Quick Facts and Stats Summary: Festival established by the UN to try to promote World Peace and reduce conflict. 2019 Date: 21st September Celebrated by: Globally, Humanists Linked Holidays: Human Rights Day, International Youth Day Background and Theological Significance The International Day of Peace is the most modern Festival we have covered in this series. It […]
by Danube Noel-Johnson Introduction As contemporary analyses of the status of religion in modern nation-states suggest, secularism has led to the relegation of religious practices, belief, and values to the private sphere. The private—particularity, subjectivity, irrationality, religion, domesticity, the mystic—is distinguished from what is considered the public sphere, which is characterized by modern, liberal principles—universality, […]
Quick Facts Summary: an Islamic festival commemorating several significant events, including the death of Husayn ibn Ali and the saving of the Israelites from the Egyptians 2019 Date: 9th September (starting at sunset on 8th September) Celebrated by: Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims (although for different reasons), many Islamic countries as a national holiday Linked Holidays: […]
Quick Facts Summary: A Hindu festival that honours the god Ganesha 2019 Date: 2nd September Celebrated by: Hindus, parts of India (as a National Holiday) Linked Holidays: Anant Chaturdashi, Ganesh Jayanti (Hinduism) Background and Theological Significance Ganesh Chaturthi (in Hindi, गणेश चतुर्थी) also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is an important celebration in the Hindu calendar […]
by Theo Poward The story of ISIS since around 2014 has been one of terrifying spread and painful recovery. It was and is a plague. But unlike medical plagues, it prompts violence in its carriers, violence that destroys the societies that they belong to. The symptoms were obvious, brutish, and well documented. But, the cause […]
Quick Facts Summary: an Islamic festival that celebrates the Prophet Muhammad appointing Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor 2019 Date: 19th August (starting at sunset on 18th August) Celebrated by: Shi’ite Muslims; Iran, Iraq and other Shi’ite countries (as a National Holiday) Linked Holidays: The Hajj Background and Theological Significance Eid al-Ghadir (in Arabic, […]
Summary: a Hindu festival that celebrates the bond between sisters and brothers 2019 Date: 15th August Celebrated by: Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, the Indian subcontinent. Linked Holidays: Bhai Dooj / Bhai Tika Raksha Bandhan, deriving from the Sanskrit for ‘the bond of protection or care’, is a festival celebrated primarily in the Indian subcontinent that honours […]
by Francesca D’Arcy Orga On all my school forms, under religion, my mum would tick Jewish, Muslim and Christian, and she never raised me to think of myself any differently. She came from a Jewish family, and was raised in a traditionally Jewish environment. She married a man who was half Turkish Muslim and half […]
