Religion

by Daniel Cubias • 11/25/08 • One of my recent pieces (“Muy Fabuloso”) also appeared on the Huffington Post last week. The post was about homophobia in Latino culture.

The Hmong shaman had come to the movie set fully equipped. Normally he’d have worn a shirt and slacks, but for Clint Eastwood’s new movie, Gran Torino, he dressed as he would have in Laos. Using his own equipment and mostly his own traditional dress, the shaman was ready to shoot the ceremonial scene. That is, until they hit a snag. He’d left the equipment he needed to perform the ritual in his trailer. MORE »

by Asma Lori Saroya • 11/20/08 • A Muslim family was detained at the MSP airport on their way home from a week-long vacation in Europe. They were told the search was “random” although others who were also detained were either of South Asian or Arab descent.

A young Muslim woman was detained as she entered the United States with her husband after their honeymoon.

Rhoda Gilman, Betsy Raasch-Gilman and Arvid “Bud” Dixen received honorary awards and twenty students received scholarships totaling $36,000 from the Hawkinson Foundation November 16, honoring their commitment to peace and justice. The foundation was created in honor of Reverend Vincent L. Hawkinson, a lifelong advocate for peace and justice. MORE »

Tough as times are, it’s harder than ever on the financially challenged. They’d have a harder time still without food shelves. Accordingly, Twin Cities food shelves have become a more vital resource than ever before. MORE »

Minnesota, Land of Lutherans, has welcomed Hmong Lutherans as part of its religious community. Hmong Central Lutheran Church (at 301 Fuller Ave, in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul) is the largest Hmong Lutheran congregation in the world, with 483 members, according to its pastor, William Siong. MORE »

By Martha Bigelow • 11/7/08 • Multicultural education seeks to include a range of perspectives often suppressed by the majority culture as well as include students from diverse backgrounds in the process of learning. What is sometimes lost in efforts to create inclusive educational experiences is serious thought to how to welcome students of minority religions. In the case of Muslim students, the barriers typically include lack of knowledge of Islam and strategies to accommodate Islamic religious practices in school settings.

By Lolla Mohammed Nur • 11/8/08 • It is 7 a.m. on November 5th, and I am in my living room in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with the TV on. CNN has just announced that Barack Obama has won the electoral vote and is therefore the new president-elect of the United States. An endless flow of tears start streaming down my face. My tears are those of joy and victory, not of sadness.

Minnesota Muslims are finding themselves voiceless, discussed, defined, categorized, psychoanalyzed, talked at and talked about without a serious attempt at inclusion.