religion – praag.org

Multiculturalism and ISIS blamed for Charlie Hebdo shooting

The attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo was a result of Europe’s policy of multiculturalism, UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage said Thursday.

“The real question is this: We in Britain – and I’ve seen some evidence in other European countries of it too – have pursued a really rather gross policy of multiculturalism and by that, what I mean, is that we’ve encouraged people who have come from different cultures to remain within those cultures and not to integrate fully within our communities.” Farage said during the Leaders’ Debate program on LBC radio.

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg accused Farage of using the incident to make political gains after the UKIP leader started speculating on the reasons behind the deadly attack on the magazine in France.

The head of Britain’s MI5 agency reportedly said that a group of core al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria is planning attacks, adding that intelligence services cannot hope to stop them all.

Militants in Syria were planning “mass casualty attacks” in the West, the head of Britain’s MI5 agency Andrew Parker said, adding that intelligence services may be powerless to stop them, AFP reported.

“We know… that a group of core al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria is planning mass casualty attacks against the West,” agency’s head was quoted as saying to journalists on Thursday.

Earlier the head of the agency spoke about the threat from extremists amid terrorist attack on the headquarters of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. “It is too early for us to come to judgements about the precise details or origin of the attack but it is a terrible reminder of the intentions of those who wish us harm,” he said in his Thursday speech in London.

He estimated that “600 extremists are among the many Britons who have travelled there (to Syria). A significant proportion has joined ISIL (IS),” and called the threat “ongoing and increasing,” CBS News cited.

One officer killed in Charlie Hebdo shooting was Muslim

French police have identified one of the two officers killed in the shooting attack at the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The victim was a follower of Islam, media reported.

The 42-year-old Ahmed Merabet was shot at point-blank range despite apparently pleading for mercy, and his death was tragically caught on camera.

Merabet, a Muslim by faith, was serving as a patrolman in the 11th arrondissement, which is the district where Charlie Hebdo’s office is located in Paris, the Daily Caller reported.

The identity of the second officer has not been confirmed by officials, but media reports stated that he was assigned to protect the defiant editorial director of the provocative outlet, Stéphane “Charb” Charbonnier.

In 2011, Charlie Hebdo’s offices were firebombed after the outlet published a spoof issue which mocked Sharia law and was “guest edited” by the Prophet Muhammad. In 2012, Charbonnier oversaw publication of an even more provocative issue on Muhammad, which showed the prophet naked and in sexual poses. The journal mocked Christianity and Judaism too.

On Wednesday morning, at least two black-hooded adult gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles entered the building of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, killing 10 journalists and two policemen. According to survivors of the massacre, the gunmen claimed they were from Al-Qaeda.

Police have launched a manhunt for three suspects, identified as Said Kouachi, 34, Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Hamyd Mourad, 18.

The youngest suspect, Mourad, reportedly handed himself in at a police station in Charleville Mézières after seeing his name on the list of shooting suspects on social media, French outlets reported. The 18-year-old claims to have alibi of his innocence, which is being investigated.

“The youngest of those wanted surrendered to police pleading not guilty. His alibi will be verified by investigators,” iTele said on Twitter.

According to iTele, Hamid Mourad said that at the time of the attack he was in lycée in Charleville-Mezieres. It was reported earlier that Mourad is a student.

Beijing arrests member of sect for brainwashing members

Over the past three months China has arrested nearly 1,000 members of a sect referred to as a cult by Beijing, state media said on Tuesday.

The group told members that a “female Jesus” had arrived and called on members to overthrow the Communist party, which the group referred to as “the big red dragon”, the state-run Global Times reported.

The crackdown, since June, has focused on members of the Church of Almighty God, a group that has attracted followers in rural areas of China for more than 10 years.

The people arrested include “high-level organisers and backbone members” of the group, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing officials. The agency did not give details of the crimes linked to the suspects, who are said to come from more than six provinces.

Beijing has for years struggled to suppress the Almighty God group, with state media reporting the arrest of nearly 1,000 followers in 2012 when the organisation was under the spotlight for predicting an apocalypse.

State media said the group brainwashed its members and encouraged them to isolate themselves from family and friends.

This year’s crackdown follows the murder in May of a woman at a McDonald’s restaurant in the eastern province of Shandong, which police blamed on members of Almighty God. The movement’s founder is reported to have fled to the US.

On Thursday five people will go on trial in connection with the murder, Xinhua said.

China tightly controls religious expression, permitting worship only at government-controlled Buddhist, Daoist, Muslim, Protestant and Catholic establishments but banning other religious organisations.

Source: The Guardian

‘The religious are less anxious’

People who are religious are healthier and take fewer sick days, new research suggests.

They are also less stressed and anxious at work, the researchers found.

Experts believe this could be because spirituality offers a ‘buffer against strains’ of modern life.

A psychologist at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Stockport found that the more religious a person is, the less likely they are to suffer from anxiety, depression or exhaustion.

Dr Roxane Gervais also discovered that employees who are religious feel their lives have more meaning than those who are not.

Dr Gervais surveyed workers in a bid to discover how happy they are in their home and working lives.

She found those who attend religious services feel more content within themselves and that they feel connected to a higher being.

Dr Gervais told The Telegraph: ‘As the pace of work and life accelerates, people long for meaning, and the younger generation in particular is looking for more than just a big pay cheque at the end of the month.

‘My research shows that religiosity in the workplace may act as a resource, making people more resilient to cope with the many challenges of working life.

‘Such personal beliefs could be very helpful not only for employees, but also for employers providing people with a buffer zone.’

Dr Gervais’ findings are to be presented at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology’s in Brighton.

The research comes just after it was revealed that people who have a spiritual side have a ‘thicker’ section of brain tissue than those who do not.

The research, from Columbia University, also suggested that this thickening of the brain’s cortex could help to stave off depression.

The study authors believe this could suggest being religious changes the structure of the brain in a way which reduces depression risk. – dailymail.co.uk