Religious News From Around the Web May 10, 2021
SF Archbishop Says No to Pro-Choice Catholics, Religious Freedom in Trouble Globally, Saudis May Ban Foreign Hajji Visitors Again, Utah Compromise Finds Middle Ground in Religious, LGBTQ Rights, Zarathustra, the Laughing Prophet
SF Archbishop Says no to Pro-Choice Catholics
Archbishop Cordileone
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco advocates barring Catholic public figures who support abortion rights from communion. President Joe Biden, the country’s second Catholic president is a pro-choice Democrat and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another pro-choice Catholic Democrat, resides in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
Religious Freedom in Trouble Globally
Religious Freedom is in trouble around the world, according to Religious Freedom in the World Report 2021 China is the world’s most active — though not yet most vicious — persecutor of religious believers. The plight of Muslim Uyghurs confined to reeducation camps has gained global attention. However, the Chinese Communist Party targets members of every faith, including Christians, Buddhists and Taoists. Like Islam, Christianity is viewed as a dangerous foreign import.
Saudis May Ban Foreign Hajj Visitors Again
Saudi Arabia is may bar overseas pilgrims from the annual hajj for the second year, as COVID-19 cases rise globally new variants emerge. Such a move would restrict the pilgrimage to Mecca – a once in a lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, to Saudi nationals and residents of the kingdom who were vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19.
Utah Compromise Finds Middle Ground in Religious, LGBTQ Rights
On March 4, 2015, a group including LGBTQ leaders, representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and mostly conservative legislators announced they had forged a new state law, which would extend an array of nondiscrimination protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Utahns. The Utah Compromise, as it was called, also ensured that certain religious prerogatives, such as allowing religious colleges to limit married-student housing to opposite-sex couples, would be accommodated. With bipartisan support, the proposal became law.
Zarathustra, the Laughing Prophet
Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest religions, and the first monotheistic tradition. Its historical influence on Judaism, Christianity and Islam is arguably quite significant. Zarathustra may have been influenced by his contemporary, Buddha, and Zoroastrian founder Zarathustra was on a different plane from that of the other Western religions.