EXCERPT: New York (CNN) — Protesters gathered in lower Manhattan mid-day Sunday to demonstrate against plans to build a mosque near the site of Ground Zero, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed by Islamist hijackers on September 11, 2001. Protest organizer Pamela Geller, a conservative blogger, and her group, “Stop…
ANALYSIS: Deflationary Depression and Purging To Come (The International Forecaster)
Read the full article: http://theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/Deflationary_Depression_and_Purging_To_Come EXCERPT: It was a year and one-half ago we told you that $800 billion in stimulus wasn’t enough. That is now proving to be the case. Get ready for another liquidity barrage, called quantitative easing. It will also mean real interest rates will rise again. The backbone of most all…
EDITORIAL: FTC floats Drudge tax
Read the full article: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/4/ftc-floats-drudge-tax/ EXCERPT: The ideas being batted around to save the industry share a common theme: They are designed to empower bureaucrats, not consumers. For instance, one proposal would, “Allow news organizations to agree jointly on a mechanism to require news aggregators and others to pay for the use of online content,…
“Spritual but not religious” community growing (CNN)
EXCERPT: June 4, 2010 – (CNN) — “I’m spiritual but not religious.” It’s a trendy phrase people often use to describe their belief that they don’t need organized religion to live a life of faith. But for Jesuit priest James Martin, the phrase also hints at something else: egotism. “Being spiritual but not religious can…
C. Welton Gaddy: Between Religion and Politics (Chautauqua Institution)
Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance and whose past leadership roles include president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and chair of the Pastoral Leadership Commission of the Baptist World Alliance, discusses the philosophy and implications of secularism and the importance of a relationship between religion and politics.
Jefferson and Mason: From Toleration to Freedom (Chautauqua Institution)
Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, has a conversation with actors portraying George Mason and Thomas Jefferson on the subject of universal rights and the free exercise of religion.
Combining Comedy with Religion
Religious leaders denounce Arizona immigration law (BBC)
EXCERPT: June 4, 2010 – Religious leaders in the US and Latin America have denounced Arizona’s controversial new immigration law. The law requires police to question people about their immigration status, if officers suspect the person is in the US illegally, and if they have stopped them for a legitimate reason. Archbishop Rafael Romo Munoz,…
On a Visit to the U.S., a Nigerian Witch-Hunter Explains Herself (New York Times)
EXCERPT: May 21, 2010 – HOUSTON (NYT) – At home in Nigeria, the Pentecostal preacher Helen Ukpabio draws thousands to her revival meetings. Last August, when she had herself consecrated Christendom’s first “lady apostle,” Nigerian politicians and Nollywood actors attended the ceremony. Her books and DVDs, which explain how Satan possesses children, are widely known….
High School Sophomores Answer Question “How Would You Feel If Your Religious Freedom Was Taken Away?”
As their final assignment for the play, I had students respond to the question, “How would you feel if your religious freedom was taken away?” The responses varied, in both length and reaction. Nearly all of the teenagers in the class are self-described Christians, but their approach toward religion varies from conservative evangelical to tolerant progressives to near-agnostic. Their reactions to a potential scenario in which they were not allowed to practice religion freely ranged from the pragmatic to conformist to vigilant resistance.