John Burnett

Controversy Brews Over Church's Hallucinogenic Tea Ritual

John Burnett — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:59:00 +0000

A small church in Santa Fe, N.M., has grown up around a unique sacrament. Twice a month, the congregation meets in a ritualized setting to drink Brazilian huasca tea, which has psychoactive properties said to produce a trance-like state.

The Supreme Court confirmed the UDV church's right to exist in 2006. The church doesn't seek new members and prefers to keep a low profile.

Plant Explosion Unites Small Texas Community

John Burnett — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:34:00 +0000

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And let's check in on another major story that dominated our attention last week, a fertilizer plant that caught fire and exploded in Texas. We can now say that 14 people were killed and 200 injured.

Two Decades Later, Some Branch Davidians Still Believe

John Burnett — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:21:00 +0000

Twenty years ago, federal agents clashed with David Koresh's Branch Davidian community near Waco, Texas. The standoff ended with a raid and fire that killed some 80 people. It's remembered as one of the darkest chapters in American law enforcement history.

Two decades later, some of the Branch Davidians who survived the raid are still believers, while a new church group has moved onto the land.

The Raid

Most people born in an earlier generation know the outlines of the story. David Koresh was the self-appointed prophet of a small religious community.

Search And Rescue Ongoing After Texas Plant Explosion

John Burnett — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:22:00 +0000

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

We're learning more about last night's fire in the Texas town of West. The fire started in a fertilizer plant, and a father in a vehicle nearby was taking video of the flames when the plant exploded.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Are you OK?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: You OK?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yeah. I can't hear.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Cover your ears.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I can't hear. Get out of here.

Thousands Trek To New Mexico Chapel On Good Friday

John Burnett — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 23:50:00 +0000

Driving in northern New Mexico requires special caution on Good Friday. Tens of thousands of people — some walking all night — are converging on the village of Chimayo to pray inside a 200-year-old chapel before a carved wooden image of Jesus.

As it does every year, the highway department has put out portable toilets, orange barriers, and signs warning motorists of "Santuario walkers."

The man in the fluorescent orange shirt and striped sneakers, walking determinedly along the shoulder, is Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat who represents this area. He started in Santa Fe.

As Islam Grows, U.S. Imams In Short Supply

John Burnett — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:29:00 +0000

Islam in America is growing exponentially. From 2000 to 2010, the number of mosques in the United States jumped 74 percent.

Today, there are more than 2,100 American mosques but they have a challenge: There aren't enough imams, or spiritual leaders, to go around.

The Mid-Cities Mosque in Colleyville, Texas, has two modest minarets that distinguish it as a sacred building here in this sedate suburb between Fort Worth and Dallas.

Juarez Priest Finds 'Hand Of God In The Midst Of Mayhem'

John Burnett — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:46:00 +0000

Father Kevin Mullins steers his old Chevy pickup up a steep road to a hilltop dominated by a large statue of the virgin. She has a commanding view of this troubled corner of Christendom.

Here, the states of Texas, New Mexico and and Chihuahua, Mexico, intersect amid barren hills freckled with ocotillo plants and greasewood.

Getting out of the truck, the graying Catholic priest with the kind, ruddy face squints north. "From up here you can see across the I-10 there into El Paso. Also, you see the border fence down there.

In Faith, Finding Answers To 'The Mystery Of Evil'

John Burnett — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 22:51:00 +0000

When a human tragedy occurs on the scale of the Newtown shootings, clergy are invariably asked an ancient question: If God is all-knowing, all-powerful and benevolent, why does he allow such misfortunes?

There's even a word for reconciling this paradox: theodicy, or attempting to justify God's goodness despite the existence of evil and suffering.

A World Both Beautiful And Shattered

Steven Folberg, senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Austin, Texas, has been asked this question before.

From A Life Of Crime To Designing Jewelry, All In A Nairobi Slum

John Burnett — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:16:00 +0000

After covering East Africa for five months, a profound problem I encountered in every country was what will happen to the continent's exploding cities.

The U.N. predicts that by 2040, six in 10 Africans will live in cities — an estimated 1 billion people.

A Battle For The Stolen Childhoods Of Kenyan Girls

John Burnett — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 20:21:00 +0000

Life can be especially cruel for girls growing up on Kenya's Swahili Coast. Some families sell their daughters to earn the bride price, while others encourage them to become child prostitutes for tourists. The girls drop out of school and have babies, and their childhoods are stolen.

Tanzania's Albinos Face Constant Threat Of Attack

John Burnett — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:48:00 +0000

Life is hard for albinos throughout Africa, but especially in the East African nation of Tanzania. At best, they face raw prejudice; at worst, they are hunted for their flesh, the results of superstitious beliefs.

Albino killings have been reported in a dozen African countries from South Africa to Kenya, but they are worse in Tanzania than anywhere else.

More than 100 albinos have been violently attacked in Tanzania from 2006 to June of this year — 71 died and 31 escaped, though most were maimed.

At His Own Risk, Somali Chef Creates Gourmet Haven In War-Weary Mogadishu

John Burnett — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:50:00 +0000

Ahmed Jama was running a successful Somali cafe in southwest London when he decided it was time to go home. Against the urgent advice of friends, he returned to Mogadishu three years ago and started cooking.

Jama epitomizes the spirit of rebirth in the city that has been brutalized by 21 years of civil war.

Aid Workers Struggle To Provide Services In Congo

John Burnett — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 11:02:00 +0000

The rebel movement in the Democratic Republic of Congo has set off another humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of displaced villagers who fled the fighting are on the march with their belongings, and someone has to take care of them.

Into this sea of need wades Tariq Riebl, a tall 34-year-old German with a shaved head.

Rebel Advances In Congo Send Civilians Fleeing

John Burnett — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 22:19:00 +0000

It's a scene that's become wearily repetitive in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo: An uprising drives out poorly trained government troops, creating havoc and sending large numbers of refugees fleeing for their lives.

This time the rebel group is M23, or March 23. Their revolt began this spring, and earlier this week they took Goma, an important town on the country's eastern border, just across Lake Kivu from Rwanda.

Elated Kenyans Revel In Obama Win

John Burnett — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:32:00 +0000

As the news spread that the son of the late Barack Obama Sr. — a Kenyan government economist — had held on to the most powerful presidency in the world, the elation across this East African nation was contagious.

One Nairobi radio DJ could scarcely contain himself on Wednesday. "How are your feelings this morning, this Obama Day morning?