In the News, May 13, 2015

May 13, 2015

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: President Obama speaks at Georgetown on poverty, Rohingya refugees, and Christianity in America.
GEORGETOWN IN THE NEWS
Obama: Defeating ​P​overty ​T​akes ​M​oney and ‘​T​ransformative ​P​ower’ of ​F​aith ​G​roups
​by Cathy Lynn Grossman
RNS​
http://www.religionnews.com/2015/05/12/obama-defeating-poverty-takes-money-transformative-power-fait...
Obama joined two policy voices from the left and right in a rare moment of participating in a panel discussion, part of a three-day symposium at Georgetown University on combating poverty. The audience of 700 included 120 Catholic and evangelical leaders.​ ​Obama said he sees “the lucky and the successful” withdrawing from the shared spaces of American society, including schools and parks and other “common goods.” Meanwhile, the free market has “turbocharged” the divisions. ​

related | In Frank Language, Obama Addresses Poverty's Roots
by Michelle Boorstein and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-frank-language-obama-addresses-povertys-roots/2015/05/12/5acf...

Obama Urges Liberals and Conservatives to Unite on Poverty
by Michael Shear
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/us/obama-race-poverty-georgetown-university.html?ref=todayspaper

AROUND THE WORLD
The ​A​ntidote to Mideast ​V​iolence
by David Ignatius
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/an-islamic-state-antidote/2015/05/12/68ae72ce-f8dc-11e4-a13c-...
H​ow should the U.S.-led coalition combat the Islamic State — without further glorifying its cause in the minds of young recruits? I can offer some provocative ideas from recent conversations with leading counterterrorism strategists. ​

The Rohingya Refugees, Adrift
New York Times editorial​
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/opinion/the-rohingya-refugees-adrift.html?ref=international&_r=0
Given the magnitude of the crisis, Southeast Asian leaders must find a way out of this impasse. Meanwhile, the governments of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have a moral responsibility to take emergency action to avert catastrophic loss of life and to offer protection to victims of human trafficking.

DOMESTIC
Christianity ​F​aces ​S​harp ​D​ecline as Americans are ​B​ecoming ​E​ven ​L​ess ​Affiliated with ​R​eligion ​
by Sarah Pulliam Bailey
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/12/christianity-faces-sharp-decline-as-a...
The percentage of adults who describe themselves as Christians dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years to about 71 percent, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. ​

related | American Religion: Complicated, Not Dead
by Emma Green
Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/american-religion-complicated-not-dead/392891/

Jeb Bush’s Eloquent Defense of Christianity
by Kathleen Parker
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/religious-entanglements/2015/05/12/0169ec30-f8e4-11e4-a13c-19...
These issues, I’ll admit, can seem arcane and are tiresome at times. But I’m convinced, as Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr agreed during a debate last year on these two cases, that the state should always go to extra lengths to protect religious liberty whenever possible.
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