On Friday, September 25, 2015, the World Summit opened at the United Nations in New York City with a keynote address delivered by Pope Francis in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by the member states later in the day.
Archives for September 2015
Yom Kippur, the Scapegoat Ritual, and the Politics of Blame
Political careers are made by identifying, or in some cases creating, amorphous bogeymen who have nothing in mind but the destruction of “The Constitution” and the “American way of life.” The call to get rid of the bogeyman and “all will be well” is a pernicious promise.
Pope Francis Calls for Common Good in Speech to Congress – Full Text
“In this land, the various religious denominations have greatly contributed to building and strengthening society. It is important that today, as in the past, the voice of faith continue to be heard, for it is a voice of fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in each society. Such cooperation is a powerful resource in the battle to eliminate new global forms of slavery, born of grave injustices which can be overcome only through new policies and new forms of social consensus.”
Why the 14th Amendment and Federal Courts are Essential to Protecting Religious Liberty
Have you ever wondered what legal mechanism existed that permitted the legalization of slavery in the United States after the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791? How it was that men, women, and children were held in bondage after Francis Scott Key wrote the famous words, “land of the free, and the home of the brave” in 1812? How segregation persisted in law until the late 1960s?
Attack on Independent Judiciary Likely to Intensify Following Davis’ Release
Even though the Court has granted accommodation requested by Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, eliminating an independent judiciary is the real target.
Opinion: The Spiritual Dimension to the County Clerk’s Refusal to License Same-Sex Marriages
Davis has made a decision according to her conscience, has had the willingness to not only follow it through, but also to go to jail for it. I am surprisingly both outraged by and sympathetic to her plight. I would love to talk about the legal ramifications of what she is doing (and I still might do that briefly), but tonight my mind turns primarily to the spiritual consequences of Davis’s actions.
Government Official Jailed for the “Right” to Discriminate Against Citizens Based on Official’s Religion
Rowan County, Kentucky, is the flash point of a culture war that threatens to take us away from a Constitutional democracy and toward an American theocracy.
Americans United Expresses Church-State Concerns on Eve of Papal Visit to U.S.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued an open letter to the mayors of Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, DC, among other government leaders on August 31, 2015 calling for them to maintain separation of church and state during Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. in September.
What Does the Nuclear Deal With Iran Mean?
This morning, Democrats in the U.S. Senate announced that they have the 34 votes necessary to uphold the President’s expected veto if Congress, as expected, passes a resolution disapproving the Obama administration’s deal with Iran. The international agreement is supposed to result in a dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program in return for lifting of sanctions, but given the Iranian leadership’s ongoing theme of “death to America” and “death to Israel” the deal certainly does not signify a sense of international friendship.