Wisdom Wednesday | September 11

Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday. A pause for prayer on this anniversary of 9-11 would be appropriate. Pope Francis made a historic visit to Papua New Guinea, where he was greeted by dancers in traditional dress and where he donned a headdress with feathers. (About one minute into Vatican video footage on Youtube.) Vatican News Service provides updated coverage from an official point of view and UCA News offers extended coverage from Asia. This week we also feature some strong views (not necessarily ours, but of those who offer them) about women causing trouble, the religious battle in Bangladesh, the end of adoptions from China, and an insistence that reparations are the primary task of the 21st century.

Debate Coverage

The biggest story today in the USA is the presidential debate Tuesday evening (scheduled after our Wisdom Wednesday deadline). Our recommended debate coverage includes sources that are not hidden behind a paywall. They include:

• The Associated Press
• The Guardian
• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Register
• Religion News Service
• Catholic News Service available at the U.S. bishops’ website
• Vatican News

Election Section

• When asked about the leader of their country, people around the world are generally much more likely to say it is important to have someone who stands up for people with their religious beliefs than to say the leader needs to have strong religious beliefs of their own or to have the same beliefs as they do. Data from Pew Research.
• Some Evangelical broadcasters are suing over the IRS ban on political endorsements. Now that some nonprofit newspapers have begun to back candidates, a new lawsuit asks why Christian charities can’t take sides.
• As conservatives see bigger shifts and divides over abortion, Live Action founder Lila Rose says she’ll keep speaking up for stronger policies.
• What’s Driving Catholic Support for Kamala Harris? Analysis: Strong support from women and Hispanics is giving the vice president a comfortable lead over Donald Trump, according to a new EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research survey of Catholic voters.
• The Political Values of Harris and Trump Supporters: Wide differences over cultural issues, role of government and foreign policy
• The Democrats face one major hurdle: working-class voters. The viewpoint, from Michael Sean Winters.

A conservative Christian perspective

The AUSCP offers a range of political views, including articles from Crosswalk.com, a conservative and Christian for-profit website. Recently published articles include a literal study of Noah and the Ark, a re-published 2016 article on the faith of Donald Trump, and “5 Things Christians should know about the faith of Kamala Harris.” The site also offers reports on Tim Walz and JD Vance. Why would the AUSCP publish these items? To help understand media influences on our American brothers and sisters, conservative, evangelical, Christian voters.

• The strangest insult in US politics: why do Republicans call it ‘the Democrat party’? For almost a century, opponents have removed the ‘ic’ from ‘Democratic’. Is it doing them any good?

Coverage of papal travel

All people are gifts from God with a mission to share love, pope says. The report comes from Catholic News Service by way of the U.S. bishops’ home page. For up-to-date coverage, check out the bishops’ website. And for the best of all reports from Asia, check out UCA News.

Women posing problems

A Mennonite pastor says, “In the gospels and in the world today, women get in the way and make the world new.” She concludes, “This is a strange and dangerous time to be a woman, but it has always been a strange and dangerous time to be a woman.”

Latest from Tom Reese

“I was struck by the Gospel reading on Sunday (Aug. 25) in which John, speaking about Jesus’ followers, wrote that “many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” The image made me sad, because it seemed to reflect what is going on in the Catholic Church and in other American Christian churches. Many people are no longer coming to church or identifying as Christian, especially young people, and more especially women, who have long been the backbone of the church.

Chinese adoption ended

The Chinese government has officially ended its international adoption program, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning announced Thursday, ending hopes for hundreds of US families who were matched with children before the COVID-19 pandemic but had adoptions put on hold in 2020.

Seeking a secular nation

Bangladeshi Christians and Hindus oppose Islam state religion. As political changes loom and minority communities face violence, religious minorities urge the government to remove Islam as the state religion.

Reparations: What do we owe?

A Presbyterian pastor says reparation as a primary task of the 21st century American church. Chris Dela Cruz, a pastor in Oregon, shares how and why the Presbytery of the Cascades gave land to a local Native coalition. He says “ [R]eparation must be one of our primary tasks.” He adds, “In the name of Jesus, we the church spent the very centuries we became a global institution fabricating a racial hierarchy and continuing a patriarchal one to violently oppress a global majority through colonization.”