Religious scholars reject Egypt’s move to standardize sermons

[rug]

The council says such a step would 'freeze' the development of religious discourse.

Posted Yesterday at 7:25 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO— In a rebuke to the Egyptian government, the top religious scholars of Egypt’s Al-Azhar have rejected new government measures to standardize Friday sermons, saying such a step would “freeze” the development of religious discourse.

The Council of Senior Scholars of Al-Azhar, the Muslim world’s most prominent institution, said in a statement that giving clerics pre-written Friday sermons would eventually “superficialize” religious clerics’ thinking.

The statement claims that, “The Imam will find himself unable to discuss, debate, and respond to (extremist) ideas and warn people of them.”

The standardized sermon initiative was launched by Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments – the government body regulating mosques and houses of worship – and has been criticized as a government move to tighten state control over religious discourse.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/07/29/religious-scholars-reject-egypts-move-to-standardize-sermons/

[LiberalFighter]

1. Fundamentalists in the United States would love this to happen here.

[rug]

2. I wonder what they'd so with this.

From tomorrow's Epistle:

Colossians 3 : 9-11

Stop lying to one another,
since you have taken off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed, for knowledge,
in the image of its creator.
Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;
but Christ is all and in all.

[Jim__]

3. Standardized sermons from the Ministry of Religious Endowments - wow!

I guess we can hope that the Ministry of Good Thought didn't notice.

[rug]

4. Turf War!