In the News, February 11, 2015

February 11, 2015

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: education in France, Christian communities in the Middle East, and the rise of atheism in Latin America. 
AROUND THE WORLD
French Teachers, on the Front Lines
by Rachel Donadio
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-attack-puts-schools-under-scrutiny.html?ref=todayspaper
The attacks have placed teachers on the front lines in a country where schools are seen as responsible not only for reading and math, but also for instilling moral values, citizenship and the concept of the rule of law. Teachers say that is a tall order, and one in which families and pop culture should play a role, instead of relying on top-down discipline from the centralized state. 

The World War Inside Islam
by James Traub
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/09/the-world-war-inside-islam-isis-caliphate-saudi-arabia-iraq-syria/
The radical Islamist denial of the primacy of individual choice in a secularized public space, along with the willingness of large numbers of people to kill others and themselves in order to destroy that way of being, poses a fundamental challenge to the West. Yet the metaphor of civilizational struggle misleads us into believing that we can do, and must do, what we cannot do and therefore should not do. 

Peace or a Sword?
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/02/christians-iraq
What do the ancient Christian communities of the Middle East, many of them threatened with extinction in lands where they have survived since the dawn of their faith's existence, most need from their co-religionists in the West? Some want more military support, but others take a different view. 

Women Are the Best Weapon in the War Against Terrorism
by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Radhika Coomaraswamy
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/10/women-are-the-best-weapon-in-the-war-against-terrorism/
While extremists place the subordination of women at the forefront of their agenda, however, the promotion of gender equality has been only an afterthought in the international community’s response to extremism. This failure must be remedied. The international community must recognize, as the extremists do, that empowered women are the foundation of resilient and stable communities—communities that can stand firm against radicalization. 

The Rise of the Child Terrorist
by Mia Bloom and John Horgan
Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/143020/mia-bloom-and-john-horgan/the-rise-of-the-child-terrorist
The exploitation of children by terrorist groups is not new, but groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, and the Pakistani Taliban are increasingly using children to carry out their activities. The move is strategic as it is shocking. It provides heightened media attention and allows terrorist groups to groom more loyal members. 

Atheism's Unstoppable Growth in Latin America
by Victor Herrero
Real Clear World/America Economia
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2015/02/10/atheisms_unstoppable_growth_in_latin_america_110962.html
The specter of atheism is haunting this most Christian of regions, Latin America. From Mexico to Argentina, dozens of voices and groups of freethinkers, atheists and agnostics are demanding to be heard and calling for more secular structures in their countries. Most don't seek to convert the religious but instead to ensure that their own rights are respected in countries where separation of church and state isn't often a flimsy legal concept. 

DOMESTIC
Killing of 3 in Chapel Hill Stirs Alarm Among Muslims
by Sarah Kaplan
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/11/reports-3-young-muslims-slain-in-chapel-hill-shooting-n-c-man-charged/?tid=hp_mm
After three Muslims were killed in what preliminary reports suggest might have been a parking dispute, the news sparked outrage and a viral Twitter hashtag, #MuslimLivesMatter, reflecting users belief that the crime was religiously motivated and frustration with what they saw as the media’s failure to report the incident.

What Would Jesus Do About Measles?
by Paul A. Offit
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/opinion/what-would-jesus-do-about-measles.html
Parents shouldn’t be allowed to martyr their children—or in this case, those with whom their children have come in contact. Religious exemptions to vaccination are a contradiction in terms. In the good name of all religions, they should be eliminated.
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