In the News, April 28, 2015

April 28, 2015

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: the earthquake in Nepal, climate change and faith, and Baltimore's need for the church.
AROUND THE WORLD
How Hindus and Buddhists View Nepal’s Devastating Earthquake
by Daniel Burke
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/26/world/nepal-earthquake-buddhists-hindus/index.html
"Buddhist and Hindu texts make it clear that there are all kinds of causal contingencies that just happen," with no cosmic rhyme or reason, Lewis said. In one famous Buddhist book, "The Questions of King Milinda," the Buddha teaches that the majority of things that happen to people, good or bad, are not related to karma at all. To put it very simply: Stuff happens. The morals and meaning of our lives depend on how we deal with that stuff. 

Burundi on the Brink

by Jean Claude Nkundwa and Jonathan W. Rosen
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/29/opinion/burundi-on-the-brink.html?ref=opinion&_r=0&assetType=opinion
Thousands have fled the country in advance of its June presidential election—a contest that has brought about Burundi’s greatest threat to peace since the end of its civil war in 2005. 

Drought, Expanding Deserts, and ‘Food for Jihad’ Drive Mali’s Conflict
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/04/28/drought-expanding-deserts-and-food-for-jihad-drive-malis-conflict/
“The link between food security and political security is plainly obvious”: Officials back in the capital said action was being taken to address some of the problems caused by climate change, pointing to new irrigation efforts and other plans to offset a warming planet. But officials also acknowledged that global warming was making it harder to produce food in Mali, and fuelling at least some of the strife the country currently faces. 

When Science, Faith Clash: In Sierra Leone, a Deadly Gap Between Ritual and Medical Practices
by Matt Hongoltz-Hetling
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/sierra-leone-science-faith-ritual-medical-ebola?utm_source=Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=881d20abdd-Pulitzer_Center_News_07_15_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6ec1cc24ba-881d20abdd-406143213
When the Ebola epidemic swept through the region, killing about 3,900 Sierra Leoneans, one of the dominant storylines that emerged in international coverage spotlighted people who resisted treatment. (...) But few outsiders understood that the underlying cause of those events was not ignorance. Instead, experts say, people fled treatment because of a wide culture gap. 

Pope Francis Poised to Weigh In on Climate Change
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pope-francis-poised-to-weigh-in-on-climate-change-with-major-document/2015/04/27/d5c268b2-df81-11e4-a500-1c5bb1d8ff6a_story.html
Francis is putting the final touches on what may be the most authoritative papal teaching ever on the environment, a topic bound up with economics, global development, and politics and thus very controversial. Even though no one outside Francis’s inner circle has seen the document, it’s already being lambasted by some religious and political conservatives and held up by environmentalists as a potential turning point in their movement. 

DOMESTIC
What Baltimore Needs
by Russell Moore
Moore to the Point
http://www.russellmoore.com/2015/04/27/what-baltimore-needs/
There’s no question that Baltimore needs order and restraint of violence. There’s no question that Baltimore needs investigation and justice in the untimely death of Freddie Gray. There’s no question that Baltimore suffers from poverty, racial injustice, family breakdown, illegal drugs, gang activity, and a thousand other ailments. Government, civil society, law enforcement, and community organizations must confront all of these. But I would argue that the primary need Baltimore has is for the church.
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