Pope confronts anti- Christian attacks
One of the great tragedies of recent conflicts in the Middle East, most of which have involved the United States, is that Christian communities — many of them there since the time of Christ — have been uprooted, perhaps never to return.
Another ongoing tragedy is that many conflicts in the world have taken on an inter-religious aspect, deliberately instigated or aggravated by irresponsible leaders with, again, U.S. political figures not absent from the thoughtless fray. These struggles have included Buddhists vs. Muslims in Myanmar, Sunni vs. Shiite Muslims in Yemen and Iraq, and Sunnis vs. Alawites in Syria.
Pope Francis recently went to Egypt to try to push back on the problem through contact, discussion and prayer with Muslim leaders, including Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, Egypt’s highest Islamic authority. For Francis to go there at all was a courageous, conscientious act, literally putting his life at risk, showing the importance he attaches to making the statement.
In recent months, Islamic State elements have bombed Coptic Christian churches in Egypt, attempted assassinations and driven many Christian families from their homes in Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta. The pope also met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who pledged to counter the efforts of the Islamic State.
In addition to Egypt, groups of Christians across the Middle East have been victims of various ongoing conflicts.
Pope Francis II should be lauded for what he is trying to do. Would that others took a comparable path toward inter-religious peace.
Uninformed president needs savvy advisers
U.S. presidents make history because their words and deeds can radically affect the course of humanity. The current president, Donald Trump, is putting his personal stamp on history by making a mockery of it.
In an interview on Monday on Sirius XM radio, Trump stated that President Andrew Jackson had been “really angry” about the Civil War and questioned why the opposing sides couldn’t work out their differences to avert disaster. Like many things Trump says, the facts have a way of making him look worse than silly.
Jackson left office in 1837. The Civil War didn’t start until 1861, 16 years after Jackson’s death. Historians say Jackson didn’t oppose slavery and, in fact, owned slaves himself.
Tension between the North and South escalated dramatically after Jackson’s death despite efforts by Congress in the 1850s to preserve unity. There was no opportunity, to use Trump’s words, for things to be “worked out.”
The White House says Trump’s remarks were misconstrued. When his historical knowledge was challenged, Trump responded with a tweet that Jackson saw the war coming “and was angry. Would never have let it happen!”
Being well-informed should be an absolute requirement of the presidency. Trump’s repeated misstatement of fact reflects the shallow base of knowledge that guides his important decisions, such as dispatching warships toward North Korea as nuclear tension escalates.
The likelihood of making rash decisions and issuing policy declarations based on half-baked ideas only increases when the president chooses to be under-informed.
The best the world can hope for is that Trump’s advisers will do a more effective job at educating the president and restraining his more dangerous impulses.