NEWS BRIEF
RNS-Antisemitc-LA: Los Angeles police investigating brawl as antisemitic hate crime
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — After Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a hate crime investigation of an attack against Jewish diners, another video surfaced of a separate incident involving an Orthodox Jewish man being chased by two cars with people waving a Palestinian flag. By Alejandra Molina. 385 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Kenyan-Rastafarians: Kenyan Rastafarians seek to legalize marijuana over doubts of other faith leaders
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Rastafarians have petitioned the Kenyan high court to decriminalize the use of cannabis, claiming that smoking marijuana is part of their religious practice. Smoking marijuana, say followers of the Rastafarian movement, is their way of connecting with their God, Jah. The “holy herb,” they maintain, heightens their feeling of community and helps them reach a spiritual realm. By Fredrick Nzwili. 646 words. (category: i)
NEWS STORY
RNS-PPC-Resolution: Poor People’s Campaign, lawmakers unveil sweeping resolution to tackle poverty
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Lawmakers and leaders of the faith-based Poor People’s Campaign unveiled a sweeping new resolution designed to eradicate poverty in the U.S. on Thursday (May 20), with activists touting it as a broad-based legislative framework that hopes to do for poverty what the Green New Deal did for environmental issues. By Jack Jenkins. 1,200 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-HAF-Lawsuit: Hindu American Foundation files defamation suit against Hindu rights nonprofit
(RNS) — The Hindu American Foundation, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against representatives of Hindu, Muslim and Christian organizations in the U.S., accusing them of libel and defamation. The suit also targeted news outlet Al Jazeera and an independent journalist who wrote news stories quoting the groups. By Mythili Sampathkumar. 933 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Vatican-Employees: Vatican employees criticize pay cuts by Pope Francis as “anti-meritocratic and disincentivizing”
(RNS) – When Pope Francis decided to cut the pay of Vatican employees, lay and religious, in late March, it was mostly welcomed as a positive effort to reign in the institution’s struggling finances. But in an unprecedented letter to the pope, some Vatican employees said the measures are disproportionate and aggravate already existing system of privileges. By Claire Giangravè. 750 words. (category i)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Goodall-Templeton: ‘Religion entered into me’: A talk with Jane Goodall, winner the 2021 Templeton Prize
(RNS) — Sixty years after she entered the jungle to observe chimpanzees in their natural habitat, Jane Goodall, the world-renowned primatologist and conservationist, has won the 2021 Templeton Prize. Goodall, 87, is only the fourth woman to win the award, established by the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton to honor those who use science to explore humankind’s place and purpose within the universe. A Q&A. By Yonat Shimron. 1,400 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Jewish-Exhibit: A new digital exhibit maps the Jewish histories of Los Angeles’ Eastside
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — The Los Angeles metro area is home to the second largest Jewish community in the United States, yet to some, much of American Jewish history is dominated by a New York-centric perspective. A new digital exhibit documenting Jewish life in the Eastside of Los Angeles aims to amplify the nuances of Jews who settled in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights. By Alejandra Molina. 600 words. (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Viswanath-Oped: My fellow Hindus sued me for raising alarms about Hindu supremacy
(RNS) — Each of us being targeted by HAF is an outspoken advocate for human rights and religious freedom in India. Together we speak out against the Indian government’s escalating attacks on minorities and its increasing advocacy of Hindutva, or Hindu supremacy. By Sunita Viswanath. 860 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Brown-Oped: Justice for SBC sexual abuse victims: A call for an investigatory commission
(RNS) — As the Southern Baptist Convention prepares for its annual gathering next month in Nashville, Tennessee, expectations that clergy sex abuse survivors will see meaningful progress are low. Few of us anticipate the country’s largest Protestant faith group will effectively address its sexual abuse problem. By Christa Brown. 1,405 words. (category: k)