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SpotlightVarnsdorf, a north Bohemian town in the path of Buddha
A town surrounded by deep pine forests, dotted with old timbered
German-style villas and occasional Communist-era prefab houses, a town
boasting many parks, a river, two churches – and the country’s first
Buddhist temple. This is Varnsdorf, a town of 16,000 in the northernmost
part of the Czech Republic. More
Current AffairsReligion, ethnicity ignored by many Czechs in latest population census
Over the past decade, Czech society has seen a number of interesting
changes and trends, as shown by preliminary results of the 2011 population
census which were released on Thursday. The figures show the country’s
population grew a little, mainly due to migration. Czechs are also more
educated than they used to be, and many more of them live alone. If
people’s answers in the census are to be trusted, more people declared
themselves to be Jedi knights than Romanies. More
Current AffairsCentral European Muslim leaders lament restrictive legislation, media bias
Muslim leaders from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia came
to Prague on Tuesday to share their experiences and to discuss the
challenges faced by their communities. The numbers of the Muslim
populations in their countries vary significantly, as do their historic
backgrounds. But the debate showed that some challenges are shared by
Muslims across the region: islamophobia, media bias, and severe legislative
restrictions. More
One on OneSri Lankan monk Bhante Wimala and Buddhism in the Czech Republic
This week sees an important holiday for a fifth of the world’s
population, namely Buddhists, who will be marking the anniversary of the
birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha on May 17. Some in the Czech
Republic will be celebrating the day as well, and that will be thanks to a
large part to Bhante Wimala, a Sri Lankan monk based in the United States
who started the Czech Republic’s first two Buddhist centres, the Samadhi
Meditation Centre near Mělník and the Lotus Centre in Prague. In
Today’s One on One Christian Falvey speaks with Bhante Wimala about his
work in the Czech Republic and the messages of Buddhism. More
Current AffairsCzech ‘Jedi Knights’ seek official recognition
Around 150 people, self-professed Jedi knights (members of a fictional
order made famous in George Lucas’ Star Wars films) are attempting to
found an official church of ‘Jediism’ in the Czech Republic. The idea
was inspired by a facebook group of more than 30,000 people earlier who
registered as Jedi in the Czech census. While that was largely an attempt
at humour, the main organiser behind the project to found an actual church
says that’s no joke. More
Special“The invisible hand”: what do Czechs believe in?
The medieval vaulted cellars of the Shakespeare and Sons bookshop offered
an atmospheric backdrop to the second of Radio Prague’s series of public
discussions, organized in cooperation with the Czech Literary Portal. The
discussion took place on December 9, in the middle of Advent and on the
last day of the Jewish holiday Chanukah – the festival of lights. We
asked the question: does the Czech Republic’s rich Christian and Jewish
legacy still have meaning in today’s secular state? Does and should this
legacy continue to define our ethical decisions?
More
Letter from PragueOne nation over with God
Statistics about Czechs often seem to me to come from some other country I
don’t know. But there are two popular ones that I can vouch for: that
Czechs drink more beer than anyone in the universe, and that 81% of them
are atheists, agnostics or non-believers. The rationale behind either of
those is a question for a longer discussion, but both of them seem like
rather obvious positions to me. I like living in a place where there is
lots of beer and no god. More
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