In the News, February 24, 2015

February 24, 2015

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: Israeli support for Mike Huckabee, violence against women in Turkey, and environmental protection as a moral responsibility. 
BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
Whatever the Islamic State Is, It Has Misrepresented Islam
by Drew Christiansen and Ra’fat Aldajani
National Catholic Reporter op-ed
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/whatever-islamic-state-it-has-misrepresented-islam
Today, we have the Islamic State, and we cannot become bogged down in partisan and pundit one-upmanship over what to define the dangerous new phenomenon that the Islamic State represents. Whether they are real or imagined Muslims, extremists or jihadis, they have misquoted and misrepresented Islam, cherry-picking verses from the Quran and sayings of the Prophet to fit their particular apocalyptic agenda. 

AROUND THE WORLD
Mike Huckabee, Tour Guide in the Holy Land
by William Booth
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-huckabee-tour-guide-in-the-holy-land/2015/02/22/f0395335-1716-4f7f-9ce6-5e12c781d823_story.html
Whether or not Mike Huckabee becomes president of the United States, the nation of Israel—and especially Israel’s hard-line right wing—has few more devoted fans than the former Arkansas governor, evangelical pastor, and gung-ho tour guide to the Holy Land. 

Turkish Men Get Away With Murder
by Christina Asquith
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/opinion/ozgecan-aslan-and-violence-against-women-in-turkey.html?ref=opinion
Since the 1990s, activists have scored several legislative victories aimed at ending violence against women, and this Muslim country certainly leads the Middle East on the issue. But the laws have been undermined by loopholes that allow judges—mostly male—to reduce sentences at their discretion. In hundreds of cases, men who murdered were able to argue that a woman provoked them, or that their dignity was impugned, and they received a reduced sentence, some to just a few years in prison. 

Where Pegida Came From and Where It Is Going
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/02/economist-explains-20
If Pegida is unusually overt in its xenophobia it is not exactly a political outlier. Similar themes can be detected in right-leaning fringe parties around Europe. The movement is another reminder that multiculturalism has enemies, and that political disaffection is their ally. 

Pope to Mafiosi: Repent and Catholic Church Will Welcome You Back
by Philip Pullella
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/02/23/pope-to-mafiosi-repent-and-catholic-church-will-welcome-you-back/
Pope Francis urged members of Italian organized crime groups on Saturday to repent, saying the Catholic Church would welcome them if they promised to stop serving the cause of evil.

Give This Film an Oscar Now
by Christian Caryl
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/19/give-this-film-an-oscar-now-timbuktu-mali-jihad/
This year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a chance to make a statement by honoring the latest film by Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako. One of the great strengths of Timbuktu is its insistence on showing the jihadis as human beings rather than caricatures. They’re arrogant and brutal, make no mistake, but Sissako wants us to see how they, too, become tangled up in their own unforgiving ideology. 

DOMESTIC
Congregations Practice Faith Through Environmental Leadership
by F. Kaid Benfield
Huffington Post op-ed
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/f-kaid-benfield/congregations-practice-fa_b_6732622.html?utm_hp_ref=religion&ir=Religion
A growing, multi-denominational religious movement is placing environmental protection at the center of its teaching and practice. Expressed in part by the phrase "creation care," these leaders believe that protecting the earth is a religious value, and that environmental stewardship is a moral responsibility.
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