Difficult Dialogues
Breaking News
Outside Events about Religion
that May Resonate
within the Classroom
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
“Morocco has just graduated its first team of
women preachers to be deployed as a vanguard
in its fight against any slide towards Islamic
extremism.
“…This pioneer group of Murshidat, or guides,
who finished a 12-month course in early April,
were trained to ‘accompany and orient’ Muslim
faithful, notably in prisons, hospitals and
schools….”
Al Jazeera 28 April 2006
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
Christians Sue to Revoke University Tolerance Rules
“Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.
Malhotra [head of the Georgia Tech Campus Republicans] says her
Christian faith compels her to speak out against homesexuality. But the
Georgia Institute of Technology, where she’s a senior, bans speech that
puts down others because of their sexual orientation. …With her lawsuit,
the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools,
state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays
and lesbians from harassment. …
“In that spirit, the Christian Legal Society, an association of judges and
lawyers, has formed a national group to challenge tolerance policies in
federal court. Several nonprofit law firms—backed by …Focus on the
Family and Campus Crusade for Christ—already take on such cases for
free.”
Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2006
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
The Southern Poverty Law Conference reports that “neopagan” religions are a growing presence among racist
groups. “Alternative religions, in particular racist forms of
Odinism and Asatrú, continued to make strides among
young white supremacists — to the point where one leading
expert says that more than half of young people now
entering the movement consider themselves pagans.
“This development, increasingly marked over the last several
years, comes as more and more racists reject Christianity,
which is seen as overly ‘soft.’ The ‘might is right’ mentality
of racist Odinism is viewed by these youths as far more
attractive.”
SPLC The Year in Hate [2005]
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=233
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
“Hoppin’ mad over MTV’s Pope-toon
“BERLIN -- German Catholic leaders launched legal
steps yesterday to prevent MTV from broadcasting a
controversial cartoon series that depicts the Pope as a
pogo stick-riding maniac…
“The injunction says ‘Pope-town’—which was dropped in
Britain after a wave of protest—is insulting to Catholics
because it shows the Pope bouncing through St. Peter’s in
Rome on a cross-like pogo stock and satirizes religious
ceremonies.
“The youth music channel said it plans to show one
episode and will then gauge viewers’ appetite for more.”
New York Daily News, May 3, 2006
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
“Afghan convert: Kabul would
have been a death sentence
“ROME – An Afghan who faced the death penalty in his
homeland for converting from Islam to Christianity said Thursday
he was certain he would have been killed had he stayed there, and
he thanked Pope Benedict XVI for intervening on his behalf…
“Conversion is a crime under Afghanistan’s Islamic law.
Rahman, 41, was arrested last month after police discovered him
with a Bible. He was brought to trial last week for converting 16
years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an
international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
“Rahman’s ordeal began as a custody battle for his two
daughters, now 13 and 14. …The matter was …taken to police,
and during questioning, it emerged that Rahman was a Christian….
He was immediately arrested and charged.”
Associated Press, March 31, 2006
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
“Cardinal Unloads on ‘Code’: Urges Flick Boycott
“VATICAN CITY - In the latest Vatican broadside against ‘The Da
Vinci Code,’ a leading cardinal says Christians should fight back
because the book and upcoming movie offend Jesus Christ and the
church he founded….
“‘Those who blaspheme Christ and get away with it are exploiting
the Christian readiness to forgive and to love even those who insult
us. There are some other religions which if you insult their founder
they will not be just talking. They will make it painfully clear to you,’
[Francis Cardinal] Arinze said.
“This appeared to be a reference to protests—some of them
violent—by Muslims around the world over cartoons of the Prophet
Muhammed.”
New York Daily News, May 8, 2006
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
Episcopalians Divide Again Over Electing Gay Bishop
SAN FRANCISCO. “The Episcopal Church’s diocese of California
will elect a new bishop on Saturday…. …Three of the seven
candidates are openly gay or lesbian ministers in long-term
relationships.
“…If the diocese of California elects a gay bishop, …the
denomination could edge even closer to the point of fracture. [The
American part of the church could be expelled from the world-wide
Anglican Communion, the second-largest church body in the
world.]
“The debate over homosexuality has become divisive for the
Protestant mainline churches, and it has begun to emerge in
Catholic and black Protestant denominations, too.”
The New York Times, May 5, 2006
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
St. Louis Judges Include Meditation in
Sentences
Kansas City - Judge David Mason included transcendental
meditation in the sentence of Michelle Robinson, who was convicted
of voter fraud and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Judge Mason is one of a group of St. Louis judges who believe
that transcendental meditation is a useful tool in rehabilitating
those who commit crimes.
If Robinson violates the terms of her probation, which includes
learning about transcendental meditation, she would have to serve
three years in jail.
Kansas City Star, April 1, 2006
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/1424191.htm
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
“Clergy Group Aims to Block Gay Marriage Amendment
Washington - “An interfaith coalition of clergy members and lay
leaders announced a petition drive on Monday aimed at blocking a
proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
“…Among those represented by the coalition are clergy members
and groups affiliated with mainline Protestant churches; the Interfaith
Alliance; Jewish groups…; and the Unitarian Universalist Association of
Congregations.
“’When one group is singled out for discrimination, it’s not long
before other groups will be singled out, too,’ said Rabbi Craig Axler of
Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, Pa. “It’s the first time we see
the Constitution in danger of enshrining discrimination against one
party, one class, and to remain silent as a Jew is unconscionable.’”
NY Times, May 23, 2006
Difficult Dialogues – Breaking News
Iran’s Bahais Face Raids and Arrests
“Members of the Bahai religious minority in Iran said this week
that the government had recently intensified a campaign of arrests,
raids and propaganda that was aimed at eradicating their religion in
Iran, the country of its birth.
“On May 19, Iranian security officials arrested 54 Bahais in the city
of Shiraz who were involved in a community service project…. They
were not charged and all but three were released within six days….
“It was the largest mass arrest of Bahais since the 1980’s, when
thousands of them were imprisoned and more than 200 were executed
by the new Islamic government.
“…Human rights monitors at the United Nations …say that since
December, the government newspaper in Tehran has published more
than 30 articles denigrating the Bahai faith—even accusing the Bahais
of sacrificing Muslim children on holy days….”
New York Times, 6-1-06