“. . . the selection of Warren is the selection of a man in a faith tradition more in the face of what scholars call American “civic religion,” or a generic approach to a deity found in phrases such as ‘God bless America.'”
Benjamin Franklin on Conscience
“A good conscience is a continual Christmas.” – Benjamin Franklin “How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep holidays than commandments.” – Benjamin Franklin
Catholic leader sought Mormon help on Prop 8 (Salt Lake Tribune)
It’s the first time the archbishop has commented on how churches organized to help push through the initiative, which overturned the California Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex nuptials. Mormon leaders had given a similar account of how its members, who represent about 2 percent of the California residents with a religious affiliation, came to play such a prominent role in promoting Proposition 8.
How secular newsrooms handle stories with a religious component (Wall Street Journal)
In “Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion” — a collection of essays that he edited with Lela Gilbert and Roberta Green Ahmanson — he notes that similar assertions have been common in the coverage of Islamic terrorism. The book’s contributors explore all sorts of news stories with a religious component — Islamic and otherwise — showing where reporters have veered off course and discussing the reasons why.
A World Enslaved – There are now more slaves on the planet than at any time in human history (Foreign Policy)
Most people imagine that slavery died in the 19th century. Since 1817, more than a dozen international conventions have been signed banning the slave trade. Yet, today there are more slaves than at any time in human history.
New Religions: A Small Sect Makes it to the Supreme Court
By Monte Sahlin – The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted an appeal from a religion that you probably never heard of until it hit the news yesterday. Summum is rooted in gnostic Christianity (or, at least modern understandings of gnosticism) and ancient Egyptian religion (or, at least contemporary understandings of ancient Egyptian religion). It was founded in 1975 and has its headquarters in (of all places) Utah.
The case before the Supreme Court is based on the fact that the small town in Utah has a large, stone monument in the city park of the Ten Commandments. The believers in Summum petitioned the city council to add another monument with their seven principles of good behavior. The city council refused, thereby establishing the religions of the Ten Commandments (Judaism and Christianity) over the little sect of Summum. The small religion has raised enough funds to hire attorneys and appeal their case all the way to the top court in America.
There are serious constitutional issues about religious liberty in this case even if you have a hard time taking Summum seriously. But, I want to focus on something else: The way new religions are being invented and why so many people are moving away from the large, historic faiths.
BREAKING – More Cooperation Planned between the United Nations and World Religions
By Jonathan Gallagher, Ph.D. – New York, NY, USA… [December 16, 2008] Representatives from the United Nations and religious leaders met together with non-government organizations in New York Tuesday to promote greater cooperation between the UN and religious groups worldwide. The intent in the words of the organizers is “to explore new ways and means to advance cooperation between the world’s religious communities and the United Nations.”
Methodists and Wahhabis (Middle East Online)
Saudi Arabia and the United States are the Odd Couple of the twenty-first century. One a monarchy, the other a democracy. One founded on a restrictive faith, the other a beacon of religious freedom. One blessed by vast petroleum resources, the other cursed by a gargantuan appetite for oil. Their governments bound to each other by ties of money and armament, yet their populations distrustful of each other’s political designs, angry about violent deeds attributed to the other, and disdainful of their respective faiths.
Light rising in the darkness
Isaiah 58:10..If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
OPINION: Does the World Need a Global Population Control Agency? (Catholic Online)
Overpopulation hysteria has real world consequences. One of these is a United Nations population control agency that goes by the name of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).