If anything defines this election season, it is religion and politics, but as the Christian Century astutely points out, this can a troublesome mix. Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith. Mike Huckabee and his “Christian leader” ads. John McCain and John Hagee. Hillary Clinton and her “prayer warriors.” Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright. The 2008…
Category: Current Events
Congressman Trent Franks: It is ‘Critical’ that nations reaffirm religious freedom (ANN)
Congressman Trent Franks (Arizona), who serves as co-chair of the Congressional Religious Freedom Taskforce, spoke at the North American Religious LIberty Association Annual Dinner on June 12, 2008. He called for the enforcement of international agreements on religious freedom. “”It’s critical that other nations join with us in reaffirming this foundational human right and stand…
Barack Obama to Launch “Joshua Generation Project” to Reach out to Evangelicals
By Michael D. Peabody – RELIGION SEEMS to have taken center stage this election cycle. Obama’s program, “Joshua Generation Project” is designed to reach young evangelical voters. It is quite inspiring, actually. In March, Obama spoke at a commemoration of the march to Selma, and linked the Biblical story of Joshua to the Civil Rights…
Thought & Crime (Liberty Magazine – March/April 2008) – An Update
Update on “Thought and Crime” published in the March/April 2008 issue of Liberty magazine. You may recall that Pastor Stephen Boissoin had gotten himself in hot water with the Alberta Human Rights Commission when he wrote a letter to the editor of the Red Deer Advocate that was critical of the “homosexual agenda.” The community…
Balancing Government Secrecy and Accountability – What Should the Next President Do?
In attempting to increase national security, has the Bush administration gone too far in sacrificing accountability for secrecy? What does this mean for the next president? The American Constitution Society (ACS) has recently published a new issue brief by Geoff Stone, entitled, On Secrecy and Transparency: Thoughts for Congress and a New Administration, in which…
America’s Democratic Collapse – A Speech by Chris Hedges
On May 28, Pulitzer Award winning journalist, Chris Hedges, gave a speech at Furman University in South Carolina. Although we do not necessarily agree with all of it, it does raise some interesting points for discussion. Here is the speech -click on the link to read the rest at Alternet.org: I used to live in…
VIDEO: Religious Freedom Worldwide Worsens (Voice of America)
A U.S. advisory panel on May 2, 2008 asked the State Department to expand the list of governments the U.S. considers the world’s worst violators of religious freedom. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom lists eleven “countries of particular concern.” The congressionally mandated panel also wants the U.S. to keep an eye on religious…
NEWS BRIEFS: Global Privacy, Free Speech Issues
Study secretly tracks cell phone users outside US (AP) Researchers secretly tracked the locations of 100,000 people outside the United States through their cell phone use and concluded that most people rarely stray more than a few miles from home. The first-of-its-kind study by Northeastern University raises privacy and ethical questions for its monitoring methods,…
NEWS / OPINION: Law Professor Denied Communion Because He Supports Obama
No Religious Tests for Public Office? What about Political Tests to Receive Sacraments? Pepperdine University School of Law Professor, and former Constitutional law advisor for President Ronald Reagan, Douglas Kmiec was denied communion recently at a mass connected with a gathering of Catholic business people. The priest denounced Kmiec’s endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, then…
VIDEO: Could Gay Marriage Erode Non-Profit Tax-Exempt Status?
On March 26, 2007, Brian Brown, Executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, testified before the judiciary committee of the state legislature in regard to raised House Bill 7395: An Act Concerning Marriage Equality. In this video, Brown argues that even if churches are not required to perform the ceremonies, legalizing same-sex marriage might…