Today's religious and world affairs news from the United States and around the world: Pope Francis in Latin America, banning the burqa in West Africa, and splintering evangelical faith in United States.
POPE FRANCIS IN LATIN AMERICA
Pope Francis Wades into U.S. Immigration Morass with Border Trip
by Jim Yardley
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/world/americas/pope-francis-ciudad-juarez.html
Pope Francis is finishing his six-day trip to Mexico on Wednesday, with his final stop at Ciudad Juárez, at the border with the United States. He will not step into the United States, but he will certainly step directly into the angry American political debate about immigration. Which is exactly what he wants.
Pope Francis Entreats Mexico’s Youth to Resist Call of Drug Cartels
by Azam Ahmed and Jim Yardley
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/world/americas/pope-francis-entreats-mexicos-youth-to-resist-call-of-drug-cartels.html?ref=world
Pope Francis delivered his most searing indictment of the Mexican underworld Tuesday, encouraging the nation’s youth to value themselves and resist the temptation to join forces with “criminal organizations that sow terror.”
From the New World, a Pope and a Patriarch Address Old-World Fights
Economist Erasmus Blog
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/02/catholicism-and-russian-orthodoxy
In Havana, a secular premises in a Marxist-run island, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow embraced one another and affirmed the myriad things they have in common, including Christianity’s core beliefs in a triune God and the divine nature, and saving mission, of Jesus Christ.
AROUND THE WORLD
France’s Emergency Powers Spur Charges of Overreach From Muslims
by Alissa J. Rubin
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/world/europe/frances-emergency-powers-spur-charges-of-overreach-from-muslims.html?ref=world&_r=0
The emergency powers now in effect allow the police to conduct raids of homes, businesses, associations and places of worship without judicial review and at any time. The police can place people under house arrest even if they do not have sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to detain or charge them.
Jerusalem’s Ancient Damascus Gate is at the Heart of a Modern Wave of Violence
by William Booth and Ruth Eglash
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/jerusalems-ancient-damascus-gate-is-at-the-heart-of-a-modern-wave-of-violence/2016/02/16/a3da07f8-d42a-11e5-a65b-587e721fb231_story.html
For the past five months, a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis has marked a deadly escalation in the two sides’ long-running conflict. More than 27 Israelis have been killed in knife, gun and vehicular attacks; more than 160 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces, 110 while carrying out attacks and 50 during clashes. The Damascus Gate has served as the backdrop — and the beacon — for at least 14 of those attacks.
India’s BJP Wins Assembly By-election after Divisive Religious Campaign
by Sanjeev Miglani
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/02/17/indias-bjp-wins-assembly-by-election-after-divisive-religious-campaign/
In the run-up to the vote, state BJP leaders sought to rally voters behind their Hindutva campaign, or the idea that today’s multi-faith India is fundamentally a Hindu nation. Critics see the campaign as an attempt to drive a wedge between Hindus, who make up 80 percent of India’s 1.3 billion people and Muslims, Christians and others.
The Veil in West Africa: Banning the Burqa
EconomistGovernments in Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Nigeria, Congo-Brazzaville, and Senegal are banning the burqa in at least parts of their countries, or are considering it, for security reasons. Yet it is not clear that banning the burqa, let alone the hijab, will help the fight against extreme groups such as Boko Haram. Some fear it could play into their hands.
Why So Many are Alarmed by the Ongoing Controversy at Mount St. Mary’s
by Michael Bayer
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/17/why-so-many-are-alarmed-by-the-ongoing-controversy-at-mount-st-marys/
In rural Maryland, a battle is taking place over the future of religious colleges in the U.S. What began as a public relations flap in a student newspaper has boiled over into a national controversy, with the editorial board of The Washington Post joining the faculty of Mount St. Mary’s in calling for university president Simon Newman to resign.
Why Evangelicals are Splintering and What it Means for the GOP
by Lisa Mascaro
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-gop-evangelicals-divide-20160214-story.html
Much like the GOP itself, the evangelical movement is going through an identity crisis. As older, predominantly white churchgoers age and a younger generation thinks differently about faith, evangelicals are fracturing as a voting bloc and the power of pastors to all but endorse candidates from the pulpit is fading.
University of Arizona Students Hurl Insults, and Litter, at Mosque in Tucson
by Fernada Santos
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/us/mosque-near-university-of-arizona-endures-scorn-of-students-next-door.html
No one has been injured. But in light of the highly charged national debate about accepting Muslim refugees in the United States — as well as the mass shooting by two Muslim terrorists in San Bernardino, Calif., in December — tensions over the insults and vandalism here have run particularly high.
The Mysterious Arabic Message that Alarmed a Texas town? ‘Love for Everyone.’
by Lindsey Bever
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/02/17/the-mysterious-arabic-message-that-alarmed-a-texas-town-love-for-everyone/
"What the flag means is not the issue, it's just how the flag looks," a Texas Tech student said. Lubbock's mayor wants the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to investigate.
Opens in a new window