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Event: Interfaith Vigil for Victims & Survivors of Torture June 26th‏

TWO KEY EVENTS SPONSORED BY Metro NY Religious Campaign Against Torture (MNYRCAT), Amnesty International and other organizations ARE HAPPENING ON JUNE 26th – U.N. Day in Remembrance of the Victims and Survivors of Torture June 26th – 6 p.m. – Dag Hammarskjold Plaza – Interfaith Press Conference in Which Denominational Leaders will Announce Their Denomination’s Opposition to Torture followed by a procession to: June 26th – 7 p.m. – U.N. Chapel – Interfaith Prayer Service in Remembrance of the Victims & Survivors of Torture. (Dag Hammarskjold Plaza is at 47th and First Avenue. U.N. Chapel is across from the U.N.…

A story

Rabia al-Adawiyya (aka Rabia al-Basri) was running through the streets of town, Basra, one day with a pail of water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When asked what she was doing, she responded, “I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise.” She was then asked why, to which she responded, “They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God.”

A rabs and Moslems

Our favorite beduouina has posted her life story. As many numbers as I throw at you about most Muslims are not Arab, nor are all Arabs Muslim (say hello to Edward Said, Hanan Ashrawi, and Tariq Aziz, to name a few), her own background gives a much sense of that reality. Just for the record, and for those of you who care about numbers: 6.3 billion people in the world (source) 1.3 billion Muslims in the world (no cited source, just the number that’s being bandied about right now) 300 million Arabs (source [projected from source]) ~5% of the world,…