Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: religious tensions in South and Southeast Asia, capital punishment and faith, the resurgence of Pentecost celebrations, and the end of casual Christianity in the United States.
AROUND THE WORLD
Migrants Flooding Into Malaysia and Indonesia Trade One Nightmare for Another
by Chris Buckley and Austin Ramzy
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/world/asia/migrants-flooding-into-malaysia-trade-one-nightmare-for...
Malaysia and Indonesia agreed last week to shelter the migrants, and thousands more who may still be at sea, on the condition that they be returned home or resettled in third countries within a year. If the past is any guide, that goal may be hard to attain. Few countries seem willing to accept the migrants, even those who qualify as refugees deserving asylum; there is already a tremendous backlog of applicants seeking resettlement; and the agencies that deal with them are overwhelmed.
Monk Dubbed 'Buddhist Bin Laden' Targets Myanmar's Persecuted Muslims
by Shashank Bengali
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-ff-myanmar-monk-20150524-story.html#page=1
Ashin Wirathu, 46, might bear as much responsibility as any individual for the desperate exodus of Muslims from Myanmar aboard overcrowded fishing boats bound for Thailand and Malaysia. (...) He represents the blunt edge of systematic religious discrimination in Myanmar that has driven about 1 million Rohingyas, a Muslim minority group, to the farthest margins of society.
Islamist Group Is Banned
Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/world/asia/bangladesh-islamist-group-is-banned.html?ref=todayspape...
Bangladesh has banned a radical Islamist group, Ansarullah Bangla Team, accused of attacking and killing atheist bloggers and other writers.
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/05/religion-and-death-penalty
News stories about capital punishment, from the US to Indonesia and beyond are often tangled up with issues of faith.
Tongue Tied
by Benjamin Soloway
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/24/tongue-tied/
Pentecost — a holiday once celebrated on a scale rivaling Christmas or Easter — has faded into obscurity outside of Europe. Could it stage a comeback?
DOMESTIC
The Massive Undertaking That is the Pope Francis Visit
by Ivey DeJesus
PennLive.com
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/05/pope_francis_philadelphia_visi_7.html
As of Friday, 122 days remain until Pope Francis lands in Philadelphia for what is poised to be an historic visit. Some 2 million people are expected to descend on the city to catch a glimpse of the popular pope and take part in his Mass on Sunday, Sept. 27. For the executive director of the organization hosting the pontiff's visit it may feel as if there isn't enough time to pull this massive undertaking together, but with about four months left in the countdown, Donna C. Farrell isn't sweating it.
The End of Casual Christianity
by Mike Gerson
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-end-of-casual-christianity/2015/05/25/75e6b06c-009f-11e5-...
The assumption of faith has gradually — now more rapidly — fallen away. There may or may not be a decline in Christian practice. But we are certainly seeing the collapse of casual Christianity and of religious belief as a civic assumption.
Migrants Flooding Into Malaysia and Indonesia Trade One Nightmare for Another
by Chris Buckley and Austin Ramzy
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/world/asia/migrants-flooding-into-malaysia-trade-one-nightmare-for...
Malaysia and Indonesia agreed last week to shelter the migrants, and thousands more who may still be at sea, on the condition that they be returned home or resettled in third countries within a year. If the past is any guide, that goal may be hard to attain. Few countries seem willing to accept the migrants, even those who qualify as refugees deserving asylum; there is already a tremendous backlog of applicants seeking resettlement; and the agencies that deal with them are overwhelmed.
Monk Dubbed 'Buddhist Bin Laden' Targets Myanmar's Persecuted Muslims
by Shashank Bengali
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-ff-myanmar-monk-20150524-story.html#page=1
Ashin Wirathu, 46, might bear as much responsibility as any individual for the desperate exodus of Muslims from Myanmar aboard overcrowded fishing boats bound for Thailand and Malaysia. (...) He represents the blunt edge of systematic religious discrimination in Myanmar that has driven about 1 million Rohingyas, a Muslim minority group, to the farthest margins of society.
Islamist Group Is Banned
Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/world/asia/bangladesh-islamist-group-is-banned.html?ref=todayspape...
Bangladesh has banned a radical Islamist group, Ansarullah Bangla Team, accused of attacking and killing atheist bloggers and other writers.
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2015/05/religion-and-death-penalty
News stories about capital punishment, from the US to Indonesia and beyond are often tangled up with issues of faith.
Tongue Tied
by Benjamin Soloway
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/24/tongue-tied/
Pentecost — a holiday once celebrated on a scale rivaling Christmas or Easter — has faded into obscurity outside of Europe. Could it stage a comeback?
DOMESTIC
The Massive Undertaking That is the Pope Francis Visit
by Ivey DeJesus
PennLive.com
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/05/pope_francis_philadelphia_visi_7.html
As of Friday, 122 days remain until Pope Francis lands in Philadelphia for what is poised to be an historic visit. Some 2 million people are expected to descend on the city to catch a glimpse of the popular pope and take part in his Mass on Sunday, Sept. 27. For the executive director of the organization hosting the pontiff's visit it may feel as if there isn't enough time to pull this massive undertaking together, but with about four months left in the countdown, Donna C. Farrell isn't sweating it.
The End of Casual Christianity
by Mike Gerson
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-end-of-casual-christianity/2015/05/25/75e6b06c-009f-11e5-...
The assumption of faith has gradually — now more rapidly — fallen away. There may or may not be a decline in Christian practice. But we are certainly seeing the collapse of casual Christianity and of religious belief as a civic assumption.
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