Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: Ben Carson and Seventh-day Adventists, Islam in Indonesia and Myanmar, secularism in India and France, and foreign support for ISIS.
ROUND THE WORLD
India, France and Secularism
by Sylvie Kauffman
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/opinion/india-france-and-secularism.html?ref=opinion
Like the French, Indians tend to consider secularism as part of their national identity. And yet, intolerance is on the rise in India, where the number of attacks on minorities, particularly Muslims, and on secularist intellectuals by Hindu chauvinists is part of a disturbing trend.
Pope Francis Challenged in Synod Showing Vatican Divisions
by Sylvia Poggioli
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2015/10/26/451858186/pope-francis-challenged-in-synod-showing-vatican-divisions
Catholic bishops wrapped up a three-week gathering at the Vatican this weekend that focused on family issues, but was overshadowed by doctrinal differences.
World Catholic Leaders Appeal for Bold Climate Change Agreement
by Philip Pullella
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/10/26/world-catholic-leaders-appeal-for-bold-climate-change-agreement/
Roman Catholic leaders from around the world made an unprecedented joint appeal on Monday to a forthcoming U.N. conference on climate change to produce “a truly The appeal state that climate change had to be addressed as a social justice and that any agreement must be fair and ensure the poor and most vulnerable were not sold short.
Israel Sends Islamic Movement Sheik to Prison for Incitement
by William Booth and Ruth Eglash
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-sends-islamic-movement-sheik-to-prison-for-incitement/2015/10/27/d01460fa-78e2-11e5-a5e2-40d6b2ad18dd_story.html
An Israeli judge sentenced the firebrand sheik who leads a branch of the influential Islamic Movement in Israel to 11 months in jail on Tuesday for incitement that led to violent demonstrations at a holy site in Jerusalem years ago.
Kabul University Unlikely Host for First Afghan Women’s Studies Programme
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/10/26/kabul-university-unlikely-host-for-first-afghan-womens-studies-programme/
A group of Afghan students gathered on the leafy campus of Kabul University this week to embark on an unlikely course – the country’s first Master’s degree in gender and women’s studies. Advances made for women since U.S.-led troops ousted the Islamist Taliban in 2001 are held up as one of the wins of the war, but women are still regularly sidelined from political life and subject to violence in public and at home.
Foreign Fighters Financing
by Elisabeth Braw
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2015-10-25/foreign-fighters-financing
Young Europeans heading to Syria to join the self-declared Islamic State (also known as ISIS) proclaim that they are fighting for Islam against infidels of all kinds. But new investigations show that their financial dealings are less than halal.
Divided Central African Town Shows Pre-Election Christian-Muslim Rifts
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/10/26/divided-central-african-town-shows-pre-election-christian-muslim-rifts/
Two years after the majority Christian nation was rocked by a coup led by mostly Muslim Seleka rebels, triggering reprisals by the ‘anti-balaka’ militia, one of Africa’s poorest countries remains deeply divided.
Indonesia’s Aceh Province Enacts Strict Islamic Criminal Code for Muslims
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/10/26/indonesias-aceh-province-enacts-strict-islamic-criminal-code-for-muslims/
Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province has enacted a strict Islamic criminal code.Aceh is the only province in the Muslim-dominated country to adhere to sharia, Islamic law, which puts it at odds with other provinces where the vast majority of the population practices a moderate form of the religion.
Monks, PowerPoint Presentations, and Ethnic Cleansing
by Emanuel Stoakes
Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/26/evidence-links-myanmar-government-monks-ethnic-cleansing-rohingya/
Damning new evidence shows the Myanmar government's role in promoting anti-Muslim hatred. The idea of a vicious and well-organized Muslim threat is being encouraged by officials working within state agencies, no matter how little evidence emerges of its existence. Moreover, this appears to be taking place in coordination with parts of the monkhood, which is spreading the same message in the public sphere.
DOMESTIC
All Your Questions about Seventh-day Adventism and Ben Carson Answered
by Jessica Taylor
NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/27/452314794/all-your-questions-about-seventh-day-adventism-and-ben-carson-answered
Ben Carson has surged into a lead in Iowa and is climbing nationally thanks to his appeal to evangelicals. But could his own beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist make him anathema to many of those same voters?
Ben Carson Puts Spotlight on Seventh-day Adventists
by Alan Rappeport
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/us/politics/ben-carson-seventh-day-adventists-presidential-election.html
Ben Carson has over taken Donald Trump in latest polls, not shying away from discussing his religion. But Mr. Carson’s religion has been cast in a harsher light in recent days, as Mr. Trump, whose support among evangelicals is falling, suggested that the doctor is not a mainstream Christian because he is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.
India, France and Secularism
by Sylvie Kauffman
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/opinion/india-france-and-secularism.html?ref=opinion
Like the French, Indians tend to consider secularism as part of their national identity. And yet, intolerance is on the rise in India, where the number of attacks on minorities, particularly Muslims, and on secularist intellectuals by Hindu chauvinists is part of a disturbing trend.
Pope Francis Challenged in Synod Showing Vatican Divisions
by Sylvia Poggioli
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2015/10/26/451858186/pope-francis-challenged-in-synod-showing-vatican-divisions
Catholic bishops wrapped up a three-week gathering at the Vatican this weekend that focused on family issues, but was overshadowed by doctrinal differences.
World Catholic Leaders Appeal for Bold Climate Change Agreement
by Philip Pullella
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/10/26/world-catholic-leaders-appeal-for-bold-climate-change-agreement/
Roman Catholic leaders from around the world made an unprecedented joint appeal on Monday to a forthcoming U.N. conference on climate change to produce “a truly The appeal state that climate change had to be addressed as a social justice and that any agreement must be fair and ensure the poor and most vulnerable were not sold short.
Israel Sends Islamic Movement Sheik to Prison for Incitement
by William Booth and Ruth Eglash
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-sends-islamic-movement-sheik-to-prison-for-incitement/2015/10/27/d01460fa-78e2-11e5-a5e2-40d6b2ad18dd_story.html
An Israeli judge sentenced the firebrand sheik who leads a branch of the influential Islamic Movement in Israel to 11 months in jail on Tuesday for incitement that led to violent demonstrations at a holy site in Jerusalem years ago.
Kabul University Unlikely Host for First Afghan Women’s Studies Programme
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/10/26/kabul-university-unlikely-host-for-first-afghan-womens-studies-programme/
A group of Afghan students gathered on the leafy campus of Kabul University this week to embark on an unlikely course – the country’s first Master’s degree in gender and women’s studies. Advances made for women since U.S.-led troops ousted the Islamist Taliban in 2001 are held up as one of the wins of the war, but women are still regularly sidelined from political life and subject to violence in public and at home.
Foreign Fighters Financing
by Elisabeth Braw
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2015-10-25/foreign-fighters-financing
Young Europeans heading to Syria to join the self-declared Islamic State (also known as ISIS) proclaim that they are fighting for Islam against infidels of all kinds. But new investigations show that their financial dealings are less than halal.
Divided Central African Town Shows Pre-Election Christian-Muslim Rifts
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/10/26/divided-central-african-town-shows-pre-election-christian-muslim-rifts/
Two years after the majority Christian nation was rocked by a coup led by mostly Muslim Seleka rebels, triggering reprisals by the ‘anti-balaka’ militia, one of Africa’s poorest countries remains deeply divided.
Indonesia’s Aceh Province Enacts Strict Islamic Criminal Code for Muslims
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/10/26/indonesias-aceh-province-enacts-strict-islamic-criminal-code-for-muslims/
Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province has enacted a strict Islamic criminal code.Aceh is the only province in the Muslim-dominated country to adhere to sharia, Islamic law, which puts it at odds with other provinces where the vast majority of the population practices a moderate form of the religion.
Monks, PowerPoint Presentations, and Ethnic Cleansing
by Emanuel Stoakes
Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/26/evidence-links-myanmar-government-monks-ethnic-cleansing-rohingya/
Damning new evidence shows the Myanmar government's role in promoting anti-Muslim hatred. The idea of a vicious and well-organized Muslim threat is being encouraged by officials working within state agencies, no matter how little evidence emerges of its existence. Moreover, this appears to be taking place in coordination with parts of the monkhood, which is spreading the same message in the public sphere.
DOMESTIC
All Your Questions about Seventh-day Adventism and Ben Carson Answered
by Jessica Taylor
NPR
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/27/452314794/all-your-questions-about-seventh-day-adventism-and-ben-carson-answered
Ben Carson has surged into a lead in Iowa and is climbing nationally thanks to his appeal to evangelicals. But could his own beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist make him anathema to many of those same voters?
Ben Carson Puts Spotlight on Seventh-day Adventists
by Alan Rappeport
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/us/politics/ben-carson-seventh-day-adventists-presidential-election.html
Ben Carson has over taken Donald Trump in latest polls, not shying away from discussing his religion. But Mr. Carson’s religion has been cast in a harsher light in recent days, as Mr. Trump, whose support among evangelicals is falling, suggested that the doctor is not a mainstream Christian because he is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.
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