Berkley Center

BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
Paul Elie's Passion for Stories
by James Breig
St Anthony Messenger 
http://repository.berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/160101BreigPaulEliesPassionStories.pdf
A profile of Paul Elie and the American Pilgrimage Project with Story Corps.
 
On the Middle East, Trump Sounds like a Statesman
by Drew Christiansen and Ra’fat Aldajani
National Catholic Reporter
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/middle-east-trump-sounds-statesman
When it comes to the hottest foreign policy issue in U.S. electoral politics, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr. Trump displays the sensitivities of a true statesman. He has raised eyebrows by espousing a more realistic and pragmatic approach than even former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. 

An Appeal to Our Fellow Catholics
by Robert George and George Weigel
National Review
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432437/donald-trump-catholic-opposition-statement
The open letter written by George and Weigel argues that "Donald Trump is manifestly unfit to be president of the United States."​ Signatories to the letter include the RFP's Thomas Farr and Timothy Shah. 

AROUND THE WORLD
Three Years on, Pope Leaves Catholics Conservatives Feeling Marginalized
by Philip Pullella and Tom Heneghan
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-anniversary-conservatives-idUSKCN0WD0TF
Three years after the election of Pope Francis, Roman Catholic conservatives are growing increasingly worried that he is quietly unraveling the legacy of his predecessors. Conservatives worry that behind the gentle facade lies a dangerous reformer who is diluting Catholic teaching on moral issues like homosexuality and divorce while focusing on social problems such as climate change and economic inequality. 

Officials in China Call for National Standards on Halal Food
by Javier C. Hernández and Adam Wu
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/world/asia/china-halal-food-standards.html?ribbon-ad-idx=16&rref=w...
Some of China’s more than 23 million Muslims worry that businesses routinely flout those guidelines, selling sweets laced with lard, for instance, or pork disguised as beef.As political leaders gathered in Beijing for the annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, officials once again raised the idea of imposing national standards on halal food. 

Fighting Extremism with Knowledge: Learning the Lessons of Muhammad
by Tom Gjelten
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/10/469788154/why-the-lessons-of-muhammad-really-really-matter-today
Many Muslims say radicals who cite the Prophet Muhammad to justify violence misrepresent his teachings. To combat ISIS, they say, means strengthening the faithful's understanding of Islam's founder. 

To Maintain Supply of Sex Slaves, ISIS Pushes Birth Control
by Rukmini Callimachi
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/world/middleeast/to-maintain-supply-of-sex-slaves-isis-pushes-birt...
Islamic State leaders have made sexual slavery as they believe it was practiced during the Prophet Muhammad’s time integral to the group’s operations, preying on the women and girls the group captured from the Yazidi religious minority almost two years ago. To keep the sex trade running, the fighters have aggressively pushed birth control on their victims so they can continue the abuse unabated while the women are passed among them. 

With Hamas Watching, Singer Creates a (Modest) Sensation
by Diaa Hadid and Majd Al Waheidi
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/14/world/middleeast/gaza-hamas-rawan-okasha.html?ref=world&_r=0
“Palestine is for its people,” Rawan Okasha crooned. “And the houses they destroyed,” referring to decades of conflict with Israel, “will be rebuilt by the intifada.” Young women in the front rows screamed. Men joined in the lyrics. But throughout the audience, monitors were watching for anything that might offend the pursed-lipped officials of Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, who had grudgingly allowed the rare concert. 

16 Killed in Terrorist Attack on Resort Hotels in Ivory Coast
by Loucoumane Coulibaly and Dionne Searcey
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/14/world/africa/gunmen-carry-out-fatal-attacks-at-resorts-in-ivory-co...
On Sunday gunmen opened fire on picnickers and swimmers enjoying a perfect day at three beach resort hotels near the Ivory Coast’s capital on Sunday, killing 16 people. The North African affiliate of Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released on Sunday evening that praised three “knights” who had carried it out. 

DOMESTIC
Banning Muslims from the United States in the World’s Dumbest Idea
by Christian Caryl
Foreign Policy op-ed
https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/08/banning-muslims-from-the-united-states-is-the-worlds-dumbest-id...
Donald Trump’s proposal is politically, morally, and strategically wrong. It also doesn’t make any sense. 

Trump’s Comments on Islam are Frightening
by Haroon Moghul
CNN op-ed
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/10/opinions/trump-islam-hates-us-comment-opinion-moghul/index.html
Donald Trump is America's worst Islamophobe. When I say that, I don't just mean that his bigotry is the most callous and shameless. It's that he knows better, which makes his rhetoric that much more dangerous. 

Did Billy Graham Prophesy over Donald Trump? What the Evangelist Gave the Billionaire.
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/03/14/did-billy-graham-prophesy-over-donal...
Reports spread rapidly last week across Christian media: Evangelical icon Billy Graham had prophesied over Donald Trump. The story came from charismatic televangelist Paula White, who told a Florida Trump rally about her close friendship with the magnate and how he’d asked her for a Bible signed by Graham, one of the most popular American spiritual leaders of the last century. 

The Holocaust and Jewish Identity
by Charles Krauthammer
Washington Post  op-ed
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-holocaust-and-the-jewish-identity/2016/03/10/0cfe842c-e7...
Anderson Cooper, in a recent Democratic debate, asked Sanders whether he was intentionally keeping his Judaism under wraps. “No,” answered Sanders: “I am very proud to be Jewish.” He then explained that the Holocaust had wiped out his father’s family. And that he remembered as a child seeing neighbors with concentration camp numbers tattooed on their arms. Being Jewish, he declared, “is an essential part of who I am as a human being.” 

Americans May be too Religious to Embrace Socialism
by Andrew R. Lewis and Paul A. Djupe
FiveThrityEight
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-may-be-too-religious-to-embrace-socialism/
Bernie Sanders has made socialism relevant again in this country. But will the U.S. join much of Western Europe in developing a successful socialist political tradition? Short of that, will the Sanders campaign ignite a new movement? Both are unlikely, at least for now, and a big part of the explanation why may lie in religion — religion inhibits socialism’s spread and explains its lack of political mobilization. 

Boston Globe Owner Pulls the Plug on Catholic Publication
by Craig Douglas
Boston Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2016/03/11/boston-globe-owner-john-henry-pulls-the-plug-on.ht...
In a letter to newsroom staff, Globe Editor Brian McGrory said the company made the "deeply difficult decision" to shutter Crux, effective April 1. The move will include an unspecified number of layoffs. McGrory's memo also confirmed that another stand-alone news operation, the technology-focused BetaBoston, will be rolled behind the Boston Globe's online paywall and absorbed into its main news operation.