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Is religious intolerance on the rise this 9/11?

12 Sep 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

An angry God in this Sunday’s first reading complains to Moses that the Israelites have “turned aside from the way I pointed out to them.” Leaders of many faith traditions fear that some of the American people are being persuaded to turn away from the value of religious tolerance, especially when it comes to Muslims. From the debate over a proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City to a pistol-toting Florida pastor’s plans to ignite a bonfire of Qurans on 9/11, observers fear a rising tide of intolerance. Rev. Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove Outreach Center, a small Pentecostal church in Gainesville, Florida, has sparked worldwide condemnation for his plans to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The Vatican said Wednesday that burning the Quran would be an “outrageous and grave gesture," and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it would be a “disrespectful, disgraceful act.” Fearing violence, some Muslims are leaving Gainesville this weekend to avoid problems. Last week in South Florida, 13 mosque leaders issued a call to the region's Muslims for nonviolence in anticipation of high emotions over the desecration of Islam's holy book. In a rare example of a military official commenting on domestic affairs, Gen. David Petraeus, directing the military effort in Afghanistan, said Monday that the provocative act would hurt U.S. troops and play into the hands of extremists. Meanwhile, hundreds of Afghans protested in Kabul and burned Jones in effigy. The Gainesville Fire Department has denied Jones a permit for the event, but he plans to go ahead with it anyway. Known for posting signs proclaiming that Islam is the devil's religion, Jones says the U.S. Constitution gives him the right to publicly set fire to the Quran. In response to the ongoing controversy over the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero, a group of prominent Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders held an “emergency summit” meeting in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to denounce what they called the "derision, misinformation, and outright bigotry” aimed at American Muslims. “This is not America,” said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the emeritus Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, flanked by three dozen clergy members and religious leaders at a packed news conference at the National Press Club. “America was not built on hate.” Source: Articles by CNN wire service, Liz Goodwin and Mitch Stacey for Associated Press, Dave Cook for the Christian Science Monitor, Jaweed Kaleem for the Miami Herald, and Damien Cave and Laurie Goodstein for the New York Times

Muslims 911 terry jones anti-muslim religious tolerance dove outreach center quran theodore mccarrick david petraeus florida gainesville

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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

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Apologetic for private missteps, Petraeus returns to public life

31 Mar 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

As the church prepares to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord this Sunday, David H. Petraeus, who resigned last November as director of the Central Intelligence Agency after acknowledging an extramarital affair, appears to be hoping to resurrect his public life and reposition himself as a voice on veterans issues. He began a speaking tour Tuesday night at an event honoring veterans and the R.O.T.C. program at the University of Southern California.Though the speech was planned before Petraeus' resignation from the CIA, said one of his longtime friends, it suggests one way that the former general might contribute going forward. “This is something he may look towards in the future, as far as veterans issues go.”Veterans affairs is one of some urgency for the Pentagon as it ends two wars. It’s a job at which the military hasn’t excelled in the past, said Sgt. Maj. Bryan Battaglia, the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Commanders tend to focus on preparing troops for battle rather than for becoming civilians again, but that approach needs to change, Battaglia said. “If we’re not doing that, shame on us.”It is a topic Petraeus picked up in his speech. “There is often a view that, because an individual was a great soldier, he or she will naturally do well in and transition effortlessly to the civilian world. In reality, the transition from military service to civilian pursuits often is quite challenging,” he added.Saint Peter speaks to Cornelius and his household of a gospel of forgiveness in Sunday’s first reading. Petraeus began his speech Tuesday by acknowledging his wrongdoing, hoping for a forgiving public. He reiterated “how deeply I regret—and apologize for—the circumstances that led me to resign from the CIA and caused such pain for my family, friends, and supporters.”Homily hint: Revelations about the private shortcomings of public figures have become commonplace. In this age of tabloid confessions, how do we practice forgiveness for the sinner without condoning the sin? Source: An article by Anna Mulrine for the Christian Science Monitor

veterans david petraeus bryan battaglia

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