Tag: france

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International News

World // French President Plans to Dismantle Migrant Camp

French president, Francios Hollande, announced his plans to dismantle the migrant camp in Calais by the end of the calendar year.

The camp, more commonly known as “the Jungle,” has been a source of controversy for Hollande, as he looks toward re-election for the first time since 2012. The purpose of the visit, according to CNN, was for him to tell “the desperate immigrants” they would not be able to stay in the camp because “their place is not here.” Hollande did, however, emphasized that France would “protect them as much as necessary.” Additionally, he was credited in a Reuters article as stating he wanted “…the closure of the camp as quickly as possible.”

Hollande, according to the New York Times, visited the camp on Monday, September 26 for the first time this year, has faced criticism from conservative and far-right rivals, “who say the camp is a symbol of his failure to deal with Europe’s migrant crisis.”

The camp is said to be home to seven thousand people, according to authorities. However, humanitarians estimate as many as ten thousand people actually live in the camp, with nine hundred unaccompanied minors the last time aid organization France Terre d’Asile counted.

French authorities have stated alternative housing will be offered in centers across France to one of France’s 164 migrant reception centers largely located in the city of Tours. There, the migrants will, according to the French government, will be able to apply for asylum. France will be attempting to find nine thousand new places at welcome centers to receive migrants before winter.

According to the New York Times, the government’s plan after relocation, will be for reception centers to hold forty to fifty people for up to 4 months while “…authorities study their cases.” After that, migrants who choose to not purse applying for asylum will then be deported. Despite the announcement of the plans, no firm timeline has been given.

Hollande, however, has continued to face criticism from nonprofit organizations. Eight unnamed organizations specifically, wrote a letter to Hollande, in which they “…called for a long-term policy of hospitality and integration in France,” referring to the camp in Calais as “a short-term view” that will solve nothing for current and future migrants.

Hollande, in a speech to police who will be securing the area, has said he will shut down the camp “with method and determination.” His goal, according to a New York Times article, is to prevent new camps from appearing near Calais, or anywhere else in France. He also stated police forces will remain in and around the camp “as long as needed” after the camp is shut down.

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News

World // ISIS Crisis Continues

The violent acts being committed by the Sunni-Islam extremist group ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) has prompted the United States and other nations take military action. ISIS, which has its base in Raqqa, Syria, has taken over large areas of Syria and Iraq. The group has declared this area to be the “Islamic State,” according to a CNN article. Its oppressive rule and interpretation of Islamic law has been ravaging civilians, including ethnic and Christian minorities. Video of public executions has been released on the internet as ISIS continues to tighten its grip in the Middle East.

MaryCroninAccording to CNN, the beheadings of two American journalists was an impetus to the United States’ military intervention. The offensive has mostly included missile strikes by sea followed by air raids by bombers and fighter jets. According to the US military, training compounds, headquarters, storage facilities, supply trucks, and armed vehicles were hit in the initial strike on Tuesday September 23. The Pentagon also stated that some ISIS operatives were hit, but the number was not specified.

Other nations have joined the United States, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, and Qatar. As stated by a Washington Post article, France has also lent its support to the offensive.

According to Army Gen. Ray Odierno, who was quoted in the Washington Post, there is a possibility that civilians may be at risk as ISIS moves from more open areas with visible targets to urban areas. “We’ll have to determine that, as we go forward, if we can sustain the level of preciseness that is necessary to limit civilian casualties,” he cautioned.

Another complication threatening progress in the fight against ISIS may arise. Though there has been much cooperation in the Arab world with the West on this matter, the fact that ISIS is technically a Sunni Muslim group may be problematic for some governments. As stated in a CNN article, some governments may face dissent from their people, and they disagree with Sunnis fighting against other Sunnis.

Furthermore, Syria has cited disregard of its sovereignty, according to the New York Times. The nation has complained that American military actions on its soil without its cooperation is a violation of sovereign rights. President Obama and other US officials, on the other hand, insist this is not the case. Civil war in Syria helped extremist movements like ISIS to take root and spread, and Obama contends that by striking only ISIS and not “Mr. Assad”, the United States is helping Syria, thus the nation’s sovereignty is still intact.

Recent action involved the US-led air strikes targeting ISIS positions in northeastern Syria while the Syrian government aimed at other insurgents near its capital, Damascus this past Saturday. Meanwhile, ISIS attacked a Kurdish village near the Turkish border, according to the New York Times. At roughly the same time, two car bombs were detonated in the Syrian city of Homs, killing at least 45 people, including 41 children. The group has not taken official responsibility for this, though it is likely that it is responsible because of their recently increased presence in Homs. This, among other issues, has caused even more civilians to flee to Turkey, joining more than 150,000 refugees already there, the New York Times reported.

Military officials, including General Odierno, have dismally predicted that this conflict could endure much longer than previously anticipated.

Categories
News

Internationally Known Artist, Willie Cole, Comes to Houghton

Houghton College’s Ortlip Gallery is currently exhibiting the works of internationally known contemporary artist, Willie Cole. This collection spans over a 35 year period of Cole’s life and incorporates various forms of media, including: drawings, paintings, sculpture and prints. The exhibition, titled “Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall Works” gives light to the “urban African-American male experience,” according to Cole’s artist statement.
“Complex Conversations . . .” is a traveling exhibition, having already been shown at Western Michigan University, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Elbert Art Center, and Grinnell College before arriving at Houghton College. The exhibition is curated by Patterson Sims, Chairman of the Board of Independent Curators International (ICI) and President of the Leon Polk Smith Foundation.Willie Cole
Cole’s work was introduced to Houghton College by Professor Jillian Sokso during the 2013-14 Faculty Lecture Series. In her lecture, Sokso examined the discourse of race, gender, and identity between the Cole’s work and African American artist Allison Saar. Sokso said Cole’s work “references African cultures and people groups. . . [also found] in the Hudgin’s Collection.”
The Hudgin’s Collection, donated by the late Charles Hudgins to Houghton College shortly before his passing in June 2011, consists of a wide assortment of African Art. A selection of this work is also available for viewing in the Center for the Arts Atrium at this time.
Cole’s artistic sensibility was noticed at an early age and only expanded as time went on. Cole was mainly influenced by exposure to the manipulation of objects through his father’s work as a factory mechanic, the African art and culture he studied at the School for Visual Arts in New York.
Cole’s work utilizes a variety of used consumer products such as irons, high-heels, hair dryers, and many other items. The use of domestic objects gives viewers a glimpse of Cole’s personal life, while remaining universally relatable.
Director of the Ortlip Gallery, Alicia Taylor. said, “Cole’s process creates an expansive dialog, exploring and transforming objects in a carefully crafted rhythm that prompts a shift in our perception. . . Pushing our sense of familiarity by converting household goods into symbols of culture, spirituality and politics, the work provides provocative and fresh entry points for connection”.
Cole’s artwork is currently represented through Alexander and Bonin, New York and is found around the world in numerous collections and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and the FRAC-Lorraine in Metz, France. "Complex Conversations"
“Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall works” will be available to view in the Ortlip Gallery until October 15, Monday through Saturday, 9am to 6pm. A public reception will be held in the Center for the Arts Friday, September 12th at 7pm. Willie Cole will also be giving an artist lecture on Saturday, September 13 at 11:30 a.m. in the Recital Hall.
Taylor states “‘Complex Conversations . . .’ is not just for artists” and“such distinguished work on campus is an opportunity to challenge ourselves with engaging with the work, connecting with culture, and experience.”

Categories
News

Saudia Arabia Refuses Security Council Seat

For the first time in the history of the United Nations, a member has denied an offer to take a Security Council seat. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia bluntly refused its elected position on Friday, October 18, citing its frustrations with what it perceives as the U.N.’s inability to resolve conflicts such as the Syrian civil war.

Courtesy of jpost.com
Courtesy of jpost.com

According to Al-Jazeera, the Saudi Foreign Ministry stated that “[a]llowing the ruling regime in Syria to kill its people and burn them with chemical weapons in front of the entire world and without any deterrent or punishment is clear proof and evidence of the U.N. Security Council’s inability to perform its duties and shoulder its responsibilities.” Saudi Arabia is an active supporter of Sunni Muslim rebels attempting to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Alawites, an offshoot of Shi’a Islam. The Kingdom has also expressed its frustrations regarding the international community not punishing Assad’s regime enough after a chemical weapons attack killed over 1,400 civilians last August. Reuters reports that the director of Saudi intelligence, Prince Turki al-Faisal, finds an agreement made by both the United States and Russia that requires Syria to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile to avoid punishment militarily “lamentable.” This agreement was approved unanimously by the Security Council.

Because no country has ever refused an offer to sit on the Security Council, the U.N. is unsure on how to resolve this predicament. The Washington Post quotes Gerard Araud, France’s U.N. Ambassador as saying “there is no agreed procedure, because it is the first time that it happens.” Currently, it is thought that the Asia group, a group in the U.N. that selects the Arab member to the Security Council, will have to select a new candidate for approval by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly to take the seat. This scenario, however, will only happen once Saudi Arabia sends an official notification to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Though Saudi Arabia has been boisterous in denying its Security Council offer, Ban has yet to receive an official rejection notification from the Kingdom. Thus, the current view of the U.N. is that Saudi Arabia, despite its rhetoric, has taken its seat on the Security Council for the next two years until an official rejection statement is sent.

The Security Council is a 15-member body that decides the fate of U.N. resolutions regarding issues around the world. There are five permanent members that hold veto power over any and all resolutions: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China. There must be no vetoes from any of the permanent members in order for a resolution to be approved. The ten other members are elected for two year terms. Although they do not hold veto power, these members can influence debates and offer insight on the benefits and flaws of a resolution. After their terms are over, these countries step down from the Security Council and new members are elected. Besides Saudi Arabia, other newly selected members of the Security Council include Lithuania, Nigeria, Chile, and Chad.

 

Categories
Opinions

What’s Orthodox to Someone is Heresy to Another

As I come to the end of my undergraduate career at a private faith-based liberal arts college, I think it is appropriate that I reflect on my journey.

I am not sure what sort of Christian I am. I only hope I’m not a heretic. Where amongst the thirty thousand denominations do I fall? I agree with the declaration of the Nicene Creed, so I must be ok.

Courtesy of fotogalerias.universia.c
Courtesy of fotogalerias.universia.c

Throughout my life, I have been dragged through a slew of different denominations. My parents, coming from Gideon and Baptist backgrounds, joined the inter-denominational mission organization Wycliffe Bible Translators. The first four years of my life were spent in a non-denominational Congolese Church. This was quite the Charismatic experience, as I’m sure you can imagine. I recall a story of a woman, supposedly practicing sorcery and possessed by a demon, who barged into the Church hollering in a man’s voice. They say it took seven men to drag her out and beat the demon out of her.

After this, we moved to France, where I was put in a private Catholic school for the following 11 years. I attended Catechism. I was taught that the Saints would intercede for me. I went to confession. I partook in the Holy Communion.

Also in France I attended an Assemblies of God church with my family. Within the first few months I could mimic word for word the “bidi-bidi” sounds that they claimed were Tongues and could also give the interpretations that would always follow.

Around this time, my parents became intrigued by what was happening in Toronto. John Arnott prayed his famous prayer “come Holy Spirit, come;” And thus began the infamous Toronto Blessing. After this, my family joined the Vineyard movement, a neo-charismatic movement stemming out of the Calvary Chapel.

After I moved back to the States, some close friends of the family invited me to attend the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. This is a charismatic non-denominational mission organization that emphasizes post-tribulational premillenialism. Led by a former Kansas City Prophet, Mike Bickle, the movement focuses on the end times.

I am no theologian; however, I’d hazard a guess that I have come across quite a few views that stray in some ways from orthodox Christianity, yet in each of these everyone maintains that their views are most in line with that of the early Church. I find myself distraught. I can’t help but to wonder what heretical views I uphold. Are gays Christian? When does human life begin? Is paedobaptism wrong? Is credobaptism necessary? Do demons exist? Are revivals psychological? Does God carry on personal relationships with everyone? Does God have a plan for my life?

Spiritual people always try to point to scripture. They tell us to base our beliefs on the word of God. Unfortunately, there are verses for and against each one of these questions. I don’t have any answers. I don’t know whether demons exist. I don’t know whether I should be re-baptized, or what happens when I take communion. I don’t know why God has been silent.  I find comfort in Thomas’s doubt. But I recognize that for some people, these questions, when unanswered, put Biblical faith at risk.

Rather than continue preaching these ambiguities—that is, all the doctrines that cause division amongst Christians—for which two thousand years have taught us that there are no conceivable resolutions, let us, as Wolterstorff writes, “endure holding on to God… join with God in keeping alive the protest against early death and unredemptive suffering… own our own suffering… and join with the divine battle against all that goes awry with reference to God’s intent.”

At the last supper, Jesus commanded his disciples to love one another. This was nothing new. He had instructed his followers to do this time and time again. Yet a few hours before his death, he tells his followers that they will be recognized for how they treat others.

Ultimately I am no longer afraid of being a heretic because, as one wise blogger once wrote, “what is orthodox to someone is going to be heresy to another.”

Throughout my time at Houghton I have heard, on at least three different occasions, individuals make reference to being Catholic and “converting” to Christianity. This makes me cringe. Was it their Catholicism that made them unchristian? What if I stated that I used to be Evangelical but then I became a Christian? I used to be Charismatic, but then I got saved. The fact is that Catholics are heretics, and so are the Eastern Orthodox, Baptists, Wesleyans, Mennonites, and the 30 thousand other denominations. We are all heretics to someone else. None of us hold the keys to the mystery of the universe. But we can choose how we are going to treat our fellow heretics: with Love.