Secular Policy Weekly:

Hello,

The "common good" is a theme for great meditation under the circumstances in which find ourselves. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman interviewed Harvard political philosophy professor Michael Sandel. Of the common good, professor Sandel said. "The common good is about how we live together in community. It’s about the ethical ideals we strive for together, the benefits and burdens we share, the sacrifices we make for one another. It’s about the lessons we learn from one another about how to live a good and decent life."

Right now we need some good common sense and some sense of the common good.

Have a great week and stay safe,

sincerely,

Jason Frye, CEO
Secular Policy Institute

International Update:

New Zealand
The individual who slaughtered 51 people at a Christchurch mosque, Brenton Tarrant, has pled guilty to chargers of murder and terrorism.
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Turkey
Turkish prosecutors indicted 20 Saudi nationals as well as accused the former Saudi Deputy Chief of Intelligence and a former royal advisor, Said al Qahtani for the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
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United Nations
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has called on warring factions around the globe to issue immediate ceasefires to cooperate with the global effort to eradicate the COVID-19 virus threat.
Read more...

UNITED STATES UPDATE:

Michigan
Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer criticized the Republicans in the state legislature for providing a religious exemption to the statewide ban on gatherings of more than 50 people during the COVID-19 outbreak, while she was the one who allowed for the exemption.
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US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls on Yemen for Clemency
USCIRF has called on a Houthi appellate court in Yemen to overturn the death sentence of a religious minority (Baha'i) community member for charges of apostasy.
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Update on SPI Fellows: Drs. Al-Tamimi and Nasrin

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Dr. Al-Tamimi was cited by Deutsche Welle in an article about how the remnants of Daesh are chatting about capitalizing on the pandemic.
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Science News

'Bats are not responsible for Corona, Humans are.'
An essay in The Nation from science journalist Sonia Shah discusses the anthropocentric role of human beings in the spread of zoonotic cross over infections from habitat disruption.
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Vampire Bats & Sharing
A recent study demonstrated that the bats well share a recent meal (via regurgitation) with family members and other bats that it has formed a close bond with.
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Jane Goodall is Self Isolating Too:
Dr. Goodall is self-isolating at home in England and shared her thoughts on the situation with the New York Times.
Read More...

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