"A wave of brown-skinned filth."

"Keep your crime and your filth out of this neighbourhood."

This is some of the invective directed at Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini after she arrives in a chaotic New York City, as depicted in the luminous new film drama Cabrini.

It should be obvious that the kind of abuse that bigots hurled at this future saint and her fellow Italian immigrants in 1889 is also freely applied to migrants today.

"Filthy dagoes, they just keep coming," one gent tells the just-off-the-boat sister. "Who you looking at, guinea-pig?"

It's a good historical rendering of Cabrini's jarring welcome to New York; the scenes echo correspondence in which she wrote home requesting additional habits and veils for her sisters, "otherwise they will call us ‘guinea-pigs' the way they do to the Italians here."

("Guinea" was a slur used against Black people, the coin used to purchase slaves.)

Patron saint of immigrants

The time is right for a new biopic of Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants and the first American citizen to be canonised.

From Donald Trump on down, many politicians are pushing antipathy for migrants to boost their election campaigns.

I see the result in my own Brooklyn neighbourhood, where efforts to help migrants at a local shelter are treated on social media with expressions of anger and sarcasm.

As Pope Francis has said, Cabrini's life is of "extraordinary current relevance because migrants certainly need good laws, development programmes, and organisation.

But, "they also always need, first and foremost, love, friendship, and human closeness; they need to be heard, to have people look into their eyes, to be accompanied; they need God."

Compassion still needed

The new film, produced by Angel Studios and directed by Alejandro Monteverde, finds this space and presents a much-needed message of compassion with great visual and emotional impact.

It's a traditional underdog story, with a physically frail, five-foot-tall sister in the Rocky role fighting against the system.

The Italian actress Cristiana Dell'Anna, who starred in the HBO Max crime drama Gomorrah, brings a fiery determination to her portrayal of Cabrini.

I had some doubts about whether this team would do justice to the story.

That's because Utah-based Angel Studios heavily markets its films and fundraising pitches to a conservative Christian audience.

I wondered if Cabrini would really present the saint's pro-immigrant fervour at a time when conservative politicians are exploiting anti-immigrant sentiment.

That's not to stereotype Evangelicals; many Christian groups have aided migrants, as Scripture demands, and some think a more Bible-based response is beginning to take hold.

But overall, for example, this isn't so.

Not political

Nearly three-quarters of the white Evangelical Protestants interviewed in a PRRI survey would "favour installing deterrents to prevent immigrants from entering the country illegally even if they endanger or kill some people."

Director Monteverde's previous film for Angel Studios, last year's box-office hit Sound of Freedom, has been lauded for spotlighting the evils and prevalence of child sex-trafficking.

But it was criticised because "the film could be seen as adjacent to the alt-right paranoia that was originally stoked by 4Chan and QAnon" on this subject, as Variety put it.

Monteverde and the film's screenwriter responded in the Hollywood Reporter that the script was written in 2015, well before these conspiracy theories were spread, and that it "was not in the least political."

But promotion for Sound of Freedom, aided by a special showing for Trump at his estate in Bedminster, N.J., was politicised.

That was highlighted when lead actor Jim Caviezel, best known for playing Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, announced on Fox & Friends that voting for Trump was the way to take action against the trafficking of children for sex.

"This is the new Moses," he said of Trump as he was interviewed along with the movie's producer, the Mexican actor and political activist Eduardo Verástegui, who has similarly marketed his movies with a political slant.

Don't expect Trump to embrace and promote Cabrini in the way he did Sound of Freedom. It contradicts his anti-immigrant agenda.

In the opening scene, for example, employees at a hospital turn away a young boy trying desperately to get care for his sick mother, remarking that Italian immigrants were "monkeys" and "inferior."

It shows in shorthand the influence of the racist eugenic theory that was popular at the time, and which Trump is trying to revive by claiming that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country."

When I spoke with the director, the executive producer, and the screenwriter in separate interviews, all said that Cabrini was not political: it's not about immigration policy, but about immigrants.

That's true. Read more

• Paul Moses is an author and a contributing writer to Commonweal.

Claiming to be a Catholic, the man even spat at the people.

Craig George Murray's behaviour made very unpleasant reading, said Judge Arthur Tompkins as he sentenced Murray for the incident.

What happened

Tomkins heard Murray began his racist rant late on a Saturday evening last October. His three victims were setting up for the following morning's Mass.

Initially, Murray stayed in the church foyer while younger associates walked around the church interior.

They left soon afterwards with Murray.

However, Murray became "enraged" and ran back into the church foyer yelling that it was his church and the three workers were not supposed to be there.

Assault

Murray then turned on one of the workers, who was trying to get away from him. He pushed the man in the chest with both hands three times, shouting "Get out, you're black!"

The victim ran out and got into a friend's car. The two other church workers also left the church, hoping Murray would leave.

Instead, Murray approached one of them and began pushing him in the chest, racially abusing him using the foulest language, all the while claiming to be a Catholic.

Murray then spat on the third worker's face, after being asked to "please leave". He went on to shove the man in the back as he turned to walk away.

Murray's younger associates tried and failed to pull him away.

Not yet finished, Murray went to the car his first victim had fled to, screaming that he'd hunt him down.

He continued in this manner until his partner arrived and said the police were on their way.

He fled and was arrested at home. He denied making any racial slurs or spitting at anyone.

Shame and sentencing

Murray's victims "understandably" did not want to attend a restorative justice conference, his lawyer told the Court.

Her client had written a letter of remorse to them instead .

She told Tompkins that Murray had been highly intoxicated during the incident.

Murray was so ashamed of his behaviour he couldn't watch the CCTV footage that had recorded the incident, his lawyer said.

She pushed for a sentence to include supervision to address his rehabilitative needs.

Tompkins asked Probation Service staff in court whether there were any "anti-racism programmes" Murray could participate in. There were not.

"It would be beneficial both to Mr Murray himself if as part of his supervision he could given psychological treatment to address a spectrum of issues."

Tompkins sentenced Murray to three months' community detention and nine months' supervision for the three charges of common assault.

He has suppressed the victims' names and the name of the church.

Source

• NZ Herald
• Waikato Times

A 2019 Pew Research Center Survey of Americans aged 13 to 17 found that only 50 per cent believed religion was an important part of their lives, as opposed to 73 percent of their parents.

This trend has caught the attention of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which published on its website an article titled "Confronting Secularism Today" by Robert Spitzer, S.J., who posits four causes for this trend:

• A perceived contradiction between God and science.
• A lack of evidence for God from science and logic.
• An implicit belief in materialism.
• A general disbelief in the historicity and divinity of Jesus.

While all these factors may indeed cause some young people to abandon their faith, the list feels incomplete to me. After all, the same Pew survey found approximately 85 percent of teens believed in a higher power.

As a 17-year-old Catholic, I know many people my age who are abandoning their churches and their faith.

I spoke to a few to understand why. (I've used pseudonyms, due to the personal nature of their comments.)

The institutional church, to many of my peers, is seen as antiquated and corrupted by greed, paedophilia and bigotry.

They place the blame for these things on the shoulders of church leaders.

Still, many also feel personal dissatisfaction with the church.

While the answers my friends provided are anecdotal, a common theme emerged: The most prevalent issue that is widening the gap between young people and the church is the institution itself.

Stigmas and suffering

The tone and emphasis of catechesis, especially in preparation for the sacraments, can have a real impact on how young people perceive the church as a whole.

One of of my friends, Jo, talked about an abstinence and pro-life lecture she was required to attend in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation, a lecture she found deeply uncomfortable.

She felt the presenters left no room for genuine questions from those who doubted the church's teachings and focused too much on shame.

Jo told me she became concerned that people would assume that she would be similarly closed to the discussion around her politics or personal beliefs based on her religious affiliation.

"I would just [tell people] I'm a Christian, but I wouldn't say Catholic," she said.

The idea that somebody can be turned off by the church because of the church can be tough to grasp.

One of the people I spoke with is a friend of mine named Dominic, who has a strong faith in God and attends church every Sunday.

When I asked him if he thought the church was driving people away, he told me, "I think it is impractical to believe in God in the 21st century because people want to believe in what they see, not something that requires faith alone… They aren't used to the idea that something that cannot be seen can be real."

Dominic's answer also resonates strongly with the belief that people are leaving the institution because of a growing sense of materialism and a feeling that God doesn't have any room in daily life.

Another friend decided to walk away from religion because of a perceived separation between themselves and God.

James, who was raised Catholic and attended Mass every Sunday as a child, is now an agnostic.

While preparing for his confirmation, he began feeling that relying on an invisible God to help him out when times were tough wasn't enough.

Witnessing the long and painful deaths of his aunt and uncle, who were both very religious, also frustrated him.

James reflected on this experience by saying, "I guess it kind of set me back from religion just to realize what God can do to such kind people who also believed in him."

Today, James has abandoned the church and, for the most part, his faith.

James says he only entertains the idea of God existing when someone he knows is religious is going through a sad or painful ordeal.

In those situations, he says that he does pray for that person on the off chance that there is a God listening.

Confronting a secular trend

My friend Andrew is an atheist, raised by Catholic parents, who rarely attended Mass growing up.

For as long as I have known him, he has been vocal about his stance on religion as an unnecessary institution that sets unnecessary rules.

He says he is not against the church; rather, he simply feels no desire to attend. He also says the lack of exposure to religion has made him question its validity.

For Andrew, the concept of faith itself is challenging.

And indeed, Father Spitzer's four reasons do apply in Andrew's case, too, as he believes science and God contradict each other, and that there is little to no appreciable scientific evidence of a creator.

Andrew isn't opposed to going to Mass, but doesn't see himself as the type of person who would join the church.

He told me, "Maybe if the opportunity ever arose, I'd be open to it. But as of now, I don't really see a reason to attend Mass or attend church regularly."

While an intellectual approach may be able to answer some of the questions my secular-leaning friends have—like Andrew's questions on God in relation to science and James's questions on suffering—I believe the church leaders need to approach the issue from another angle, as well. Continue reading

After alleging charges of "religious conversion" the prosecution admitted in Court there was no serious basis to proceed against them.

The case followed a police probe against the nuns in the Indian state of Gujarat last December. They were acting on a complaint alleging the girls in the nuns' care were made to wear a cross around their necks and read a Bible kept in the storeroom.

The home the nuns run houses 48 girls, including 22 who are mentally and physically challenged.

Following the police "investigation" the nuns were charged with allegedly "hurting Hindu religious sentiments" and luring young girls to Christianity.

Baseless charges

When it came to fronting up in court, the prosecution could not justify the charges, so kept seeking adjournments.

On 23 February, the Court directed the prosecution to submit a written reply explaining the legal basis on which the case was registered against the nuns.

After admitting it had no grounds to charge the nuns under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2003, the prosecution gave the Court a written undertaking that it would not pursue the case any further.

Despite this, the first information report written by police to set the investigation in motion has not been quashed.

Reputation restored

The prosecution's undertaking means an end to the adverse publicity and unnecessary harassment the Mother Teresa nuns have been enduring.

Besides the publicity and harassment issues and the legal battle they were facing, access to the funds the nuns needed to support their charitable work was cut.

This was because in December the Indian federal government refused to renew the congregation's license for receiving and utilising foreign funds, citing "adverse inputs" as the reason for this.

The federal government restored the licence with retrospective effect on 8 January.

Source

• UCA News
• Image: NBC News

The current Delta variant outbreak has disproportionately affected the Samoan community, including people exposed at a major church assembly in Mangere in Auckland.

"These people were involved in legal activity and were operating within Level 1 Covid guidelines," said an Auckland minister who preferred not to be named.

"The church is lively and two-thirds of cases are under 30.

"These people were ineligible to get the vaccine," he said.

The Ministry of Health also joined the conversation, with Dr Ashley Bloomfield saying "The virus is the problem, not people. People are the solution, be part of the solution."

"Bloomfield says authorities are doing "a tremendous amount of work" with the Pacific communities affected by the latest Delta outbreak and the community was "incredibly responsive" to this and previous outbreaks.

The church leader, who did not wish to be named, said members were disappointed by the attack but felt no need to retaliate, adding "they can say whatever, it changes nothing".

"Our service happened before the lockdown so it's not like we knew this was going to happen.

"We just had an unwanted visitor," he said.

"We're just getting on with it".

Manukau Ward councillor Alf Filipaina says he is disappointed in role the media has played.

Filipaina says there are five other church-related locations of interest that were not in South Auckland and their congregations' ethnicities have not been highlighted in the news.

Another Manukau Ward councillor, Fa'anana Efeso Collins pointed out that a lot of Pacifica people keep the economy ticking over.

"Many Pacific people work in essential services as well customer-facing roles like bus driving and hospitality, it's not a surprise they also make up so many of the positive cases," Collins told RNZ.

Vaccination coverage rates

Auckland University associate professor of public health Dr Colin Tukuitonga said church services are the perfect setting for transmission, given the prevalence of singing and close proximity of attendees.

"The appalling vaccination coverage rates that we have is one reason why we are seeing many, many more cases," he said.

"They did a big song and dance about that mass vaccination event a few weeks back, but I've always said that wasn't going to work.

"Yes there were large numbers, but they were vaccinating low priority groups and we had barely 1300 Pacific vaccinated out of 15,000."

"We've always asked for more targeted vaccination options for Maori and Pacific communities.

"There's some dedicated options for Maori and Pacific communities but nowhere [near] enough."

Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu from the University of Otago says the Delta variant presented a more dangerous version of Covid-19 within the community setting.

"Vaccination rates for Pacific peoples collectively across Aotearoa New Zealand, remain of significant concern," said Sika-Paotonu, a pathology and molecular medicine expert.

She says more work and support is needed to ensure Pacific and Maori communities were prioritised.

Sika-Paotonu says it was devastating to hear more than half the reported Covid-19 cases were affecting Pacific peoples, with numbers projected to rise.

Source

• Otago Daily Times
• TVNZ
• RNZ
• Image: Stuff

Meet Jared*. He's in his late 30s, plays sport, has a secure job and great friends, and lives in a pleasant flat north of Wellington.

For Kiwi women on the lookout for an eligible bachelor, he ticks a lot of boxes.

But since moving to New Zealand in his early 20s he's not had much success on the dating scene, and he thinks he knows why - because he's Fijian-Indian.

"On dating apps, a lot of girls write 'no black guys, no Asians, no Indians' - that kind of thing," Jared explains. Read more

Donnelly is a medical specialist with extensive experience of palliative care and dying people in four countries, and a Senior Lecturer at Otago University Wellington debated Seymour a politician, and campaigner for the End of Life Choice Act.

With deep feeling, Dr Donnelly stated her view and that of many other medical professionals that the End of Life Choice Act is an unsafe and ‘dangerous' law, which could imperil the lives of thousands of vulnerable people every year.

She referred to how many doctors see the Act as entirely ineffective in safeguarding against ‘coercion', which is impossible to detect, as it is often an internalisation of felt external pressures and suggestions.

Mr Seymour responded asserted that the safeguards were ‘rigorous', but unconvincingly.

What was especially shocking about the interview was that Mr Seymour accused Dr Donnelly of ‘just making up false objections' in ‘an attempt to mislead', and that she should just come out and honestly admit that her objections to euthanasia are all based on her religious views.

This accusation was obviously deeply offensive to Dr Donnelly.

She replied that her objections were entirely based on her clinical experience and the views of many others doctors and lawyers that the Act was very unsafe.

She also said that Mr Seymour's accusation was ‘disgraceful sectarian comment' and ‘bigotry at its utmost'.

A week or so earlier, Mr Seymour had taken a similar approach in his response to a statement of the Catholic Bishops. Instead of addressing their points about the lack of strong safeguards in the Act, he said that the bishops ‘may have a philosophical view that life belongs to God', but ‘they don't have the right to force it on others'.

He added that that ‘if the bishops want their freedoms respected, they need to engage in honest debate that respects others have difference choices from theirs'.

Again, the implication was that religious people are being dishonest in the reasons they give for opposing the End of Life Choice Act, and that their criticisms should be disregarded.

So is it true that it is only ‘religious' people who oppose the End of Life Choice Act?

No, clearly not.

Is it true that many ‘religious' people do oppose it? Yes.

Is their objection on ‘religious' grounds? To a significant extent, yes: ‘religious' people have very high regard for the God-given value of human life, and many of them prioritise the care of vulnerable people over their own individual freedoms.

Should ‘religious' people be free to hold and articulate their views publically? Absolutely yes.

Are ‘religious' people somehow being deceitful or scaremongering in exposing the weaknesses and dangers in this Act? No, these are entirely valid critiques.

Are ‘religious' people seeking to impose their own personal ‘religious' morality on society? No, they are making a legitimate ethical case that this Act is not safe for society in the long run, especially for society's old, sick, frail, and disabled; the care of society's vulnerable is certainly a moral issue, and all members of society depend on that for our own safety.

Is a society that dismisses ‘religious' viewpoints going to be safe for anyone? We think not.

• Rev Dr Stuart Lange, is a historian and Senior Research Fellow School of Theology at Laidlaw College. He currently serves as National Director, New Zealand Christian Network.

Watch David Seymour's performance.

"In line with its Gospel summons, the Catholic Church respects the dignity of every person without exception - Catholics in Poland and around the world have a right to the same respect", said Fr Pawel Rytel-Andrianik, the Conference spokesman. Read more

Irish Bishop Kevin Doran says he has come across people - some of whom classify themselves as traditional Catholics and faith-filled people - who say "oh well, these Muslims are putting our civilisation at risk and they pose a threat to us".

He said there's an "implication" that because people are Muslim they are more likely to be terrorists.

Doran's comments were made in the wake of what he described as a "savage attack" on the two mosques in Christchurch on 15 March, that left 50 people dead.

"All of us, of whatever religious tradition, can identify with what that might mean for a congregation gathered to worship," he said.

Doran said it was wrong of people to demonise Muslims for the actions of terrorism that claims to be inspired by Islam.

"To define a whole category of people, or a whole nation, or a whole religious group as being in some way more prone to terrorism than any other group is irresponsible," he said.

Doran said in his experience, Muslim people living in Irish society do so "peacefully and participate fully".

"We have large numbers of Muslim children in our Catholic schools, and they contribute to the ethos in many ways.

"One of the interesting things about Muslims is that, while they are of a different faith, they tend to have a level of commitment to faith that in many ways we might well sit up and pay attention to," he noted.

In February, Doran spoke out after a disused hotel that had been going to house refugees was damaged. The house had been burned in an apparent arson attack.

Not only had the alleged arson caused "significant upset to parishioners," Doran said it was "all the more disturbing since it is suggested that the fires are a response to the proposed use of the hotel to house refugees."

"Militant opposition, expressed in the destruction of property, is simply not consistent with the Gospel," he said.

Source

• Catholic News Service
• The Irish Catholic
• Image: Crux Now

He spat on a Catholic priest in a "disgusting, cowardly and provocative" act as an orange walk passed a church.

Fr Thomas White was targeted outside St Alphonsus Church in London Road, Glasgow, on 7th July last year, when he was speaking to parishioners. Read more

Quoting Pope Francis, Gallagher says there's a tendency to reduce religions "to the quiet obscurity of the individual's conscience or to relegate them to the enclosed precincts of churches, synagogues or mosques." Read more

The pastor of the black church that put up the sign has defended the remarks.

Rev. Michael R Jordan says he's encouraging locals to fight gentrification.

The reverse of the sign says: "White folks refused to be our neighbors."

Jordan is taking aim at Church of the Highlands. It's Alabama's largest non-denominational, multicultural, megachurch with 16 branch locations.

These branches attract over 40,000 worshippers each week.

A 17th church, right in the City of Birmingham, is almost ready to be opened.

"Blacks have flooded white churches and moved into white neighborhoods," Jordan says.

"It's for status reasons. It's a sense of self-worth. But 99 percent of whites won't go to a black church."

He says the City of Birmingham may give the new church priority funding over other social programmes including those designed to address the social problems Hodges claimed to be opening the church for.

"If you're concerned about crime and drugs, why did you leave the city and start your own school systems?" Jordan asked Church of the Highlands founder Chris Hodges.

"It's very hypocritical," Jordan says.

"Chris Hodges won't move next door to us. He won't let his family go to school with us.

"If you want to help with crime, you have wealthy entrepreneurs, give these black boys a job, not just cleaning up. Start some job programmes and fund it through the black church."

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin posted a response to remove the signs on Facebook, saying he'd like to "elevate the conversation" and move beyond divisive racial tactics.

Source

• Sputnik News
• Newsweek
• Image: The Weekly Challenger

Some customers have threatened to boycott Tesco because of advertising scenes showing a Muslim family exchanging gifts. Others say the Muslims' inclusion is "very wrong".

Those who support the "Everyone's Welcome" ad are using social media to explain why it's "wonderful to share the day with everyone," regardless of their faith.

One supporter of the adverts says his family celebrates Christmas each year with their Muslim friends.

We give our Muslim neighbours' kids Christmas presents, and they give presents to ours. We share food.

"They don't come to church, but then again we don't go to the mosque when they have us over for Eid. Gift-giving is something everyone can get involved in."

A person against the ad's said: "I object strongly to your anti-Christian Xmas advert - how dare you politicise our festival in order to appease lefty political correctness.

"You have lost me as a customer now, you should rethink your advertising campaign, British people still live here."

Tesco is defending its position, saying the advertisement aims to promote diversity.

"Everyone is welcome at Tesco this Christmas, and we're proud to celebrate the many ways our customers come together over the festive season."

The supermarket says its Christmas campaign "will celebrate the many ways we come together at Christmas, and how food sits at the heart of it all."

Many Muslims joined the online flurry explaining why they enjoy the festive season.

One woman wrote: "I am Muslim and I love Christmas.

"It's so nice and it's also cultural. I just love the tastes and smells."

Source

• Independent
• Huffington Post
• Finance.co.uk
• Image: Cilisos

This remark is contained in a hacked email exchange between current Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri and John Halpin, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP)

Halpin described the conservative Catholic position as a "an amazing bastardization of the faith."

"They must be attracted to the systematic thought and severely backwards gender relations and must be totally unaware of Christian democracy," Halpin wrote.

CAP is a Democratic think tank with close ties to the Clinton campaign and the Obama White House.

Palmieri, who was at CAP at the time, responded that Catholicism "is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion. Their rich friends wouldn't understand if they became evangelicals."

Republican politicians were quick to respond to the revelation.

"The Clinton campaign, when in private, expresses breathtaking anti-Catholic bigotry,"said American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp.

House Speaker Paul Ryan who has distanced himself from the Trump campaign, called the emails "staggering."

Ryan, who is Catholic, released a statement Wednesday saying: "If anything, these statements reveal the Clinton campaign's hostile attitude toward people of faith in general. ..."

"All Americans of faith should take a long, hard look at this and decide if these are the values we want to be represented in our next president."

The Clinton campaign has noted that Russian hackers have been known to fake information, but the campaign has not pointed to a specific example of a hacked email being altered.

CAP released a statement that did not authenticate the email exchange, but said Halpin, a Catholic, "has spent his career advocating and fighting for the common good and improving the lives of all Americans as a key tenet of his Catholic faith."

Source

• yahoo.com
• Image: wp.production.patheos.com

Khalid Jabara's killing has caused concern about attitudes in the U.S.

"Here, in the United States, Mr. Jabara and his family became targets of violence and hatred not because of their faith, but because of their Middle Eastern identity and culture," In Defense of Christians executive director Kirsten Evans said Aug. 17.

"Sadly, Middle Eastern Christians caught in the crossfire of the sectarian conflict plaguing the Middle East have also become vulnerable scapegoats for hatred and violence born of political and cultural tensions here in the United States."

On Aug. 12, Jabara called police to report that his neighbor, Stanley Vernon Majors, had a gun in his hand and that he was scared about what might happen, his sister Victoria Jabara Williams said in a statement.

The police said there was nothing they could do because the man had returned to his home.

Soon after police left, Jabara stepped out of his house. Police say his 61-year-old neighbor was waiting for him, according to a CNN and Washington Post report.

Majors fatally shot Jabara, 37. The assailant was arrested and will be charged with first-degree murder.

Jabara's sister said the man's history was well-known.

"This suspect had a history of bigotry against our family. He repeatedly attacked our ethnicity and perceived religion, making racist comments.

"He often called us ‘dirty Arabs,' ‘filthy Lebanese,' ‘Aye-rabs,' and ‘Mooslems'," said Williams.

The man also commented against Mexicans and blacks, she said.

"Our brother's death could have been prevented," she added. "This man was a known danger."

Source

• Crux
• Image: blogbalardi.com

Ignorant media hype, foul abuse of the faith or godlessness of others, ugly violence calculated to scare and kill: such practices are now familiar features of daily life in democratic polities where religion was once supposed to be a settled issue.

India is no exception to the troubling trend.

The democracy with the most innovative constitutional formula for handling tensions among multiple faiths - the Indian brand of secularism - is nowadays plagued by organised bigotry, often led by elected representatives bent on outfoxing their opponents and winning elections.

The thuggish tone is audible in the recent remarks of Manohar Lal Khattar, chief minister of the BJP-run state of Haryana. ‘Muslims can continue to live in this country but they will have to give up eating beef. The cow is an article of faith here', he told The Indian Express.

‘Culturally, we are democratic', he added. ‘Democracy has freedoms, but those freedoms have a limitation. Freedom of one person is only to the extent that it is not hurting another person.'

Khattar conveniently forgot to mention that growing numbers of India's Muslim citizens (they're one-seventh of the total population) feel deeply offended and threatened by such remarks, and by the rising numbers of murderous assaults they're facing throughout the country.

Proud defender of his state's strict ban on the killing of cows, in a country that is among the world's largest beef exporters, Khattar instead went on to defend the mob that recently beat to death a Muslim farmer for allegedly eating beef at home.

It was the ‘result of a misunderstanding', he said, and ‘both sides' had committed wrongs. He claimed the victim had made a ‘halki tippani [loose comment]' about cows which hurt the sentiments of the men who subsequently went on the rampage.

Khattar compared the incident with a man whose anger gets the best of him after seeing his mother being killed, or his sister molested. Continue reading

Sources

• The Conversation, from an article by John Keane, Professor of Politics, University of Sydney.
• Image: wired.co.uk

Nedward "Ned" Flanders, is a character in the long running TV series The Simpsons.

He is the Simpson family's extremely religious next "diddly-door" neighbour.

He thoroughly worships God and strictly follows the Bible as literally as possible and is easily shocked when challenged on any point of dogma.

Using experiments involving fictitious online dating profiles, the researchers found that the more religious someone seemed the more likely a non-believer would be to assume they are not "open" to new ideas and the less attractive they found them.

"The stereotype may be false but does exist … and it is having a real impact on society," said Dr Jonathan Jong, of Oxford's Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology.

"An assumption disseminated in popular culture—if not necessarily borne out by empirical research—is that religious individuals are typically closed-minded," he says.

"From Footloose's parochial Rev Shaw Moore, who despairs at the ‘‘proliferation ... of obscene rock and roll music with its gospel of easy sexuality and relaxed morality'' to The Simpsons's overly friendly but entirely dogmatic Ned Flanders, the pious are often portrayed as rigid, conventional, and intolerant."

Source

• Telegraph.co.uk
• Telegraph.co.uk
• Image: 40.media.tumblr.com