Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: ISIS, the EU and Palestine, elections in Tunisia, Pope Francis goes to Europe, jihadism in France, and interfaith Thanksgiving.
AROUND THE WORLD
Islamic State Imposes a Reign of Fear in Iraqi Hospitals
by Eric Cunningham
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/islamic-state-imposes-a-reign-of-fear-in-iraqi-hospitals/2014/11/25/94476f3e-6382-11e4-ab86-46000e1d0035_story.html
The Islamic State’s efforts to run Mosul’s health-care system provide a glimpse into its efforts to build a caliphate, or Islamic state, in Iraq and Syria. Despite their victories on the battlefield, the jihadists have struggled as everyday administrators in Mosul, with the city’s hospitals grappling with daily power outages and shortages of medicine. The Sunni fighters have also imposed measures that have alienated staff and compromised the lives of patients, doctors say.
A Very Secular Jihad
by Crispian Cuss
Al Jazeera op-ed
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/11/very-secular-jihad-201411257617424922.html
Western fighters on the Kurdish front lines is a counter-narrative to the thousands of foreigners who have joined ISIL.
An Israeli Argument for the E.U. to Recognize Palestine
by Ishaan Tharoor
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/11/25/an-israeli-argument-for-the-e-u-to-recognize-palestine/
Lack of progress toward a two-state solution—and the fact that many in Israel's current right-wing government have little interest in seeing it come to fruition—have led to this wave of symbolic recognitions of Palestine. They don't make a viable Palestinian state any more real: Israel continues to occupy the West Bank and reduced whole swathes of the Gaza Strip to rubble during its summer offensive against the Islamist militant group, Hamas. But it does put the spotlight on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which critics say has pushed the likelihood of a two-state solution further out of sight.
Runoff Will Decide President of Tunisia
by Carlotta Gall
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/world/africa/tunisia-presidential-election-to-be-decided-in-runoff.html?ref=todayspaper
Tunisia’s first democratic presidential election will be decided in a runoff next month between the two leading candidates, President Moncef Marzouki and Beji Caid Essebsi, a former prime minister, the election board announced on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka's Catholic Church Urges Government Not to Use Pope's Visit to Help Election Campaign
by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez
Reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/25/uk-sri-lanka-pope-politics-idUKKCN0J922V20141125
Sri Lanka's Catholic Church has urged the government not to use a forthcoming visit by Pope Francis to help its re-election campaign after media reported posters had appeared depicting the pontiff blessing President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
At European Parliament, Pope Bluntly Critiques a Continent’s Malaise
by Andrew Higgins
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/world/europe/pope-francis-strasbourg-european-parliament.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
While the Roman Catholic Church has been losing followers in Europe for decades, what the pope says still carries weight. His speech, which he described as a “message of hope and encouragement,” amounted to a strikingly blunt critique of Europe’s malaise from the first non-European pontiff in more than a millennium.
Secular France Moves to Confront Jihadism After Slow Start
by Nicholas Vinocur and Chine Labbe
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/26/us-france-jihadis-insight-idUSKCN0JA0XQ20141126
France has been slow to respond to the spread of jihadist ideology because strict state secularism forbids any incursion into individuals' religious affairs. This has created a breeding ground that has pulled in converts like Guillaume, radicalized while in prison for assaulting a police officer.
Sharia and English Law: A Secularist Success
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2014/11/sharia-and-english-law
The Law Society (a prestigious professional body for solicitors) reversed a guidance note to its members designed to help them formulate an Islamic will. The note recalled, for example, that in many circumstances a male relative can expect to receive twice as much as a female, and that non-Muslims cannot inherit at all.
DOMESTIC
Conservative Pastors Vow Not to Perform Civil Marriages at All—Gay or Straight
by Jonathan Merritt
Religion News Service
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/25/first-things-gay-marriage-pledge_n_6194230.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
What’s the surest way conservative pastors can avoid any government mandate to perform same-sex marriages? According to one prominent religious journal and a growing number of ministers, the answer is not to perform any civil marriages at all.
My Family Is Muslim, Pakistani, African American and Christian. We Celebrate Thanksgiving by Shooting Each Other With Paint.
by Lisa Argrette Ahmad
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/26/my-family-is-muslim-pakistani-african-american-and-christian-we-celebrate-thanksgiving-by-shooting-each-other-with-paint/
My husband offered a mash-up of the Lord’s Prayer and Bis-mi-Allah. I served turkey and lamb, collard greens and biryani. We spoke Urdu and English, wore saris and slacks. But after years of being politically correct, I wanted something more. So last Thanksgiving, I declared: “We’re going paintballing.”
Islamic State Imposes a Reign of Fear in Iraqi Hospitals
by Eric Cunningham
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/islamic-state-imposes-a-reign-of-fear-in-iraqi-hospitals/2014/11/25/94476f3e-6382-11e4-ab86-46000e1d0035_story.html
The Islamic State’s efforts to run Mosul’s health-care system provide a glimpse into its efforts to build a caliphate, or Islamic state, in Iraq and Syria. Despite their victories on the battlefield, the jihadists have struggled as everyday administrators in Mosul, with the city’s hospitals grappling with daily power outages and shortages of medicine. The Sunni fighters have also imposed measures that have alienated staff and compromised the lives of patients, doctors say.
A Very Secular Jihad
by Crispian Cuss
Al Jazeera op-ed
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/11/very-secular-jihad-201411257617424922.html
Western fighters on the Kurdish front lines is a counter-narrative to the thousands of foreigners who have joined ISIL.
An Israeli Argument for the E.U. to Recognize Palestine
by Ishaan Tharoor
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/11/25/an-israeli-argument-for-the-e-u-to-recognize-palestine/
Lack of progress toward a two-state solution—and the fact that many in Israel's current right-wing government have little interest in seeing it come to fruition—have led to this wave of symbolic recognitions of Palestine. They don't make a viable Palestinian state any more real: Israel continues to occupy the West Bank and reduced whole swathes of the Gaza Strip to rubble during its summer offensive against the Islamist militant group, Hamas. But it does put the spotlight on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which critics say has pushed the likelihood of a two-state solution further out of sight.
Runoff Will Decide President of Tunisia
by Carlotta Gall
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/world/africa/tunisia-presidential-election-to-be-decided-in-runoff.html?ref=todayspaper
Tunisia’s first democratic presidential election will be decided in a runoff next month between the two leading candidates, President Moncef Marzouki and Beji Caid Essebsi, a former prime minister, the election board announced on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka's Catholic Church Urges Government Not to Use Pope's Visit to Help Election Campaign
by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez
Reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/25/uk-sri-lanka-pope-politics-idUKKCN0J922V20141125
Sri Lanka's Catholic Church has urged the government not to use a forthcoming visit by Pope Francis to help its re-election campaign after media reported posters had appeared depicting the pontiff blessing President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
At European Parliament, Pope Bluntly Critiques a Continent’s Malaise
by Andrew Higgins
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/world/europe/pope-francis-strasbourg-european-parliament.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
While the Roman Catholic Church has been losing followers in Europe for decades, what the pope says still carries weight. His speech, which he described as a “message of hope and encouragement,” amounted to a strikingly blunt critique of Europe’s malaise from the first non-European pontiff in more than a millennium.
Secular France Moves to Confront Jihadism After Slow Start
by Nicholas Vinocur and Chine Labbe
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/26/us-france-jihadis-insight-idUSKCN0JA0XQ20141126
France has been slow to respond to the spread of jihadist ideology because strict state secularism forbids any incursion into individuals' religious affairs. This has created a breeding ground that has pulled in converts like Guillaume, radicalized while in prison for assaulting a police officer.
Sharia and English Law: A Secularist Success
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2014/11/sharia-and-english-law
The Law Society (a prestigious professional body for solicitors) reversed a guidance note to its members designed to help them formulate an Islamic will. The note recalled, for example, that in many circumstances a male relative can expect to receive twice as much as a female, and that non-Muslims cannot inherit at all.
DOMESTIC
Conservative Pastors Vow Not to Perform Civil Marriages at All—Gay or Straight
by Jonathan Merritt
Religion News Service
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/25/first-things-gay-marriage-pledge_n_6194230.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
What’s the surest way conservative pastors can avoid any government mandate to perform same-sex marriages? According to one prominent religious journal and a growing number of ministers, the answer is not to perform any civil marriages at all.
My Family Is Muslim, Pakistani, African American and Christian. We Celebrate Thanksgiving by Shooting Each Other With Paint.
by Lisa Argrette Ahmad
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/26/my-family-is-muslim-pakistani-african-american-and-christian-we-celebrate-thanksgiving-by-shooting-each-other-with-paint/
My husband offered a mash-up of the Lord’s Prayer and Bis-mi-Allah. I served turkey and lamb, collard greens and biryani. We spoke Urdu and English, wore saris and slacks. But after years of being politically correct, I wanted something more. So last Thanksgiving, I declared: “We’re going paintballing.”
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