Public Square
Items on religion in public life and social discourse
Redefining Democracy, Ethics, and Evangelicalism
Thu 04 Sep 2008 • Responses: 0 • by Joseph Loconte
In the current issue of The New Yorker, Peter Boyer wonders whether Barack Obama and the Democratic Party can capture the votes of supposedly disaffected conservative Christians, both Catholics and Protestants. Political strategists, of course, are wondering the same. Yet the article, “Party Faithful: Can the Democrats Get a Foothold on the Religious Vote?” treats recent political history as clumsily as it does Christian eschatology. It seems to be an essay on an eager, yet ultimately fruitless quest for a thesis.
A New Kind of Culture War
Wed 03 Sep 2008 • Responses: 0 • by Joseph Loconte
Last year National Review published an article called, “A Farewell to Culture Wars.” That editorial decision, to borrow a line from Ronald Reagan, must now be consigned to the ash heap of history. The moral arguments about the dignity of the unborn and the nature of the family, which have helped inflame our national politics for over three decades, could never be glossed over by happy talk. Exhibit A: The choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a conservative Christian, as the Republican nominee for vice president.
Religion, Politics, and Public Opinion
Fri 29 Aug 2008 • Responses: 0 • by Joseph Loconte
A recent public opinion poll shows that a narrow majority of Americans do not want churches and other houses of worship to speak out on social and political matters—a reversal of previous surveys showing majority support for church engagement. Conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the survey suggests that the souring mood can mostly be attributed to conservatives. Four years ago, according to Pew, just 30 percent of conservatives believed that churches and other houses of worship should stay out of politics. Today, 50 percent of conservatives express this view. Pew pollsters then go on to make this brazen claim: “The sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats that previously existed on this issue have disappeared.
How to Vote for the President
Wed 20 Aug 2008 • Responses: 1 • by William Edgar
Character, discernment, trust
Senior Fellow William Edgar looks at the factors we should consider in the upcoming U.S. elections—or any election, for that matter.The Greatness of Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008)
Mon 11 Aug 2008 by David Aikman
A Second Look
David Aikman looks back at his three interviews with the great Russian writer and offers a different assessment of his life, message, and influence.
America’s Most Important Export
Wed 16 Jul 2008 • Responses: 0 • by Don Eberly and Joseph Loconte
The Upside of Globalization
In the face of reported growing anti-American sentiment, Senior Fellows Don Eberly and Joseph Loconte look at factors critics often overlook—most notably the transformative power of America’s civil society in the developing world.
The Renaissance and Religious Toleration
Thu 26 Jun 2008 by Joe Loconte
Erasmus of Rotterdam’s recognition that “Compulsion is incompatible with sincerity, and nothing is pleasing to Christ unless it is voluntary” is one of the foundations of Christian humanism.
Historians debate the most significant achievements of the Renaissance, the cultural revival that began in Italy and swept through Europe from roughly the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. There were scientific advances, a return to the study of the classics, and political theorizing a la Machiavelli. A visit to Florence provides an almost overwhelming sense of the artistic accomplishments of the era. Yet a crucial aspect of Renaissance history is often overlooked: its contribution to religious liberty, an ideal whose origins have implications for our own age of religious violence.
Two Kinds of Tolerance
Tue 10 Jun 2008 by Joe Loconte
Modern democracies like the Netherlands have turned the principle of religious pluralism into a pretext for moral agnosticism.
A visitor to Amsterdam, whatever his itinerary, will be greeted by a somewhat macabre mix of European Christianity and postmodern paganism. In the historic city center it is not majestic cathedrals that catch the eye. Rather, it is the ubiquitous storefront sex shops. They come in several varieties, offering merchandise, voyeurism, and intimate encounters. There are church buildings as well, to be sure, but they seem out of place. Despite the streams of tourists, they struggle to compete for attention. Some houses of worship have been converted into bars or other secular establishments. The “Old Church Coffee Shop,” for example, sits adjacent the “Sexyland Erotic Supermarket.” It is a city that seems thoroughly obsessed with sex.
The Benefits of Conflict
Fri 06 Jun 2008 by Jo Kadlecek
Learning to Listen, Ready to Talk: A Pilgrimage Toward Peacemaking
by Harold Heie
(iUniverse, 2007), $19.95
Temperature-Controlled Governments
Fri 30 May 2008 by Pete Peterson
Community and the Individual Consumer
Pete Peterson looks at California’s response to its energy crunch and the problematic nature of responses from many people on the right.
