Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: Muslims in Japan condemn ISIS, global freedom of expression, and France debating the role of secularism in its national identity.
AROUND THE WORLD
In Japan, Nervous Muslims Condemn Islamic State
by Mitsuru Obe and Yuka Hayashi
Wall Street Journal
http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-japan-nervous-muslims-condemn-islamic-state-1422932241
Muslim leaders in Japan have moved to condemn the terrorist group responsible for the apparent killing of Japanese hostages, worried that their small but growing community may become the target of resentment. The response from Muslims is part of the fallout after a two-week hostage drama that riveted Japan and prompted debate about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ’s security policy.
Why ISIS Murdered Kenji Goto
by George Packer
New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/isis-murdered-kenji-goto
The very name of the self-proclaimed caliphate strikes most people, not least other Muslims, as ridiculous, if not delusional—the group uses surprise and shock to achieve goals that are more readily grasped by the apocalyptic imagination than by military or political theory. And yet, if the group thinks that it will intimidate countries into keeping out of or leaving the anti-ISIS coalition, its tactics have so far been a failure.
Catholics Fear Campaign of Church Attacks in India
by Nida Najar and Suhasini Raj
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/world/asia/catholics-fear-campaign-of-church-attacks-in-india.html?ref=todayspaper
A series of episodes at churches over the last two months has prompted Roman Catholics here to worry about a deliberate campaign of violence, and to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak out against religious intimidation.
Stephen Fry's Comments About God Could Get Him Arrested in Many Countries Around the World
by Pavan Dhaliwal
Independent op-ed
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/stephen-frys-comments-on-god-could-lead-to-criminal-sanctions-against-him-in-many-countries-10018658.html
Although not at all unusual or unique, humanist views like those of Fry’s still continue to be a source of persecution for non-religious people all over the world. The freedom Fry was exercising—his freedom to challenge religious beliefs and express his non-belief—is an indispensible part of democratic society, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The reality, however, is that not everyone is allowed to exercise this freedom.
France’s Ideals, Forged in Revolution, Face a Modern Test
by Steven Erlanger
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/world/frances-ideals-forged-in-revolution-face-a-modern-test.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, France has begun a defensive but potentially decisive debate over what it means to be French—and whether that definition can make room for its vibrant, growing Muslim population. At its core, the debate is about whether the French sense of identity has become so intertwined with secularism that the country is failing to honor its ideals as it becomes a multicultural society in which Islam is taking a more prominent place.
Anti-Semitism Is Once Again on the March in Europe
by Richard Cohen
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/richard-cohen-anti-semitism-is-once-again-on-the-march-in-europe/2015/02/02/9520ae7a-ab0d-11e4-abe8-e1ef60ca26de_story.html
Europe’s Muslim minority is poor and inordinately unemployed. It loathes Israel for what it is allegedly doing to the Palestinians, and it hates Jews for being Jewish—supposedly rich, powerful, secretive, conspiratorial and manipulative. The remedy—the cure—is education and assimilation.
How Ultra-Orthodoxy Is Most Feminist Faith
by Avi Shafran
Jewish Daily Forward op-ed
http://forward.com/articles/213671/how-ultra-orthodoxy-is-most-feminist-faith/
Although the Haredim sect of Judaism is ultra-orthodox and there are clear gender roles, Haredi men are becoming increasingly dependent on their wives’ income as employment rates increase among women. The community has embraced women who work while encouraging men to study the Torah full-time.
Vatican Removes Questionable Video Promoting Women's Conference
by Antonia Blumberg
Associated Press/Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/02/vatican-womens-conference-video_n_6594362.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
A video promoting the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture’s meeting on “the life of women” was taken down after being ridiculed by both conservatives and feminists in North America. Other issues such as lack of female voices in the planning for the event have also been raised by Catholic women.
DOMESTIC
Building Better Secularists
by David Brooks
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/opinion/david-brooks-building-better-secularists.html?ref=todayspaper
It seems to me that if secularism is going to be a positive creed, it can’t just speak to the rational aspects of our nature. Secularism has to do for nonbelievers what religion does for believers—arouse the higher emotions, exalt the passions in pursuit of moral action.
In Japan, Nervous Muslims Condemn Islamic State
by Mitsuru Obe and Yuka Hayashi
Wall Street Journal
http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-japan-nervous-muslims-condemn-islamic-state-1422932241
Muslim leaders in Japan have moved to condemn the terrorist group responsible for the apparent killing of Japanese hostages, worried that their small but growing community may become the target of resentment. The response from Muslims is part of the fallout after a two-week hostage drama that riveted Japan and prompted debate about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ’s security policy.
Why ISIS Murdered Kenji Goto
by George Packer
New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/isis-murdered-kenji-goto
The very name of the self-proclaimed caliphate strikes most people, not least other Muslims, as ridiculous, if not delusional—the group uses surprise and shock to achieve goals that are more readily grasped by the apocalyptic imagination than by military or political theory. And yet, if the group thinks that it will intimidate countries into keeping out of or leaving the anti-ISIS coalition, its tactics have so far been a failure.
Catholics Fear Campaign of Church Attacks in India
by Nida Najar and Suhasini Raj
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/world/asia/catholics-fear-campaign-of-church-attacks-in-india.html?ref=todayspaper
A series of episodes at churches over the last two months has prompted Roman Catholics here to worry about a deliberate campaign of violence, and to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak out against religious intimidation.
Stephen Fry's Comments About God Could Get Him Arrested in Many Countries Around the World
by Pavan Dhaliwal
Independent op-ed
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/stephen-frys-comments-on-god-could-lead-to-criminal-sanctions-against-him-in-many-countries-10018658.html
Although not at all unusual or unique, humanist views like those of Fry’s still continue to be a source of persecution for non-religious people all over the world. The freedom Fry was exercising—his freedom to challenge religious beliefs and express his non-belief—is an indispensible part of democratic society, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The reality, however, is that not everyone is allowed to exercise this freedom.
France’s Ideals, Forged in Revolution, Face a Modern Test
by Steven Erlanger
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/world/frances-ideals-forged-in-revolution-face-a-modern-test.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, France has begun a defensive but potentially decisive debate over what it means to be French—and whether that definition can make room for its vibrant, growing Muslim population. At its core, the debate is about whether the French sense of identity has become so intertwined with secularism that the country is failing to honor its ideals as it becomes a multicultural society in which Islam is taking a more prominent place.
Anti-Semitism Is Once Again on the March in Europe
by Richard Cohen
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/richard-cohen-anti-semitism-is-once-again-on-the-march-in-europe/2015/02/02/9520ae7a-ab0d-11e4-abe8-e1ef60ca26de_story.html
Europe’s Muslim minority is poor and inordinately unemployed. It loathes Israel for what it is allegedly doing to the Palestinians, and it hates Jews for being Jewish—supposedly rich, powerful, secretive, conspiratorial and manipulative. The remedy—the cure—is education and assimilation.
How Ultra-Orthodoxy Is Most Feminist Faith
by Avi Shafran
Jewish Daily Forward op-ed
http://forward.com/articles/213671/how-ultra-orthodoxy-is-most-feminist-faith/
Although the Haredim sect of Judaism is ultra-orthodox and there are clear gender roles, Haredi men are becoming increasingly dependent on their wives’ income as employment rates increase among women. The community has embraced women who work while encouraging men to study the Torah full-time.
Vatican Removes Questionable Video Promoting Women's Conference
by Antonia Blumberg
Associated Press/Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/02/vatican-womens-conference-video_n_6594362.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
A video promoting the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture’s meeting on “the life of women” was taken down after being ridiculed by both conservatives and feminists in North America. Other issues such as lack of female voices in the planning for the event have also been raised by Catholic women.
DOMESTIC
Building Better Secularists
by David Brooks
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/opinion/david-brooks-building-better-secularists.html?ref=todayspaper
It seems to me that if secularism is going to be a positive creed, it can’t just speak to the rational aspects of our nature. Secularism has to do for nonbelievers what religion does for believers—arouse the higher emotions, exalt the passions in pursuit of moral action.
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