Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: Vatican synod, Ebola, and the role of religion in Hong Kong protests.
BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
Catholic Leaders Meet for Historic Discussion of Marriage, Family Issues
by Tierney Sneed
US News & World Report
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/10/03/catholic-leaders-meet-for-historic-synod-on-marriage-family-issues
“It’s a bold way for Pope Francis to take up issues that have been contested since the last synod on the family in 1980,” says Paul Elie, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.
Don’t Confuse Islam With Islamism
Euronews
http://www.euronews.com/2014/10/03/don-t-confuse-islam-with-islamism/
The response comes from Jocelyne Cesari, professor at Georgetown University and director of the Islam in the West Program at Harvard University. Author of “The Awakening of Muslim Democracy: Religion, Modernity and the State” (Cambridge University Press, 2014): “This confusion has existed for a long time now. In Europe, one can even say that this confusion started before the 9/11 attacks.”
Beat Islamic State: Recognize Kurds, Empower Arabs
by Eric Patterson
Blaze op-ed
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/beat-islamic-state-recognize-kurds-empower-arabs/
What is the solution to the Islamic State? One must adequately address the nature of this threat and then prescribe solutions, including identifying the Islamist components of the conflict, recognizing an independent Kurdish state, and getting Arab states to go beyond air strikes and put boots on the ground.
AROUND THE WORLD
In Medicine We Trust
by Brian Palmer
Slate
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/10/missionary_doctors_treating_ebola_in_africa_why_people_are_suspicious_of.html
Missionary doctors and nurses are stationed throughout Africa, in rural outposts and urban slums. Rather than parachuting in during crises, like some international medicine specialists, a large number of them have undertaken long-term commitments to address the health problems of poor Africans. And yet, for secular Americans—or religious Americans who prefer their medicine to be focused more on science than faith—it may be difficult to shake a bit of discomfort with the situation.
related | Pagans and Christians
by Ross Douthat
New York Times blog
http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/pagans-and-christians/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Here’s Palmer’s real complaint: Not that the missionaries are necessarily doing something wrong in Africa (he won’t actually come out and say that), but that they’re doing something right in a way that makes his team, Team Secularism, look somewhat less impressive by comparison.
Country of God
by Adriana Carranca
Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/04/country_of_god_brazilian_evangelicals_election_marina_silva_dilma_rousseff
In long-Catholic Brazil, the burgeoning evangelical population has become a dynamic political force—and could even choose the country’s next president.
Pakistan’s Lessons for Turkey
by Michael M. Tanchum and Halil M. Karaveli
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/opinion/pakistans-lessons-for-turkey.html?ref=opinion
Turkey’s current situation resembles the early years of Pakistan’s sponsorship of the Taliban. The Islamic State is recruiting militants in Turkey. And failure to clean its own house now could lead Turkey down the path of “Pakistanization,” whereby a resident jihadist infrastructure causes Sunni extremism to ingrain itself deeply within the fabric of society.
How the Russian Orthodox Church Answers Putin’s Prayers in Ukraine
by Tom Heneghan
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2014/10/06/how-the-russian-orthodox-church-answers-putins-prayers-in-ukraine/
After weeks of defying international pleas to free eight European officials they had captured in May, pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine released them unexpectedly in June following a public appeal by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. The role Kirill’s resurgent church played in the release of the monitors, who were from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), sheds light on how a close cooperation between the state and the church in Russia is now playing out in Ukraine.
Vatican Synod Tests the Pope's Vision of a More Merciful Church
by Sylvia Poggioli
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/05/353839373/vatican-synod-tests-the-popes-vision-of-a-more-merciful-church
Pope Francis has summoned bishops from all over the world to Rome to discuss issues concerning families—including hot-button issues like artificial contraception and gay civil unions. Not since the landmark Second Vatican Council half a century ago has a church meeting raised so much hope among progressive Catholics—and so much apprehension among conservatives.
Hong Kong Democracy Protests Carry a Christian Mission for Some
by Ned Levin
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-democracy-protests-carry-a-christian-mission-for-some-1412255663
The protests now roiling Hong Kong are about democracy. But there is an undercurrent of another, much older tension: Between Christianity and Communist China.
related | Hong Kong’s Religious Revolutionaries
by Christian Caryl
Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/04/hong_kongs_religious_revolutionaries
Why have other media outlets failed to note the Christian influence on protests in Hong Kong?
Israel Protests Sweden’s Intention to Recognize Palestinian State
by Isabel Kershner
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/world/middleeast/israel-protests-swedens-intention-to-recognize-palestinian-state.html?ref=world
Israel summoned the Swedish ambassador to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jerusalem on Monday to protest the announcement by the new center-left government in Stockholm that it intended to recognize the state of Palestine.
DOMESTIC
Two Holy Days, Observed in Freedom
by M. Zuhdi Jasser and Hannah Rosenthal
Detroit News op-ed
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2014/10/04/two-holy-days-observed-freedom/16659475/
The fact that both Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha will be observed by our communities here on the same day in liberty and peace is remarkable. It is a tribute to the religious freedom that many Americans take for granted and is lacking across much of the globe.
Can a Feminist Be Submissive? It’s Debate-Worthy, Say Magazine Founders
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/can-you-be-a-submissive-feminist-its-debate-worthy-say-religious-mag-founders/2014/09/30/2440a0a6-48b2-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html
Interview with Asma Uddin and Ashley McGuire, founders of altfemmag.com.
A Christian Apologist and an Atheist Thrive in an Improbable Bond
by Samuel G. Freedman
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/us/a-christian-apologist-and-an-atheist-thrive-in-an-improbable-bond.html?ref=us
The true paradox of “True Paradox” is that the volume might not have existed at all, or certainly would not exist in its present shape and voice, without the secular scientist as its midwife. And that odd reality is testament to a rare brand of mutual civility in the culture wars, with their countervailing trends of religious fundamentalism and dogmatic atheism.
Can Wanting to Believe Make Us Believers?
by Gary Gutting
New York Times op-ed
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/can-wanting-to-believe-make-us-believers/?ref=opinion
Interview with Daniel Garber, a professor of philosophy at Princeton University, on why more philosophers today are atheists and arguments for the existence of God.
Muslims in Minnesota Weigh Whether to Expel or Engage At-Risk Youth
by Gene Demby
NPR
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/03/353241291/muslims-in-minnesota-weigh-whether-to-expel-or-engage-at-risk-youth
Al-Marayati is calling for a strategy that would reach out to disaffected young men — much the same way community groups try to stage interventions for gang members. The thinking goes that if they engage kids from the local Somali immigrant community in sports and try to put a dent in their low high school graduation rates, they might be able to keep some of those young kids from radicalizing.
Catholic Leaders Meet for Historic Discussion of Marriage, Family Issues
by Tierney Sneed
US News & World Report
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/10/03/catholic-leaders-meet-for-historic-synod-on-marriage-family-issues
“It’s a bold way for Pope Francis to take up issues that have been contested since the last synod on the family in 1980,” says Paul Elie, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.
Don’t Confuse Islam With Islamism
Euronews
http://www.euronews.com/2014/10/03/don-t-confuse-islam-with-islamism/
The response comes from Jocelyne Cesari, professor at Georgetown University and director of the Islam in the West Program at Harvard University. Author of “The Awakening of Muslim Democracy: Religion, Modernity and the State” (Cambridge University Press, 2014): “This confusion has existed for a long time now. In Europe, one can even say that this confusion started before the 9/11 attacks.”
Beat Islamic State: Recognize Kurds, Empower Arabs
by Eric Patterson
Blaze op-ed
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/beat-islamic-state-recognize-kurds-empower-arabs/
What is the solution to the Islamic State? One must adequately address the nature of this threat and then prescribe solutions, including identifying the Islamist components of the conflict, recognizing an independent Kurdish state, and getting Arab states to go beyond air strikes and put boots on the ground.
AROUND THE WORLD
In Medicine We Trust
by Brian Palmer
Slate
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/10/missionary_doctors_treating_ebola_in_africa_why_people_are_suspicious_of.html
Missionary doctors and nurses are stationed throughout Africa, in rural outposts and urban slums. Rather than parachuting in during crises, like some international medicine specialists, a large number of them have undertaken long-term commitments to address the health problems of poor Africans. And yet, for secular Americans—or religious Americans who prefer their medicine to be focused more on science than faith—it may be difficult to shake a bit of discomfort with the situation.
related | Pagans and Christians
by Ross Douthat
New York Times blog
http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/pagans-and-christians/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Here’s Palmer’s real complaint: Not that the missionaries are necessarily doing something wrong in Africa (he won’t actually come out and say that), but that they’re doing something right in a way that makes his team, Team Secularism, look somewhat less impressive by comparison.
Country of God
by Adriana Carranca
Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/04/country_of_god_brazilian_evangelicals_election_marina_silva_dilma_rousseff
In long-Catholic Brazil, the burgeoning evangelical population has become a dynamic political force—and could even choose the country’s next president.
Pakistan’s Lessons for Turkey
by Michael M. Tanchum and Halil M. Karaveli
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/opinion/pakistans-lessons-for-turkey.html?ref=opinion
Turkey’s current situation resembles the early years of Pakistan’s sponsorship of the Taliban. The Islamic State is recruiting militants in Turkey. And failure to clean its own house now could lead Turkey down the path of “Pakistanization,” whereby a resident jihadist infrastructure causes Sunni extremism to ingrain itself deeply within the fabric of society.
How the Russian Orthodox Church Answers Putin’s Prayers in Ukraine
by Tom Heneghan
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2014/10/06/how-the-russian-orthodox-church-answers-putins-prayers-in-ukraine/
After weeks of defying international pleas to free eight European officials they had captured in May, pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine released them unexpectedly in June following a public appeal by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. The role Kirill’s resurgent church played in the release of the monitors, who were from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), sheds light on how a close cooperation between the state and the church in Russia is now playing out in Ukraine.
Vatican Synod Tests the Pope's Vision of a More Merciful Church
by Sylvia Poggioli
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/05/353839373/vatican-synod-tests-the-popes-vision-of-a-more-merciful-church
Pope Francis has summoned bishops from all over the world to Rome to discuss issues concerning families—including hot-button issues like artificial contraception and gay civil unions. Not since the landmark Second Vatican Council half a century ago has a church meeting raised so much hope among progressive Catholics—and so much apprehension among conservatives.
Hong Kong Democracy Protests Carry a Christian Mission for Some
by Ned Levin
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-democracy-protests-carry-a-christian-mission-for-some-1412255663
The protests now roiling Hong Kong are about democracy. But there is an undercurrent of another, much older tension: Between Christianity and Communist China.
related | Hong Kong’s Religious Revolutionaries
by Christian Caryl
Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/04/hong_kongs_religious_revolutionaries
Why have other media outlets failed to note the Christian influence on protests in Hong Kong?
Israel Protests Sweden’s Intention to Recognize Palestinian State
by Isabel Kershner
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/world/middleeast/israel-protests-swedens-intention-to-recognize-palestinian-state.html?ref=world
Israel summoned the Swedish ambassador to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jerusalem on Monday to protest the announcement by the new center-left government in Stockholm that it intended to recognize the state of Palestine.
DOMESTIC
Two Holy Days, Observed in Freedom
by M. Zuhdi Jasser and Hannah Rosenthal
Detroit News op-ed
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2014/10/04/two-holy-days-observed-freedom/16659475/
The fact that both Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha will be observed by our communities here on the same day in liberty and peace is remarkable. It is a tribute to the religious freedom that many Americans take for granted and is lacking across much of the globe.
Can a Feminist Be Submissive? It’s Debate-Worthy, Say Magazine Founders
by Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/can-you-be-a-submissive-feminist-its-debate-worthy-say-religious-mag-founders/2014/09/30/2440a0a6-48b2-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html
Interview with Asma Uddin and Ashley McGuire, founders of altfemmag.com.
A Christian Apologist and an Atheist Thrive in an Improbable Bond
by Samuel G. Freedman
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/us/a-christian-apologist-and-an-atheist-thrive-in-an-improbable-bond.html?ref=us
The true paradox of “True Paradox” is that the volume might not have existed at all, or certainly would not exist in its present shape and voice, without the secular scientist as its midwife. And that odd reality is testament to a rare brand of mutual civility in the culture wars, with their countervailing trends of religious fundamentalism and dogmatic atheism.
Can Wanting to Believe Make Us Believers?
by Gary Gutting
New York Times op-ed
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/can-wanting-to-believe-make-us-believers/?ref=opinion
Interview with Daniel Garber, a professor of philosophy at Princeton University, on why more philosophers today are atheists and arguments for the existence of God.
Muslims in Minnesota Weigh Whether to Expel or Engage At-Risk Youth
by Gene Demby
NPR
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/03/353241291/muslims-in-minnesota-weigh-whether-to-expel-or-engage-at-risk-youth
Al-Marayati is calling for a strategy that would reach out to disaffected young men — much the same way community groups try to stage interventions for gang members. The thinking goes that if they engage kids from the local Somali immigrant community in sports and try to put a dent in their low high school graduation rates, they might be able to keep some of those young kids from radicalizing.
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