EXCERPT: Has the time come to cut out circumcision? Pro-foreskin forces say so, and some in San Francisco say they’ve collected enough signatures to put a proposal to ban circumcision before voters. The proposal would make it a misdemeanor to […]
San Francisco Mulls Circumcision Ban (CBS News) Read More »
By Martin Surridge – Few countries around the globe can outdo Afghanistan when it comes to suffering and misery. Just in the last ten years alone, Afghanistan has been the permanent home for the Taliban, the temporary home for Al-Qaeda,
Protection of religious liberty plays a unique role in our democracy, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow suggests, because it requires people to respect one another even when they sharply disagree.
“Something Very Distinctive About Religious Freedom”: Martha Minow Read More »
The architects of our nation took great care to constitute a limited government founded on personal responsibility and individual liberty. The institution of the church has an absolute freedom from the state. But when it comes to the financial side
EXCERPT: The Virgina State Board of Social Services has voted overwhelmingly against new adoption rules that some say would allow same-sex couples to adopt in the state for the first time. In a 7-2 vote Wednesday afternoon, the board opted
Virginia Board Votes Against Proposed Same-Sex Adoption Rules (Washington Post) Read More »
EXCERPT: For centuries, Islamic scholars have said that Muslim women must cover their hair. But many Muslim women don’t. There are about 1 million Muslim women in America; 43 percent of them wear headscarves all the time, according to the
Lifting The Veil: Muslim Women Explain Their Choice (NPR) Read More »
By Martin Surridge – France can’t seem to stay out of global headline news at the moment. In a two week period, Sarkozy’s government managed to team up with the U.N. to lead the charge against Gbagbo in the Ivory
Article18: France — Controversial Veil Ban for Muslim Women Continues to Divide Nation Read More »
President Obama’s middle-ground approach to the credible and well-established “Clash of Civilizations” theme – when formulating international religious freedom policy – is best understood when placed on a scale between tolerance and international consensus (an interfaith, “soft-power” approach), and America’s constitutional ideal of religious freedom and human rights (an Evangelical and “exacting” approach). Yet both policy methods delimit religious freedom, threatening it altogether.
EXCERPT: Chinese police on Sunday detained more than 100 churchgoers who tried to hold an outdoor prayer service on a pedestrian bridge in Beijing after having failed to secure permission to open a church. Although it is not uncommon for
Chinese police detain members of unregistered church (LA Times) Read More »
