Today's religion and world affairs news from the United
States and around the globe: Thailand deports Chinese Uighurs, Pope Francis apologizes to Bolivians, and a Boston congregation defies their archdiocese.
AROUND THE WORLD
Chinese Uighurs Face ‘Grim’ Return as Authorities Raise Terrorist Claims
by Simon Denyer
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-uighurs-face-grim-return-as-authorities-ra...
Thailand’s military government has faced a storm of international criticism for forcing over 100 Uighur refugees to return to China. Activists and others accuse China of waging campaigns of repression against the religious, cultural and political rights of the Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking minority in western China.
In Bolivia, Pope Francis Apologizes for Church’s ‘Grave Sins’
by Jim Yardley and William Neuman
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/world/americas/pope-francis-bolivia-catholic-church-apology.html?r...
Pope Francis offered a direct apology on Thursday for the complicity of the Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America during the colonial era, even as he called for a global social movement to shatter a “new colonialism” that has fostered inequality, materialism and the exploitation of the poor.
IS Offers a Mix of Brutality, Charity During Ramadan
by Hamza Hendawi and Bassem Mroue
Washington Post/AP
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/is-offers-a-mix-of-brutality-charity-during-ramadan...
During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Islamic State group is showing two faces to the millions who live under its rule in Iraq and Syria--handing out food and alms to the poor to tout their adherence to the month’s spirit of compassion while meting out sharp punishment to anyone caught breaking the daily fast.
Bashing and Wooing China
Economist
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21657419-pious-sinophobia-wont-deflect-turkeys-strategic-dreams...
Turkey’s government echoes the protesters’ complaints, albeit more diplomatically. The foreign ministry said that news of Uighurs being “banned from fasting and fulfilling other acts of worship had been received with sadness by the Turkish public.” (…) China denies that it has banned the fast, but it certainly does curb Uighur culture and it tells bureaucrats, teachers and students not to observe Ramadan.
Russia’s Denial of Srebrenica Genocide
New York Times editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/opinion/russias-denial-of-srebrenica-genocide.html?ref=opinion
There is no doubt that genocide is what happened in July 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces under Gen. Ratko Mladic--whose trial for war crimes is underway in The Hague--took over the town, where more than 40,000 people had sought shelter from the war in what was designated a United Nations “safe haven.” (…) It was the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II and both the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice have ruled that it meets the legal definition of genocide.
How International Relations Got Religion, and Got It Wrong
by Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/07/09/how-international-relations-got-religi...
Twenty years ago, most scholars of international relations viewed religion as private and irrelevant to global politics. Today, that has profoundly changed. (…) This new attention to religion is, at its base, predominantly about Islam. From 9/11 to the rise of the Islamic State, the “problem” that Islam is said to represent has led to a moral panic in Western democracies.
DOMESTIC
Catholics Defy Boston Archdiocese With 11-Year Vigil to Keep Church
by Jess Bidgood
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/us/catholics-defy-boston-archdiocese-with-11-year-vigil-to-keep-ch...
The parishioners here gather every Sunday for acts of communion and epic resistance. The building is deconsecrated. The parish was, like dozens of others in the region, slated to close in 2004, but some of its members, who call themselves Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini, have kept it open by keeping at least one member inside the church at all times--a dogged effort called a vigil.
Evangelical Pastors Gather To Learn Another Calling: Politics
by Tom Gjelten
NPR Religion
http://www.npr.org/2015/07/10/421684410/evangelical-pastors-gather-to-learn-another-calling-politics
Hundreds of conservative evangelical pastors across the country are being trained to run for political office. The project is part of an effort to mobilize an "army" to do battle in the culture wars.
Indiana’s Church of Cannabis Files Religious Liberty Suit
by Stephanie Wang
Washington Post/Religion News Service
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/indianas-church-of-cannabis-files-religious-liberty-...
The First Church of Cannabis filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state of Indiana and city of Indianapolis, challenging state laws on possession and use of marijuana as infringing upon religious beliefs. The complaint, filed in Marion County Circuit Court, contends that cannabis is the church’s sacrament and its members believe marijuana “brings us closer to ourselves and others.”
Chinese Uighurs Face ‘Grim’ Return as Authorities Raise Terrorist Claims
by Simon Denyer
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-uighurs-face-grim-return-as-authorities-ra...
Thailand’s military government has faced a storm of international criticism for forcing over 100 Uighur refugees to return to China. Activists and others accuse China of waging campaigns of repression against the religious, cultural and political rights of the Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking minority in western China.
In Bolivia, Pope Francis Apologizes for Church’s ‘Grave Sins’
by Jim Yardley and William Neuman
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/world/americas/pope-francis-bolivia-catholic-church-apology.html?r...
Pope Francis offered a direct apology on Thursday for the complicity of the Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America during the colonial era, even as he called for a global social movement to shatter a “new colonialism” that has fostered inequality, materialism and the exploitation of the poor.
IS Offers a Mix of Brutality, Charity During Ramadan
by Hamza Hendawi and Bassem Mroue
Washington Post/AP
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/is-offers-a-mix-of-brutality-charity-during-ramadan...
During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Islamic State group is showing two faces to the millions who live under its rule in Iraq and Syria--handing out food and alms to the poor to tout their adherence to the month’s spirit of compassion while meting out sharp punishment to anyone caught breaking the daily fast.
Bashing and Wooing China
Economist
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21657419-pious-sinophobia-wont-deflect-turkeys-strategic-dreams...
Turkey’s government echoes the protesters’ complaints, albeit more diplomatically. The foreign ministry said that news of Uighurs being “banned from fasting and fulfilling other acts of worship had been received with sadness by the Turkish public.” (…) China denies that it has banned the fast, but it certainly does curb Uighur culture and it tells bureaucrats, teachers and students not to observe Ramadan.
Russia’s Denial of Srebrenica Genocide
New York Times editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/opinion/russias-denial-of-srebrenica-genocide.html?ref=opinion
There is no doubt that genocide is what happened in July 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces under Gen. Ratko Mladic--whose trial for war crimes is underway in The Hague--took over the town, where more than 40,000 people had sought shelter from the war in what was designated a United Nations “safe haven.” (…) It was the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II and both the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice have ruled that it meets the legal definition of genocide.
How International Relations Got Religion, and Got It Wrong
by Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/07/09/how-international-relations-got-religi...
Twenty years ago, most scholars of international relations viewed religion as private and irrelevant to global politics. Today, that has profoundly changed. (…) This new attention to religion is, at its base, predominantly about Islam. From 9/11 to the rise of the Islamic State, the “problem” that Islam is said to represent has led to a moral panic in Western democracies.
DOMESTIC
Catholics Defy Boston Archdiocese With 11-Year Vigil to Keep Church
by Jess Bidgood
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/us/catholics-defy-boston-archdiocese-with-11-year-vigil-to-keep-ch...
The parishioners here gather every Sunday for acts of communion and epic resistance. The building is deconsecrated. The parish was, like dozens of others in the region, slated to close in 2004, but some of its members, who call themselves Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini, have kept it open by keeping at least one member inside the church at all times--a dogged effort called a vigil.
Evangelical Pastors Gather To Learn Another Calling: Politics
by Tom Gjelten
NPR Religion
http://www.npr.org/2015/07/10/421684410/evangelical-pastors-gather-to-learn-another-calling-politics
Hundreds of conservative evangelical pastors across the country are being trained to run for political office. The project is part of an effort to mobilize an "army" to do battle in the culture wars.
Indiana’s Church of Cannabis Files Religious Liberty Suit
by Stephanie Wang
Washington Post/Religion News Service
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/indianas-church-of-cannabis-files-religious-liberty-...
The First Church of Cannabis filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state of Indiana and city of Indianapolis, challenging state laws on possession and use of marijuana as infringing upon religious beliefs. The complaint, filed in Marion County Circuit Court, contends that cannabis is the church’s sacrament and its members believe marijuana “brings us closer to ourselves and others.”
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