Religious Liberty - links
God’s Country?
Walter Russell Mead
From Foreign Affairs, September/October 2006
Summary: Religion has always been a major force in U.S. politics, but the recent surge in the number and the power of evangelicals is recasting the country’s political scene — with dramatic implications for foreign policy. This should not be cause for panic: evangelicals are passionately devoted to justice and improving the world, and eager to reach out across sectarian lines.
Walter Russell Mead is Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Further reading for this article can be found at www.foreignaffairs.org/mead_reading.
Dec 12, 2006
Topic: Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, Human Rights, Persecution, Religious Liberty, War
Court: Groups Must Offer Contraceptives
New York’s highest court ruled Thursday that social service agencies run by the Roman Catholic Church and other faiths must provide birth-control coverage to their employees, even if they consider contraception a sin.
Oct 23, 2006
Topic: Faith, Family, Life, Citizenship, Legislation, Religious Liberty
Boy Scouts suffer a legal setback in Supreme Court over discrimination
Six years after the Supreme Court ruled the Boy Scouts could ban gay leaders, the group is fighting and losing legal battles with state and local governments over its discriminatory policies.
Oct 20, 2006
Topic: Faith, Family, Abuse, Sexual Purity, Homosexuality, Citizenship, Church and State, Community Service, Human Rights, Legislation, Religious Liberty
Iraq’s Christians Flee as Extremist Threat Worsens
The blackened shells of five cars still sit in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary here, stark reminders of a bomb blast that killed two people after a recent Sunday Mass.
Oct 17, 2006
Topic: Faith, Citizenship, Persecution, Religious Liberty
Opera Canceled Over a Depiction of Muhammad
A leading German opera house has canceled performances of a Mozart opera because of security fears stirred by a scene that depicts the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad, prompting a storm of protest here about what many see as the surrender of artistic freedom.
Sep 27, 2006
Topic: Citizenship, Religious Liberty
Enough Apologies
Already, angry Palestinian militants have assaulted seven West Bank and Gaza churches, destroying two of them. In Somalia, gunmen shot dead an elderly Italian nun. Radical clerics from Qatar to Qom have called, variously, for a “day of anger” or for worshipers to “hunt down” the pope and his followers.
Sep 19, 2006
Topic: Faith, Citizenship, Religious Liberty
Muslim anger spreads to South Asia
Extremists called yesterday for an Islamic army to march on Rome because of remarks by Pope Benedict XVI, while a well-known Muslim firebrand said in London that the pontiff should face “capital punishment.”
Sep 19, 2006
Topic: Faith, Citizenship, Religious Liberty
Baylor Survey of Religion
BSR-Baylor Survey of Religion
American Piety in the 21st CenturyAmerican Piety in the 21st Century
Most survey studies that include questions about religion only have space to ask about basic religious indicators such as church attendance and belief in God. This is understandable, as most surveys are focused on other topics such as crime or politics and space is at a premium. ISR has received a major three-year grant from the John M. Templeton Foundation, to conduct a nationally representative multi-year study of religious values, practices, and behaviors. After several years devoted to development and pretesting by Baylor faculty, the Baylor Religion Survey (BSR) was fielded during the winter of 2005 and the data were made available for analysis in the spring of 2006.
Sep 13, 2006
Topic: Family, Pop Culture, Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, Church and State, National, Religious Liberty
Americans May Be More Religious Than They Realize
Americans May Be More Religious Than They Realize
Many Without Denomination Have Congregation, Study Finds
By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 12, 2006; A12
A survey released yesterday posits the idea that the United States — already one of the most religious nations in the developed world — may be even less secular than previously suspected.
The Baylor University survey looked carefully at people who checked “none” when asked their religion in polls. Sociologists have watched this group closely since 1990, when their numbers doubled, from 7 percent of the population to 14 percent. Some sociologists said the jump reflects increasing secularization at the same time that American society is becoming more religious.
But the Baylor survey, considered one of the most detailed ever conducted about religion in the United States, found that one in 10 people who picked “no religion” out of 40 choices did something interesting when asked later where they worship: They named a place.
Sep 12, 2006
Topic: Family, Pop Culture, Citizenship, Church and State, National, Religious Liberty
ON RADIO: An Absurd Invitation
On today’s broadcast, Dr. Land comments on the absurdity of the National Cathedral’s invitation to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. He’s been asked to speak at the cathedral on how Abrahamic faiths can promote peace, despite his abysmal human rights record. Hear all this and your phone calls on today’s For Faith and Family.
* Former Iranian President to Speak at the National Cathedral – uscirf.govSep 6, 2006
Topic: Citizenship, Church and State, Human Rights, Persecution, Religious Liberty, War