EXCERPT: “Jew or not Jew?”: That is just part of the question. An iPhone app bearing this name has been yanked from Apple’s App Store in France amid threats of a lawsuit and demands for its removal. The app, still available elsewhere, pulls together a database of thousands of famous Jews – including movie stars,…
Category: Current Events
Gov. Jerry Brown Should Veto Poorly Conceived Childcare Bill (LA Times)
EXCERPT: AB 101 began its career in January as a budget bill, then turned into a measure to eliminate community redevelopment agencies, and in June it was amended again and became an effort to slash in-home care service to seniors and the disabled. On Sept. 2, it was reborn one more time as a bill…
Capitol Alert: Bill letting child-care providers unionize heads to Jerry Brown
EXCERPT: Assembly Bill 101 cleared the lower house today, 48-23, after a lengthy debate. Republicans argued that unionizing home child care workers would hurt poor families because it would drive up their costs for hiring care. Democrats argued that child care workers deserve a seat at the table in negotiating with the state. Read more:…
New Book Explores Common Origins and Experiences of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity
Abraham had two sons – Ishmael and Isaac. Although they appeared locked in conflict from their earliest years, both were children of promise James Appel, who holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Andrews University and a doctorate in medicine from Loma Linda University recently completed his latest book, Children of the East: The Spiritual…
Article18: Poland — Citizens March in Bialystok to Protest Antisemitism; Death Metal Singer Not-Guilty After Trashing Bible on Stage
By Martin Surridge – For much of the twentieth century, Poland served as a sort of punching bag for many of Europe’s strongest armies. Half a million Polish soldiers died in the First World War, the country was brutalized by the Nazis in the Second World War, and for the last half of the century, Poland was repressed by Soviet-inspired…
Is Christian “Just War” Just Like Jihad? (Patheos)
EXCERPT: Christian and Islamic views of warfare are closer than we have been led to believe. When it comes to questions of war and peace, is American Christianity more like Muhammad or Jesus? Since 9/11, such a question has seemed outrageous to many Americans. But perhaps the offense is grounded in some unhelpful assumptions. Here…
Theology a Hot Issue in 2012 GOP Campaign (AP)
EXCERPT: The Texas governor, now a Republican presidential candidate, held a prayer rally for tens of thousands, read from the Bible, invoked Christ and broadcast the whole event on the Web. There was no symbolic nod to other American faiths. No rabbi or Roman Catholic priest was among the evangelical speakers. It was a rare,…
Fear, Incorporated: Who’s Paying for all that Islamophobic Paranoia (FP)
EXCERPT: One of the distinctive features of American democracy is the permeability of our political institutions. It’s an incredibly wide-open system, given First Amendment freedoms, the flood of money that corrupts the electoral process, and a wide array of media organizations and political journals that can be used to disseminate and amplify various views, even…
California AB 889 Could Be End of Private Babysitting Services
California state Senator Doug LaMalfa writes the following here. The bill is significant enough that we are reprinting his post here. Further analysis of the liberty implications of this billing that could end private babysitting services to follow. Editor ———- Adventures In Babysitting: Nanny State To Sue For Rest Break? By Senator Doug LaMalfa…
Karel Nowak: A Legacy of Religious Liberty (Spectrum Magazine)
Shortly before I left the work at the GC office I had an opportunity to sit down with Karel and ask him what he would say to the person who would replace him.