UK Vicar Blesses mobile phones and laptops

Rev. Canon David Parrott of England's St. Lawrence Jewry church, which dates back to the 17th century, bestowed a blessing upon a collection of laptops and smartphones. Switched reports.

Parrott, who actually welcomes gadgets during services (as long as the mobiles are on "vibrate"), said that technology is "our daily working tool, and it's a technology we should bless."

Related: - Japanese Shrine Blesses our Gadgets

India. SMS campaign to raise awareness against foeticide

According to the Times of India, citizens are using text messages to generate awareness on the issue of female foeticide.

Some of the SMSes sent out:

"Vijaydashmi is the celebration of victory of good over bad. People must pledge to wipe out social evils like female foeticide and drugs."

"To gain liberation, to win Rama's grace, it is not enough to repeat his name. We have to practice his principle and liberate our society from evils like female foeticide."

Fatwa Issued Answering Cell Phone during Aayat

A Muslim organization has issued a fatwa over using verses from the Koran as ringtones, saying that answering the call while the aayat (verses from the Koran) is going on is a sin. It argues that people answer calls midway through the aayat, leave the verse incomplete. TechTree reports via Channel 4.

The panel of clerics in Kanpur India, also said that taking a cellphone to the toilet as it rings is a sin because aayat cannot be heard in a toilet. They also condemned the habit that people have of keeping cell phones on vibration mode while attending prayer services.

A fatwa in the Islamic faith is a religious opinion on Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar.

Other cell phone related Fatwas:

-- A Fatwa Against Ringtones - An imam at a Mosque in Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa against mobile phones after one rang during prayers on Saturday, playing Arabic pop music.

-- Fatwa: No pictures of the bride by SMS - Cheikh Abd Al-Muhsin Al-’Obikan, a member of Saudi Arabia's Shura Council and advisor to the Ministry of Justice, has issued a fatwa forbidding a fiancé to look at pictures of his fiancée uploaded online by SMS, for fear that others could see her before their marriage.

-- Fatwa Council declares SMS contests based on chance «haram» (unlawful) - The National Fatwa Council's declaration today that SMS-based contests containing elements of chance were haram (unlawful for Muslims)

Photo from flickr.

Shariah court approves SMS divorce

According to Arab News, a Shariah court in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has approved the divorce of a young Saudi woman in her 20s whose husband sent her an SMS text from Iraq saying he had divorced her.

The husband, who is in Iraq to participate in what he described as “jihad,” also telephoned two of his friends who witnessed his marriage and told them that he had divorced his wife.

... The judge approved the divorce and told the woman that she did not have to go through the iddah (the post-divorce waiting period stipulated by the Shariah) as the marriage was not consummated.

Click here for related links to divorce pronounced by SMS.

Dutch leave messages on God phone

In art exhibition opening in the Netherlands will allow people to call a telephone number designated for God - but they will have to leave a message, according to the BBC.

Dubbed God's Hotline, it aims to focus attention on changes to the ways Dutch people perceive religion.

Dutch artist Johan van der Dong chose a mobile phone number to show that God was available anywhere and anytime, Radio Netherlands reported.

Critics say the project mocks those with religious beliefs.

Forming part of an art installation in the town of Groningen, the voicemail message says: "This is the voice of God, I am not able to speak to you at the moment, but please leave a message."

Although the hotline is officially launched on Saturday, the phone number has been active for the past week, with 1,000 messages left on the answerphone.

But the messages are to remain confidential and will not form part of the art project.

Van der Dong told Radio Netherlands: "I'm not a pastor, I'm an artist and I won't listen to the messages.

"It's a secret between the Lord and the people who are calling."

Give up SMS for lent: Bishop

According to News24, the bishop of Modena in northern Italy told Catholic youth to give up a popular practice during the holy season of Lent: no text messaging on their mobile phones on Fridays.

No SMS will allow young people to "detox from the virtual world and get back in touch with themselves," Monsignor Benito Cocchi said, according to the newspaper La Repubblica on Tuesday.

Italy ranks second in Europe after Britain for the number of text messages - 50 per month on average - by users of the "telefonino", Italian for mobile phone, the newspaper said.

St. Louis to announce new archbishop via text message

The Archdiocese of St. Louis is claiming the first use of text-messaging technology to share news of the naming of a new archbishop.

After a new archbishop for St. Louis is announced in Rome — typically 5 a.m. St. Louis time — the archdiocese will send a text message about the new appointee to anyone who has registered on its Web site.

[via Fox4kc]

Divorce by text messaging and e-mail on the rise among Muslim men

A study on "Marriage and divorce amongst Muslim women in India", undertaken by Sahiba Hussain, highlights that more and more men are divorcing via SMS and e-mail. adnkronos Interntional reports.

Where women do not have access to mobile phones or computers, men use landline phones to pronounce the divorce declaration. "From 15 divorces that we looked at in 2008, eight were pronounced via SMS, e-mail and over the phone," said Husssain.

The phenomenon is taking place despite a decree by the All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board’s which forbids men from divorcing by electronic means.

Click here for related links to divorce pronounced by SMS.

Malaysian man sues over SMS break-up

A Malaysian man is suing his ex-fiancee in an Islamic court after her father broke off their engagement via mobile phone text messages, reports ABC News.

Muhammad Salleh Muhamad Yusuf, a 46-year-old graphic designer, is demanding more than 70,000 ringgit ($28,114) from 28-year-old Nur Diana Ahmad Zubir to cover the cost of cancelled wedding preparations.

The pair had planned to marry on January 17, but Nur Diana's father last month sent two text messages to the would-be groom to end the relationship, Muhammad Salleh's lawyer said according to the official news agency Bernama.

Related links to articles on divorce by SMS

Voice-to-Text Sermons

An Anglican Parish Church has joined with voice-to-text company SpinVox to change the way they reach their community: by delivering sermons directly to parishioners’ email inboxes, live. Trendhunter reports.

The world’s first voice-to-text Sunday service will take place Sunday November, 30th the first Advent. It will be given by the Reverend John Kronenberg, Vicar of Hinchley Wood, Esher, Surrey, at St Christopher’s Church.

As he delivers his sermon to the congregation seated in the Church, his words will be automatically converted by SpinVox and sent directly to subscribers’ inboxes, in a matter of moments. 100 members of St Christopher’s church will receive the sermon this Sunday.

Vatican Warns That Mobile Phones Threaten the Soul

The Vatican has warned that mobile phones are bad for your soul. Cellular News reports.

The Pope's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi warned in a weekly address that modern life is not leaving time for people to cultivate their spiritual dimension. Without a spiritual life "you will lose your soul" he said on the weekly Vatican TV program, Octavia Dies.

... In the age of the cell phone and the internet it is probably more difficult than before to protect silence and to nourish the interior dimension of life,” he observed. “It is difficult but necessary.

Mobile Muslim

Mobile Muslim (also known as ‘Hidayah which means divine guidance in Arabic) is a new phone launched in Indonesia designed completey around the Koran.

It sounds the "azan" call to prayer five times a day as well as the bang of the traditional bedug drum used at sunset to signal the end of the fast.

It also wakes Muslims up with religious songs before the dawn prayers so they can eat a final meal.

Since it's launch in August, Mobile Musllim has sold 100'000 units.

[via mobuzz.tv]

Links to other articles related to Islamic cell phones.

Pope's SMS Rallies Thousands Of Young Catholics

Pope Benedict texted thousands of young pilgrims in Australia on Tuesday, urging them to renew their faith.

"Young friend, God and his people expect much from u because u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus - BXVI," read the first of the Pope's daily text messages which will be sent out during World Youth Day in Sydney.

[via Reuters]

Pope goes digital to better connect with Youth

I4U reports that Pope Benedict will text message thousands of young Catholics on their mobile phones during World Youth Day in Sydney in July.

The Pope will text daily messages of inspiration and hope during the six-day Sydney event while digital prayer walls will be erected at event sites and the church will set up a Catholic social networking Web site akin to a Catholic Facebook.

The Catholic Church said it decided to use technology to connect to the estimated 225,000 young Catholics expected to attend the World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations that start on July 15.

Telstra said it plans to connect 8,000 volunteers, 2,000 clergy, 3,000 media and an anticipated 225,000 pilgrims to more than 700 locations around Sydney."

Previously: - World Youth Day - Pope reaches pilgrims by SMS

Pope Benedict XVI provides moral support via SMS during Lent

Pope Benedict XVI is providing moral support to Austrian Catholics during Lent with an encouraging SMS on their mobile phones.

Faithful who sign up for the new SMS service, launched Wednesday by the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, will receive daily quotes from the Church leader during the 40 days of Lent to help them survive the traditional fasting period leading up to Easter.

The quotes, in German, range from the inspirational -- "The further development and dignity of a society depends on those people who do more than their duty" -- to the more obscure: "Resignation in the face of truth is, I am convinced, at the core of the crisis in the West and in Europe."

[via AFP]

Israel phone company launches porn-free service

Bezeq Israel Telecom, the country's dominant phone company, on Sunday launched a service that would block calls to porn and other "improper" destinations in a bid to attract ultra-Orthodox customers, News.com reports.

"Avi Gabbay, Bezeq's chief executive officer, said at a news conference the company had invested $500,000 on the new "Kosher phone line" service, which initially will be free and has been approved by Israel's leading rabbis.

He noted that although the main market will be the ultra-Orthodox--who typically live in their own communities and refrain from many secular activities--the service will be open to all.

Israel's mobile phone operators already offer similar services."

More on Kosher phones.

Egypt to Rule on Phone-Message Divorce

Islamic law can make the act of divorce stunningly simple for men, even if the ensuing financial settlements often are not. A husband has only to declare to his wife, "Inti talaq" -- "You are divorced" -- three times, and mean it, to end their marriage. [via The Washington Post]

"But technology has introduced a complication that Egyptian religious authorities are now debating in the case of the 25-year-old Cairene, an engineer and an observant Muslim: How should Islamic laws that began to take shape in the 6th century apply to 21st-century text messages?

The subject of divorce by SMS has been highly debated across the Muslim world and some Islamic countries like Malaysia have banned the practice."

Until Egyptian courts and religious scholars decide the fate of the woman's marriage, she lives apart from the officer with their 4-year-old son, but still wears her wedding ring. She asked that her name not be used to protect her privacy, because such cases are so rare in Egypt. "

Egyptian woman in legal test of SMS divorce

An Egyptian woman is seeking clarification from a court on whether her husband's declaration of divorce by text message is legally valid, a state-run newpsaper reported on Thursday. The AFP reports.

"After missing a call from her husband on her mobile phone, Iqbal Abul Nasr received a text message from him saying "I divorce you because you didn't answer your husband," Al-Akhbar said.

It was the third time Abul Nasr, an engineer from Cairo, received a divorce text message from her husband, prompting her to seek a legal decision from the a family court on the status of her marriage.

If the court declares the couple divorced, it would be the first reported case of divorce by SMS in Egypt.

The subject of divorce by SMS has been highly debated across the Muslim world and some Islamic countries like Malaysia have banned the practice."

Saints on cellphones spark controversy in Italy

If you are a Catholic looking for a saint in heaven to protect you, you no longer have to carry a small "holy card". You can get the image sent to your cellphone. Reuters reports.

"A company in Italy started offering the service on Tuesday but ran into opposition from some Catholic Church leaders who think the idea is crass and commercial.

The company started the service with 15 saints on offer at santiprotettori.com.

Nearly every shop near the Vatican sells paper "santini" but not everyone in the Church thinks cellphones and saints are a marriage made in heaven.

"This is in really bad taste," Bishop Lucio Soravito De Franceschi, a member of the Italian bishops conference committee for doctrinal matters, told the Turin newspaper La Stampa.

"It is a distortion of sacred things ... selling 'santini' for cell phones is horrifying," he said."

Brooklyn Heights Church Swears in New Minister Via Cell Phone

On November 18, the date of Rev. Dr. Patrick T. O’Neill scheduled Service of Installation at The First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn, a broken toe sent the good Reverend to the emergency room, where he remained hospitalized at 5 p.m. when the installation was to begin.

His absence didn't stop his devoted congregation, who enabled him to participate in own his installation via cell phone.

[via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle]

Bible you can read in the dark

Following South Africa's lead last year, a company in Wales is announcing the launch of a service that allows people to download the entire Bible direct to their mobile phones. The Telegraph reports

"Marketed as "faith on the move", it also allows the subscribers to express their devotion via an array of Christian ringtones.

The service, Ecumen , offers daily prayers sent straight to your handset and, should you so desire, the entire "Bible you can read in the dark" can be downloaded for just £6. "

Related:

-- Entire Bible now available on S.African mobile phones (September 2006)

-- Links to other mobile Bible services

-- Links to other Devotional ringtones

Tradition collides with technology

When television became a household item, the religious community at the time fought its entrance into the Jewish home, writes Rabbi Yehiel Ben Ayon. "Television was seen as a powerful portal to an alien culture, system of morals and values that conflicted with traditional Jewish ones.

A similar debate ensued with the advent of cellphones. With first-generation phones, one could merely converse. Second-generation phones introduced text messaging and were somewhat tolerated.

But third-generation phones have been another thing entirely. These phones can actually send and receive video clips, and one can use them to access the Internet from the convenience of a tiny screen. These third-generation cellphones quickly become unacceptable within the religious community.

Today, the technological battlefront is the Internet-capable computer. While stopping short of an outright ban on such computers, the religious community in Israel finds itself in the midst of an intense debate about them."

[via The Canadian Jewish News]

Send a prayer to the Western Wall by SMS

It a very old tradition to place a note with a prayer or request in the Western Wall and for years, several Web sites have offered Jews from around the world the option to send their prayers by e-mail to a rabbi who then prints them out and places them for them in Jerusalem's Western Wall.

Now SMS2Wall is offering a text message version of this same service, enabling people who can't make it to Jerusalem, to have their intimate messages placed in the Western Wall, from their mobile phones.

Our goal is to enable all people, Jewish and others, to be in the close contact with the Holy City of Jerusalem and its Western Wall in a simple and trustful manner.

How does it work?

-- Think of a message (prayer, wish, hope) you would like to reach the Western Wall.
-- Compose the text message: WALL your message
-- Send it to the number attributed by country

Your message is printed out and placed it into the Western Wall.

Previously:

-- Send a prayer by SMS to the Western Wall - A similar service was mentioned in an IOL article dated September 25, 2003, but there was no mention of the name of the company.

Turkish imam to fine owners of ringing mobile phones during prayers

The mufti or senior Muslim cleric for the southeastern Turkish city of Mus has ordered that anyone whose mobile phone rings while they are praying in one of the region’s mosques should pay a fine of 10 Turkish lira (or $7.30). MSNBC Turkey reports.

"Mufti Ali Melek said that the money raised from the fines would be go towards the needs of Mus’ mosques."

Related:

-- A Fatwa Against Ringtones - an imam at a Mosque in Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa against mobile phones after one rang during prayers on Saturday, playing Arabic pop music.

Threat to church phone masts 'that relay porn'

According to The Telegraph, The Church of England is facing an embarrassing test case over whether mobile phone masts on steeples are illegal because they can relay pornography.

"The church's highest court is to hear an appeal after a diocesan judge ruled that churches were "wrong in law" to "facilitate the transmission of pornography, even in a slight or modest way".

Many parishes have cashed in on the mobile phone boom by charging telecom companies thousands of pounds a year to put antennae on their towers or steeples. Even Guildford cathedral has a mast under its golden angel weather vane.

They were encouraged by official Church guidance, which acknowledged that immoral material can be transmitted by the new technology but argued that any "ill" was outweighed by the benefits.

However, critics said mobile phones can now transmit dangerously obscene internet images and the church should dissociate itself from such technology, especially after the General Synod condemned media exploitation last month.

The contentious issue has now reached the Archbishop of Canterbury's 800-year-old Court of Arches, which is due to hear an appeal against the ruling by the diocese of Chelmsford's consistory court within weeks."

[via we-make-money-not-art.com / del.icio.us/regine]

Dubai's Grand Mufti accredits divorce through SMS

Amazingly, divorce by SMS is still going on in Malaysia.

According to the Malaysia Sun, Dubai's Grand Mufti, Ahmed al-Haddad, "acknowledging the synergy of technology and tadition, confirmed that a Muslim divorce can be carried out by a text message:

'While some said writing a divorce is equivalent to verbally announcing it, others believe a divorce must be documented by writing and can only be applied when there is intention and when it is read aloud. Divorce through this modern way is not different from using a pen and a paper," he said.

Related:

-- Debate of SMS Divorce (still) Rages in Malaysia

-- Malaysian Senator fined for cell phone divorce

-- Indian Women unite against Muslim divorce by SMS

-- Malaysian Muslims and divorcing by SMS in the news again

-- Divorce by SMS, face a fine: M'sia

-- Don't give out divorce papers, departments warned

-- Mobile divorce unacceptable, says Malaysia (BBC)

The Church of England wants you to make someone laugh for Lent

The Church of England has just launched “Love Life, Live Lent”, a campaign to lighten up over Lent, accompanied by a website inviting communicants to share Lenten jokes. The Times Online reports.

And of interest to this column, "the website will also have a text-messaging service, which will send subscribers daily suggestions on how to spread generosity and neighbourliness, with the exhortation to make someone laugh."

In their own words:

The Church is encouraging people to take a fresh look at Lent with a range of other initiatives designed to raise a smile - with the launch of a Christian comedy club, a training course for vicars in stand-up-style performance skills, and a website sharing the best clean jokes in the country.

Organisers hope to highlight that doing something positive can be as transforming as giving something up, and can help people reflect on their relationship with each other and with God.

Temple donations via SMS

Airtel, India's leading mobile service, has launched a new service, which allows customers to make their donations to temples via SMS. Star of Mysore Online reports.

"The new service called Temple Offering is aimed at providing a convenient way for customers to pay their respects to their deity by making monetary offerings, from anywhere, by mobile phone.

SMS offerings can presently be made to four temples — Mantralaya (AP), Siddi Vinayak (Mumbai), Dharmasthala (Karnataka) andJalaram Temple (Bangalore). The service will be soon extended to Thirupathi, Shirdi Saibaba, Vaishnodevi and Mahalakshmi temple.

... As soon as the SMS is sent, it gets updated immediately in the temple record through a software deployed at the temple's premises, which will record the amount donated, time, date and the number from which it has been made.

Israeli Rabbis Teach Religion via Mobile Phones

Despite opposition from conservative rabbis, some new generation rabbis in Israel are communicating with followers via text messaging, according to Zaman Daily Newspaper.

"Aviner, rabbi for the Jewish settlement of Beit El in the West Bank, receives at least 3,000 messages each month on various topics and replies with short responses such as “proper” or “forbidden.”

With his public mobile phone number, Aviner said what a rabbi must do is be accessible at all times."

SMS from Saudi Arabia promoting conversion to Islam

“Call Me to Islam” is an initiative launched in Saudi Arabia by dawah activists to convert non Muslims to Islam via SMS or receive information about Islam , reported Saudi daily Arab News via Asia News.

"Dawah, which literally means ‘summons’, refers to Muslim responsibility to invite others to Islam. Now some activists have decided to go a step further. Anyone interested in learning about Islam can send an SMS to +966-55988899 and leave their names, nationality, language, religion, job and mobile number.

The service started at the beginning of Ramadan and, according to Al-Eiban, receives around 2,000 SMSs every four days. Dawah activists use nine languages to communicate with interested people and have called 1,155 people so far."