe for so long?
Would it be so dosen't change how it is though. Someone smarter than I can try this one though.
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Western Civilization? A bigger challenge to evaluate, no?
Yes.
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You win. The twin pillars of Juedo-Christiananity "meme's" are the most prevalent within 20th century western society, which were both heavly influenced by the Greeks...
But do you think maybe a 1,000 years of intellectual stagnation, and information control by the over-seers of these particular meme's have anything to do with their current dominance?
Would it be so if the Library of Alexandria hadn't been torched? Would it be so if the Church hadn't dominated intellectualism in Europe for so long?
Would it be so dosen't change how it is though.
Someone smarter than I can try this one though.
Only relatively recently have "memes" from the ancient Chinese tradition (Confucian based) & the Buddhist tradition & the Hindu tradition become widely available in the West. IMHO, Marx and Mao are merely a veneer which overlays a deeper Confucian Chinese worldview.
Again, IMHO (well not so humble here) only these three "worldviews" deserve to stand shoulder to shoulder with those Greek/Jewish traditions we call "Western Civilization" - - yet being a westerner I am rather chauvinistic about the power of those memes originally articulated in Athens 2400 years ago and in/around Jerusalem between 2000 and 2500 years ago.
Nonetheless, how my western worldview comes to integrate with these other traditions to create a global "human worldview" in the future will be very interesting to watch and experience.
The idea of "progess" for example is peculiarly western (IMHO) and required both Jewish and Athenian memes to be formulated.
= = =
Stagnation? What stagnation?
Greek memes battling with Jewish memes created a dialectic of intellectual progress. Thesis + Anti-thesis = Synthesis. The struggle to reconcile the Greek worldview with the Jewish worldview forged an engine of intellectual creativity.
Science (big "S") was one of the sparks thrown off by the battle.
Add "western" notions of progress and objective science to the Hindu and Chinese worldview and we westerners will change their civilization more than they change ours.
The Church? Initially, Luther opposed Copernicus more vehemently than the Vatican. Aquinas was fairly good at Aristotle. Had the Mongols conquered Europe and Christianity died out in the 1300s or 1400s then Science (big S) would not have happened.
I disagree vehemently with KSR here (see his most recent book "The Years of Rice and Salt")
btw - scholar A.N. Wilson has remarked that even Karl Marx can be seen essentially as a good Jewish boy who took deeply to heart the admonition that the love of money (do we choose God or Mammon) is what prevents us from being "good" people.
= = =
An amusing anecdote I heard in college. A minor school of Islamic scholarship arose about 1000 years ago after a bookseller mistakenly shuffled pages from a text by Plato with a text by Aristotle. Much ink was spilled trying to explain how Plato could have written that book.
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Bill White;
I never said anyone can know the whole truth about everything, or even any one thing. Somehow you managed not to notice. Very uncareful of you. Your comments, really, say nothing at all about what I said, other than that you have a precognative urge to reject it. You certainly don't understand it.
clark;
I think you were drunk when you wrote that one starting with "well golly". If you weren't, you should have been.
Human: the other red meat.
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Yes A.J., I was drunk. I've been drunk this whole time. I'm drunk right now. drunk drunk drunk drunk drunk drunk.
uncareful? :laugh: you twit.
You're silly little game is boring A.J. Let's play another one, a different one.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to the Christian World.
Will we export Earth holidays to Mars?
[img:sig_uid][url]http://naijaman.united.net.kg/images/ftmc.jpg[/url][/img:sig_uid]
[url=http://www.afternic.com/name.php?id=572612]FlyToMars.com on Afternic[/url]
"With perseverance the needle digs the well." - Nigerian Proverb
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Posted in New Mars Forum in response to BMK:
I believe that we will export Earth holidays to Mars.
I have proposed the construction of a prototype Martian settlement that would gradually build a daughter settlement on Mars. The prototype settlement would be populated by people from dozens of different nations. Those people would bring their own religious traditions and holidays to the prototype settlement and, even though they would be enculturated for Martian immigration, they would probably continue to practice their respective religious traditions, including the observance of religious holidays.
I have also proposed that prototypical Martians, whatever their religious traditions might be, should agree to teach their children a set of ideas that could function as a supplementary religion. Those ideas would be taught for the primary purpose of promoting political unity.
The children of the settlement could be taught about Phi and could be shown how Phi manifests its presence in the natural world. If these children conclude that God (whatever they conceive God to be) did use Phi in the design and creation of the universe then they might incorporate Phi into their religious beliefs. And then they might create new religious traditions, including a holiday that celebrates the discovery of Phi. For example, the City Council of the City of New Euthenia might adopt an ordinance that declares the 162nd day of the Martian year as PhiDay. On that day, a member of the settlement could dress up as Leonardo Fibonacci and, during a special meeting of the City Council, Fibonacci could be presented with a ceremonial "Key to the City." And then the Mayor would proclaim, "Let the games begin," at which point a whole day full of peculiarly Martian events would ensue. For example, given the 0.38 percent gravity of Mars, four people might rapidly pull up a pole in order to catapult a fifth person into a swimming pool. A panel of judges might award points based on the gracefulness of the splashdown, or for the loudness of a perfectly flat landing (a belly-flop; ouch). This event might be known as the Martian Baptism.
My prototype Martian settlement proposal is posted on the web at http://www.geocities.com/scott956282743
"Analysis, whether economic or other, never yields more that a statement about the tendencies present in an observable pattern." Joseph A. Schumpeter; Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, 1942
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The children of the settlement could be taught about Phi and could be shown how Phi manifests its presence in the natural world. If these children conclude that God (whatever they conceive God to be) did use Phi in the design and creation of the universe then they might incorporate Phi into their religious beliefs.
Sorry if I'm totally wrong on this one, but doesn't that seem like a form of Creationism? Where do you draw the line?
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In a previous message, Rxke asked, "Where do you draw the line?"
As a personal matter, I "draw the line" between naturalism and superanturalism and I stay firmly on the naturalism side of that line. However, 99 percent of the people on this planet are on the other side of that line; they are supernaturalists. As a sociocultural systems engineer, I have to be cognizant of that very important fact.
Religious differences are too often the spark that turns a tense situation into a violent conflict. In order to minimize the possibility of violence, I have proposed that the adults of The City of Euthenia agree that their children will be taught about Phi. To the extent that Phi serves as an intellectual and emotional bridge between the many different cultures in the city, the potential for violent conflict will be lower (I hope).
"Analysis, whether economic or other, never yields more that a statement about the tendencies present in an observable pattern." Joseph A. Schumpeter; Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, 1942
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Thank you for the explanation, S.G. Beach, and some kind of apology on my side for using the "where do you draw the line" sentence... Didn't know it had negative meaning, was not meant so.
BTW: 99%? That much?
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First, I'll make one last attempt to clarify what I mean by "presuppositions". I don't mean prejudices, or hasty generalizations, I mean something like first principles. By definition, first principles can't be established by reference to logically prior principles.
And now, on to the "sociocultural systems engineer":
You are proposing religious persecution, and religious violence.
Yes, that's exactly what the Phi inanity would cause (provided the good settlers could be induced to stop laughing at you). Religious differences, by themselves, don't cause violent conflict and never have. What causes violence, and persecution, is making religious doctrine or practice a test of loyalty to the polity. Christians were thrown to the lions because they wouldn't throw incense on the altar of Caesar, and this was regarded as disloyal to imperial authority. Later, pagans were persecuted because not practicing Christianity was regarded as disloyal to imperial authority. Persecution was inherent in neither paganism nor Christianity, it was inherent in imperial involvement in such matters. Athens killed Socrates for leading youth away from the worship of the gods of the city. In India Hindu mobs have attacked Muslims as foreign, disloyal elements.
And here, our "sociocultural systems engineer" wishes to create his own religious test of loyalty to the polity. In order to prevent religious violence, he'll do the very thing that will cause it. Because he's ignorant.
That's right, our bumbling wannabe "sociocultural systems engineer" couldn't be bothered to learn a little history. He knows nothing of value about human nature or the human condition. He who is presumptuous enough to think that future branches of humanity should have cultures fitted perfectly to his odd imagination (right down to the copulation rituals) ought to be learning the very rudiments of human life. But then, that's what we should expect. If he knew more, he would be humble enough not to make the attempt.
Human: the other red meat.
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First, I'll make one last attempt to clarify what I mean by "presuppositions". I don't mean prejudices, or hasty generalizations, I mean something like first principles. By definition, first principles can't be established by reference to logically prior principles.
And now, on to the "sociocultural systems engineer":
You are proposing religious persecution, and religious violence.
Yes, that's exactly what the Phi inanity would cause (provided the good settlers could be induced to stop laughing at you). Religious differences, by themselves, don't cause violent conflict and never have. What causes violence, and persecution, is making religious doctrine or practice a test of loyalty to the polity. Christians were thrown to the lions because they wouldn't throw incense on the altar of Caesar, and this was regarded as disloyal to imperial authority. Later, pagans were persecuted because not practicing Christianity was regarded as disloyal to imperial authority. Persecution was inherent in neither paganism nor Christianity, it was inherent in imperial involvement in such matters. Athens killed Socrates for leading youth away from the worship of the gods of the city. In India Hindu mobs have attacked Muslims as foreign, disloyal elements.
And here, our "sociocultural systems engineer" wishes to create his own religious test of loyalty to the polity. In order to prevent religious violence, he'll do the very thing that will cause it. Because he's ignorant.
That's right, our bumbling wannabe "sociocultural systems engineer" couldn't be bothered to learn a little history. He knows nothing of value about human nature or the human condition. He who is presumptuous enough to think that future branches of humanity should have cultures fitted perfectly to his odd imagination (right down to the copulation rituals) ought to be learning the very rudiments of human life. But then, that's what we should expect. If he knew more, he would be humble enough not to make the attempt.
I think I said pretty much the same thing with my comment
"Too much Plato (especially "The Laws") and not enough Shakespeare, Jefferson and Lincoln."
First principles? The search for the first principles is the most important calling in life. Yet people who are too certain they have truly discovered what those first principles are can be dangerous, for the above reasons. A loose (poor) paraphrase from a Rabbi Tarphon (Tarfon?) applies here, IMHO:
The work is long (or hard); the day is short, the workers are laggard and the master is strict. But do not despair that you cannot complete the work.
It is not necessary that you complete the work yet you cannot desist from the work.
What is this "work" - - IMHO its finding those elusive first principles.
Living within Euthenia would NOT assist people pursue such work. IMHO.
= = =
One "first principle" I favor is Harold Bloom's Falstaff test. It goes like this:
If you genuinely like Shakespeare's character Falstaff (his numerous flaws can be freely confessed) you are basically a good person.
If (like George Bernard Shaw) you despise Falstaff, then you are a pinched, narrow minded, jealous, life hating troll.
(Shaw, of course, suffered from severe Shalespeare envy.)
Falstaff would either hate Euthenia or bust a rib laughing. Probably the latter. Laughter is better than hate.
= = =
Nonetheless, ALL books belong in the library including Plato's Laws (and Scott C. Beach's interpretation thereof). These can be educational even if never enacted in real life.
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Religion the noble 'White Lie' huh? it will keep your civilization together as long as nobody dares to notice or question that religious lie??
US religious leaders explain why faith in God hit lowest level ever, say COVID made it worse
https://nypost.com/2022/07/03/us-religi … -it-worse/
Children ‘relate to religious and political symbols’ from as young as five years old
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news … 02686.html
Losing our religion? Maybe, but parliament still begins with a prayer
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/los … 5axkt.html
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How Religious was Beethoven?
https://www.nspirement.com/2022/04/29/h … hoven.html
Santa Clara University Markkula Center for Applied Ethics hosted a panel to discuss Challenges Raised by Life in Space. Today on KQED’s radio show The Forum, host Michael Krasney interviews some of those panelists for a national audience.
https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/ethi … ploration/
They discuss a range of topics from the value and moral standing of the diversity of potential life elsewhere in the universe, to the modification of extraterrestrial ecosystems to suit human needs, to possible forward contamination of other planets through exploration.
What Might NASA’s New Space Telescope Mean for Religion?
https://storylines.substack.com/p/what- … -telescope
New discoveries are likely to change our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it
A Guide to the Ethics and Risks of Human Spaceflight
https://badphilosopher.com/ethics-of-human-spaceflight/
Differences Between Religion And Morality: The link between religious perspectives and morals is explored at the intersections of morality and religion. Value frameworks for personal behavior are ubiquitous in religions, and they serve to help members in identifying what is good and wrong.
Morality and religion are not synonymous. Though religion may be dependent on morality and may even grow alongside morality, morality is not always dependent on religion, despite some people’s “near reflex assumption” to the contrary. Prior to the contemporary age of philosophy, it was widely accepted that religion is the undeniable foundation of morality, indicating that there can be no morality without religion.
This widely held and deeply ingrained belief that religion is a precondition for morality continues to be promoted today by scholars, who claim that “morality is impossible without belief in God,” and, who claim that “declining moral standards are at least partly attributable to the rise of secularism and decline of organized religion.”
Because several other modern and contemporary academics have argued with evidence that many religious ideas and behaviors have failed the test of morality, the argument that religion is neither required nor sufficient for morality no longer appears to be particularly strong.
Differences Between Religion And Morality
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka
https://bscholarly.com/differences-betw … -morality/
Astroethics
https://encyclopedia.pub/item/revision/ … 442f8f98d1
The field of astroethics, or the ethics of space exploration, requires both an adumbration of existing and future moral quandaries plus a philosophical foundation persuasive to both the scientific community and the globe's plurality of religious traditions. The latter is not taken up here. Yet, in this entry fifteen existing and projected moral quandaries are listed and discussed. Quandaries such as whether Planetary Protection implies that life on Mars, Enceladus, or other off-Earth locations should be treated with intrinsic value or merely instrumental value? Will Earth's space explorers have the right to bull doze over biospheres? Or must we assume the responsibility of protecting alien life forms? When it comes to communication and engagement with intelligent life most likely residing on exoplanets elsewhere in the Milky Way, would our moral responsibilities differ depending on whether ETI is intellectually inferior, our peer, or our superior? Would our moral responsibilities would also differ depending on whether ETI is hostile, peaceful, or salvific? This treatment of astroethics is framed within a structure of Quandary-Responsibility Ethics that treats the Milky Way as a Galactic Commons.
“Space ethics” according to space ethicists
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4117/1
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The alliance between the Russian Orthodox Church and Ethiopia is strengthened
https://www.asianews.it/news-en/The-all … 57772.html
Polytheistic reconstructionism or Reconstructionism is an approach to modern paganism first emerging in the late 1960s to early 1970s, which gathered momentum starting in the 1990s. Reconstructionism attempts to re-establish genuine polytheistic religions in the modern world through a rediscovery of the rituals, practices and contextual worldviews of pre-Christian Pagan religions. This method stands in contrast with other neopagan syncretic movements like Wicca, and ecstatic/esoteric movements like Germanic mysticism or Theosophy.
Even among those reconstructionist groups who see themselves as part of the broader, Pagan or Neopagan spectrum, they may refuse the terms and their associations with the more problematic aspects of that community, such as eclecticism, cultural appropriation or Wiccan-inspired ritual structures
https://archive.org/details/drawingdown … 3/page/262
Egyptian Neopaganism, is a revival of ancient Egyptian religion and related expressions of religion in classical and late antiquity, emerging during the 1970s. A Kemetic is one who follows Kemetism.
https://web.archive.org/web/20180228030 … ern-world/
Kemetists do not consider themselves direct descendants of the ancient Egyptian religion; they consistently speak of its re-creation or restoration
https://web.archive.org/web/20081005061 … metic.org/
Religion For Peace: A Perspective From Hinduism
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index. … -hinduism/
Hsing Yun, Buddhist abbot who built universities, dies at 95
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-t … 76433.html
Nikki Haley says she’s Christian, but it’s complicated
https://religionnews.com/2023/02/16/nik … mplicated/
She and I are the same age, both daughters of Indian immigrants
Average age of people in England, Wales identifying as Christian climbs above 50: census
https://www.christianpost.com/news/over … ntity.html
General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (GAIAE) from Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa forbidding devout Muslims from participating as crew members in Mars One's proposed one-way mission to Mars
https://web.archive.org/web/20190618010 … m-ke-mars/
Was al-Lah originally a Hindu Vedic God or a Moongod from Babylon, Whether or not Hubal was even associated with the moon, both Muhammad and his enemies clearly identified Hubal and Allah as different gods, their supporters fighting on opposing sides in the Battle of Badr. Ibn Hisham notes that Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, leader of the defeated anti-Islamic army, called to Hubal for support to gain victory in their next battle When Abu Sufyan wanted to leave he went to the top of the mountain and shouted loudly saying, "You have done a fine work; victory in war goes by turns. Today in exchange for the day of Badr. Show your superiority, Hubal", i.e. vindicate your religion. The apostle told ‘Umar to get up and answer him and say, Allah is most high and most glorious. We are not equal. Our dead are in paradise; your dead are in hell. The Korean Quran itself then changes its mind and tells readers that it forbids moon worship in verse, Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but bend over stick your ass in the air and slam your head into the floor and prostrate to to a Moongod al-Lah, who created them.
Sharia Law says muslims must be stoned to death or beheaded if they play dice or according to islamism writing can muslims play die / dice or probability based games?
The game of dice is 'haram' by the majority of jihadist mohammedan scholars who pray to the terrorist camel jacking pedophile bandit named Mahomet.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries. … lish/haram
Before the bandit Mahomet came along aka Muhammad, the Arabic islamist Moongod al-Lah was not considered the sole divinity by Meccans.
Meccans held that a kind of kinship existed between their Moongod al-Lah and the demonic jinn.
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/te … erse%3D158
Yazidism is a monotheistic faith based on belief in one God, who created the world and entrusted it into the care of a Heptad of seven Holy Beings, often known as Angels or heft sirr or the Seven Mysteries. The people know as Yazidis or Yezidis are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The Sharfadin temple in Sinjar, Iraq is an 800-year old Yazidi temple built in honor of Sheikh Sherfedin. It is considered by Yazidis as one of the holiest places on earth.
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/ … ainst-isis
Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2023-02-18 12:13:22)
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Why did Russian priests participate in pagan rites
https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/273 … agan-rites
Kremlin says Ukraine ‘illegally attacking’ Orthodox Church
https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/03/17/krem … ox-church/
Shrine workers protest Shinto body’s anti-LGBT pamphlet
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14768713
I Was Raised by American Buddhists. Here’s Why I Left.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/0 … hists.html
‘I came here to escape’: Toronto tackles caste-based discrimination in schools
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ … on-schools
Activists hopeful as Canada’s largest school district takes first step towards banning caste discrimination
Dr. Ambedkar and the Annihilation of the Hindu Caste System
https://www.thecollector.com/hindu-cast … m-ambedkar
When a site like u tube decides to censor videos that jihadis and islamists rank as offensive, then other site like alt censored might mirror the videos
Danish conversation
' Mustafa "Musse" Sayegh '
https://www.altcensored.com/watch?v=NC01LdPPapc
Ex-Muslims Of Denmark now Living Under Terroristic islamo jihad Threats of Death?
In 'Victory City', Rushdie takes the reader on an eventful journey
https://www.theweek.in/review/books/202 … urney.html
Rushdie takes the reader on an eventful journey through the 300 years (1336-1646) history of Vijayanagara empire
Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2023-03-20 13:34:21)
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‘worshipful brothers’
Homer Simpson's Stoner Cutters Supplementary Religion for Mars
how did the song in that cartoon go...
Who controls the British crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do! We do!
Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star?
We do! We do!
Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We do! We do
A Masonic Lodge finally kicks out a criminal because he owes them ten bucks?
One of the Brink’s-Mat masterminds ‘kicked out of Freemasons for not paying membership fee’
Brink’s-Mat mastermind ‘kicked out of Freemasons for not paying membership fee’
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/0 … embership/
Book claims that Kenneth Noye had messy financial relations with the group following the 1983 gold bullion robbery
Kenneth Noye Freemasons Brink’s-Mat robbery, one of the masterminds behind the laundering of millions from Britain’s biggest bullion robbery was finally expelled from the Freemasons for failing to pay a £10 increase in membership fees.
Brink's-Mat robbery occurred at the Heathrow International Trading Estate, London, United Kingdom, on 26 November 1983 and was one of the largest robberies in British history. £26 million (equivalent to £93.3 million in 2021) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was stolen from a warehouse operated by Brink's-Mat, a former joint venture between US security company Brink's and London-based company MAT Transport. The bullion was the property of Johnson Matthey Bankers Ltd. Micky McAvoy and Brian Robinson were convicted of armed robbery. Most of the gold has never been recovered. Lloyd's of London paid out for the losses, and several shooting deaths have been linked to the case.
In 1986, Noye was found guilty of conspiracy to handle the Brink's-Mat gold, fined £500,000, plus £200,000 costs, and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He served seven years before being released in 1994.
https://web.archive.org/web/20090228171 … 696969.stm
Indian novel about caste becomes first Tamil work longlisted for International Booker prize
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/ … rugan-pyre
California may become first US state to outlaw caste discrimination
https://indianexpress.com/article/world … n-8513631/
New bill aims to outlaw caste discrimination in California
https://apnews.com/article/california-c … 27fe960ce3
Sole intent was to destroy property of Hindus: Court on Delhi riots
https://www.oneindia.com/india/sole-int … 35333.html
Robots are performing Hindu rituals — some devotees fear they’ll replace worshippers
https://religionnews.com/2023/03/13/as- … rshippers/
Censors ban Thai horror film for ‘insulting Buddhism’ with mom-hugging child monk
https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/censor … hild-monk/
Tamil Nadu: Catholic priest Benedict arrested for sexual abuse
https://www.hindujagruti.org/news/177888.html
Long before priest's arrest for rape, his behavior was 'alarming' | Timeline
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lon … 13978.html
Afghan women protest Hazara 'genocide' after Kabul bombing
https://mb.com.ph/2022/10/01/afghan-wom … l-bombing/
Ex-editor of Jewish paper arrested for assaulting cop during Jan. 6 Capitol storming
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-editor … -storming/
'Sikh students hold protest at UBC, downtown Vancouver against human rights violations in Punjab'
https://www.ubyssey.ca/news/sikh-students-hold-protest/
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