Friday, March 04, 2005
Sightings from the week
A Republican Representative in the US has put forward a Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act. Representative Walter Jones, N.C., the prime sponsor of the bill, says H.R. 235 will free pastors to speak openly about moral and political issues without fear that the Internal Revenue Service will fine them or take away their church's tax-exempt status. "Bishop (Michael) Sheridan in Colorado Springs wrote a pastoral letter-didn't preach from the church but wrote a pastoral letter, three pages to 120,000 Catholics," Jones said. "(Americans United for Separation of Church and State head) Mr. (Barry) Lynn filed a complaint against him because he used the word 'pro-life' in his pastoral letter."
Another Bill aims to make English the official language of the United States government. The English Language Unity Act of 2005, has been introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and 57 additional members of Congress, the bill would make English the official language of the United States government. The United States clings to a costly and divisive system of providing services in multiple languages, including Social Security information in 16 languages and ballots in 28 languages.
There is something else Helen Clark forgot to mention in her adulation of Sweden recently. Sweden is facing big problems with its immigration policies. It has the most open borders in Scandinavia (other countries are starting to bring in stringent policies restricting immigration). But the immigrants are not assimilating - because Swedes generally are segregationist. There are many lessons here for New Zealand.
David Brooks in the New York Times asks some pertinent questions about how much in a marriage should be private and how much should be communal. He draws some illustrations from Tolstoy's novella, "Family Happiness."
On Campus, Conservatives Talk Back, writes Brian C. Anderson. Conservative young people are growing both in voice and numerically on American college campuses.
And a major new US study says the vast majority of youths have a 'highly conventional' outlook on their faith and share their parents' religion.
Faith is declining in Scotland. A total of 28% of Scotland's population said they did not belong to any faith when completing the last census in 2001. The biggest group was Christians, including Catholic and Church of Scotland, which made up 65% of the country. The biggest non-Christian minority group was Muslims which totalled just under 1%.
Against this, there seems to be a growing consensus around the globe that godlessness is in trouble. "Atheism as a theoretical position is in decline worldwide," Munich theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg told United Press International Tuesday. Two developments are plaguing atheism these days. One is that it appears to be losing its scientific underpinnings. The other is the historical experience of hundreds of millions of people worldwide that atheists are in no position to claim the moral high ground. But the decline of atheism does not mean the revitalisation of Christianity - pagan spirituality is often the new refuge.
Islam rules in UK school. A school violated a student's human rights by banning her from wearing a traditional Muslim gown to class, a British court ruled Wednesday, ending a more than two year legal battle. Shabina Begum, now 16, was sent home from school in Luton, north of London, in September 2002 for wearing the jilbab, a long, flowing gown covering all her body except her hands and face. She first went to the High Court, arguing that the ban breached her right to religious freedom under the European Convention on Human Rights. The court rejected that argument in June. But on Wednesday a panel of three Court of Appeal judges ruled that Begum had been illegally excluded from the school, which "unlawfully denied her the right to manifest her religion." The teenager was represented in her high-profile appeal by Cherie Booth, wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Keith Suter, a professional fellow of the Futures Foundation, Australia, says an attitude change is needed to revive community service. Is there is a slow death of the community spirit? Non-governmental organisations, such as service clubs, religious bodies and advocacy groups, maintain the fabric of society. But can they maintain their own fabric? Many are reporting a decline in membership and have financial problems. Suter suggests there are two possible ways we can go.
Social security is a sacred cow of the American way of life and President Bush wants to slaughter it, or at least stick the first knife in. He proposes to begin privatising the system, allowing Americans to divert some of the money they would have paid in social security contributions into personal investment accounts.
The Ontario Legislature this week passed, by voice vote only, Bill 171, which further enshrines same-sex marriage in Ontario law. Premier Dalton McGuinty proposed the move to change 73 provincial statutes, to introduce gender-neutral language that otherwise refers to wives and husbands. The bill was rammed through from introduction to final passage in only three days, with no significant debate and no opportunity for public input.
A Republican Representative in the US has put forward a Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act. Representative Walter Jones, N.C., the prime sponsor of the bill, says H.R. 235 will free pastors to speak openly about moral and political issues without fear that the Internal Revenue Service will fine them or take away their church's tax-exempt status. "Bishop (Michael) Sheridan in Colorado Springs wrote a pastoral letter-didn't preach from the church but wrote a pastoral letter, three pages to 120,000 Catholics," Jones said. "(Americans United for Separation of Church and State head) Mr. (Barry) Lynn filed a complaint against him because he used the word 'pro-life' in his pastoral letter."
Another Bill aims to make English the official language of the United States government. The English Language Unity Act of 2005, has been introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and 57 additional members of Congress, the bill would make English the official language of the United States government. The United States clings to a costly and divisive system of providing services in multiple languages, including Social Security information in 16 languages and ballots in 28 languages.
There is something else Helen Clark forgot to mention in her adulation of Sweden recently. Sweden is facing big problems with its immigration policies. It has the most open borders in Scandinavia (other countries are starting to bring in stringent policies restricting immigration). But the immigrants are not assimilating - because Swedes generally are segregationist. There are many lessons here for New Zealand.
David Brooks in the New York Times asks some pertinent questions about how much in a marriage should be private and how much should be communal. He draws some illustrations from Tolstoy's novella, "Family Happiness."
On Campus, Conservatives Talk Back, writes Brian C. Anderson. Conservative young people are growing both in voice and numerically on American college campuses.
And a major new US study says the vast majority of youths have a 'highly conventional' outlook on their faith and share their parents' religion.
Faith is declining in Scotland. A total of 28% of Scotland's population said they did not belong to any faith when completing the last census in 2001. The biggest group was Christians, including Catholic and Church of Scotland, which made up 65% of the country. The biggest non-Christian minority group was Muslims which totalled just under 1%.
Against this, there seems to be a growing consensus around the globe that godlessness is in trouble. "Atheism as a theoretical position is in decline worldwide," Munich theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg told United Press International Tuesday. Two developments are plaguing atheism these days. One is that it appears to be losing its scientific underpinnings. The other is the historical experience of hundreds of millions of people worldwide that atheists are in no position to claim the moral high ground. But the decline of atheism does not mean the revitalisation of Christianity - pagan spirituality is often the new refuge.
Islam rules in UK school. A school violated a student's human rights by banning her from wearing a traditional Muslim gown to class, a British court ruled Wednesday, ending a more than two year legal battle. Shabina Begum, now 16, was sent home from school in Luton, north of London, in September 2002 for wearing the jilbab, a long, flowing gown covering all her body except her hands and face. She first went to the High Court, arguing that the ban breached her right to religious freedom under the European Convention on Human Rights. The court rejected that argument in June. But on Wednesday a panel of three Court of Appeal judges ruled that Begum had been illegally excluded from the school, which "unlawfully denied her the right to manifest her religion." The teenager was represented in her high-profile appeal by Cherie Booth, wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Keith Suter, a professional fellow of the Futures Foundation, Australia, says an attitude change is needed to revive community service. Is there is a slow death of the community spirit? Non-governmental organisations, such as service clubs, religious bodies and advocacy groups, maintain the fabric of society. But can they maintain their own fabric? Many are reporting a decline in membership and have financial problems. Suter suggests there are two possible ways we can go.
Social security is a sacred cow of the American way of life and President Bush wants to slaughter it, or at least stick the first knife in. He proposes to begin privatising the system, allowing Americans to divert some of the money they would have paid in social security contributions into personal investment accounts.
The Ontario Legislature this week passed, by voice vote only, Bill 171, which further enshrines same-sex marriage in Ontario law. Premier Dalton McGuinty proposed the move to change 73 provincial statutes, to introduce gender-neutral language that otherwise refers to wives and husbands. The bill was rammed through from introduction to final passage in only three days, with no significant debate and no opportunity for public input.
