Religion News Australia 2016 - 24 (June 12

Religion News Australia 2016 - 24 (June 12 - 19)

(19 June 16)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

June 12 - 19, 2016

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

abuse / catholic church / education / international stories / islam / politics / religion & society

ABUSE

Wollongong MP speaks of sadness as Edmund Rice College apologises over historical abuse (ABC News)
June 17 - An Illawarra MP has spoken of his sadness after his former school admitted it had let one of its students down by failing to protect him from a paedophile Christian Brother.

Tony McCorkell reveals secrets of the wealthy Christian sect Exclusive Brethren (Brisbane Times)
June 18 - Known for its obsession with privacy and its silencing tactics, the Exclusive Brethren has managed to avoid any scrutiny over alleged child sex abuse. Until now.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Catholic orders take their lead from the pope and divest from fossil fuels (The Guardian, Australia)
June 16 - Four Australian Catholic organisations have announced they are completely divesting from coal, oil and gas in what they say is the first joint Catholic divestment anywhere in the world.

EDUCATION

Mosaic helps Muslim and Aboriginal communities piece together old and new connections (ABC News)
June 19 - An art project at an Islamic school in Melbourne's north has led to a remarkable cultural exchange between the country's oldest Australians, some of the newest and some of the toughest.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Man arrested for rape after 12 Amish girls found in his home (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 18 - Philadelphia: A 51-year-old man was found living with 12 girls, including two he fathered, after sexually assaulting a teenager he considered his wife, US authorities said.

Islam

Dutch tourist who claimed she was raped in Qatar sentenced for extramarital sex (news.com.au)
June 14 - A DUTCH tourist who claimed she was raped after her drink was spiked at a high-end hotel bar in Qatar has been convicted for having sex outside of marriage.

‘Bad hijab’ selfies cause drought (The Australian)
June 14 - Iranian women who pose in photos without their headscarf are being blamed for causing the nation’s rivers to run dry.

Judaism

Jewish group disgusted at auction of Nazi relics, including underpants (ABC News)
June 17 - Germany's top Jewish group has labelled plans for an auction of Nazi memorabilia, including Hermann Goering's silk underpants, as "disgusting".

Religious Violence – Orlando Shooting

Orlando massacre: Trump repeats calls for Muslim immigration ban, Obama says threat 'homegrown' (ABC News)
June 14 - Donald Trump has reiterated his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country in the wake of the Orlando massacre, but said it could be lifted once they were properly screened.

Orlando shooter ‘used gay dating app’ (The Australian)
June 14 - Omar Mateen reportedly visited the gay nightclub where he killed 49 patrons a dozen times and used a gay dating-chat app.

Obama and FBI confirm Pulse nightclub shooter was radicalized on the internet (The Guardian, Australia)
June 14 - The man who killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub in the worst gun rampage in US history, was strongly radicalized using the internet, Barack Obama and the head of the FBI have confirmed.

Orlando shooting: FBI questions wife of gunman as debate over gun control continues (ABC News)
June 16 - US investigators have questioned the wife of the gunman behind the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says.

Was gunman Omar Mateen a political extremist or repressed gay man? (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 16 - Orlando: This is where the investigative road divides spectacularly: was Orlando gunman Omar Mateen driven by a love of Islamic State, or by a deep sense of self-loathing – possibly triggered by an awareness that he was gay?

Unpicking radical Islam's pathological obsession with sex (The Age, Melbourne)
June 16 – (Opinion: Julie Szego) Omar Mateen's emphatically brutal attack at an Orlando gay venue lends itself to multiple readings, depending on your politics and world view.

Orlando shooting: Donald Trump 'hateful, awful' in wake of massacre, Louis Theroux says
June 17 - British documentary maker Louis Theroux has accused Donald Trump of sowing fear and playing to xenophobia after the US presidential hopeful reiterated his call for a ban on Muslims after the Orlando massacre.

Religious Violence

IS fighter ‘behind police killing’ (The Australian)
June 14 - A news agency linked to the Islamic State reports an IS fighter is behind killing of a police killing in Paris.

Also: Paris policeman and wife killed in possible Isis-linked terror attack (The Guardian, Australia)
June 14 - A man who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group stabbed a French policeman to death on Monday night before being killed when police moved in, sources close to the investigation said.

Philippines Islamists behead second Canadian hostage (The Australian)
June 14 - Soldiers in the Philippines were last night searching for the remains of a Canadian man whom Islamist fighters claimed to have beheaded hours after a deadline for a $9.2m ransom was missed.

Islamic State militants committing genocide against Yazidis in Syria, Iraq: UN investigation (ABC News)
June 17 - Islamic State is committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the religious community of 400,000 people through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes, United Nations investigators say.

Iraq forces retake Fallujah, facing little resistance from Islamic State (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 18 - Baghdad: After weeks of fighting, Iraqi forces have entered central areas of Fallujah, facing little resistance by the Islamic State, as thousands of civilians fled in a new wave of displacement that has overwhelmed the ability of aid agencies to care for them.

Boko Haram murder 24 at village funeral – mostly women (The Guardian, Australia)
June 18 - Boko Haram militants have killed 24 people, mostly women, as they mourned at a funeral in a village in northern Nigeria, looting and burning their houses down.

Indian court jails 11 for life over Gujarat massacre of Muslims (ABC News)
June 18 - An Indian court has jailed 11 Hindus for life for the murder of dozens of Muslims during riots in Gujarat in 2002 that shook India at a time Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state's chief minister.

Other

Orlando shooting: thoughts and prayers from hypocrites do nothing to help (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 14 – (Opinion: John Birmingham) The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the old saying would have it. Unless they're gay, in which case… awkward!

Thousands gather at Thailand's Dhammakaya temple as police try to arrest abbot (ABC News)
June 16 - Thousands of supporters of a wealthy and controversial Thai Buddhist temple have gathered at its space-age headquarters north of Bangkok, as police attempt to arrest the abbot on fraud charges.

Barack Obama meets Dalai Lama at White House in spite of China protest (ABC News)
June 17 - US President Barack Obama has met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, at the White House despite a warning from China that this would damage diplomatic relations.

ISLAM

Gay hate preacher visa assessed (The Australian)
June 14 - Peter Dutton has called for a review into the case of Farrokh Sekaleshfar who advocates death to gays.

Also: Cleric who preached death for homosexual acts and toured Orlando visits Sydney (The Guardian, Australia)
June 14 - A controversial British cleric who toured Orlando in March and preaches that “death is the sentence” for homosexual acts is scheduled to speak in Sydney throughout June.

Also: Visa of anti-gay Muslim cleric under review, says Malcolm Turnbull (The Guardian, Australia)
June 14 - The immigration department is reviewing the visa of a Shia Muslim cleric who toured Orlando in March and argues that homosexual acts are punishable by death under sharia law.

Islamism is the problem, not us (The Australian)
June 14 – (Opinion: Chris Kenny) Pauline Hanson, Donald Trump and Nigel Farage get so much support because of mainstream politicians’ timidity.

Bendigo mosque appeal request thrown out by High Court (ABC News)
June 15 - A request to hear an appeal by opponents of Bendigo's first mosque has been thrown out by the High Court.

Gay rights may be the best weapon in the fight against Islamic State (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 17 – (Opinion: Jacqueline Maley) It's only a hunch. But I am pretty sure that if you did up a Venn diagram of those who hate gay people and those who hate Muslims, there would be such significant cross-over it would resemble a near-eclipse.

Shut down sheiks who incite (The Australian)
June 18 – (Opinion: Janet Albrechtsen) Silence on the relationship between Islam and terrorism can be seen as complicity, as Pastor Niemoller reminds us.

Imams condemn homosexuality (The Australian)
June 18 - Gay and lesbian people should be put to death or otherwise punished under sharia, according to two imams.

Muslim homophobia in spotlight after gay nightclub massacre (ABC News)
June 18 - The mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando by a radicalised man who proclaimed to follow Islam has prompted strong reaction from several religious leaders, and brought the issue of homophobia within Muslim communities into the spotlight.

POLITICS

Bill Shorten warns against Donald Trump's 'demonising' of all Muslims through immigration ban (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 14 - Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has taken Donald Trump to task over the presumptive Republican candidate's claims the Orlando shooting shows he was right to call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

Malcolm Turnbull regrets hosting homophobic Islamic cleric Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman at Kirribilli (ABC News)
June 17 - Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised Islamic cleric Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman over his comments on homosexuality.

Malcolm Turnbull urges unity with Muslims in face of attacks (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 17 - Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appealed for unity as "one Australian family" in the face of terror attacks such as the Orlando massacre, telling a Ramadan gathering at Kirribilli House that the broader Muslim community should not be blamed for the acts of minority extremists.

NSW Greens cave in to community outrage over Fred Nile preferences (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 17 - The Greens have given in to days of pressure from members and supporters outraged at the party's decision to preference anti-gay crusader Reverend Fred Nile's party candidate above a Liberal Party candidate who is a gay, Indigenous lawyer.

Aly’s ‘support’ for preacher (The Australian)
June 18 - Labor MP provided a written ’offer of support’ for radical Islamic preacher Junaid Thorne before he was imprisoned.

Liberal donors the Exclusive Brethren deny being anti-gay. Here's proof they are (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 19 - The Exclusive Brethren church has denied that it is "resolutely anti-gay", even though it mistreats its gay members, and has launched numerous political campaigns against the rights of LGBTI people starting over a decade ago.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Scientologist ethos used to train NSG financial planners to sell life insurance (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 14 - A Melbourne-based financial planning group targeted by the regulator in a landmark court case used the teachings of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as part of its staff training, a former employee has claimed.

From the Archive…

Religion News Australia 2016 – 23 (June 5 - 12)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 22 (May 29 – June 5)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 21 (May 22 - 29)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 20 (May 15 - 22)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 19 (May 8 - 15)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 18 (May 1 - 8)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 17 (Apr 24 – May 1)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 16 (Apr 17 - 24)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 15 (Apr 10 - 17)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 14 (Apr 3 - 10)

Religion News Australia 2016 – 13 (Mar 27 – Apr 3)