In the News, July 8, 2015

July 8, 2015

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: an Israeli minister speaks out against reform Jews, the Pope meets a challenge in South America, and a church discusses whether women should be ordained.
AROUND THE WORLD
Church-state Tensions in Bolivia Cloud Pope Francis’ Visit
by Carlos Valdez
Washington Post/AP
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/church-state-tensions-in-bolivia-cloud-pope-franci...
President Evo Morales is a huge fan of Pope Francis, and says he couldn’t be happier they are of the same mind that capitalism promotes social inequalities that leave the poor by the wayside. (…) Cheered by environmentalists abroad for his demand that wealthy nations do more to combat climate change, Morales has been under fire at home from critics, including activists in the church, who say he puts extracting petroleum ahead of clean water and forests.  

Israeli Minister Says Reform Jews Are Not Really Jewish
by Isabel Kershner
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/08/world/middleeast/israeli-minister-says-reform-jews-are-not-really-...
Israel’s strictly Orthodox minister of religious services said Tuesday that he did not consider Reform Jews to be Jewish, inflaming internal discord over religious issues and underscoring tensions with American Jews, who mostly belong to the more liberal streams of Conservative and Reform Judaism. (…) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Mr. Azoulay’s remarks. In a statement, he described them as “hurtful” and said they “do not reflect the position of the government.”  

In Andes, Pope’s Ecological Line Faces Resistance
by John Otis and Francis X. Rocca
Wall Street Journal
http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-andes-popes-ecological-line-faces-resistance-1436312554
In a nod to the countries he is visiting—Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay, all with strong indigenous traditions where the Pachamama, or Mother Earth, is central to life—the pope said “we can no longer turn our backs on reality, on our brothers and sisters, on Mother Earth.” This spine of the Andes illustrates the complexity of green politics the pope faces.  

A Druze Divided
by Noam Raydan
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/lebanon/2015-07-06/druze-divided
The Syrian war has revealed fissures within the Lebanese Druze community. Some Druze sympathize with the Syrian regime and its ally, Hezbollah, whereas others have maintained their loyalty to Jumblatt, a pragmatic leader who’s seeking to keep sectarian tensions at bay. His mission is certainly difficult, but, so far, his policies have yielded positive and important results, especially in Lebanon.  

The Meaning of Redemption
by Erasmus Blog
Economist op-ed
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/07/euro-theology-and-values
As religious-determinist theories go, an interesting one was put forward by Giles Fraser, a well-known left-wing priest of the Church of England, in a recent radio broadcast. He suggested that behind the financial standoff between Greece and Germany, there was a theological difference (between western and eastern Christians) in the understanding of how humans are reconciled with God.  

DOMESTIC
Kansas Governor: State Can’t Punish Religious Groups Over Same-sex Marriage Objections
by Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/07/07/kansas-governor-state-cant-punish-relig...
The order comes nearly two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, paving the way for gay couples to marry across the country. It is the latest sign that the battle has shifted to the issue of religious liberties, and how much leeway people of faith have to opt out of providing services to or recognizing gay unions.  

Seventh-Day Adventists Set To Reopen Discussion About Ordaining Women
by Jared Greenhouse
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/07/7th-day-adventists-ordination-women_n_7747596.html?utm_hp_r...
At a conference in San Antonio on Friday, the Seventh-day Adventist church will address the issue of whether women should be ordained within the church. It's not a new issue, of course, (…) the question has been raised nearly since the religion's inception 150 years ago.  

What Are the Limits of ‘Religious Liberty’?
by Emily Bazelon
New York Times Magazine
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/magazine/what-are-the-limits-of-religious-liberty.html
Making exceptions to the law for people of faith has become part of the American definition of religious tolerance, part of our ethos of live and let live. It has also helped keep the peace in a polyglot nation. (…) And yet we’ve arrived at an unfortunate impasse over the meaning of religious liberty.  

How American Muslims Are Helping Black Churches Rebuild After Spate Of Fires
by Carol Kuruvilla
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/07/muslims-rebuild-black-churches_n_7747794.html?1436308492
The “Respond With Love” campaign, organized by the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, the Arab-American Association of New York and Ummah Wide during the holy month of Ramadan, has already raised close to $25,000 with the help of more than 500 individual supporters. “All houses of worship are sanctuaries, a place where all should feel safe, a place we can seek refuge when the world is too much to bear,” the campaign organizers wrote on their fundraising page.
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