| |
|
17. februar 2006
|
|
A new opinion poll shows that only 29 percent of Norwegians say they believe in God. In 1986, 57 percent answered yes to the same question, and in 1992, 50 percent.
While the number of believers in "God" shows a clear trend downwards, the change may well have more to do with terminology and religious form than secularism. Around one in four calls themselves doubters, and around the same number believe in some unspecified "higher power."
The number of self-defined atheists has grown from 20 to 26 percent in these twenty years.
Regular readers of this blog will know I am certainly among those.
From a Norwegian article in TV2 Nettavisen.
8:20:34 PM 
|
|
A Pakistani imam has offered a $1 million bounty for killing a cartoonist (any cartoonist?), as unrest in the country continues.
In the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar, prayer leader Mohammed Yousaf Qureshi announced the bounty for killing a cartoonist to about 1,000 people outside the Mohabat Khan mosque.
Qureshi said the mosque and his religious school would give $25,000 and a car, while a local jewelers' association would give another $1 million. No representative of the association was available to confirm it had made the offer.
"This is a unanimous decision by all imams (prayer leaders) of Islam that whoever insults the prophet deserves to be killed and whoever will take this insulting man to his end, will get this prize," Qureshi said.
Qureshi did not name any cartoonist in his announcement. He did not appear aware that 12 different people had drawn the pictures.
And of course he hadn't seen any of the cartoons, like all the angry extremists who were willing to kill Salman Rushdie had no idea what The Satanic Verses was about.
Pakistani police has confined the extremist cleric to his home to prevent him from inciting violence. Not successfully, it appears.
Links: Previous coverage of Mohammad cartoon wars.
8:07:37 PM
|
|
There has been a large landslide in the central Philippines, which are feared to have killed "hundreds" of people.
Four people are so far confirmed dead, but it is feared that the death toll could reach many hundreds.
About 1,500 are reported missing in the village, where one villager said "it sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled".
More here from the AP:
Sen. Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said an entire village appeared to have been buried, with perhaps 200 dead and 1,500 missing.
"There is no body count yet, it's our estimate," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Geneva. "We're mobilizing rescue operations. This areas is infamous for landslides."
Just horrible.
Update: It appears an entire village has been wiped out by the mudslide.
Nineteen people are known to have died and 83 have been found alive so far, but rescue officials said between 1,500 and 2,500 might be buried in the mud.
One school and maybe 500 houses were buried in the mud. Rescuers are fearing more mudslides.
7:37:19 AM
|
|
|
© Copyright 2006 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.03.2006; 16:50:38.
|
|
|
