Word: secularized
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...During his time in jail, Mandela was an important symbol of opposition to apartheid. But "the closest thing the world has to a secular saint"? On most practical measures, South Africa has gone backward since Mandela's presidency. The African National Congress (ANC) has been in power since 1994 and is as unlikely to be replaced via the ballot box as President Robert Mugabe's government is in Zimbabwe. South Africa's real saint is Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Julius Bergh, Nerang, Queensland...
...group of several terrorist attacks previously attributed to Islamic militants, is the latest clash in the battle between Turkish secularists and the nation's religious-conservative leadership. The arrests coincide with deliberations by Turkey's top court about whether to disband the ruling AK Party for violating Turkey's secular constitution...
...legal showdown has rattled investors - one reason why Istanbul's main stock index has fallen 40% this year - and has exacerbated a sense of polarization that pits democratic principles against secular ones. "This is a very dangerous situation," says Sahin Alpay, a political scientist at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University. "People who feel their way of life is threatened by the conservative Muslim majority want to stick with secularism rather than full democracy - and they aren't calculating the costs...
...party as a whole limits the roles of women and non-Muslims (they cannot, for example, hold the office of President). It also wishes to create a council to "guarantee that legislation adopted by the president and parliament conform with Sharia" - that is, Islamic law. For Egypt's secular rulers, such views are problematic; many believe legalizing the Brotherhood as a party would validate its views, and that any of the MB's actions would be simply cosmetic. Heritage Foundation Middle East analyst James Phillips argues that accepting the Brotherhood is too dangerous, that it will appear democratic at first...
...Laura, 23, from Milan, Italy, is part of a group that's accompanied the wooden cross - she likens it to the Olympic Torch - around Australia. They've received nothing but smiles, she says: "Australians are very welcoming." She hopes World Youth Day will provoke the secular to reflect more about faith: "Seeing all these people who come from all over the world - and it's a hard and long trip - maybe they will think, This must be something important." Maybe even as important as the football finals...