Berkley Center

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: religious leaders unite against corruption in Nigeria, education and blasphemy laws in Pakistan, Christianity under investigation in China, and the nuanced role of faith in the 2016 presidential election.

BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
Nigeria: Faith Against Corruption
by Katherine Marshall
Huffington Post Religion
http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/nigeria-faith-against-corruption
At a gathering in Nigeria organized by the American Consulate in Lagos and the State Department's Office of Religion and Global Affairs...Christian pastors and Muslim imams and scholars explored how religious leaders might shed light on the root causes of corruption and help to find better solutions.

AROUND THE WORLD
Don’t Shoot the Messenger, Israel
by Ban Ki-Moon
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/opinion/dont-shoot-the-messenger-israel.html?ref=opinion
Nothing excuses terrorism. I condemn it categorically. It is inconceivable, though, that security measures alone will stop the violence. As I warned the Security Council last week, Palestinian frustration and grievances are growing under the weight of nearly a half-century of occupation. Ignoring this won’t make it disappear. 

Israel Approves Prayer Space at Western Wall for Non-Orthodox Jews
by Isabel Kershner
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/world/middleeast/israel-western-wall-prayer.html?ref=world
After years of rancor over rituals at the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, the Israeli government on Sunday approved the creation of an upgraded egalitarian prayer space there for non-Orthodox Jews. 

Education is Becoming and Extremist Battleground in Pakistan
by Tahir Andrabi and Asim Ijaz Khwaja
Washington Post commentary
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/01/29/education-is-becoming-an-extremist-battleground-in-pakistan/
Last week, Taliban gunmen attacked students and teachers at a Pakistani University. The attack confirmed that the Taliban is waging a carefully considered ideological war in Pakistan. In doing so, they are attacking the one area of Pakistani society where there is clear reason for optimism, as the growth of low-cost private schools in recent decades has given more and more young people, particularly girls, access to education. 

Pakistani Cleric Says He’s Willing to Review Disputed Blasphemy Law
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/01/31/pakistani-cleric-says-hes-willing-to-review-disputed-blasphemy-law/
The head of a powerful religious body said on Thursday he is willing to review Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws that critics say are regularly misused and have led to the deaths of hundreds, to decide if they are Islamic. Pakistan’s religious and political elites almost universally keep clear of debating blasphemy laws in a country where criticism of Islam is a highly sensitive subject. 

Arguments Rage Over Whether to Accuse Islamic State of Genocide
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/01/religious-minorities-and-genocide
Is it accurate and/or expedient to use the word “genocide” to describe the persecution of religious minorities by the terrorist group known as Islamic State, Daesh or a variant of that name? Hypothetical as it might seem, that question is a real dilemma for people in high places in western Europe and America. 

Looking for Allah as a Shiite in Saudi Arabia
Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/01/28/looking-for-allah-as-a-shiite-in-saudi-arabia/
Praying at the spiritual center of Islam as a Shiite Muslim, the smaller of Islam’s two major sects, is like attending Catholic mass as a Southern Baptist. Or these days, perhaps more accurately, it’s like attending Catholic mass at the Vatican as a Protestant during the Counter-Reformation. “I came to Mecca seeking spiritual enlightenment. I found discrimination and distrust.” 

Light Government Touch Lets China’s Hui Practice Islam in the Open
by Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/world/asia/china-islam-hui-ningxia.html?ribbon-ad-idx=11&rref=world&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=World&pgtype=article
In many parts of China, an officially atheist country, religious restrictions make it a crime to operate Islamic schools and bar people under 18 from entering mosques. Not in Wuzhong China, home to a relatively free if not beleaguered Uighur ethnic minority. 

China Detains Protestant Megachurch Leader Amid Crackdown on Civil Society
by Robert Marquand
Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2016/0129/China-detains-Protestant-megachurch-leader-amid-crackdown-on-civil-society
One of the most prominent Protestant figures in China, the Rev. Gu Yuese, has been detained, along with his wife, and held incommunicado as part of what Chinese evangelical leaders say is a broad official crackdown in China on what is described as harmful “foreign influences. On Friday, state religious authorities in the city of Hangzhou confirmed that Rev. Gu was undergoing a criminal investigation.

NATIONAL
Obama to Make First Visit as President to U.S. Mosque Next Week
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/01/31/obama-to-make-first-visit-as-president-to-u-s-mosque-next-week/
President Barack Obama will make his first visit as president to a U.S. mosque Wednesday in a defense of religious freedom, the White House said, following a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric in the United States.

"I’m Gay and I’m a Priest, Period"
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/im-gay-and-im-a-priest-period/2016/01/31/ab09c83e-bfb6-11e5-83d4-42e3bceea902_story.html
The Catholic Church is in the throes of a historic period of debate about homosexuality. Between Pope Francis’s now-famous “Who am I to judge?” line and two high-profile, global meetings he called in the past year to open up discussion about sex and family, there has perhaps never been as much dialogue among Catholics about how far to extend the welcome mat to gay people. 

Meet the Atheist who Quizzes Presidential Candidates About their Faith
by Daniel Silliman
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/02/meet-the-atheist-who-quizzes-presidential-candidates-about-their-faith/
Justin Scott, a self-employed photographer and Iowa native, spoke to every major presidential contender and more than a few of the minor ones. At pizza parlors and coffee shops, meet-ups and rallies, Scott asked the candidates about atheists. He asked them if they support the separation of church and state and why an atheist voter should vote for them. 

American Muslim Women Explain Why They Do – or Don’t – Cover Up
by Tom Gjelten
NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/02/02/465180930/american-muslim-women-explain-why-they-do-or-dont-cover
For an American Muslim woman, deciding whether or not to wear the headscarf — or hijab — isn't a choice to be taken lightly.

In Iowa, Campaign Season Finds Muslims Caught in Harsh Spotlight
by David McGuffin
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2016/01/31/465075199/in-iowa-campaign-season-finds-muslims-caught-in-a-harsh-spotlight
Many of Cedar Rapids' Muslims have long roots in the U.S. Yet the political climate there has them feeling out of place. "I just want to live my life without having to explain myself," says one imam. 

Voters Don't See Trump As Religious, But They Also Don't Seem To Care
by Tom Gjelten
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2016/01/28/464754502/voters-dont-see-trump-as-religious-but-also-dont-seem-to-care
The findings of two recent surveys call into question a long-standing principle of U.S. politics — that voters prefer candidates with strong faith beliefs. 

Don’t be Fooled: Iowa Evangelicals of Media Fame do not Represent the Nation’s Evangelicals
by Collin Hansen
Washington Post commentary
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/01/dont-be-fooled-iowa-evangelicals-of-media-fame-do-not-represent-the-nations-evangelicals/
Iowa’s evangelical population, a smaller percentage of the overall electorate than in the Deep South states, has been especially politicized by the famous caucuses and their lavish attention from media and presidential candidates every four years. Wherever money and attention flow freely, you’ll be sure to find many self-appointed evangelical spokesmen who promise to deliver the vote like some kind of warden boss.