Today's religion and world affairs from the United States and across the globe: Syria's radicalization, Bangladesh contemplates secularization, Tajikistan fights political Islam, Secretary John Kerry declares ISIS attacks "genocide," and Obama's supreme court nominee undergoes speculation as a defender of religious freedom.
BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
After Ivory Coast Al Qaeda Attack, Is Senegal Next? Muslim Population, Unemployment Make Tourist Destination A Target
by Morgan Winsor
International Business Times
http://www.ibtimes.com/after-ivory-coast-al-qaeda-attack-senegal-next-muslim-population-unemployment...
“Very few people worry about violence in general and that’s been true for a long time,” said Katherine Marshall, a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University in Washington and former World Bank country director for the Sahel region of West Africa. “They are a society with rules and norms and order that does look to the outside world and navigates between the West and the East, but in a way that is more positive than in many other places.”
Six Reasons Why ISIS Attacks on Christians Should Be Declared Genocide
by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra
Christianity Today
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/march-web-only/when-politicize-persecution-isis-genocide-ch...
“It matters because it will bring pressure—mainly moral, but some legal—on a reluctant administration to take decisive action against ISIS. If in fact this factor is what is deterring the administration from making a firm decision on genocide—one that includes Christians with other targeted minorities—that is deplorable. A genocide declaration should be a slam dunk—legally, politically, and morally—for any reasonable person or institution,"--Thomas Farr, director, Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center.
AROUND THE WORLD
How Muslim Governments Impose Ignorance
by Mustafa Akyol
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/opinion/how-muslim-governments-imposeignorance.html
Today, many Muslims, including those who censor books or punish “heretics,” long for that “golden age of Islam” and lament that our civilization is no longer great. Few seem to realize, however, that the greatness of Islam was made possible thanks to its openness to foreign cultures and ideas.
Evolution of and Insurgency: How Syria was Radicalized
by Charles Lister
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2016-03-14/evolution-insurgency
Syria is now home to the largest and most capable concentration of Sunni jihadist militants anywhere in the world, and it will be for a long time to come. Whatever progress the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State makes in the coming months, the sheer chaos and destruction resulting from five years of conflict ensure that instability will reign supreme in Syria for years to come. And here, jihadists have the most to gain.
Give Fear a Chance, Says Anglicanism’s Top Cleric
Economist blog
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/03/religion-hope-and-fear
According to Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and head of the global Anglican Communion, there are times when "fear is a valid emotion." The word "fear" has many shades of meaning, from the everyday and banal to the mysterious and existential. But this is still a rather unusual note for a leader of faith to be striking. It is certainly true that, for sceptics and believers alike, religion and fear have always been closely intertwined, but not in the way the archbishop is proposing.
2 Female Suicide Bombers Attack Mosque Near Maiduguri, Nigeria, Killing Over 20
by Dionne Searcey
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/world/africa/nigeria-suicide-bombers-attack.html?ref=world&_r=0
Two female suicide bombers detonated explosives Wednesday morning in an attack on a mosque in northeastern Nigeria, killing 24 people and wounding 18. Boko Haram has been terrorizing this part of Nigeria for years and is suspected of carrying out the attacks, according to a statement from Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, a spokesman for the Nigerian Army.
What Really Unites and Divides American and Israeli Jews
by Michael Barnett
Washington Post Monkey Cage
http://wpo.st/ZAcM1
Last week the Pew Center released a survey of Israeli Jews. Coupled with its 2013 survey of American Jews, it provides an interesting portrait of how these two large Jewish communities compare — and how they feel about each other. The differences are starker than surface appearances suggest; indeed, American Jews and Israeli Jews — without too much exaggeration — might be characterized as brothers from different planets.
After 28 Years, Bangladesh Revives Case to Drop Islam as State Religion
Reuters FaithWorld
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/03/16/after-28-years-bangladesh-revives-case-to-drop-islam-...
The move to reaffirm Bangladesh as a secular nation comes amid a wave of militant violence in recent months, including a series of bomb attacks against mosques and Hindu temples. Some of the attacks, including the killing of a Hindu priest, have been claimed by Islamic State.
Tajikistan's Fight Against Political Islam
by Steve Swerdlow
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/tajikistan/2016-03-14/tajikistans-fight-against-political-is...
Tajikistan has some of the world’s most restrictive laws on religion. But for the most part, the world had not paid much attention—that is, until news broke last May that Tajikistan’s U.S.-trained Special Forces chief, Gulmurod Khalimov, defected from his position and joined the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), which has been active just across Tajikistan’s border in Afghanistan.
Pope Francis Sets Canonization Date for Mother Teresa: Sept. 4
NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/15/470495530/pope-francis-sets-canonization-date-for-...
In addition to Mother Teresa, four other Catholic figures — who lived in Argentina, Mexico, Sweden, and Poland — will become saints this year.
DOMESTIC
The U.S. House Just Voted Unanimously that the Islamic State Commits ‘Genocide.” Now What?
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/03/15/the-u-s-house-just-voted-unanimously...
For many years, some Christians — particularly Catholics — have urged a focus on the deteriorating conditions for Christians in the Middle East, but the campaign has escalated significantly with the terrifying rise of Islamic State groups, and has expanded to include more of the many religious minorities the militants terrorize, including Shiite Muslims, Sunni Kurds and others.
Rabbis Organize Boycott of Trump’s Speech to Pro-Israel Group
by Rosalind Helderman
Washington Post
http://wpo.st/S6cM1
About 40 rabbis have said that they plan to participate in the protest of Trump’s appearance Monday at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to an organizer. The planned demonstration comes as members of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group of major GOP donors, is expected to debate how to deal with Trump during its annual meeting next month in Las Vegas.
The LGBT Politics of Christian Colleges
by David Wheeler
Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/03/the-lgbt-politics-of-christian-colleges/473373/
In the past, many conservative Christian colleges condemned both same-sex attraction and same-sex intimacy. But now that gay marriage is legalized, and as the country undergoes broad cultural shifts, that’s changing. Some of these same schools are now attempting to separate sexual identity from sexual behavior in their policies and campus customs. However awkwardly, they’re trying to welcome gay students while preserving rules against same-sex “behavior.”
Merrick Garland’s Record on Religious Freedom Cases, Including the Contraception Case Now Before the Supreme Court
by Julie Zauzmer
Washington Post
http://wpo.st/9DcM1
In Merrick Garland’s 19 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, cases related to religious freedom have come across his docket several times. Garland's rulings do not reveal a pattern that would indicate what guiding principle he might bring to the Supreme Court, if he manages to make it through the Senate. But they do invite curiosity.
Does Islamic Faith Strengthen American Patriotism?
by Juleyka Lantigua-Williams
Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/islam-strengthens-muslim-patriotism/473838/
A new survey calls into question a number of widely-held views about the Muslim community in the United States. The poll, which was conducted in January—two weeks before President Obama visited a mosque in Baltimore—found that among those respondents who said their faith is important to their identity, 91 percent affirmed that “being American is important to how they think of themselves,” compared to just 68 percent of those with weaker religious ties.
The Supreme Court Could Become Mostly Liberal Jews and Conservative Catholics
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/03/16/the-supreme-court-could-become-mostl...
If President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, is confirmed, the court will shift to an even more fascinating makeup: conservative Catholics and liberal Jews — though not entirely, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama pick, is also Catholic. While striking, such a division is muted by the fact that the Supreme Court is a place of a lot of consensus.
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