OLYMPIA, Wash. — An atheist group has unveiled an anti-religion placard in the state Capitol, joining a Christian Nativity scene and “holiday tree” on display during December.
Month: December 2008
U.S. Muslims worry about new federal rules (MSNBC)
The revised guidelines going into effect Monday will allow agents to use undercover sources to gather information, interview people without identifying themselves and spy on suspects without evidence of wrongdoing.
Critics say the rules will allow for abuses, including more racial and religious profiling.
VIDEO: War on/for Christmas Begins! Focus on the Family Protests Religiously Neutral Retailers
It is an amusing video, but the message is clear – retailers should be commercializing Christmas, not just the “holidays.” At Christmastime, all retailers should be Christian or at least not offend Christians by recognizing other celebrations of the holiday season. Apparently FOTF believes that the “Christian” (not “Judeo-Christian”) majority should prevail and if you don’t like it, find another country.
Roosevelt’s or Reagan’s America? A Time for Choosing
By John Marini – Imprimis – In light of the differences between the ideas and policies of Roosevelt and Reagan, it is not surprising that political debates today are so bitter. Indeed, they resemble the religious quarrels that once convulsed western society. The progressive defenders of the bureaucratic state see government as the source of benevolence, the moral embodiment of the collective desire to bring about social justice as a practical reality. They believe that only mean-spirited reactionaries can object to a government whose purpose is to bring about this good end. Defenders of the older constitutionalism, meanwhile, see the bureaucratic state as increasingly tyrannical and destructive of inalienable rights.
International court to punish nations failing to prevent global warming (Telegraph)
Stephen Hockman QC is proposing a body similar to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to be the supreme legal authority on issues regarding the environment. The first role of the new body would be to enforce international agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions set to be agreed next year.
Washington Post: 20,000 More U.S. Troops To Be Deployed For “Domestic Security”
There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military’s role in domestic law enforcement.
Fifteen years later, home-school parents say legal battle was worth it
By Lorie A. Shane – Michigan Education Report – Chris DeJonge was in her second week of homeschooling when the knock on the door came. She opened it to find two employees from the local office of the Michigan Department of Social Services (now the Department of Human Services), who informed her that her children were truants and that she and her husband were breaking the law by teaching them at home.