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Mail & Guardian
god edition 2019latest news & developments
Commitment: Kwanele Sosibo was seven when he was lifted up by the sound of Peter Tosh’s ‘The Toughest’ on the radio. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
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The oneness of all things

A melody pierced the membrane of childhood ennui and life was never the same

Intolerance: The Ponsonby Masjid, built in 1979, was Auckland’s first mosque. (Hannah Peters & Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Muslims long at home in New Zealand

This religious community has grown from the arrival of a few sailors in 1769 to a large number of refugees first in 1951 and then since the 1980s

The way to combat religious fundamentalist violence is not through further secularisation or attempts to extinguish religious thoughts altogether. (Nichole Sobecki/ AFP)

Secularism is not the answer to fundamentalist violence

A solution to religious fundamentalist violence is neither a secularist view nor religious in nature; it entails a blend of both.

Leader: Hermann Overbeek has been at Nooitgedacht 88 primary school for 35 years and has seen the school through a number of changes, always in the presence of that bastion
of conservatism. (Paul Botes/M&G)

Belief can move mountains – and transform schools

It only takes a good human being, who treats everyone with respect, to cast doubt on one’s ability to kill off God

Zaza Hlalethwa usually reads a devotion on her app first thing in the morning. (Oupa Nkosi/M&G)

Take me to church … on my app

Although digital worship cannot replace human fellowship, it can certainly help one avoid the self-righteous

Lay me down: Dianne Willman became only the fourth South African woman to be ordained in the Catholic tradition.

Faith is a feminist issue for women in the Catholic church

Women are not permitted to be deacons in the Catholic Church, but that could soon change

‘Hope is a lie’: Brazilian singer Mel has embraced African-derived religions because ‘they are all about love’.

Fighting the ‘whiteness’ of hope

A Brazilian trans woman has faith in Umbanda and Candomblé, two African-derived religions

Forward in faith: Mogamat Benjamin is a devout Muslim who believes others should accept him for who he is: a proud gay man. (David Harrison/M&G)

The Muslims who will not choose between their god and being gay

Cape Town’s gay men won’t abandon Islam, despite the censure they sometimes face