Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the world: the role of religion in ending female genital cutting, meeting between the Pope and the Russian patriarch, and Donald Trump and the Catholic political base.
BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
Ending FGC: The Religious Factor
by Katherine Marshall
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-marshall/ending-fgc-the-religious_b_9175068.html
An important question is what religious leaders do and could do to speed the end of the practice. And the answer is: a lot. First, religious leaders have shown leadership in condemning the practice. Islamic scholars have roundly condemned the practice, as have Christian leaders. The annual day devoted to ending FGC is heartening evidence of international concern for girls and their rights. It highlights a consensus of very different actors, technical, human rights advocates, and religious leaders in this instance. However, far more is needed to speed the transition that brings communities to end the practice. Religious leaders are needed partners here.
AROUND THE WORLD
Why a Meeting Between The Pope and Russian Patriarch is Finally Happening
by John Allen Jr.
Crux
http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/02/05/why-a-meeting-between-the-pope-and-russian-patriarch-is-finally-happening/
In recent years three things have happened to jar the prospects for détente forward. First was the election of Kirill in February 2009. Second has been the tremendous progress made over recent decades in relations between Catholicism and other Orthodox churches, especially the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but also Orthodox bodies in other nations, such as Armenia, Albania, Romania, and elsewhere. Third, Francis has changed the calculus in Orthodox circles in terms of how they think about the pope.
related | A Catholic-Orthodox Meeting is Spectacular but not Unprecedented
Economist Erasmus blog
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/02/popes-and-patriarchs
Who Are the True Heirs of Zionism?
by Steven Erlanger
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/opinion/who-are-the-real-heirs-of-zionism.html?src=me&_r=0
Religious Zionism is a relatively large tent, with more liberal and more nationalist wings. But it regards the settlements as “its most important creation in this generation,” said Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a research center. “There is a growing sense that they are the true future of Zionism, because secular Zionism has been in decline for decades.”
Israeli Taxman Eyes Off-the-Books “Religious Services”
by Ari Rabinovitch
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/02/05/israeli-taxman-eyes-off-the-books-religious-services-industry/
Israel’s Tax Authority says it wants a cut of gratuities traditionally offered to Jewish ritual circumcisors and a slice of the payments that private kosher inspectors usually pocket. A recent state comptroller’s report said unreported payments for such religious services could account for tens of millions of dollars of income kept off the books while the Israeli state struggles with a large budget deficit and high debt.
NATIONAL
Muslims of Hamtramack, Michigan
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2016/02/05/february-5-2016-muslims-of-hamtramck-michigan/28948/
Hamtramck, Michigan was once the home of Polish Catholics and an auto manufacturing plant that employed 45,000 workers. Today it is a much smaller community, more than half of which is Muslim, and it is the only American town with a Muslim-majority city council. Lucky Severson reports from Hamtramck on how dramatically it has changed.
This May be the Mystery Kibbutz Visited by Bernie Sanders in the 1960’s
by William Booth and Frances Stead Sellers
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/is-this-the-mystery-kibbutz-visited-by-bernie-sanders-in-the-1960s/2016/02/07/f647075a-cdba-11e5-90d3-34c2c42653ac_story.html
In the heady days of the 1960s, the Israeli kibbutzim were an accessible laboratory to observe social democracy in action. Journalists have been on a hunt in recent weeks trying to solve the mystery of which kibbutz Sanders visited. Sanders and his campaign staff have repeatedly — and somewhat inexplicably — declined to say which kibbutz.
Does Trump Have a Catholic Problem?by Patricia Miller
Religion Dispatches
http://religiondispatches.org/does-donald-trump-have-a-catholic-problem/
According to last week’s Pew Poll on the candidates and religion, Trump is noticeably weak among Catholics. When asked if they thought Trump would be a great or good president, 52% of evangelicals said yes, as did 39% of mainline Protestants. But only 30% of Catholics agreed that Trump would be a good president, which is ten points lower than Hillary Clinton.
Who Are the True Heirs of Zionism?
by Steven Erlanger
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/opinion/who-are-the-real-heirs-of-zionism.html?src=me&_r=0
Religious Zionism is a relatively large tent, with more liberal and more nationalist wings. But it regards the settlements as “its most important creation in this generation,” said Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a research center. “There is a growing sense that they are the true future of Zionism, because secular Zionism has been in decline for decades.”
Israeli Taxman Eyes Off-the-Books “Religious Services”
by Ari Rabinovitch
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/02/05/israeli-taxman-eyes-off-the-books-religious-services-industry/
Israel’s Tax Authority says it wants a cut of gratuities traditionally offered to Jewish ritual circumcisors and a slice of the payments that private kosher inspectors usually pocket. A recent state comptroller’s report said unreported payments for such religious services could account for tens of millions of dollars of income kept off the books while the Israeli state struggles with a large budget deficit and high debt.
NATIONAL
Muslims of Hamtramack, Michigan
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2016/02/05/february-5-2016-muslims-of-hamtramck-michigan/28948/
Hamtramck, Michigan was once the home of Polish Catholics and an auto manufacturing plant that employed 45,000 workers. Today it is a much smaller community, more than half of which is Muslim, and it is the only American town with a Muslim-majority city council. Lucky Severson reports from Hamtramck on how dramatically it has changed.
This May be the Mystery Kibbutz Visited by Bernie Sanders in the 1960’s
by William Booth and Frances Stead Sellers
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/is-this-the-mystery-kibbutz-visited-by-bernie-sanders-in-the-1960s/2016/02/07/f647075a-cdba-11e5-90d3-34c2c42653ac_story.html
In the heady days of the 1960s, the Israeli kibbutzim were an accessible laboratory to observe social democracy in action. Journalists have been on a hunt in recent weeks trying to solve the mystery of which kibbutz Sanders visited. Sanders and his campaign staff have repeatedly — and somewhat inexplicably — declined to say which kibbutz.
Does Trump Have a Catholic Problem?by Patricia Miller
Religion Dispatches
http://religiondispatches.org/does-donald-trump-have-a-catholic-problem/
According to last week’s Pew Poll on the candidates and religion, Trump is noticeably weak among Catholics. When asked if they thought Trump would be a great or good president, 52% of evangelicals said yes, as did 39% of mainline Protestants. But only 30% of Catholics agreed that Trump would be a good president, which is ten points lower than Hillary Clinton.
Opens in a new window