Religion News Selection 50 (Nov 16

Religion News Selection 50 (Nov 16 - 23)

(23 November 14)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Selection

November 16 - 23, 2014

A selection of religion news stories from Australia.

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

Inclusion here does not endorse the veracity or quality of any particular item – it just means
I found it worth reading and reflecting on (even if badly conceived or poorly written).

If you’re after the unexpurgated (and reasonably unbiased) version,
see Religion News Australia which appears weekly on our website.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Sacked Bishop Bill Morris to campaign for ordination of married men (Brisbane Times)
Nov 17 - Sacked Catholic Bishop Bill Morris will campaign for the ordination of married men, during a book signing tour to Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Anglican Church

Church of England ends centuries of tradition and allows women to become bishops (ABC News)
Nov 18 - The Church of England has ended centuries of tradition by adopting legislation allowing women to become bishops for the first time, with the first ordinations set for next year.

Catholic Church

Myanmar Catholics celebrate 500 years in the country (The West Australian)
Nov 22 - Yangon (AFP) - Thousands of Myanmar Catholics marked 500 years of the Church's presence inside the country in a lively celebration at a Yangon cathedral held four years late because of religious restrictions under the former junta.

Islam

Virginity tests for female Indonesian police force applicants 'discriminatory' (ABC News)
Nov 17 - Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Indonesia's national police to halt "discriminatory" virginity tests for women applying to join the force.

Turkey to open mosques 'in every university' (The West Australian)
Nov 21 - Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey's top religious body said on Friday that there are plans to build a mosque in every state university, adding to concerns over what critics say are creeping efforts to force Islamic values on the society.

Religious Violence

Bangladeshi professor Shafiul Islam hacked to death (news.com.au)
Nov 17 - SUSPECTED Islamic militants have hacked to death a university professor in Bangladesh, several years after he led a push to ban students wearing full-face veils.

Israelis, Palestinians look to personal safety in holy city on edge (The West Australian)
Nov 19 - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - On edge but faithful to their religious routine, worshippers returned on Wednesday to the Jerusalem synagogue where four rabbis and a policeman were killed in a Palestinian attack a day earlier.

Families in shock as Islamic State lures sons into 'barbaric madness' (The West Australian)
Nov 18 - CARDIFF (Reuters) - “Do you know how much it hurts to raise someone and watch them grow and suddenly they’re just gone?” says Ahmed Muthana, 57, a retired electronics engineer in Wales whose two sons Nasser, 20, and Aseel, 17, have gone to fight for Islamic State.

Jews bare (sic) the brunt for naive hatred of Israel (Sydney Morning Herald)
Nov 20 - After all the beheadings, massacres, rapes and enslavements of women by men running amok under the black flag of Islamic State, surveys have shown that support for the group is much higher in Europe than it is in Middle East.

Other

Indian 'godman' Rampal charged with sedition after hundreds arrested at fortified compound (ABC News)
Nov 21 - The leader of a cult in India has been charged with sedition and waging war against the state after a siege at his compound lasting several days ended in his arrest along with 450 followers.

ISLAM

Sydney brothers believed to have joined Islamic State (Sydney Morning Herald)
Nov 17 - "We made it to Bilad al-Sham, we will see you in Paradise."

Another racist attack at Newcastle mosque (ABC News)
Nov 19 - There has been another racist attack at the Newcastle mosque with a pig's head thrown into its grounds.

Campaign to boycott halal food gains momentum in Australia (ABC News)
Nov 21 - A campaign to boycott halal-certified food is gaining momentum across Australia, with groups claiming that certification pushes up prices and the money goes towards funding terrorism.

POLITICS

Victoria election 2014: Voters polarised over burka ban, Vote Compass reveals (ABC News)
Nov 17 - Victorians are polarised by a suggestion to ban the burka, results from the ABC's online survey Vote Compass indicate.

Halal certification funds extremists: MP (The West Australian)
Nov 20 - Consumers who buy Halal products could be funding Islamic extremism, an Abbott government backbencher claims.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Immunisation rebels are not moral crusaders (The West Australian)
Nov 19 – (Opinion: Editorial) When most people hear the term "conscientious objectors", it comes with an image of potential soldiers who refuse to perform military service because they believe, on moral or religious grounds, that it is wrong to kill another human being.