Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: challenges for the Vatican's diplomacy, Turkey's eroding democracy, and Ebola as a catalyst for violence in West Africa.
AROUND THE WORLD
Peace, Inc.
by Sheldon Himelfarb and Anand Varghese
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/27/peace-inc-tech-government-industry-defense-funding/
The burgeoning field of peacetech uses technology, media, and data to make, build, and sustain peace. Funding for this kind of work, to date, has come largely from governments and foundations, and promising pilots often reach dead ends because there is no system for making them self-sustaining.
Evangelical Challenges for Vatican Diplomacy
by George Weigel
Denver Catholic
http://denvercatholic.org/opinion/evangelical-challenges-vatican-diplomacy/#.VNOLgIrF-Gh
The bilateral diplomacy of the Holy See is unique in world affairs, in that it has little or nothing to do with the things with which diplomats typically occupy their time: trade issues, security matters, visas. Rather, the Vatican engages in bilateral diplomacy to secure the freedom of the Catholic Church to be itself in the countries with which the Holy See has, or wishes to have, diplomatic relations.
Turkey’s Eroding Democracy
by Fethullah Gulen
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/opinion/fethullah-gulen-turkeys-eroding-democracy.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Not long ago, Turkey was the envy of Muslim-majority countries: a viable candidate for the European Union on its path to becoming a functioning democracy that upholds universal human rights, gender equality, the rule of law and the rights of Kurdish and non-Muslim citizens. This historic opportunity now appears to have been squandered as Turkey’s ruling party, known as the A.K.P., reverses that progress and clamps down on civil society, media, the judiciary and free enterprise.
Can the Swastika Overcome Nazi Past?
by Antonia Blumberg
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/swastika-hinduism_n_6582828.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
For many around the world, the swastika is a sign of genocide and hatred, reviled for its association to the Nazi party. But for centuries before the Holocaust, and to this day, the swastika represented something very different for millions of Hindus, Buddhists and Jains across the globe.
At Argentine Jewish Bomb Site, Déjà Vu and Fading Hope for Justice
by Brian Winter
Reuters UK
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/02/04/at-argentine-jewish-bomb-site-deja-vu-and-fading-hope-for-justice/
Survivors of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) bombing and many other Argentines are losing hope that either Alberto Nisman's death or the 1994 attack will ever be solved, pointing to their government's often erratic behaviour and a long national history of murky political crimes for which no one gets punished.
Is Ebola the New Powder Keg?
by Thomas Leo Scherer
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/02/is-ebola-the-new-powder-keg/
For months, violent civil unrest has threatened to convulse the region afflicted by the disease. Grisly spasms of violence have broken out across West Africa since the start of the outbreak, driven by a mistrust of aid workers and health officials. Such violence—by the government or by the people—is a terrifying prospect for a region haunted by memories of civil war.
DOMESTIC
The Walmart Jews
by Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel
Jewish Daily Forward
http://forward.com/articles/213682/the-walmart-jews/?p=all
Bentonville, Arkansas—Walmart’s hometown—offers more than just low, low prices. It’s also an anomaly in the small-town South: a Jewish community that is actually growing.
Kevin Cochran’s Liberty, and Ours
by Grazie Pozo Christie
RealClearReligion
http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2015/02/05/kelvin_cochrans_liberty_and_ours.html
Kelvin Cochran, the former chief of the Atlanta fire department, was fired for publishing his sincere Christian convictions in a book. Having firmly come out in favor of Charlie Hebdo's right to poke fun, sometimes quite maliciously, at the world's major religions, it seems editors of the New York Times won't extend the right of Americans to hold certain religious views and stay gainfully employed.
Peace, Inc.
by Sheldon Himelfarb and Anand Varghese
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/27/peace-inc-tech-government-industry-defense-funding/
The burgeoning field of peacetech uses technology, media, and data to make, build, and sustain peace. Funding for this kind of work, to date, has come largely from governments and foundations, and promising pilots often reach dead ends because there is no system for making them self-sustaining.
Evangelical Challenges for Vatican Diplomacy
by George Weigel
Denver Catholic
http://denvercatholic.org/opinion/evangelical-challenges-vatican-diplomacy/#.VNOLgIrF-Gh
The bilateral diplomacy of the Holy See is unique in world affairs, in that it has little or nothing to do with the things with which diplomats typically occupy their time: trade issues, security matters, visas. Rather, the Vatican engages in bilateral diplomacy to secure the freedom of the Catholic Church to be itself in the countries with which the Holy See has, or wishes to have, diplomatic relations.
Turkey’s Eroding Democracy
by Fethullah Gulen
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/opinion/fethullah-gulen-turkeys-eroding-democracy.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Not long ago, Turkey was the envy of Muslim-majority countries: a viable candidate for the European Union on its path to becoming a functioning democracy that upholds universal human rights, gender equality, the rule of law and the rights of Kurdish and non-Muslim citizens. This historic opportunity now appears to have been squandered as Turkey’s ruling party, known as the A.K.P., reverses that progress and clamps down on civil society, media, the judiciary and free enterprise.
Can the Swastika Overcome Nazi Past?
by Antonia Blumberg
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/swastika-hinduism_n_6582828.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
For many around the world, the swastika is a sign of genocide and hatred, reviled for its association to the Nazi party. But for centuries before the Holocaust, and to this day, the swastika represented something very different for millions of Hindus, Buddhists and Jains across the globe.
At Argentine Jewish Bomb Site, Déjà Vu and Fading Hope for Justice
by Brian Winter
Reuters UK
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/02/04/at-argentine-jewish-bomb-site-deja-vu-and-fading-hope-for-justice/
Survivors of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) bombing and many other Argentines are losing hope that either Alberto Nisman's death or the 1994 attack will ever be solved, pointing to their government's often erratic behaviour and a long national history of murky political crimes for which no one gets punished.
Is Ebola the New Powder Keg?
by Thomas Leo Scherer
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/02/is-ebola-the-new-powder-keg/
For months, violent civil unrest has threatened to convulse the region afflicted by the disease. Grisly spasms of violence have broken out across West Africa since the start of the outbreak, driven by a mistrust of aid workers and health officials. Such violence—by the government or by the people—is a terrifying prospect for a region haunted by memories of civil war.
DOMESTIC
The Walmart Jews
by Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel
Jewish Daily Forward
http://forward.com/articles/213682/the-walmart-jews/?p=all
Bentonville, Arkansas—Walmart’s hometown—offers more than just low, low prices. It’s also an anomaly in the small-town South: a Jewish community that is actually growing.
Kevin Cochran’s Liberty, and Ours
by Grazie Pozo Christie
RealClearReligion
http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2015/02/05/kelvin_cochrans_liberty_and_ours.html
Kelvin Cochran, the former chief of the Atlanta fire department, was fired for publishing his sincere Christian convictions in a book. Having firmly come out in favor of Charlie Hebdo's right to poke fun, sometimes quite maliciously, at the world's major religions, it seems editors of the New York Times won't extend the right of Americans to hold certain religious views and stay gainfully employed.
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