April 13, 2012
Tbilisi, Georgia A boy jumps through a fire during the Chiakokonoba folk festival. According to legend, fire leaping purifies the spirit of participants (via guardian.co.uk)

Tbilisi, Georgia

A boy jumps through a fire during the Chiakokonoba folk festival. According to legend, fire leaping purifies the spirit of participants (via guardian.co.uk)

5:19pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZuyxWxJbRRTA
(Notes: 10)
  
Filed under: Georgia Tbilisi Tradition Custom Festivals Chiakokonoba Folk Festivals Fire Photography 
January 13, 2012
Sweden’s teachers free to ban Islamic veils Teachers in Swedish schools can, in certain situations, prohibit students from wearing Islamic veils that reveal only their eyes, the country’s school’s agency has ruled. The ban covers clothing that could hinder interaction between students and teachers or which could pose a specific risk, such as in a laboratory. However, a general ban on headscarves isn’t possible. Teachers will have the power to decide whether or not to require students remove their headscarves, although schools should attempt to be as accommodating as possible, according to updated guidelines issued by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skollverket) on Wednesday. The guidance comes in response to a 2009 case in which two women sued an adult education centre in Spånga north of Stockholm after they were banned from class for wearing niqabs. (via The Local)

Sweden’s teachers free to ban Islamic veils

Teachers in Swedish schools can, in certain situations, prohibit students from wearing Islamic veils that reveal only their eyes, the country’s school’s agency has ruled.

The ban covers clothing that could hinder interaction between students and teachers or which could pose a specific risk, such as in a laboratory.

However, a general ban on headscarves isn’t possible.

Teachers will have the power to decide whether or not to require students remove their headscarves, although schools should attempt to be as accommodating as possible, according to updated guidelines issued by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skollverket) on Wednesday.

The guidance comes in response to a 2009 case in which two women sued an adult education centre in Spånga north of Stockholm after they were banned from class for wearing niqabs. (via The Local)

7:24am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZuyxWxEhovSa
(Notes: 13)
  
Filed under: Sweden Education Schools Religion Islam Custom Tradition Dress Niqab Skollverket Swedeish National Agency for Education 
November 3, 2011
Dutch circumcision ban call opposed by Jews and Muslims Religious groups in the Netherlands have opposed a call from the Royal Dutch Medical Association (RDMA) for male circumcision to be banned. Male circumcision is legal in the Netherlands but the body representing the country’s doctors want to end the practice. The association is urging politicians to put it on the political agenda. It is asking parents to think twice before having their sons circumcised because it regards the procedure as dangerous and unnecessary. Yet others see it as the latest reflection of a political shift in a country that is increasingly pressuring religious groups to stop practising what they preach. (via BBC News)

Dutch circumcision ban call opposed by Jews and Muslims

Religious groups in the Netherlands have opposed a call from the Royal Dutch Medical Association (RDMA) for male circumcision to be banned.

Male circumcision is legal in the Netherlands but the body representing the country’s doctors want to end the practice.

The association is urging politicians to put it on the political agenda.

It is asking parents to think twice before having their sons circumcised because it regards the procedure as dangerous and unnecessary.

Yet others see it as the latest reflection of a political shift in a country that is increasingly pressuring religious groups to stop practising what they preach. (via BBC News)

9:36am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZuyxWxBRvZR-
(Notes: 26)
  
Filed under: Circumcision Freedom of Religion Health Male Circumcision Medicine Netherlands Politics Religion Royal Dutch Medical Association Society Penis Genitalia Judaism Islam Jewish Islamic Tradition Custom Religious Practices 
September 22, 2011
France imposes first niqab fines Two French Muslim women who continue to wear the full-face veil in defiance of a new law banning it in France have been issued fines by a court. Hind Amas and Najate Nait Ali were caught wearing the niqab in public outside Meaux town hall, eastern Paris, soon after the law came in in May. The women say they will appeal against their punishment all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. Meanwhile another woman said she would stand for president in her niqab. Thursday’s sentencing in Meaux was closely followed not just in France but right across Europe. Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland all have - or are planning - similar legislation. (via BBC News)

France imposes first niqab fines

Two French Muslim women who continue to wear the full-face veil in defiance of a new law banning it in France have been issued fines by a court.

Hind Amas and Najate Nait Ali were caught wearing the niqab in public outside Meaux town hall, eastern Paris, soon after the law came in in May.

The women say they will appeal against their punishment all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.

Meanwhile another woman said she would stand for president in her niqab.

Thursday’s sentencing in Meaux was closely followed not just in France but right across Europe.

Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland all have - or are planning - similar legislation. (via BBC News)

7:23pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZuyxWx9pJlBK
(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: France Paris Meaux Women Religion Islam Muslims Niqab Face-Veil Fine Penalty Custom Clothing Legislation 
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