title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of mainline Protestant denominations in South India after independence.


title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India is the successor of a number of Protestant denominations in India, including the Church of England; Church of India, Burma and Ceylon (Anglican); the United Church of Christ (Congregationalist); the British Methodist Church; and the Church of Scotland after Indian Independence. It combined the South India United Church (union of the British Congregationalists and the British Presbyterians); the then 14 Anglican dioceses of South India and one in Sri Lanka; and the South Indian District of the Methodist church.


title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India is a member of the Anglican Communion, World Methodist Council and World Communion of Reformed Churches. It is one of four united Protestant churches in the Anglican Communion, World Methodist Council and World Communion of Reformed Churches, with the others being the Church of North India, the Church of Pakistan, and the Church of Bangladesh.


title: Church of South India

text: The inspiration for the Church of South India came from ecumenism and the words of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospel of John (). Just like the United Church of Christ (Congregationalist), one of their forebearer denominations, their motto is:


title: Church of South India

text: With a membership of nearly four million, it is the second-largest Christian church based on the number of members in India.


title: Church of South India

text: Four different church traditions were brought together in the CSI; Anglican, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Methodist. All these churches had been established in India through the missionary work of churches in Europe, America, and Australia, which had started their work in India at different periods from the beginning of the 18th century.


title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India Scheme was the first practical attempt of its kind toward a union, on the basis of the following points enunciated in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral:


title: Church of South India

text: The first three points could be accepted without any controversial question. But the fourth became contentious, as the Anglican Church maintained episcopal polity within the historical episcopate and believed that all its bishops and priests could trace an unbroken line of succession from St. Peter; whereas the rest of the churches in the negotiations conformed to other ecclesiastical polities and did not subscribe to the Anglican views on apostolic succession. After extensive dialogues, an agreement was reached that all who were already ordained in any of the uniting churches would be received as ministers in the united Church; provided all new ordinations after the union, would be conferred by episcopally ordained bishops of the united Church, with the imposition of hands. The intention was to introduce an episcopate in historic succession (from Anglicanism) into the new united Church and to ensure its maintenance in the future, by keeping all subsequent ordinations episcopal.


title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India as it exists today came into being with the perseverance and committed efforts of Rev. Vedam Santiago, who for a long period of time took leadership of the SIUC, the South Indian United Churches, which later, with the joint efforts of Rev. V Santiago and Bishop Azariah became the Church of South India.


title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India union ceremony happened at St George's Cathedral in Madras on 27 September 1947, a month after India achieved its independence from the United Kingdom. It was formed from the union of the SIUC, (South India United Church itself a union of churches from the Congregational Presbyterian and Reformed traditions); the southern provinces of the (Anglican) Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon; and the Methodist Church of South India. The inaugural service was presided by Bishop Rt. Rev. C. K. Jacob, of the Anglican diocese of Travancore and Cochin. As part of it, nine new bishops, drawn from all the traditions, were consecrated to serve with five Anglican bishops already in the office. Each new bishop was ordained with the imposition of hands by the presiding bishop, along with two more Anglican bishops (Rt. Rev. A. M. Hollis and Rt. Rev. G. T. Selwynthe) and six presbyters from the uniting Churches, also laying hands. This reconciliation of the Anglican views with those of the other uniting denominations, on the doctrine of apostolic succession, realized in the formation of the Church of South India, is often cited as a landmark in the ecumenical movement.


title: Church of South India

text: The logo of the Church of South India consists of a Cross superimposed on a stylized Lotus flower in a white backdrop; around which the motto and name of the Church, is embossed. It was designed by Prof. J. Vasanthan of the American College, Madurai.


title: Church of South India

text: The imposing central position of the Cross denotes the foundation of the Church and its faith, while its four arms of the same length promulgates equality. The Lotus flower, called Pankaj meaning "mud-born" in Sanskrit, has been of great spiritual and symbolic significance in India, since ancient times. Its placement in the Logo, proclaims the indigenous nature of the Church of South India and its dependence on the grace of God, just as a Lotus that blooms at sunrise and closes at sunset, depends on the Sun. The stylized rendering, makes the Lotus petals simultaneously depict the fiery split tongues of the Holy Spirit. The motto of the CSI embossed on the logo, which is an excerpt of Jesus's prayer in John 17:21, is used as an inclusive affirmation of the need for the unity of all people.


title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India is a Trinitarian Church that draws from the traditions and heritage of its constituent denominations. The Church accepts the Chalcedonian Christological Definition, as well as the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. Both creeds are included in the Church liturgy as the profession of faith. The Church practices infant baptism for children born in Christian homes and adult or believer's baptism for others. Baptized children are members of the church and share in the privileges and obligations of membership so far as they are capable of doing so.


title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India practices the rite of Confirmation, by which the "confirmands" (those being confirmed) upon profession of their Christian faith, obtain confirmation of their baptisms and thereafter, gets to partake fully in the privileges and obligations associated with Church membership. Secondarily, this is also a coming of age ceremony. Confirmation is almost always administered by a Bishop with the imposition of hands and occasionally by a Presbyter who is authorized to confirm.


title: Church of South India

text: Regarding ordination and social issues, the CSI has a tendency to be more liberal than other churches in the Global South. In 2013, the CSI consecrated its first female bishop, Eggoni Pushpalalitha. Likewise, relating to human sexuality, the CSI is more accepting of diversity of opinion. "The Church of South India (CSI) [is] a relatively liberal Protestant church which has, since 1984, allowed women to become pastors. 'CSI has been liberal on these issues. It has taken up issues of gender, dalits and landlessness. It has to address the issue of sexual minorities too'". The church does not ordain clergy in same-sex relationships. The church has confirmed that transgender persons may be ordained as clergy.


title: Church of South India

text: In 2008, CSI supported the conservative breakaway faction of the Anglican Church, on the battle over allowing gay clergies.


title: Church of South India

text: However, in 2015, St. Mark's Cathedral in Bangalore hosted an event, co-led by the Rev. Vincent Rajkumar, aimed at denouncing homophobia. CSI clergy, working with the National Council of Churches in India, also co-led a consultation speaking out against homophobia. Currently, the Church of South India is also listed as among the Anglican provinces open to blessing same-sex couples. In August 2016, the CSI's publication expressed concern that the "Christian church and Christian mission to a large extent are homophobic. It has excluded the gender minorities from the church and its worship".


title: Church of South India

text: In 2016, a seminary affiliated with the CSI offered a seminar on LGBT issues. "The Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary in Madurai held a two-hour seminar on gender and sexuality..." The National Council of Churches in India, of which the CSI is a member, supports the legalisation of same-sex relationships in India.


title: Church of South India

text: On transgender issues, the Diocese of Madras has a ministry specifically for transgender people. Moreover, the CSI has opened up ordained ministry to transgender clergy. In 2012, the denomination invited a transgender pastor to preach. The CSI also published resources for special Sunday celebrations for transgender people including an invitation for transgender members to preach in churches.


title: Church of South India

text: The Department of Mission and Evangelism of the CSI Synod stated their position that, "It is our bounden duty to declare our solidarity through the constant accompaniment towards the broken communities like Adivasi-Dalit, LGBTQ, and other less-privileged and underprivileged communities." The church, via its monthly publication, has also taken a stance of solidarity with the Dalit community, women, and the LGBT community. One ministry, led by a priest, "took a session on 'working towards an inclusive Church' with special reference to the transgenders", and the church celebrates the "self-liberation" of the Dalit community. Additionally, the church's publication stated that "the Church leaders expressed their concerns about the neglected people such as LGBT and those affected and infected with HIV/AIDS...[and] urged the listeners(Church Leaders)...[to] not only show solidarity but also moving beyond in accommodating them".


title: Church of South India

text: The CSI Synod Liturgical Congress has developed several new orders for worship for different occasions. The order for the Communion service, known as the CSI Liturgy, has been internationally acclaimed as an important model for new liturgies. The committee has also produced three different cycles of lectionaries for daily Bible readings and "propers", and collects for Communion services. In addition, the committee has also brought out a supplement to the Book of Common Worship. Cherishing the reformation principle of worship in the native language, the CSI liturgy and church services are completely in the vernacular, in all the different South Indian states and Northern Sri Lanka, which comprise its ecclesiastical province.


title: Church of South India

text: The important observances and festivals include Ash Wednesday, Lent, Passion Week, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension day, Pentecost, First Fruits Harvest and Christmas.


title: Church of South India

text: The Constitution of the CSI is the key document that governs the administration and management of the church. It comprises 14 chapters detailing rules for the functioning of the Church at every level, from local congregations to the pastorate, dioceses and the Synod. The most important part of the CSI Constitution is "The Governing Principles of the Church" which sets out 21 governing principles on which the other chapters of the Constitution and the rules contained therein rest. While amending any part of the Constitution can be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Synod, amending the Governing Principles requires a three-fourths majority.


title: Church of South India

text: As a united Protestant Church, the Church of South Indian is a member of the World Methodist Council, as well as the World Communion of Reformed Churches; as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and its bishops participate in the Lambeth Conferences. It also has representation in the Anglican Consultative Council. Consequently, the CSI is in full communion with the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Philippine Independent Catholic Church. It is a member of the World Council of Churches, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Christian Conference of Asia and the National Council of Churches in India. Through the Communion of Churches in India, it is also in partnership and full communion with the Church of North India and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church.


title: Church of South India

text: The Church of South India maintains close partnerships with the Church of Scotland, Episcopal Church of the United States, Methodist Church of Great Britain, Presbyterian Church in Korea, Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, Presbyterian Church of India, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ and the Uniting Church in Australia.


title: Church of South India

text: The church accepts the Lambeth Quadrilateral as its basis and recognises the historical episcopate in its constitutional form. Like Anglican and most other episcopal Churches, the ministry of the Church of South India is structured with three holy orders of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.


title: Church of South India

text: The church is governed by a synod based in Chennai and headed by a presiding bishop bearing the title of Moderator, who is elected every three years. The new Moderator of the Church of South India is the Most Reverend A. Dharmaraj Rasalam, Bishop of South Kerala Diocese, since his election at the Synod on 11 January 2020. The Deputy Moderator is the Right Reverend Reuben Mark, Bishop of the Karimnagar Diocese.


title: Church of South India

text: The church runs 2,300 schools, 150 colleges and 104 hospitals in South India. In the 1960s the church became conscious of its social responsibility and started organising rural development projects. There are 50 such projects all over India, 50 training centres for young people and 600 residential hostels for a total of 50,000 children.


title: Church of South India

text: The church is further divided into twenty-four dioceses, each under the supervision of a bishop, including one diocese encompassing Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The dioceses are governed by diocesan councils composed of all clergy in the diocese as well as lay people elected from the local congregations. Each church will have representation in diocesan council based on their membership. The diocese is headed by the Bishop, who is a presbyter elected through the Diocesan Council. He is considered as the head of the diocese and all the institutions belonging to the diocese. Other than the Bishop, the following are the important administrative posts of each diocese:


title: Church of South India

text: The Diocesan Council also consists of Diocesan Executive Committee, Diocesan Standing Committee, and Pastorate Committee.


title: Church of South India

text: The church recognizes theological degrees granted by institutions affiliated with the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College. These include:


title: Orchha

text: Orchha is a town, near city of Niwari in Niwari district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. The town was established by rajput ruler Rudra Pratap Singh some time after 1501, as the seat of an eponymous former princely state of covering parts of central & north India, in the Bundelkhand region. Orchha lies on the Betwa River, 80 km from Tikamgarh & 15 km from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.


title: Orchha

text: Orchha was founded in 1531 (the 16th century AD) by the Bundela chief, Rudra Pratap Singh, who became the first King of Orchha, (r. 1501–1531) and also built the Fort of Orchha. The Chaturbhuj Temple was built by the queen of Orchha, Ganesh Kunwar (गणेश कुँवर), while "Raj Mandir" was built by 'Raja Madhukar Shah' during his reign, 1554 to 1591. Orchha was captured by imperial forces of the Mughal Army led by Prince Aurangzeb in October 1635.


title: Orchha

text: On a seasonal island on the bank of the Betwa River, which has been surrounded by a battlement wall, stands a huge palace-fort. The fort consists of several connected buildings erected at different times, the most noteworthy of which is the "Raja Mahal".


title: Orchha

text: The Ram Raja Temple is built on a square base and has an almost entirely plain exterior, relieved by projecting windows and a line of delicate domes along the summit. The Jahangir Mahal is built on a rectangular base and is relieved by a circular tower at each corner surmounted by a dome, while two lines of graceful balconies supported on brackets mark the central storeys. The roof is crowned by eight large fluted domes, with smaller domes between them, connected by an ornamental balustrade. The Jahangir Mahal is considered to be a singularly beautiful specimen of Mughal architecture. A point worth mentioning here is that the mother of Jahangir, Mariam-uz-Zamani, was a Rajput princess. It is with this in mind that the Rajput king of Orchha had built the Jahangir Mahal. There is a spectacular light and sound show in the evening hours in the Jahangir Mahal. The show displays the history of the city of Orchha and the Jahangir Mahal. Chaturbhuj Temple is an old temple from the 9th century, and is noted for having one of the tallest Vimana among Hindu temples standing at 344 feet.


title: Orchha

text: The Uth Khana (Camel Shelter) where the King's camels were stationed is right next to the fort and is a must-see. Tourists can also climb on the roof of the Uth Khana and get a fantastic view of Orchha town. The ruins behind the fort complex are an even greater sight. It makes a tourist travel back in time and is an integral part of a visit to Orchha. It houses the residences of various military officers, ministers (housing, roads), gunpowder factory, etc.


title: Orchha

text: Numerous cenotaphs or chhatris dot the vicinity of the fort and the Betwa river. Elsewhere about the town there is an unusual variety of temples and tombs, including the Chaturbhuj temple, which is built on a vast platform of stone. The more unguarded and neglected of these buildings are popular hangouts for tropical bees, wasps, and other such excitable stinging creatures.


title: Orchha

text: A community radio station, Radio Bundelkhand was launched in Orchha on 23 October 2008. It is an initiative of the Development Alternatives Group. The radio station broadcasts daily programs in the Bundeli dialect and devotes significant amount of its broadcast time to local issues, culture, education and the rich tradition of Bundeli folk music. The station is available on 90.4 MHz.


title: Orchha

text: India census, Orchha had a population of 8501. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Orchha has an average literacy rate of 54%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 64%, and female literacy is 42%, 18% of the population is under 6 years of age.


title: Orchha

text: Orchha is 170 km km and 3 hours drive from Khajuraho Airport which is well connected with other metropolitan cities in India.


title: Orchha

text: Orchha Railway station is Jhansi-Manikpur section of the North Central Railways. 15 km from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Orchha also lies close to another popular tourist destination, Khajuraho.


title: Orchha

text: Tourists who wish to visit Orchha from Khajuraho can catch the morning express which leaves at around 8 or 9 AM. Alternatively, they could also avail the afternoon express which leaves at around 12 or 1 PM. The train journey from Khajuraho is 5 hours and they will ideally have to get off at Jhansi and grab an autorickshaw or Tuk Tuk for Orchha (costs INR 400). However, if the train halts at Orchha, they can also get off at the Orchha station and grab an autorickshaw to the temple complex.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror is a mystical object that is featured in the story of "Snow White", depicted as either a hand mirror or a wall-mounted mirror.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror belongs to the Evil Queen, who constantly asks it – usually in a rhyming phrase – who is the fairest in the land. When the mirror eventually identifies her young stepdaughter Snow White as the fairest, the Queen jealously tries to have her killed, first via her huntsman, then several personal attempts concluding with a poisoned apple. The mirror is key to her plots; it tells her Snow White's location, and after each attempt, she checks with the mirror and is again told that Snow White remains the fairest. At the very end, when Snow White is married, the mirror tells her that the young queen is the most beautiful. The Evil Queen is terrified but her jealousy drives her to attend the wedding, where she is caught and executed.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In other versions of the tale from around the world, a person, an animal, or the moon may play the same role as the magic mirror, informing the villain that the heroine is more beautiful. The mirror has been interpreted as the voice of Snow White's father judging between the beauty of his wife and daughter.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appeared in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" voiced by Moroni Olsen. The Magic Mirror contained an imprisoned spirit who is referred to as the "Slave in the Magic Mirror". In his first appearance in the film, the Evil Queen would consult with the Magic Mirror to ask who the fairest one of all was. The Magic Mirror always told the Evil Queen that she was the fairest one of all. When asked who the fairest of all is, the spirit replies that, while the Queen is beautiful, a fairer being exists. When the Queen angrily asks for the girl's name, the spirit describes her, making it obvious to the Queen that Snow White is the one being referred to. The Queen then orders her Huntsman to kill Snow White and bring her back her heart. When the Evil Queen asks the Magic Mirror who the fairest of them all was later that evening, the Magic Mirror told her that Snow White was still the fairest of them all. Though the Queen at first believes the spirit to be incorrect and showed it the heart in question, she is told that she holds the heart of a pig and that Snow White still lives in the Cottage of the Seven Dwarfs.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: When the attraction "Snow White's Scary Adventures" was redone in 1994, the Magic Mirror is featured and voiced by Tony Jay.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appeared in "Disney's House of Mouse", voiced again by Tony Jay. It is seen in the lobby of the club. The Magic Mirror would always answer questions given to him by the guests or give advice to the staff members. In the episode "House of Magic," Daisy accidentally makes the guests disappear causing Mickey to turn to the Magic Mirror for information on how to undo the spell. When the Magic Mirror gives a cryptic answer, Mickey asks him to repeat it again in a way he can understand it. The Magic Mirror tells him to check the prop basement for anything that can help them. As Mickey leads the staff to the basement, the Magic Mirror quotes that nobody wants to hear his cryptic answers anymore.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appears in "" voiced by Corey Burton. The Magic Mirror first appears in Terra's storyline. As per the movie, it told the Queen that Snow White was now much fairer than the vain ruler. However, it added on that her heart was a pure light than shone bright. It was then promised by the Evil Queen usage by Terra to find Master Xehanort if he brought her Snow White's heart. However, he did not do so and told the Evil Queen he never intended to. Terra then proceeds to tell her that unlike Snow White, she has much darkness in her heart. The Evil Queen, insulted and outraged, commanded the mirror to destroy Terra. The Magic Mirror refused saying it can only answer questions. The Evil Queen's increasing rage then caused the Magic Mirror to have a potion slammed on its face sucking Terra in and fighting him. However, the Spirit of the Magic Mirror is defeated and releases Terra. The Evil Queen reluctantly has the Magic Mirror tell Terra where he can find Master Xehanort. The Magic Mirror quotes "Beyond both light and dark he dwells, where war was waged upon the fells." Upon learning this information, Terra takes his leave from the Evil Queen and the Magic Mirror where the Magic Mirror's cryptic response would direct Terra to the Keyblade Graveyard. The Magic Mirror later appears in Aqua's storyline. When Aqua looks for a cure for Snow White in the castle, the still-possessed Magic Mirror drags her into the mirror for a fight, but she also manages to defeat the Spirit of the Magic Mirror and is released. The Magic Mirror states to Aqua "The Queen is gone, my service done. Adieu, oh victorious one." After that was quoted, the spirit inside disappears leaving its mirror prison to be just a normal mirror.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In the Disney Channel original movie "Descendants", the Evil Queen has retained the Mirror after her exile to the Isle of the Lost, reduced to a small hand-mirror that is passed on to her daughter Evie. Although it is still controlled by rhymes spoken by the user and doesn't have an inhabitant in it.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: A different version of the Magic Mirror appeared in "The 7D" voiced by Whoopi Goldberg. This version is a female that serves Queen Delightful of Jollyland.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In "Once Upon a Time", the Magic Mirror started out as a Genie (portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito) where he and his lamp were discovered by King Leopold. King Leopold feels no need to wish for anything and uses the first and second wishes to free the Genie from the lamp and to give the third wish to the Genie. The Genie expresses the desire to find true love, so King Leopold takes the Genie to his castle as he believes the Genie can find true love there. He falls in love with the King's wife Queen Regina and gives her a hand mirror. The King reads in the Queen's diary that she has fallen in love with the man who gave her the hand mirror and asks the Genie to locate him. The Queen is then locked in her room to prevent her from leaving the King. To free her, her father has the Genie bring her a locked box, which turns out to be filled with poisonous vipers from Agrabah so the Queen can kill herself. Instead, the Genie uses the vipers to kill King Leopold and allow the Queen to be with him. She tells him that since the vipers were from his country, the guards will find out that he was the murderer and flee. Realizing the Queen never loved him, he uses his wish to be always with her and to never leave her sight. This traps him in the hand mirror. As a spirit in the Magic Mirror, he is able to move between and see through all other mirrors in the Enchanted Forest. He is used by Regina to spy on and locate others.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In Storybrooke, he is Sidney Glass, a reporter for Storybrooke's local newspaper "The Daily Mirror". On Regina's request, he researches Emma Swan's past to help Regina expel her from Storybrooke. After Graham's death, Regina attempts to appoint him sheriff, but the wording of the town charter calls for an election. He loses the position to Emma Swan. Regina has him removed from the newspaper staff, and Sidney goes to Emma, claiming that he wants to expose Regina as the corrupt person she is. However, the exposé reveals Regina's attempts to improve the community. Despite this, Sidney tells Emma that he will help her take down Regina, but it is revealed that he is secretly in league with Regina, who is using Emma's trust in Sidney to gain leverage over Emma. Emma later learns that he planted a bug in a vase glass after it is used to tip off Regina upon discovering a key piece of evidence that would have cleared Mary Margaret Blanchard of Kathryn Nolan's murder. Emma confronts Sidney and realizes that he is in love with Regina. Still, Emma presses him to help defeat Regina. However, after Kathryn is found alive, Sidney falsely confesses to kidnapping Kathryn and framing Mary Margaret so that he could "find" Kathryn and become famous. Later, a cell labeled "S. Glass" is seen in the hospital basement's psychiatric ward. The name "S. Glass" is visible on a door in the first season finale, suggesting that Regina had locked him in the Storybrooke Hospital's psychiatric ward after he confessed to the kidnapping. In "A Tale of Two Sisters," Regina frees Sidney Glass from the psychiatric ward to be her Mirror again to enlist him into helping get rid of the people that are in the middle of her happiness. Regina temporarily places Sidney in the mirror to find the exact moment in which Maid Marian was apprehended by Regina's men. Regina later consults with Sidney on how to change fate. Regina tells Sidney that the villains in the book don't get a happy ending and wants him to find the writer of the book so that she can make some changes like allowing the villains to get their happy endings. In "Breaking Glass," Regina has Sidney Glass look for the Snow Queen's hideout to force her into thawing Maid Marian from her freezing spell. When Emma arrives to know where Sidney Glass is, Regina states that she's too busy to tell her where Sidney Glass is. Sidney later reports to Regina about where the Snow Queen is hiding out after his failed attempt to get a leverage on Regina. Using a compact to remain in contact to Sidney Glass, Regina heads in the directions of the Snow Queen's hideout. Regina later admits that Sidney was in the mirror. Upon strong winds reaching Emma and Regina, Sidney states the Snow Queen had swayed him to her side as Elsa's ice bridge breaks. After Emma and Regina defeat a large Viking made of ice, the Snow Queen takes the compact that Sidney is and retreats. At her hideout, the Snow Queen frees Sidney from the mirror as she wanted the mirror that he was trapped in to go with her mirror that she is putting together. The Snow Queen states that she wants the mirror that Sidney Glass is in since it is filled with dark magic. Before declaring Sidney free, the Snow Queen advises Sidney to get a warm coat since it is "going to get cooler around here."


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In the TV miniseries "The 10th Kingdom", a magic mirror is a key element of the plot, as protagonists Tony and Virginia Lewis travel from New York into the fairy-tale realm via a traveling mirror, which they subsequently lose and must spend the rest of the series searching for, while their enemy, the evil Queen and protégé of Snow White's deceased stepmother, spies on them with other magic mirrors. The travelling mirror that brought them to this world is destroyed in an accident, but an old mirror referred to as Gustav- which can only communicate and respond to queries made in rhyme- reveals that there were two other travelling mirrors made, with one sunk at the bottom of the ocean and the other in the possession of the Queen. With the Queen's defeat, Virginia returns to New York through the Queen's travelling mirror, although Tony decides to remain in the fairy-tale realm to enjoy his new status as a hero.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The mirror in "Faerie Tale Theatre" was portrayed by Vincent Price, whose face appeared as if mounted on the top of the mirror (in reality, Price stuck his face through a hole). This mirror, as did all of the Queen's other mirrors, turned black as she found out that Snow White was alive.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appeared in Episode 685 of "Sesame Street" with the Magic Mirror's face being the face of Jerry Nelson. In the "Sesame Street News Flash" segment, Kermit the Frog interviews the Magic Mirror on which question the evil witch will ask him and tells Kermit that it is the same question where the Snow White answer "drives her up the wall." The witch asks the Magic Mirror who is the fairest in the land, has two beautiful eyes, is green, wearing a hat, wielding a microphone, and is in the same room as the Magic Mirror. The Magic Mirror states that Kermit the Frog is the fairest. The witch then notices Kermit the Frog hiding behind the curtain and states that he is good-looking.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appears in the "Snow White" episode of "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics" voiced by Doug Lee in the English dub. It is kept in a cabinet in the Evil Queen's chambers. Like the story, the Magic Mirror told the Evil Queen that she was the fairest of them all until the day when Snow White came of age. In this version when the Magic Mirror told the Evil Queen that the Seven Dwarfs freed Snow White from the deadly laces and that she can't be killed when she is in their protection, the Evil Queen breaks the Magic Mirror vowing to prove it wrong.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appeared as the Looking Glass in "Happily Ever After" voiced by Dom DeLuise. When Lord Maliss asks him where his sister the Evil Queen is and threatens it for information, the Looking Glass tells him that she has died trying to kill Snow White. After Snow White evaded Lord Maliss' dragon form, Lord Maliss consults the Looking Glass again as the Looking Glass tells him that Snow White and the Dwarfelles are heading to Rainbow Falls. When Snow White ventures to Lord Maliss' castle, the Looking Glass tells him that it will be tough for Snow White to find his castle. When the Dwarfelles enter Lord Maliss' castle and wonder where Lord Maliss has taken Snow White, the Looking Glass states that "beneath the Queen lies a secret door." After searching the area, they find a panel to the hidden door underneath the Evil Queen's bust.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appears in the 1990 "Snow White" film voiced by Cam Clarke. He is shown as an anthropomorphic hand mirror who would often try to get the Evil Queen not to ask who is the fairest one of all. At the end of the movie following the Evil Queen's defeat, the Magic Mirror attended the wedding of Snow White and the Prince.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In "", this version has the mirror a property of Lady Claudia (portrayed by Sigourney Weaver). It is a wooden closet with a statue as the door and hands acting as locks. It is regarded as a family heritage artifact by her. Snow White's nanny tries to see what's inside while cleaning it and immediately suffers a heart attack. The mirror displays a beautiful and younger version of Claudia who advises her what to do. The mirror also contains her life force and she ages rapidly when Snow White stabs the mirror and then engulfs in flame of the burning room.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In the "" rendition of Snow White set to a Native American-theme, the Magic Mirror (voiced by Buffy Sainte-Marie) is a shiny flat rock. It told Sly Fox that it was the fairest in the land until White Snow came of age. When White Snow was discovered to be alive and the first disguise attempt to do away with White Snow failed, the Magic Mirror used its powers to enable Sly Fox to enter the spirit world so that she can change her shape. Sly Fox uses the Magic Mirror's abilities to assume the form of White Snow's nanny Sage Flower to give her a poison apple. For the latest time, the Magic Mirror informed Sly Fox that White Snow still lives and Sly Fox is still number two. When Sly Fox is later confronted the Chief Brown Bear's tribe and the Seven Mystical Little Men for her treachery, Sly Fox enters the Magic Mirror and turns into a bear only for the Seven Mystical Little Men to throw the Magic Mirror off a cliff trapping Sly Fox in the spirit world.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appears in the "Shrek" franchise voiced by Chris Miller. It is depicted as a mirror with a live spirit communicating through it, and with magical displaying abilities.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: A parody version of the Magic Mirror appears as a recurring character throughout "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" voiced by Brian Peck. It is a high tech mirror that often compliments London Tipton's attire.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: A direct representation of the Magic Mirror in "The Suite Life on Deck" episode "Once Upon A Suite Life" voiced by Michael Airington. It is seen when all the characters are dreaming of themselves in the classic fairytales such as Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Hansel and Gretel.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In the 2013 SyFy film "The Hunters", it is revealed that the Magic Mirror was inspired by a fabled mirror that is said to grant the wish of whoever looks into it; supposedly, the mirror triggered the Dark Ages. The mirror was sought by an ancient army known as the Krugen before the hunters – a group of scientist knights dedicated to protecting fairy-tale artefacts – acquired the mirror, breaking off four shards from the mirror and hiding them and the mirror away when destroying it completely proved impossible. The film focuses on a family of hunters, the Flynns, with the parents being experienced hunters seeking the shards to keep them away from the Krugen and their sons being forced to take up the hunt when their parents go missing. The mirror is eventually reassembled by the film's antagonist, but he is tricked into making a wish that caused the mirror to destroy him, with the protagonists subsequently wishing for the mirror to destroy itself.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In "Snow White and the Huntsman", the Magic Mirror appears as a golden gong-like mirror that oozes out a hooded robed being (voiced by Christopher Obi) whenever Queen Ravenna called upon it for information, although apparently, the being is only visible to Ravenna, as her henchmen observe her talking to thin air. The Magic Mirror first appeared where he told Queen Ravenna that Snow White was coming to the age where she will be more fair than Queen Ravenna. The Mirror is last seen when Snow White defeats Ravenna, ending the Evil Queen's rule.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In prequel/sequel, "", the Magic Mirror (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) is revealed to hold darker forms of magic. He is seen in flashbacks of Queen Ravenna's tyrannical reign, where it tells Ravenna that her sister Freya will give birth to a child who will exceed Ravenna's beauty as the fairest of them all. The Mirror also predicts that if the child was to be harmed, Freya will unleash powers, prompting Ravenna to orchestrate the murder of her own niece, both to preserve her own beauty and, in her own twisted way, help her sister. Freya, in horror at her discovery, releases icy powers that kill her lover and turns her hair white. Years later, after Ravenna's death, the Magic Mirror has gone missing while travelling to a Sanctuary where Snow White believes its evil can be contained. It is revealed to be in the hands of a troll in a forest, but Freya, seeking the mirror for herself, orders Sara- the Huntsman's presumed-dead wife- to retrieve it. Although Sara obeys this order, she tricks Freya by sparing Eric's life. Freya's subsequent attempt to use the Mirror herself reveals that Ravenna had hidden a part of herself in the mirror, restoring her to a form of life apparently formed of the Mirror's gold while still appearing human. In the final confrontation, Freya learns the truth about her sister's role in the death of her daughter (Ravenna was now the mirror spirit and was thus bound to answer Freya's questions truthfully), prompting her to aid Eric in destroying the Mirror at the cost of her own life. However, the final scene shows a golden raven flying away, suggesting that a part of the mirror – and thus Ravenna – may have survived.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In the film "Mirror Mirror", elements of the Magic Mirror are featured as a large mirror that serves as a portal to the Mirror House where Queen Clementianna consults with the Mirror Queen (portrayed by Lisa Roberts Gillian and voiced by Julia Roberts whose image was used for the character). To access the portal to the Mirror House, Queen Clementianna quotes "Mirror Mirror on the Wall." The Mirror Queen always advises Queen Clementianna not to use dark magic for her own gain. Queen Clementianna keeps asking her what is this price that she is talking about. The Mirror Queen once provided a love potion to Queen Clementianna to make the King fall in love with her and then briefly turned Brighton into a cockroach. When Snow White destroys the necklace around the Beast which turns it back into the King, Queen Clementianna starts to age as the Mirror Queen asks if she is ready to learn the price of magic. After the aged Queen Clementianna takes the slice of an apple she was to give to Snow White from her, the Mirror Queen declares that it was Snow White's story all along as the Mirror House shatters alongside the large mirror leading to it.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In Jim C. Hines' "Princesses" series – chronicling the adventures of Snow White with Princess Danielle Whiteshore (Cinderella) and former Princess Talia Malak-el-Dahshat (Sleeping Beauty) after their tales concluded with Snow and Talia being banished from their kingdoms and taken in by Danielle's mother-in-law – Snow White is a sorceress who uses her mother's mirror as a key focus of her spells, relying on various smaller mirrors to maintain a link to it when away from the palace; her power is commonly focused by using various rhymes as spells, although she can create other spells without speaking. The fourth novel, "The Snow Queen's Revenge", reveals that the magic mirror was created by Snow White's mother imprisoning a demon and binding it to her service. The plot suggests that the mirror's role in the original story was motivated by the demon attempting to create a set of circumstances that would allow it to escape, inspiring Snow's mother to attack her daughter so that Snow would inherit the mirror and some day make a mistake that would let the demon out. In the novel "The Snow Queen's Revenge", the mirror shatters after Snow tries to perform a particularly complex spell, allowing the demon within it to possess Snow while shards of the mirror corrupt others, forcing Danielle and Talia to return to Snow's kingdom in the hopes of rediscovering the secrets used by Snow White's mother to bind the demon in the first place so that they can try and exorcise it from Snow. After this plan proves impossible due to the demon's interference, the demon attempts to recreate a larger ice-mirror to summon further demons into this world, using the part-fairy blood of Danielle's son Jakub – Danielle having some fairy blood in her from her mother's side of the family – but a reflection of Snow's untainted self helps protect her friends long enough for them to destroy the demon, at the cost of Snow's life.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: Near the end of the video game "Simon the Sorcerer", the player can use the Magic Mirror in Sordid's tower as a surveillance monitor, using any reflecting surface like a camera.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: Although the magic mirror does not appear directly in the Asylum film "Sinister Squad", it is referenced as a key part of the film's backstory; when Rumpelstiltskin destroyed the mirror to prevent the forces of Death claiming it, it transferred several fairy-tale characters into our world, with Rumpelstiltskin relying on fragments of the mirror to sustain his own magical manipulation abilities until the final confrontation with Death.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In the "Sisters Grimm" series by Michael Buckley, the Magic Mirror appears as a minor protagonist in the first six books, but is revealed to be the main antagonist in book seven and remains evil until near the end of book nine.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: Here, the wicked queen Elspeth possesses a hall of magic mirrors, and a hand mirror that displays several attributes not seen before. The Queen may command the hand mirror to terminate enemies (as she did to the Huntsman), use it as a means of transport or step through it to change appearances, even turning others into animals.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: Appearing as a magical object in the Business Office, the Magic Mirror is a minor protagonist in "The Wolf Among Us" voiced by Gavin Hammon. Usually demanding its request be given to it in rhyme form, the Magic Mirror is capable of showing a brief vision of its requested subject. The Magic Mirror's shattering and the search for its missing shard play key aspects following the end of the second episode.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In the "Ever After High" series of books, webisodes, and made-for-TV movies the magic mirror is a very important part of the series' story. In the series, the Evil Queen is banished to live from within the mirror as punishment for her Curses against the lands of Ever After and Wonderland.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: The Magic Mirror appears in the Snow White parody "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs" voiced by Patrick Warburton.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: German pharmacist and fairy-tale parodist Karlheinz Bartels suggests, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, that the German folk tale "Snow White" is influenced by Maria Sophia Margaretha Catherina von und zu Erthal, who was born in Lohr am Main in 1725. After the death of Maria Sophia's birth mother in 1738, her father Philipp Christoph von und zu Erthal took a second wife.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: Lohr Castle, which was once owned by Philipp Christoph, featured a large mirror which has been connected to the Evil Queen's iconic mirror and which can still be viewed there today. It was a product of the Lohr Mirror Manufacture ("Kurmainzische Spiegelmanufaktur") and may have been in the castle as early as 1719, when Philipp Christoph took office. The mirror "talked" via inscribed aphorisms. The upper right corner is labeled ""Amour Propre"" or "self-love," and the left corner reads ""Pour la recompense et pour la peine"" ("for reward and for punishment"). Mirrors from Lohr were so elaborately worked that they were accorded the reputation of "always speaking the truth". They became a favorite gift at European crown and aristocratic courts.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: Bartels's theory, which is "admittedly a joke of its inventor," is not taken seriously by scholarly experts.


title: Magic Mirror (Snow White)

text: In 2017, Amazon announced Echo Look, a "style assistant" camera that helps catalog your outfits and rates your look based on "machine learning algorithms with advice from fashion specialists".


title: Me Time (film)

text: Me Time is a 2022 American buddy comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg. The film stars Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, Regina Hall, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Jimmy O. Yang.


title: Me Time (film)

text: Sonny, a stay-at-home dad, finds himself with some "me time" for the first time in years while his wife and kids are away. He reconnects with his former best friend Huck for a wild weekend that nearly upends his life.


title: Me Time (film)

text: Best friends since high school, Sonny and Huck stopped meeting up every year on Huck's birthday 15 years ago when Sonny had a near death experience.


title: Me Time (film)

text: Now Sonny is a stay-at-home dad, putting all of his focus on his family. Huck contacts him, as he does every year, for the annual celebration. Not wanting to attend, Sonny finds himself with some "me time" for the first time in years while his wife and kids are away.


title: Me Time (film)

text: After only a few days, Sonny is bored. He plays golf every day but is terrible, partakes of massive amounts of food at a big barbecue a few days in a row but projectile vomits, none of his friends can participate with him so he's lonely and bored and his kids don't seem to miss him.


title: Me Time (film)

text: So Sonny ends up going to Huck's wild weekend birthday bash. Arriving at the meeting point, everyone is skinny dipping. Afterwards they load onto Huck's chartered bus and put on matching track suits.


title: Me Time (film)

text: Meanwhile, Sonny's wife Maya and kids get a visit at the place her parents have taken them to from her wealthy client Armando, who Sonny fears is interested in her.


title: Me Time (film)

text: The bus dumps the party group in the desert, where there are communal yurts set up, and the plan is to forage for their food. They are given hardware to do it, so Sonny heads off to do number two. A mountain lion chases him, but he wards it off by stabbing it with an EpiPen, and is nicknamed Big Dog.


title: Me Time (film)

text: That evening, when Sonny calls his family, he finds out Armando visited them by seaplane. Maya is offered a big project. Jealous, when he yells they hang up on him.


title: Me Time (film)

text: Stan, Huck's loan shark arrives, seeking the $47,000 owed him. His muscle Dorit breaks Sonny's finger, then burns down the site. Once everyone goes, Sonny stays behind to help Huck salvage what they can. Huck confesses he's fallen on hard times and is lonely.


title: Me Time (film)

text: On their way back to LA in an Uber, Sonny spots Armando's. The three break in and pull off some gross pranks, but inadvertantly hit one of his tortoises. All is caught on camera.


title: Me Time (film)

text: Sonny offers his house for Huck to continue his birthday celebration, as his family is still away. Someone shares a party notification via social media, and it becomes a rager. Seal comes, and Sonny jams with him. Just as the party is at the most out of control the family shows up, and Maya leaves with the kids. She asks him to clear out and stay away for a bit.


title: Me Time (film)

text: While they are separated, Sonny tries to make amends, apologizing to Armando and working hard on the talent show. As the closing act Dash, Sonny's son, has a meltdown declaring he hates the keyboard. Realising he's been selfish and overcontrolling, he apologizes to everyone, encouraging all who want to perform.


title: Me Time (film)

text: In February 2021, Kevin Hart joined the cast. In August, Mark Wahlberg and Regina Hall were added to the cast. In September 2021, Jimmy O. Yang and Luis Gerardo Méndez joined the cast. Filming took place at Sunset Gower Studios. On September 14, a stage technician was taken to a local regional trauma center after suffering a 30-foot fall on set.


title: Me Time (film)

text: It is the lowest-rated film on the site to feature Mark Wahlberg, and the second-lowest to feature Kevin Hart.


title: Me Time (film)

text: Tomris Laffly of RogerEbert.com gave "Me Time" a moderately favorable review, praising the characters but criticizing the screenplay and special effects. Peter Travers of ABC News was more critical of the film, calling it "dim-witted and disposable".


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: The United States anti-abortion movement (also called the pro-life movement or right-to-life movement) contains elements opposing induced abortion on both moral and religious grounds and supports its legal prohibition or restriction. Advocates generally argue that human life begins at conception and that the human zygote, embryo or fetus is a person and therefore has a right to life. The anti-abortion movement includes a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body. There are diverse arguments and rationales for the anti-abortion stance. Some anti-abortion activists allow for some permissible abortions, including therapeutic abortions, in exceptional circumstances such as incest, rape, severe fetal defects, or when the woman's health is at risk.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Before the Supreme Court 1973 decisions in "Roe v. Wade" and "Doe v. Bolton", anti-abortion views predominated and found expression in state laws which prohibited or restricted abortions in a variety of ways. (See Abortion in the United States.) The anti-abortion movement became politically active and dedicated to the reversal of the "Roe v. Wade" decision, which struck down most state laws restricting abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: In the United States, the movement is associated with several Christian religious groups, especially the Catholic Church and Evangelical churches, and is frequently, but not exclusively, allied with the Republican Party. The movement is also supported by secular organizations (such as Secular Pro-Life) and non-mainstream anti-abortion feminists. The movement has campaigned to reverse "Roe v. Wade" and to promote legislative changes or constitutional amendments, such as the Human Life Amendment, that prohibit or at least broadly restrict abortion.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: On the other side of the abortion debate in the United States is the abortion-rights movement (also called the pro-choice movement), which argues that pregnant women should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned "Roe v. Wade" in "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization", ending federal abortion rights and allowing individual states to regulate their own abortion laws.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a movement to liberalize abortion laws gained momentum due in part to the second-wave feminist movement and to a number of high-profile therapeutic abortion cases, such as that of Sherri Finkbine. In 1965, a Supreme Court decision in "Griswold v. Connecticut" set a precedent for an expansive right to privacy in the area of reproductive healthcare. In the late 1960s, in response to nationwide abortion-rights efforts, a number of organizations were formed to mobilize opinion against the legalization of abortion. Most of these were led by Catholic institutions and communities; most evangelical Christian groups did not see abortion as a clear-cut or priority issue at the time. The first major U.S. organization in the modern anti-abortion movement, the National Right to Life Committee, was formed out of the United States Catholic Conference in 1967.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: The description "pro-life" was adopted by the right-to-life (anti-abortion) movement in the United States following the Supreme Court 1973 decision "Roe v. Wade", which held that a woman may terminate her pregnancy prior to the viability of the fetus outside of the womb and may also terminate her pregnancy "subsequent to viability ... for the preservation of the life or health of the mother." The term "pro-life" was adopted instead of "anti-abortion" to highlight their proponents' belief that abortion is the taking of a human life, rather than an issue concerning the restriction of women's reproductive rights, as the pro-choice movement would say. The first organized action was initiated by U.S. Catholic bishops who recommended in 1973 that the U.S. Constitution should be amended to ban abortion.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: "Roe v. Wade" was considered a major setback by anti-abortion campaigners. The case and the overturning of most anti-abortion laws spurred the growth of a largely religious-based anti-abortion political and social movement, even as Americans were becoming, in the 1970s and 1980s, increasingly pro-choice. The first major anti-abortion success since "Roe's case" came in 1976 with the passing of the Hyde Amendment prohibiting the use of certain federal funds for abortions. In "Harris v. McRae", anti-abortion advocates won a 1980 challenge to the Hyde Amendment. That same year, anti-abortion politicians gained control of the Republican Party's platform committee, adding anti-abortion planks to the Republican position, and calling for a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, banning abortion. Four anti-abortion U.S. Presidents – Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump – were elected.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Lisa Miller of "The Washington Post" wrote about the younger, more feminine face of the anti-abortion movement with the rise of leaders such as Lila Rose of Live Action, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, and Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life, all "youngish Christian working mothers with children at home" who seek to combat the image of the anti-abortion movement as made up of "old white men" who cannot relate to the experience of pregnant women.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: The anti-abortion movement has been successful in recent years in promoting new laws against abortion within the states. The Guttmacher Institute said eighty laws restricting abortion were passed in the first six months of 2011, "more than double the previous record of 34 abortion restrictions enacted in 2005—and more than triple the 23 enacted in 2010".


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: In 2019, six U.S. states (Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio) enacted fetal heartbeat abortion bills. These heartbeat bills generally restrict abortion to the time period in pregnancy before a fetal heartbeat can be detected (which can be as early as six weeks of gestation or as late as twelve weeks). The bills face legal challenges, with their supporters stating they hope the legislation will allow the United States Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v Wade. Other abortion-related laws passed in several US states during this time period, which were upheld by the judicial system, include laws requiring an ultrasound before an abortion and laws that mandate fetal burial or cremation after an abortion.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: In June 2022, the Supreme Court voted to overturn "Roe v. Wade," allowing states to regulate their own separate abortion laws and effectively ending the nationwide right to abortion.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: The anti-abortion movement includes a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body. There are diverse arguments and rationales for the anti-abortion stance.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Many socially conservative organizations are involved in the anti-abortion movement. Some groups focus solely on promoting the anti-abortion cause, such as American Life League, the Susan B. Anthony List, National Right to Life Committee, Americans United for Life, and Live Action, among many others. Other groups support not only the anti-abortion cause but the broader family values cause, such as Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, American Family Association, and Concerned Women for America, among many others.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Abortion opponents generally believe that human life should be valued either from fertilization or implantation until natural death. The contemporary anti-abortion movement is typically, but not exclusively, influenced by conservative Christian beliefs and has influenced certain strains of bioethical utilitarianism. From that viewpoint, any action which destroys an embryo or fetus kills a person. Any deliberate destruction of human life is considered ethically or morally wrong and is not considered to be mitigated by any benefits to others, as such benefits are coming at the expense of the life of what they believe to be a person. In some cases, this belief extends to opposing abortion of fetuses that would almost certainly expire within a short time after birth, such as anencephalic fetuses.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Some abortion opponents also oppose certain forms of birth control, particularly hormonal contraception such as emergency contraception (ECPs), and copper IUDs which may prevent the implantation of a zygote. Because they believe that the term "pregnancy" should be defined so as to begin at fertilization, they refer to these contraceptives as abortifacients because they cause the fertilized egg to be flushed out during menses. The Catholic Church endorses this view. There are, however, anti-abortion physicians who concur with the view that hormonal contraception does not block implantation.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Attachment to an anti-abortion position is often but not exclusively connected to religious beliefs about the sanctity of life (see also culture of life). Exclusively secular-humanist positions against abortion tend to be a minority viewpoint among anti-abortion advocates; these groups say that their position is based on human rights and biology, rather than religion. Some holding the anti-abortion position also hold a complementarian view of gender roles, though there is also a self-described feminist element inside the movement.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: The variety in opinion on the issue of abortion is reflected in the diverse views of religious groups. For example, the Catholic Church considers all procured abortions morally evil, while traditional Jewish teaching sanctions abortion if necessary to safeguard the life and well-being of the pregnant woman.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: The only coordinated opposition to abortion in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s before the "Roe v. Wade" decision was from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and its Family Life Bureau. Mobilization of a wide-scale anti-abortion movement began immediately after 1973 with the creation of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Before 1980, the Southern Baptist Convention officially advocated for loosening of abortion restrictions. During the 1971 and 1974 Southern Baptist Conventions, Southern Baptists were called upon "to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother." W. Barry Garrett wrote in the "Baptist Press", "Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the <nowiki>[Roe v. Wade]</nowiki> Supreme Court abortion decision." By 1980, conservative Protestant leaders became vocal in their opposition to legalized abortion, and by the early 1990s Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition of America became a significant anti-abortion organization. In 2005, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said that making abortion illegal is more important than any other issue.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Much of the anti-abortion movement in the United States and around the world finds support in the Roman Catholic Church, the Christian right, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Church of England, the Anglican Church in North America, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). However, the anti-abortion teachings of these denominations vary considerably. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church consider abortion to be immoral in all cases, but may in some cases permit an act which indirectly and without intent results in the death of the fetus in a case where the mother's life is threatened. In Pope John Paul II's Letter to Families, he simply stated the Roman Catholic Church's view on abortion and euthanasia: "Laws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion or euthanasia are in complete opposition to the inviolable right to life proper to every individual; they thus deny the equality of everyone before the law."


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: The National Association of Evangelicals has adopted a number of resolutions stating its opposition to abortion, but "recognizes that there might be situations in which terminating a pregnancy is warranted – such as protecting the life of a mother or in cases of rape or incest." The position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is that "elective abortion for personal or social convenience is contrary to the will and the commandments of God" but that abortion may be justified where the pregnancy endangers life of the mother, or where the pregnancy is the outcome of rape or incest. The Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality (TUMAS) was formed in 1987 to further the anti-abortion ministry in The United Methodist Church. The Southern Baptist Convention believes that abortion is allowable only in cases where there is a direct threat to the life of the woman.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Among Mainline Protestant denominations, the Episcopal Church recognizes a right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy, but opposes "abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection or any reason of mere convenience." The United Church of Christ supports abortion rights, viewing it as a matter of reproductive health and justice. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopts the view that abortion is a personal choice, but acknowledges "diverse conclusions and actions" within the church on the issue. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's position is that abortion prior to the point of viability "should not be prohibited by law or by lack of public funding" but that "abortion after the point of fetal viability should be prohibited except when the life of a mother is threatened or when fetal abnormalities pose a fatal threat to a newborn."


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Supporters of the consistent life ethic also oppose abortions as one of the acts that end human life. In 1979, Juli Loesch linked anti-abortion and anti-nuclear weapons arguments to form the group Pro Lifers for Survival. In 1987 this group defined an ethic of the sanctity of all life, and formed the group Seamless Garment Network. This group was against abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, militarism, poverty and racism. Beginning in 1983, American Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin argued that abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and unjust war are all related, and all wrong. He said that "to be truly 'pro-life,' you have to take all of those issues into account." Paul M. Perl studied 1996 voter statistics and found that the consistent life ethic is difficult for religious leaders to promote because it combines the generally conservative anti-abortion stance with a liberal social attitude.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: The Republican Party platform officially advocates an anti-abortion position, which developed alongside the modern pro-life movement. Before "Roe v. Wade", the majority of Republicans were not anti-abortion, including most of the party's leadership, which typically cited abortion rights as included within an ideology of limited government and personal freedom. At the 1976 Republican National Convention, the party adopted an anti-abortion amendment as part of their platform, for strategic reasons. The party's leadership hoped to appeal to Catholics, a demographic which had traditionally voted Democratic, a party at the time containing fairly liberal economic views with mixed opinions on social ones, but who might be put off by growing cultural liberalism and who made up the core of the anti-abortion movement. Over time, the anti-abortion plank of the Republican platform became one rallying point for a growing conservative religious coalition in the party, which drove out many pro-choice Republicans and led to a long-term shift in the party's public image and identity.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: However, there are some pro-choice Republicans. The Republican group The Wish List supports pro-choice Republican women just as EMILY's List supports pro-choice Democratic women. The Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) is dedicated to "increasing the percentage of anti-abortion women in Congress and high public office," and seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S. The Democrats for Life of America are a group of anti-abortion Democrats on the political left who advocate for an anti-abortion plank in the Democratic Party's platform and for anti-abortion Democratic candidates. Former vice-presidential candidate Sargent Shriver, the late Robert Casey, a former two-term governor of Pennsylvania, and former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich), a former leader of the bipartisan anti-abortion caucus in the United States House of Representatives, have been among the most well-known anti-abortion Democrats. However, following his vote in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the SBA List reported that her organization was revoking an anti-abortion award it had been planning to give to Stupak, and anti-abortion organizations accused Stupak of having betrayed the anti-abortion movement.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: "The New York Times" reported in 2011 that the anti-abortion movement in the United States had been undergoing a disagreement over tactics. Since "Roe v. Wade" was decided in 1973, the movement had usually focused on chipping away at "Roe" through incremental restrictions such as laws requiring parental consent or women to see sonograms, restricting late-term abortions, etc., with the goal of limiting abortions and changing "hearts and minds" until there is a majority on the Supreme Court to overturn "Roe". However, some activists were calling for "an all-out legal assault on "Roe. v. Wade"", seeking the enactment of laws defining legal personhood as beginning at fertilization or prohibiting abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable at six to eight weeks in the hope that court challenges to such laws would lead the Supreme Court to overturn "Roe v. Wade". Such activists believed that then-Justice Anthony Kennedy, who nearly decided to overturn "Roe" in "Planned Parenthood v. Casey", was open to rethinking "Roe". Others feared that such a legal challenge would result in the solidification of the 1973 decision in "Roe". Evangelical Christian groups tended to be in the former camp and Catholic groups in the latter.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Among those who believe that abortion is murder, some believe it may be appropriate to punish it with death. While attempts to criminalize abortion generally focus on the doctor, Texas state Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R) introduced a bill in 2017 and 2019 that may enable the death penalty in Texas for women who have abortions, and the Ohio legislature considered a similar bill in 2018.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Studies indicate that activists within the American anti-abortion movement are predominantly white and religious. Scholars continue to dispute the primary factors that cause individuals to become anti-abortion activists. While some have suggested that a particular moral stance or worldview leads to activism, others have suggested that activism leads individuals to develop particular moral positions and worldviews.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: A 1981 survey of dues paying members of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) by sociologist Donald O. Granberg found that survey respondents held conservative views on sex, sex education, and contraception. Additionally, Granberg's survey provided basic demographic characteristics of his sample: 98% of survey respondents were white, 63% were female, 58% had a college degree, and 70% were Catholic. Granberg concluded that conservative personal morality was the primary mechanism for explaining an individual's involvement in the anti-abortion movement.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: A 2002 study by Carol J.C. Maxwell drawing on decades of survey and interview data of direct-action activists within the anti-abortion movement found that 99% of the sample was white, 60% was female, 51% had a college degree, and 29% were Catholic. Like Granberg's 1981 study, Maxwell concluded that anti-abortion and abortion-rights activists held two different worldviews which in turn are formed by two different moral centers.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: In 2008, sociologist Ziad Munson studied the characteristics of both activists and non-activists who considered themselves anti-abortion. The anti-abortion activists of Munson's sample were 93% white, 57% female, 66% Catholic, and 71% had a college degree. Of non-activists who considered themselves anti-abortion, Munson found that 83% were white, 52% were female, 45% were Catholic, and 76% had a college degree. In Munson's analysis personal moralities and worldviews are formed as a consequence of participation in anti-abortion activism. Munson's analysis differs from previous scholarly work in its assertion that beliefs result from activism rather than causing activism. For Munson, life course factors make an individual more or less likely to become an activist.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: A 2019 Gallup poll found that men and women in the United States generally hold similar abortion views: "19% of both men and women say abortion should be totally illegal; 31% of women and 26% of men want abortion to be totally legal." In addition, 53% of men and 48% of women favored abortion being legal, but only under certain circumstances.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Gallup polling in 2019 found that 25% of Americans believe abortion should be legal under any circumstances; 13%, under most circumstances; 39%, under only a few circumstances; and 21%, under no circumstances. A 2020 poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research similarly found that 37% of Americans believed abortion should be legal under only a few circumstances. This answer was provided by 45% of Catholics and 67% of white evangelical Protestants.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: In the Gallup poll, when respondents were first asked about the legality of abortion, 49% described themselves as "pro-life" and 46% as "pro-choice." However, among people who were not asked about legality first, 43% described themselves as "pro-life" and 52% as "pro-choice." Gallup's 2019 polling also found that 50% of Americans believe abortion to be morally wrong, while 42% believe it to be morally acceptable, and 6% believe that it depends on the situation. When asked whether the Supreme Court should reverse their 1973 decision of "Roe v. Wade", 60% opined that the Court should not, while only 33% said that it should. Polling in 2020 revealed that 32% of Americans are either very or somewhat satisfied about abortion policies as they currently stand, while 24% report being dissatisfied and desire stricter policies and another 22% also express dissatisfaction but desire less strict policies.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: According to a 2013 Gallup poll, 15% of Americans with no religious identity are anti-abortion and slight majorities of Catholics, Protestants, Southerners, seniors and nonwhites reported as anti-abortion. A 2019 Gallup poll found that Mormons, the Southern Baptist Convention, and Jehovah's Witnesses have the highest majorities who believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, while atheists, agnostics, and Jews have the highest majorities who think the reverse.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Anti-abortion advocates tend to use terms such as "unborn baby", "unborn child", or "pre-born child", and see the medical terms "embryo", "zygote", and "fetus" as dehumanizing.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of terms labeled as political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light. "Pro-choice" implies that the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life". In part due to this viewpoint, the Associated Press encourages journalists to use the terms "abortion rights" and "anti-abortion".


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: In a 2009 Gallup Poll, a majority of U.S. adults (51%) called themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion—for the first time since Gallup began asking the question in 1995—while 42% identified themselves as "pro-choice", although pro-choice groups noted that acceptance of the "pro-life" label did not in all cases indicate opposition to legalized abortion, and that another recent poll had indicated that an equal number were pro-choice.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: A March 2011 Rasmussen Reports poll concluded that Americans are "closely divided between those who call themselves pro-life" and those who consider themselves as "pro-choice". In a February 2011 Rasmussen Reports poll of "Likely U.S. Voters", fifty percent view themselves as


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: "pro-choice" and forty percent "say they are pro-life". In a July 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll of "Likely U.S. Voters", 46 percent view themselves as "pro-choice" and 43 percent "say they are pro-life".


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: In the United States, some states issue specialty license plates that have an anti-abortion theme. Choose Life, an advocacy group founded in 1997, was successful in securing an anti-abortion automobile tag in Florida. Subsequently, the organization has been actively helping groups in other states pursue "Choose Life" license plates.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Some anti-abortion organizations and individuals disseminate false medical information and unsupported pseudoscientific claims about alleged physical and mental health risks of abortion. Many right-to-life organizations claim that abortion damages future fertility, or causes breast cancer, which is contradicted by the medical professional organizations. Some states, such as Alaska, Mississippi, West Virginia, Texas, and Kansas, have passed laws requiring abortion providers to warn patients of a link between abortion and breast cancer, and to issue other scientifically unsupported warnings.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Some right-to-life advocacy groups allege a link between abortion and subsequent mental-health problems. Some U.S. state legislatures have mandated that patients be told that abortion increases their risk of depression and suicide, despite the fact that such risks are not supported by the bulk of the scientific literature, and are contradicted by mainstream organizations of mental-health professionals such as the American Psychological Association.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: Violent incidents directed against abortion providers have included arson and bombings of abortion clinics, and murders or attempted murders of physicians and clinic staff, especially the doctors that provide abortions. Acts of violence against abortion providers and facilities in North America have largely subsided following a peak in the mid-1990s which included the murders of Drs. David Gunn, John Britton, and Barnett Slepian and the attempted murder of Dr. George Tiller. Tiller was later murdered in his church in 2009.


title: United States anti-abortion movement

text: As of 1995, nearly all anti-abortion leaders said that they condemned the use of violence in the movement, describing it as an aberration and saying that no one in their organizations was associated with acts of violence. A small extremist element of the movement in the USA supports, raises money for, and attempts to justify anti-abortion violence, including murders of abortion workers, which this fringe element calls "justifiable homicides". An example of such an organization is the Army of God.


title: James McMurtry

text: James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American rock and folk rock/americana singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and occasional actor ("Daisy Miller", "Lonesome Dove", and narrator of "Ghost Town: 24 Hours in Terlingua"). He performs with veteran bandmates Daren Hess, Cornbread and Tim Holt.


title: James McMurtry

text: His father, novelist Larry McMurtry, gave him his first guitar at age seven. His mother, an English professor, taught him how to play it: "My mother taught me three chords and the rest I just stole as I went along. I learned everything by ear or by watching people."


title: James McMurtry

text: McMurtry spent his first seven years in Ft. Worth but was raised mostly in Leesburg, Virginia. He attended the Woodberry Forest School, Orange, Virginia. He began performing in his teens, writing bits and pieces. He started performing his own songs at a downtown beer garden while studying English and Spanish at the University of Arizona in Tucson. After traveling to Alaska and playing a few gigs, he returned to Texas and his father's "little bitty ranch house crammed with 10,000 books". After a time, he left for San Antonio, where he worked as a house painter, actor, bartender, and sometimes singer, performing at writers' nights and open-mic events.


title: James McMurtry

text: In 1987, a friend in San Antonio suggested McMurtry enter the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk songwriter contest; he became one of six winners that year. Also around this time John Mellencamp was starring in a film based on a script by McMurtry's father, which gave McMurtry the opportunity to send a demo tape to Mellencamp. Mellencamp subsequently served as co-producer on McMurtry's debut album, "Too Long in the Wasteland" (1989). McMurtry also appeared on the soundtrack of the film "Falling from Grace", working with Mellencamp, John Prine, Joe Ely and Dwight Yoakam in a "supergroup" called Buzzin' Cousins.


title: James McMurtry

text: McMurtry released follow-up albums "Candyland" (1992) and "Where'd You Hide the Body" (1995). "Walk Between the Raindrops" followed in 1998 and 2002 brought "St. Mary of the Woods". In April 2004, McMurtry released a tour album called "Live in Aught-Three". "Choctaw Bingo", one of McMurtry's most popular songs, is featured on both "St. Mary of the Woods" and "Live in Aught-Three".


title: James McMurtry

text: In 2005, McMurtry released his first studio album in three years. "Childish Things" again received high critical praise, winning the song and album of the year at the 5th Annual Americana Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee. The album was perhaps McMurtry at his most political, as his working-class anthem "We Can't Make It Here" included direct criticism of George W. Bush, the Iraq War, and Wal-Mart. The music critic Robert Christgau ranked "We Can't Make It Here" as the best song of the 2000s.


title: James McMurtry

text: McMurtry released his follow-up album to "Childish Things" in April 2008. "Just Us Kids" continued with the previous album's political themes and included the song "Cheney's Toy," McMurtry's most direct criticism of George W. Bush so far. Like "We Can't Make It Here" from the previous album, "Cheney's Toy" was made available as a free Internet download.


title: James McMurtry

text: McMurtry's ninth album, "Complicated Game" was released on February 24, 2015 on an L.A. record label also named Complicated Game. The album achieved critical acclaim, scoring 87 on Metacritic. Lead single "How’m I Gonna Find You Now" and other tracks such as album opener "Copper Canteen" have become staples in the McMurtry canon.


title: James McMurtry

text: "Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins", released in late 2015 on Austin-based Eight 30 Records, includes McMurtry's take on the late busker's song "Big Things". Additionally, "Dreamer: A Tribute to Kent Finlay", released in early 2016 (also on Eight 30 Records), features McMurtry's version of Finlay's "Comfort's Just a Rifle Shot Away."


title: James McMurtry

text: McMurtry contributed his rendition of Adam Carroll's "Screen Door" to "Highway Prayer: A Tribute to Adam Carroll" (Eight 30 Records, 2016) as well as "Grandpa's Promise" to the satirical album "Floater: A Tribute to the Tributes to Gary Floater" (Eight 30 Records, 2018). Also in 2018 McMurtry performed at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.


title: James McMurtry

text: During restrictions on touring and live music imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, McMurtry started streaming several live acoustic performances a week on Facebook and YouTube. After using this platform to premiere new songs including "If It Don't Bleed", a new album, "The Horses and the Hounds", was announced on June 9, 2021 and released on August 20. Lead track "Canola Fields" was released to streaming services at the time of the announcement. The album, produced by longtime collaborator Russ Hogarth and recorded at Jackson Browne's Santa Monica Groove Masters studio, was reviewed positively, scoring an 81 on Metacritic. Pitchfork reviewer Stephen Deusner said of the record: "McMurtry sounds more engaged here, more focused, and more generous to his hard-luck characters."


title: James McMurtry

text: McMurtry lives in Lockhart, Texas, 30 miles south of Austin, Texas, where he and The Heartless Bastards regularly play a midnight set at The Continental Club on Wednesday nights after Jon Dee Graham, another Austin roots rock musician.


title: Miniature horse

text: A miniature horse is a breed or type of horse characterised by its small size. Usually it has been bred to display in miniature the physical characteristics of a full-sized horse, but to be little over in height, or even less. Although such horses have the appearance of small horses, they are genetically much more similar to pony breeds such as the Shetland. They have various colors and coat patterns.


title: Miniature horse

text: Miniature horses are present in several countries, including Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Namibia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States. In some countries they have the status of a breed; these include the Falabella of Argentina, the Dutch Miniature or , the South African Miniature Horse and the American Miniature Horse.


title: Miniature horse

text: They are commonly kept as companion animals. Some are trained as service animals, and others for sporting activities such as driving and other competitive horse show events.


title: Miniature horse

text: Miniature horses originated in Europe, where there is written and iconographic documentation of them from the late eighteenth century. In the first half of the twentieth century small horses were bred in England by Lady Estella Mary Hope and her sister Lady Dorothea.


title: Miniature horse

text: The Falabella was developed in Argentina in the 1868 by Patrick Newtall. When Newtall died, the herd and breeding methods were passed to Newtall's son-in-law, Juan Falabella. Juan added additional bloodlines including the Welsh Pony, Shetland pony, and small Thoroughbreds. With considerable inbreeding he was able to gain consistently small size within the herd.


title: Miniature horse

text: The South African Miniature Horse was developed in South Africa and has a wide range of conformations represented in its population. Some resemble miniature Arabians, while others appear to be scaled-down versions of draft horses. Wynand de Wet was the first breeder of miniature horses in South Africa, beginning his program in 1945 in Lindley, South Africa. Other breeders soon followed, with many using Arabian horses in their breeding programs. In 1984, a breed registry was begun, and the national livestock association recognized the South African Miniature Horse as an independent breed in 1989. There are approximately 700 miniature horses registered in South Africa.


title: Miniature horse

text: Miniature horses are generally quite hardy, often living longer on average than some full-sized horse breeds; the usual life span is from 40 to 45 years.


title: Miniature horse

text: Their pre-disposition to disease is markedly different from that of full-sized horses. They are only rarely affected by ailments such as laryngeal hemiplegia, osteochondrosis or navicular disease, all of which are common in larger horses, but are much more likely to develop other illnesses rare in large horses, such as hyperlipaemia – which may lead to hepatic lipidosis – or eclampsia. Dental misalignment and overcrowding are more common than in larger horses: brachygnathism ('parrot mouth') and prognathism ('sow mouth') are often seen; retention of caps can occur, as can infection of the sinuses associated with tooth eruption. Poor mastication can contribute to an increased incidence of colic caused by enteroliths, faecoliths, or sand.


title: Miniature horse

text: Miniature horses are commonly kept as companion animals. They are often too small for any but the smallest riders to ride. They may participate in events such as halter (horse conformation), in-hand hunter and jumper, driving, liberty, costume, obstacle or trail classes, and showmanship. A small number have been trained as guide horses for blind people; some people, particularly from Muslim cultures, may consider dogs unclean but accept horses.


title: Kushwaha

text: Kushwaha (sometimes, Kushvaha) is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain which has traditionally been involved in agriculture (including beekeeping). The term has been used to represent different subcastes, being those of the Kachhis, Koeris and Muraos. Under the Indian governments system of positive discrimination, the Kushwahas are classified as a "Backward" or "Other Backward class". From the 20th century onwards, they began to claim descent from the Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, who was one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. Previously, they had worshipped Shiva and Shakta.


title: Kushwaha

text: The Kushwaha claim descent from the Suryavansh dynasty through Kusha, a son of the mythological Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, a myth of origin developed in the twentieth century. Prior to that time, the various branches that form the Kushwaha community - the Kachhis, Koeris, and Muraos - favoured a connection with Shiva and Shakta. Ganga Prasad Gupta, a proponent of Kushwaha sanskritization, claimed in the 1920s that Kushwaha families worshiped Hanuman - described by Pinch as "the embodiment of true devotion to Ram and Sita" - during Kartika, a month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


title: Kushwaha

text: William Pinch notes a Kushwaha presence in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and they are also recorded in Haryana. Outside India, they are found in the Terai of Nepal, where they have variously been officially recorded as "Kushwaha" and as "Koiri". They also have significant presence among Bihari diaspora in Mauritius. The migration of Biharis to neighbouring countries was a phenomenon which became more pronounced in the post independence India. Thus, small island nations like Mauritius has significant population of people of Indian origin. The tradition and culture of Hindu migrants in countries like Mauritius is quite different from Indian subcontinent. This is so with "varna" status and "social hierarchy" as both these terms have several variation in Mauritius vis a vis India. The traditional ruling elites like Rajputs and Brahmins are politically and economically marginalised on the island while cultivating castes like Koeri, Ahir, Kurmi, Kahar and others have improved their social and financial position. According to Crispin Bates:


title: Kushwaha

text: According to Arun Sinha, the Koeris were known for their market gardening activities. Since Indian independence, the land reform movement was making it difficult for the erstwhile upper-caste landlords to maintain their existing holdings. The growing pressure from left-wing militants backed by CPI(ML) and some local political parties, as well as the weakening of the Zamindari system was making it difficult for them to survive in the rural areas. Hence, the decades following independence were marked by the urbanization of upper castes. Their migration to cities was accompanied by selling off of their unproductive holdings, which were mostly bought by the peasants of cultivating middle castes, who were financially sound enough to purchase land. Some of the land was also bought from Muslim families who were migrating to Pakistan. The Koeris, along with Kurmis and Yadavs were the main buyers of these lands.


title: Kushwaha

text: However, since the peasant castes considered their land to be their most productive asset, they rarely sold it. The zeal of peasant castes to buy more and more land gradually changed their economic profile, and some of them became 'neo-landlords'. This transformation caused them to attempt to protect their new economic status from those below them, especially the Dalits, who were still mainly landless labourers. Thus they adopted many of the practices of their erstwhile landlords. The pattern of land reform in states like Bihar which mainly benefitted the middle castes like those of Koeris was also responsible for the imperfect mobilisation of backward castes in the politics. The space carved by backwards in electoral politics after 1967 was dominated mainly by these middle peasant castes and they were the biggest beneficiary of the "politics of socialism", the proponent of which were people like Ram Manohar Lohia. The unequitable political space at the disposal of other "Backward Castes" and Scheduled Castes was thus an implicit implication of these land reforms as according to Varinder Grover:


title: Kushwaha

text: The differences between upper backward castes and the extremely backward castes and Dalits due to unequal distribution of the benefits of land reforms was thus a major challenge before the CPI(ML) in mobilisation of collective force of lower castes against the upper caste landlords. The upper backward castes like Koeri were initially less attached to the CPI(ML) due to their economic progress and the communists were successful in mobilising them only in some regions like Patna, Bhojpur, Aurangabad and Rohtas district. These success were attributed to the widespread dacoity and oppressive attitude of the upper caste landlords faced by these hardworking caste groups which propelled them to join the fold of revolutionary organisations.


title: Kushwaha

text: The Kushwaha also engaged in political action during these latter days of the Raj. Around 1933–1934, the Koeris joined with the Kurmis and Yadavs to form the Triveni Sangh, a caste federation that by 1936 claimed to have a million supporters. This coalition followed an alliance for the 1930 local elections which fared badly at the polls. The new grouping had little electoral success: it won a few seats in the 1937 elections but was stymied by a two-pronged opposition which saw the rival Congress wooing some of its more wealthy leading lights to a newly formed unit called the ""Backward Class Federation"" and an effective opposition from upper castes organised to keep the lower castes in their customary place. Added to this, the three putatively allied castes were unable to set aside their communal rivalries and the Triveni Sangh also faced competition from the All India Kisan Sabha, a peasant-oriented socio-political campaigning group run by the Communists. The appeal of the Triveni Sangh had waned significantly by 1947 but had achieved a measure of success away from the ballot box, notably by exerting sufficient influence to bring an end to the begar system of forced unpaid labour and by providing a platform for those voices seeking reservation of jobs in government for people who were not upper castes. Many years later, in 1965, there was an abortive attempt to revive the defunct federation.


title: Kushwaha

text: The Kisan Sabha was dominated by peasant castes like the Koeri, Kurmi and Yadav, which led some historians such as Gyan Pandey to term them mainly movements of the middle peasant castes who organized against "bedakhil" (eviction), with limited participation of other communities. The reality, however, was more complex. Dalit communities like the Chamars and Pasis, whose traditional occupations were leatherwork and toddy-tapping respectively, formed a significant portion of the landless peasantry and were thus significant in the Kisan Sabha, and present were even members of the high castes such as Brahmins.


title: Kushwaha

text: The Koeris also had significant presence in the Naxalite movement of 1960's rural Bihar, particularly in Bhojpur and nearby areas like Arrah, where an economic system dominated by the upper caste landlords was still in place. Here, the Communist upsurge against the prevalent feudal system was led by Jagdish Mahto, a Koeri teacher who had read Ambedkar and Marx and was sympathetic to the cause of Dalits.


title: Kushwaha

text: Mahto organised his militia under the banner of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), which assassinated many upper-caste landlords in the region . These violent clashes demarcated the dividing lines between Koeris and Bhumihars in the Ekwaari.


title: Kushwaha

text: For much of the 20th century, the Koeries were generally less politically effective, even less involved, than the Kurmis and Yadavs who broadly shared their socio-economic position in Hindu society. The latter two groups were more vociferous in their actions, including involvement in caste rioting, whilst the Koeris had only a brief prominence during the ascendancy of Jagdeo Prasad. This muted position changed dramatically in the 1990s when the rise to power of Lalu Prasad in Bihar caused an assertion of Yadav-centric policies that demanded a loud reaction.