The sharpest modern twist in world religion this past (Jewish calendar) year, however, occurred in Christianity. The election of Pope Francis has sent shockwaves through that world ”“ so many of his public actions and comments, and certainly his very apparent humility, suggest the Church is on the path to becoming more open and, crucially, willing to atone for, and fix, its past sins. You can’t ask for a better advocate for that monumental endeavour than the man at the very top, and Francis has given every indication he is up to the task. In particular, his recent “who am I to judge?” line about gay people was absolutely brilliant ”“ the lesson not to pass judgment transcends all religious boundaries, and that’s why it made such perfect sense. One hopes he’s just getting started on the job of modernizing and cleaning up the Church.
Alas, the ongoing killing of Muslims by Muslims in Syria, the death toll now above 110,000 (at least 1,400 by a gas attack) with 1.5 million refugees and seven million displaced, suggests Islam still has a long way to go before it achieves modernity. And the situation in Egypt, where the military is back in power, having ousted a democratically elected (though not exactly democratic) government, is also discouraging, to say the least. Even in Turkey, among the most modern Muslim lands, there are fears the country is moving away from democracy under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
And yet there is a definite bright side: At the heart of the Arab Spring, especially in Egypt, is a deep yearning for freedom from oppression, political and religious.