In the News, December 9, 2015

December 9, 2015

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: protests against Iceland's parish tax, Islamophobia in the United States, and the launch of the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year.

AROUND THE WORLD
A Chinese Official said the Dali Lama Supports the Islamic State. Ridiculous – and Telling.
by Emily Rauhala
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/12/09/a-chinese-official-said-the-dalai-lama-supports-the-islamic-state-ridiculous-and-telling/
It’s no secret that China's leaders dislike the Dalai Lama. Over the years, Communist Party cadres have denounced the exiled spiritual leader as a "separatist," a "splittist," and a "wolf in monk's robes." On Tuesday, the chairman of China's top religious affairs committee, Zhu Weiqun, extended that war of words, telling a Chinese reporter that the Dalai Lama sympathized with the Islamic State. 

Trump’s Plan to Bar Muslims is Widely Condemned Abroad
by Dan Bilefsky
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/europe/donald-trumps-call-to-bar-muslims-reverberates-abroad.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
A day after Donald J. Trump called for a ban on the entry of Muslims into the United States, much of the rest of the world on Tuesday looked at the American presidential election with a mix of befuddlement and despair. How is it, many wondered, that the same nation that twice put the black son of a Kenyan in the White House could now be flirting with Mr. Trump and his divisive, exclusionary stances? 

Related| Trump’s Muslim Ban is ‘Grossly Irresponsible’ Says U.N. Human Rights Chief
by Colum Lynch
Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/trumps-muslim-ban-is-grossly-irresponsible-says-u-n-human-rights-chief/
Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein of Jordan on Tuesday denounced Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States as “grossly irresponsible” as it potentially put migrants in harm’s way and plays into the hands of extremists seeking to drive a wedge between Western governments and their Muslim citizens. 

Pope Francis Kicks Off Yearlong Jubilee of Mercy
by Laura Wagner
NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/08/458940908/pope-francis-kicks-off-yearlong-jubilee-of-mercy
Pope Francis kicked off the Catholic Church's special Jubilee Year, the focus of which will be mercy, on Tuesday by opening the bronze Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and walking through it. This is only the 30th jubilee since the Catholic Church began the celebration in the year 1300. 

Icelanders Opposed to Government Support of Religion by Forming their own Religion
by Jim Zarroli
NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/08/458928720/icelanders-opposed-to-government-support-for-religion-form-a-religion-of-their-o
Icelanders angry about government support of religion have come up with a way of making their unhappiness heard: They've formed their own religion, based on ancient Sumerian texts, and are promising to pass on any public funds they receive to their "congregation." The group is a means of protesting Iceland's "parish tax," which goes to support organized religions, of which the largest by far is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland.  

NATIONAL
 
Defying the Governor, Indianapolis Archbishop Takes in Syrian Refugees
by Michael O’Loughlin
Crux
http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/12/08/defying-the-governor-indianapolis-archbishop-takes-in-syrian-refugees/
Despite objections by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis has decided to help resettle a Syrian refugee family. The family — parents and two children — arrived in Indianapolis Monday night, where the local Catholic Charities agency will assist them. 

The Muslim Drill
by Wajahat Ali
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/opinion/the-muslim-drill.html?ref=opinion
White Christians generally don’t have to denounce violence in the name of their religion or hope their patriotic “American-ness” isn’t questioned by a nameless, skeptical jury. But that is exactly what American Muslims are expected to do after violent extremists they’ve never met commit violent acts in cities they’ve never visited. 

Only You Can Prevent Islamophobia – the Dangers of Letting Donald Trump Set the National Dialogue
by Rula Jebreal
Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/trump-islamophobia-republican-carson-bush/
By treating Trump as simply another political candidate with policies that deserve a fair hearing, the media gives a dangerous racist a platform to spread a toxic hatred that dehumanizes and disenfranchises millions of ordinary Americans. He may not wear the pointed hood or give the raised-palmed salute, but he represents the same vile impulses — so much so that even a fellow Republican running for the nomination, John Kasich, compared Trump to Adolf Hitler and warned that the failure to stand up to him could result in similar tragic consequences for many.
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