Buddhist nuns train women in India By Abutchernes, CC

WRN News from Around the Web: Obama Rule Repealed, Church Demolition, Assisted Suicide, Transgender, Kung Fu Nuns, Empty Heavens

Kung Fu Buddhist Nuns

Buddhist nuns train women in India By Abutchernes, CC
Buddhist nuns train women in India
By Abutchernes, CC
The Druk Amitabha Mountain Monastery in Kathmandu has long promoted gender equality and the empowerment of women. Since 2008, Buddhist nuns have been trained there in kung fu for self-defense, physical fitness and self-confidence. The nuns conduct self-defense workshops in India and Nepal for girls, many of whom face a high risk of rape or sexual assault.

Trump Repeals Obama Adoption Rule
During his final weeks in office, Barack Obama ordered that “… no person otherwise eligible will be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in the administration of HHS programs and services based on non-merit factors such as age, disability, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” The rule clashed with faith-based foster care and adoption agencies that felt parenting by same-sex couples, for example, violated their religious principles. The Trump Administration has just rescinded that rule, arguing that it would remove regulatory barriers that prevent such groups from placing children according to their beliefs.

Chinese Authorities Offer Compensation for Church Demolition
The Chinese Communist government has offered land and money to rebuild a Catholic church demolished following a demonstration by parishioners. The Chinese government has cracked down on religions of all kinds in recent years, and demolition of “unregistered” churches has attracted worldwide attention.

13th Century Meeting of Christian and Muslim Set Standard
In 1219, St. Francis of Assisi crossed a battlefield between Christian and Muslim troops to speak to the Muslim commander, Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil. According to The Boston Pilot, the encounter did not change either man’s faith, but instead instilled a respect in each for the other. “To me St. Francis’ mission was a sacred mission for every Muslim, every Christian, every human being, religious or nonreligious,” said Mohamed Bashar Arafat, president of the Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, in Columbia, Maryland. “It is a story of reaching out to the other for the sake of peace, reconciliation and harmony.”

Cooperation on Denial of Assisted Suicide
Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders have agreed that no health-care provider should be coerced or pressured to provide assisted suicide or euthanasia. Palliative care, however, was supported by signatories, according to a release from the Vatican where the meeting was held.

Alaska Transgender Shelter Case Resolved
Back in January of 2019, WRN carried a story about an Alaskan Christian homeless shelter fighting to be allowed to turn away transgender women from its women-only night shelter program. The case was resolved last month, and the shelter will not be compelled to accept transgender women.

Can a Society Survive Under Empty Heavens?
Empty Skies PixabayIs a society based on Enlightenment values even possible in the absence of Christianity? Jonathon Van Maren poses that question in a Lifesite News blog. “It will be up to us to decide what is right and wrong, and as our current culture wars clearly illustrate, our civilization will tear itself apart before it regains consensus.”

Muslim Leader Visits Latter-day Saints
Interfaith engagement is the antidote to religious isolation, which is one source of violent extremism, said Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim League in a Deseret News story. Al-Issa, who was also the former Minister of Justice of Saudi Arabia, met with Latter-day Saints leaders and Utah state politicians recently, lauding the Latter-day Saints for an emphasis on knowledge and understanding others.