In the News, May 7, 2015

May 7, 2015

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: freedom of conscience in the Middle East, how ISIS attracts followers, and reactions to the attack on a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas. 
AROUND THE WORLD
Middle East: Taking Liberties
by Borzou Daragahi
Financial Times op-ed
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/91774db6-f300-11e4-a979-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3ZTBXpZvB
Mr. Ramzy’s harrowing experience comes amid a broader debate about freedom of conscience in an Arab world teeming with change, turmoil and violence rooted in religion. Buoyed by repressive laws and conservative clerical establishments, Arab societies stigmatise religious minorities and punish those who challenge religious doctrine, according to human rights groups. 

Preaching Hate and Sectarianism in the Gulf
by Oren Adaki and David Andrew Weinberg
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/05/preaching-hate-and-sectarianism-in-the-gulf-saudi-arabia-qatar-uae-saad-bin-ateeq-al-ateeq/
As Saudi Arabia expands its involvement in wars across the Middle East, the kingdom has given a platform to an extremist cleric who seems to believe this struggle is not just against the Islamic State or rivals in Yemen. That America’s allies would tolerate a religious leader as extreme as this Saudi preacher poses a threat to U.S. interests and suggests the Gulf is failing to live up to its explicit commitments to repudiate the Islamic State’s hateful ideology. 

The Gulf's Failure in Yemen
by Farea Al-Muslimi
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-05-06/gulfs-failure-yemen
Since late March, a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition has been bombing Yemen extensively in an attempt to push back the Houthis, an insurgent Shia group, and their ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The coalition’s goal is to force the Houthis to retreat and to weaken Saleh’s hold on power. But so far, the only definitive outcome of the war is civilian devastation: At least a thousand Yemenis have died, thousands more have been injured, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes. 

From Hip-Hop to Jihad, How the Islamic State Became a Magnet for Converts
by Anthony Faiola and Souad Mekhennet
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/from-hip-hop-to-jihad-how-the-islamic-state-became-a-magnet-for-converts/2015/05/06/b1358758-d23f-11e4-8b1e-274d670aa9c9_story.html
She also became part of a growing crisis in Europe, where a surging number of young people from non-Muslim homes are flocking to the Middle East to heed the call of violent jihad. It is happening, terror experts say, as converts emerge as some of the most dangerous and fanatical adherents to radical Islam—a fact driven home this week by Elton Simpson, a 30-year-old American convert who joined one other man in opening fire on a Garland, Tex., contest for cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. 

China Protests Against U.S. Report Citing “Severe Violations” of Religious Freedom
by Tom Heneghan
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/05/05/china-protests-against-u-s-report-citing-severe-violations-of-religious-freedom/
China has lodged a protest with the United States after a U.S. government commission said Chinese violations of religious freedom were “severe” and “systematic,” the Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan U.S. federal government body, said in a report last week that there were “unprecedented violations” against Christians, Buddhists and Muslims in China last year. 

Christian Sect Killings in Angola Shrouded in Fear and Mystery
by Herculano Coroado
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/05/06/christian-sect-killings-in-angola-shrouded-in-fear-and-mystery/
The only traces of thousands of Angolan Christian sect members who were camped in these hills are burnt-out vehicles, shacks pocked with bullet holes and bloodstains in the soil. The details of a police raid on April 16 in the remote hills of central Huambo province have been fiercely contested, sharpening the divide between the ruling MPLA and the main opposition party UNITA, which fought on opposing sides in a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. 

DOMESTIC
Free Speech vs. Hate Speech
New York Times editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/opinion/free-speech-vs-hate-speech.html?_r=0
There is no question that images ridiculing religion, however offensive they may be to believers, qualify as protected free speech in the United States and most Western democracies. There is also no question that however offensive the images, they do not justify murder, and that it is incumbent on leaders of all religious faiths to make this clear to their followers. But it is equally clear that the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest in Garland, Tex., was not really about free speech. It was an exercise in bigotry and hatred posing as a blow for freedom. 

Shooting Clouds Life as Both Muslim and Texan
by Manny Fernandez and Laurie Goodstein
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/us/muslims-garland-texas.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
The attack at a gathering that showcased artworks depicting the Prophet Muhammad has prompted Muslims to condemn extremism of any kind while also questioning when free speech becomes hate speech. 

The Texas Attack Was a Failure, but It Shows That ISIS’s Influence Is Growing
by Joshua Keating
Slate
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/05/05/the_texas_attack_was_a_failure_but_it_shows_that_isis_s_influence_is_growing.html
It would be misleading to suggest that the Texas attack means ISIS is now able to orchestrate attacks against the United States. But if this was indeed an ISIS-inspired attack that actually got to the point of execution, it’s still a troubling milestone.  

Why I, a Christian Mother of a Muslim Daughter, Fear Our Nation’s Islamophobia
by Patricia Raybon
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/06/why-i-a-christian-mother-of-a-muslim-daughter-fear-our-nations-islamophobia/?tid=sm_fb
We are a nation divided, of course, and always have been. Racially, as a result, we’ve turned paranoid, and mixing faith into our divide makes us vicious. 

Religious Freedom Is Good for Business
by Brian Grim and Brian Walsh
RealClearReligion
http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2015/05/07/religious_freedom_is_good_for_business.html
New challenges periodically arise to the fundamental freedoms we have come to take for granted. When they do it is important to remember that—regardless of what our religious beliefs may be or not be—we all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. One crucial way in which our nation recognizes this is by providing broad, strong, and equal protections for all religions and all peaceful religious practices.
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