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Will Muslims get a fair hearing?

13 Mar 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In contrasting Adam’s legacy to humanity to Christ’s, Saint Paul states that “through one transgression condemnation came upon all.” A number of Muslims feel the same way about the legacy of Osama bin Laden as they cast a wary eye at U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee hearings opening this Thursday on the threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism and radicalization among American Muslims. Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) has alarmed Muslim groups, some counterterrorism experts, and even a few former allies with assertions that 85 percent of leaders of American mosques hold extremist views and that Muslims do not cooperate with law enforcement--a claim contradicted by a study issued last month by Duke University and the University of North Carolina. “This hearing is not focusing on the acts of a criminal fringe but is broad-brushing an entire community,” said Alejandro J. Beutel, policy analyst at the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington, D.C. Beutel, who has compiled a database of terrorist incidents since 2001, said the problem of radicalization of young Muslims is serious, but broadly accusing Muslims of complicity will hamstring the fight to prevent extremism, which depends on tips from citizens willing and unafraid to contact authorities. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has written to King asking him to postpone or reframe the hearings. It said his single-minded pursuit “will inevitably stoke anti-Muslim sentiment and increase suspicion and fear.” Terrorists should be identified by behavior, not religion or ethnicity, the group said. President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser visited a mosque on Sunday to reassure Muslims that “we will not stigmatize or demonize entire communities because of the actions of a few,” Denis McDonough told an interfaith but mostly Muslim audience. “In the United States of America, we don’t practice guilt by association.” At the same time McDonough made no explicit mention of the hearings or King and also warned that al Qaeda was bent on radicalizing American Muslims against their own country and was finding a "minuscule but receptive audience. . . . The threat is real, and it is serious.” According to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, the public remains divided over whether Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers. Currently, 40 percent say the Islamic religion is more likely than others to encourage violence while 42 percent say it is not. These opinions have changed little in recent years, but in March 2002 only 25 percent saw Islam as more likely to encourage violence while twice as many (51 percent) disagreed. Sources: Articles by Scott Shane for the New York Times, Lloyd Grove for the Daily Beast, Michael McAuliffe, Lore Croghan, and Richard Sisk for the New York Daily News, and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Muslims denis mcdonough hearings muslim public affairs council alejandro beute peter king homeland security committee united states terrorism radical islam
Religion is good for you, study says

27 Mar 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Salvation and other blessings flow into the human heart “because we have been justified by faith,” writes Saint Paul in the Letter to the Romans. A new survey says faith may also justify increased physical and emotional health. According to a new Gallup-Healthways Well-Being study, Americans who are considered the “most religious” also have the highest levels of well-being. They make healthier choices than their moderately religious and nonreligious counterparts across all four of the study’s “Healthy Behavior Index” categories, including smoking, healthy eating, and regular exercise. In addition, very religious Americans are about 24 percent less likely to be diagnosed with depression than those who are moderately religious and 17 percent less likely to be diagnosed with depression than those who are nonreligious. Religious participation has other benefits as well. Attendance at worship services promotes social interaction and friendship with others, and Gallup analysis has shown that time spent socially and social networks themselves are positively associated with well-being. Religion also generally involves more meditative states and faith in a higher power, both of which have been widely used as methods to lower stress, reduce depression, and promote happiness. Religion provides mechanisms for coping with setbacks and life's problems, which in turn may reduce stress, worry, and anger. Many religions have beliefs about positive relationships with one's neighbors and charitable acts, which may lead to a more positive mental outlook. Source: An article by Frank Newport, Sangeeta Agrawal, and Dan Witters for Gallup

religion worship health happiness united states americans well-being gallup-healthways well-being depression
Trade-deal supporters hail Colombia

10 Apr 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus’ life would be at risk if he returned to the Jerusalem area to tend to the fallen Lazarus, his disciples warn him in this Sunday’s gospel. Similar fears for safety have led labor unions in the United States to oppose a free-trade agreement with Colombia, asserting that the country has done too little to protect union leaders and activists, more than 3,000 of whom have been killed in the last three decades. The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it has extracted new labor protections from Colombia to advance the trade deal. Senior administration officials hailed what they called an action plan in which Colombia promised to expand its protection program for labor union leaders, enforce its labor laws more vigorously, and hire 480 more labor inspectors over four years. “The plan significantly expands the protections of labor leaders and organizers,” said Ron Kirk, U.S. trade representative. “It bolsters efforts to punish those who have perpetrated violence against union members and we think substantially strengthens their laws and enforcement.” Under the deal, the Colombian government said it would provide more protection to labor advocates, eliminate its current backlog of risk assessments of union leaders and members who have requested government protection, and revise its plan to relocate and protect teachers who were considered at high risk of violence. Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos was to travel to Washington on Thursday to formally announce the agreement with Obama. U.S. labor unions, who have long resisted a Colombian free-trade agreement, and many Democrats are reserving judgment until they study the deal more closely. Source: An article by Helene Cooper and Steven Greenhouse for the New York Times

united states colombia free trade labor unions ron kirk
Let's move on immigration reform, president says

15 May 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles this Sunday includes a summons to repentance, while Psalm 23 describes the Lord as a shepherd who guides “in right paths.” President Barack Obama Tuesday argued for a legal path to citizenship for the millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally that would include paying a fine as restitution for having broken the law. The president stood near the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas and declared IT more secure than ever, trying to build pressure on Republicans to take on comprehensive immigration overhaul--and, analysts said, eagerly working to show Hispanic voters that he is not the one standing in the way. Countering Republican calls to focus on border security before moving to a comprehensive overhaul, Obama said their demands have been more than met by his administration, but "they'll never be satisfied." Republicans disputed Obama's contention that the border has been effectively secured and accused him of playing politics in pursuit of the ever-growing Hispanic electorate ahead of the 2012 election. On the heels of the president’s speech, Senate Democrats are reintroducing the DREAM Act, a bill that would give legal status to some illegal immigrants who came into the United States as children. Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Committee on Migration, urged Congress and the president to work together to enact comprehensive immigration reform. “Our current policies are breaking up families in the name of enforcing our laws,” he said. “Congress and the president have a responsibility to come together to enact reform that corrects this humanitarian problem, respects the dignity and hard work of our immigrant brothers and sisters, and reflects America’s proud history as a hospitable society and a welcoming culture,” said Gomez. Source: Articles by Jackie Calmes and Jennifer Steinhauer for the New York Times,Darlene Superville and Erica Werner for the Associated Press, and CatholicCulture.org

immigration barack obama united states mexico hispanics republicans illegal immigrants dream act josé gomez
Time to draw down drawn-out war in Afghanistan

26 Jun 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s gospel tells us that Jesus’ listeners “quarreled among themselves” as they tried to understand what he meant in saying his flesh was “living bread . . . for the life of the world.” President Barack Obama’s Wednesday-evening White House speech to the nation is not likely to bring a quick end to the ongoing heated national argument over the benefits and burdens of the U.S.’s long war in Afghanistan. In a widely anticipated address, the president announced his decision to withdraw 33,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 2012. Ten thousand of them will leave Afghanistan by the end of this year. The number of military personnel scheduled for withdrawal over the next 15 months represents the extra contingent of troops Obama ordered to Afghanistan in a December, 2009 speech at West Point announcing the surge of forces. The drawdown wasn't the first choice of U.S. military commanders and allies, including top U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus, who advocated a more gradual withdrawal of forces. But as the president begins to untangle the country from its long involvement in Afghanistan, he is aware of growing criticism of the war from doubteres and allies alike. Many draw a direct line between what is not being spent to bolster the sagging economy in America to what is being spent in Afghanistan--$120 billion this year alone. On Monday the United States Conference of Mayors said that American taxes should be paying for bridges in Baltimore and Kansas City, not Baghdad and Kandahar. Obama’s supporters also have pressed for a faster drawdown. “Do we really need to be spending $120 billion in a country with a G.D.P. that’s one-sixth that size?” asked Brian Katulis, a national security expert at the Center for American Progress, a policy group with close ties to the Obama administration. “Most Americans would be shocked to know that we’re spending that kind of money for jobs programs for former Taliban," Katulis said, "and would wonder where are our jobs programs for Detroit and Cleveland?” Sources: Articles by Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung for the Washington Post,Helene Cooper for the New York Times, Missy Ryan and Steve Holland for Reuters,and Ewen MacAskill, Nick Hopkins, and Patrick Wintour for Guardian.co.uk

barack obama afghanistan war afghanistan david petraeus foreign aid brian katulis center for american progress united states conference of mayors
U.S.–Pakistan relations packed with tension

17 Jul 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

God’s tolerance and forgiveness are front and center in this week’s responsorial psalm and the reading from the Book of Wisdom. They are nowhere to be found, however, in the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan, at odds since the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil. On Monday the U.S. suspended about $800 million in military aid to Pakistan in a sign of the growing tensions between the erstwhile allies. “They’ve taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid which we’re giving to the military, and we’re trying to work through that,” said White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley. “Until we get through these difficulties, we’ll hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give.” Since the bin Laden raid by U.S. Navy commandos, American officials have questioned whether some in the Pakistani military were helping to hide the al-Qaeda leader and whether Pakistan’s investigation of the incident may be aimed more at those who might have helped the U.S. find him. The U.S. didn’t notify the Pakistani government before the raid out of fear that someone might tip off bin Laden. Complicating relations, it was revealed this week that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency recruited Pakistani health officials to stage a fake vaccine program to try to obtain a DNA sample from members of the bin Laden household. Dr. Shakil Afridi, enlisted by the CIA for the project, has been in the custody of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency since late May and may have been tortured. Pakistan is also furious that the CIA secretly engaged Pakistani citizens to spy on the al-Qaeda leader's house. Washington, for its part, has demanded an explanation of how bin Laden was able to live near military bases in Pakistan for five years without detection. “Obviously, there’s still a lot of pain . . . by virtue of the raid,” Daley said. He echoed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement last month that U.S. interests give it no option but to work with Pakistan. “The Pakistani relationship is difficult, but it must be made to work over time,” Daley said. Sources: Articles by James Rupert and Susan Decker for Bloomberg.com, Issam Ahmedfor the Christian Science Monitor, and Saeed Shah for Guadrian.co.uk

cia united states hillary clinton pakistan osama bin laden bill daley
U.S. church loses ambassador of hope

07 Aug 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

At a time when, like the disciples’ boat in this Sunday’s gospel, the Catholic Church in the U.S. finds itself storm-tossed by the cumulative effect of church closings, a clergy shortage, and the sex abuse crisis, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the papal nuncio to the U.S. since 2005 who died July 27 at the age of 73, had offered a sympathetic and hopeful presence. Sambi was particularly supportive of those in vowed religious life during these challenging times. Delivering the keynote address at the 2009 gathering in St. Louis of the major superiors of men religious, representing the leadership of more than 20,000 vowed religious brothers and priests, Sambi called on the U.S. church “not to remain a prisoner of the sex scandal” nor “a prisoner to the crisis in religious life.” Sambi acknowledged that the sexual abuse crisis has taken a terrible toll, saying that in some quarters it has “deprived us of all credibility.” Likewise, he conceded that diminishing numbers have induced a crisis of confidence in some circles of religious life. Nonetheless, Sambi insisted that rebirth is possible through adopting the spirit of Saint Paul. “There is a Christian way of dealing with problems,” Sambi told the several hundred leaders of religious life. “It involves converting humiliation into strength by fidelity to our vocation and mission.” Vatican observer John Allen offered this anecdote from the St. Louis gathering: “When I sat down next to him . . . I asked how he was doing. ‘Better every day,’ he said with a broad smile, adding. ‘We must be optimistic ... we are Christians, after all.’ ” Sources: An article by T. Rees Shapiro for the Washington Post and blog posts by John L. Allenfor the National Catholic Reporter and Patrice J. Tuohy for SpiritCitings

Consecrated life religious life united states sexual abuse pietro sambi papal nuncio
Debt downgrade drags Dow down

14 Aug 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

A Canaanite woman approaches Jesus in this Sunday's gospel with the plaintive cry, "Have pity on me, Lord . . . . help me." Investors large and small are also feeling desperate after credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded U.S. debt last week and new doubts emerged about European debt. Many fear a new recession in the face of the recent stream of dismal economic news. U.S. stocks slumped Wednesday as investors fretted over the soundness of European banks and the U.S. Federal Reserve's gloomy economic outlook. "Markets are having an extremely difficult time here--volatility is rising and the speed and voracity of these declines is [sic] so rapid I don't think anyone can wrap their heads around this," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners. The continued whipsawing of stock markets underscores the uncertainty of investors in light of a growing body of evidence which points to a global economic slowdown. A number of market experts, though, said stocks prices have been driven down by panic rather than a change in the economic fundamentals. “Memories are fresh. People who during the last financial crisis did not sell right away, next time around are ready to sell quick and ask questions later. People are seeing this as [the] 'next time,’ ” said Ed Crotty, chief investment officer at Davidson Investment Advisors. Sources: Articles by Jonathan Cheng for the Wall Street Journal and Nathaniel Popper for the Los Angeles Times

recession united states debt ed crotty robert pavlik credit rating standard poors
Is the Postal Service heading for the dead-letter file?

11 Sep 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's,” Saint Paul proclaims in this Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Romans. Burdened by high costs and falling revenues, the United States Postal Service is teetering on the brink of insolvency. Whether it can survive in the internet age is very much an open question. “Our situation is extremely serious,” said the U.S. postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe. “If Congress doesn’t act, we will default.” The post office’s problems stem from one hard reality: It is being squeezed on both revenue and costs. On the one hand, internet use has led to people and businesses sending far less conventional mai, with mail volume dropping 20 percent between 2006 and 2010. At the same time, decades of contractual promises made to workers, including no-layoff clauses, are increasing the post office’s costs. In recent weeks Donahoe has been pushing a series of painful cost-cutting measures to erase the agency’s deficit, which will reach $9.2 billion this fiscal year. They include eliminating Saturday mail delivery, closing up to 3,700 postal locations, and laying off 120,000 workers--nearly one-fifth of the agency’s work force--despite the no-layoff clauses. Over the last decade the postal service had already cut 200,000 positions and in the past four years had cut $12 billion in expenses. But the agency’s leaders acknowledge that they also must find a way to increase revenue, something that will prove far harder than slicing costs. Fredric V. Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, warned of disaster if partisanship keeps Congress from acting. “This is about one of America’s oldest institutions,” he said. “It survived the telegraph, it survived the telephone, and we have to do everything we can to preserve it and adapt.” Source: An article by Steven Greenhouse for the New York Times

congress deficit default layoffs fredric v rolando patrick r donahoe post office united states postal service
Study war some more

09 Oct 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord will “wipe away the tears from every face” and will remove “the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever,” promises the reading from the Book of Isaiah this Sunday. As the U.S. marks the 10th anniversary of the Afghan war this week, the suffering and divisions of the prolonged hostilities there and in Iraq have taken a great toll on those involved, said a new report. The study by The Pew Research Center reveals wide differences between the way military members and the general public view the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. While civilians polled acknowledge that soldiers and their families make a lot of sacrifices, only one-quarter see that as unfair. A large majority of civilians see it as "just being part of the military." Eight in 10 veterans, by contrast, say the American public doesn't understand the problems faced by those in the military or their families. Paul Taylor, the editor of the study, said he wanted to explore this unique moment in American history. "We've never had sustained combat for a full decade, and we've never fought a war in which such a small share of the population has carried the fight," he said. Just one-half of 1 percent of the American population has served on active duty during the last decade. That compares to the 9 percent who wore a uniform during World War II. Martin Cook, a civilian professor of military ethics at the Naval War College, is troubled by the small percentage of Americans serving in the military. "It becomes much more easy to deploy U.S. forces in tough environments for long periods of time because the vast majority of Americans don't feel they have any skin in the game. “I've often speculated could we have fought wars for 10 years if this was a draftee army and I doubt it," said Cook. Source: An article by Tom Bowman for National Public Radio

iraq war afghanistan war united states pew research center military families martin cook paul taylor military service

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