Can Christians and Muslims share a place of worship?

An Aberdeen Church has take the unusual step of allowing Muslims to pray in the church. This is as the mosque is no longer big enough and people were having to pray outside.

The rector of St John's church, Rev Isaac Poobalan said, "One day when I was walking past the mosque, I found 20 or 30 people outside on the ground around the pavements with their hands and feet exposed. You could see their breath. When I spoke to people at the church about the situation, someone actually said to me this was not our problem, but I had seen it with my own eyes, so it was a problem."
The two groups have worked closely together over the years, offering joint services and initatives. Rev Poobalan grew up in India and had many Muslim and Hindu friends. He said: "Religion does not play a role when it comes to friendship and hospitality. They transcend the religious divide."

The Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney, the Right Rev Dr Robert Gillies, said: "Internationally, the news speaks of tension and struggles between Islam and Christianity. Yet, here in Aberdeen, a mosque and a church have built bonds of affection and friendship. It must be stressed that neither has surrendered or compromised any aspect of the historic faith to which each holds. But mutual hospitality and goodwill exists."

It's important to remember the common root of Abraham in Christianity, Islam and Judasim:

Do you think Christians and Muslims should be working together more? Why do you think some of the congregation were unhappy? Do you think friendhship and hospitality do transcend religion?

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/18/aberdeen-muslims-christians-share-church

The Questions of Rosh Hashanah

Monday saw the celebration of the Jewish New Year. One of the key features of the festival is an examination of conscience; some of the questions asked include:

• What's the most meaningful thing in my life?
• Who in my life means the most to me? How often do I let them know this?
• What are the most significant things I've achieved in the past year?
• What do I hope to achieve next year and in my life generally?

For the non-Jew, these are still vitally important questions to consider. The New Year is not a celebration as such in Christianity, but addressing the issues of conscience can happen regularly at Mass or Confession (for Catholics) or at other points during services or reconciliation. 

Setting aside two days to think about these is important for people of faith and of no faith at all. It's a clear example of things we can learn and appreciate from looking at religion.

What would your answers be?

Read more:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/judaism/rosh_hashanah.shtml

Circumcision = GBH?

A court in Cologne has ruled: the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents... The religious freedom of the parents and their right to educate their child would not be unacceptably compromised, if they were obliged to wait until the child could himself decide to be circumcised"

This could set a precedent in an area which has been debated in Jewish and Muslim bioethics for a long time: should parents be allowed to circumcise their children?

The case came about after a 4 year old Muslim boy was admitted a week after his circumcision bleeding heavily.

The doctor was charged with GBH, a charge that was dropped on appeal on the grounds that the parents had given permission. A further regional court also dismissed the case, but on the grounds that the law was not clear.

However the court went on to add that: "The body of the child is irreparably and permanently changed by a circumcision... This change contravenes the interests of the child to decide later on his religious beliefs."

This does not change the law, and it will remain legal for boys to be circumcised (unlike for girls). Yet it does set a precedent that could be followed by other German courts, and further afield, in a similar case.

Dieter Graumann, head of the Central Committee of Jews, said the ruling was: "an unprecedented and dramatic intervention in the right of religious communities to self-determination... [It is an] outrageous and insensitive act. Circumcision of newborn boys is a fixed part of the Jewish religion and has been practised worldwide for centuries."

In the United States, the World Health Organisation estimates that nearly one in three males under 15 is circumcised, usually for hygiene reasons.

Many thousands of young boys are circumcised every year in Germany, with many belonging to the Jewish and Muslim communities. The court specified that circumcision was not illegal if carried out for medical reasons.

Do you think circumcision amounts to GBH? Do you think families should be allowed to circumcise their children on religious grounds? What do you think the effects on the child may be?

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/9358636/Jewish-groups-condemn-courts-definition-of-circumcision-as-grievous-bodily-harm.html