http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/ 15 Georgetown University scholars explore religion in the news. en Copyright 2011 Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:11:17 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=4.2-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss UNORTHODOXY Patrick J. Deneen September 11, 2001, we are frequently told, is the day that "changed everything." For the 3,000 people in New York City and Washington D.C. who were killed on that blue-skied day, and for their families, that 9-11 "changed everything" barely suffices to describe what happened on that day. For the many more thousands of people in our military who have been deployed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for their families, their years of service have been very different than would have the case been before the attacks. For these people in particular - a fragment of our population - September 11th changed everything. For the rest of us, very little has changed. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/09/nine_eleven.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/09/nine_eleven.html Unorthodoxy Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:11:17 -0500 http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/the_rss_feed_for_this_blog_has_moved.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/the_rss_feed_for_this_blog_has_moved.html Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:26:57 -0500 In November, 2009, peace-loving Switzerland shocked itself and the world when over 57 percent of its voters supported a referendum to ban construction of new minarets. The government had opposed the proposition on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, contravening Switzerland's commitment to religious freedom. In the expectation that the measure would fail and fearing that a "positive" campaign would fuel fear, the government did not actively campaign against it. In Switzerland's unique democracy, the citizens' vote meant that the constitution was changed. What has followed has been much analysis, soul searching, damage control and careful dialogue. A visit to Bern, Switzerland's capital, earlier this week offered a chance to take stock of what it means for the future, with the benefit of the passage of some time since the heat of crisis. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/switzerland_beyond_the_minaret_ban.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/switzerland_beyond_the_minaret_ban.html Faith in Action Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:20:07 -0500 By Jacques Berlinerblau The 2012 Republican Presidential race for conservative Christian hearts and minds and votes got off to an unbelievable start yesterday--really, I mean, beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of--when the ultra-Conservative, Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition hosted its 11th Annual Spring Kick off. I hadn't even pulled my Scofield Reference Bible down off the shelf when the evening's MC, Gopal Krishna, was already lambasting the "weird and kinky lifestyles" that have become prevalent in our sinful nation. The five presidential sort-of-hopefuls who showed up did not disappoint their audience at Point of Grace Church in Waukee, Iowa. Nor did warm-up speaker congressman Steve King who assured us "If we get the culture right the economy will be right eventually." Nor did the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Ralph Reed, who implied that it may be necessary to overthrow the American government (about which more http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/republicans_fight_for_god_at_the_iowa_faith_and_freedom.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/republicans_fight_for_god_at_the_iowa_faith_and_freedom.html Tue, 08 Mar 2011 01:20:29 -0500 Unorthodoxy Patrick J. Deneen In the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona, a chorus of voices - mainly, if not exclusively on the political Left - arose in denunciation of the decline of "civility" in contemporary political life. Somewhat incredibly, some of the more prominent voices on the political Right - such as Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin - denounced these calls for civility. There were efforts - often successful, in fact - to point out that the Left was just as likely to be uncivil in its words and deeds. Still, it's a disturbing spectacle to see so-called conservatives defending incivility - it was Edmund Burke, after all - the founder of modern conservatism - who lamented the decline of chivalry in Revolutionary France. Still, in the main, there was at least a moment of circumspection and even conversation about the role of civility in our political http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/civility_and_democracy.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/civility_and_democracy.html Unorthodoxy Wed, 02 Mar 2011 09:44:56 -0500 By Sam Dinger WATCH: "The core principles of Sharia are analogous to the core principles of the Constitution," says the imam behind the planned Islamic center near Ground Zero. Imam Rauf also talks about his hopes for the Muslim Brotherhood, the revolts in the Middle East and what he thinks of the arguments made by his critics. With the world's attention currently fixed on the upheaval in the Middle East, it is easy to forget that only last summer, the most significant debate over Islamic politics and practice was in fact raging within the United States. In question was the fate of a vacant building in Lower Manhattan. Only several blocks away from the former World Trade Center, this building was the proposed site of Park51, a Muslim community center. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/the_god_vote.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/03/the_god_vote.html Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:07:58 -0500 By Katherine Marshall FAITH IN ACTION The irony is familiar but still troubling: America, a nation proudly built by and for immigrants, today has a badly broken immigration system. But the debate about how to fix it has been fractious and unproductive. We seem to be stalled. At Georgetown's Berkley Center, a group of scholars and activists last week explored how religious leaders and communities see the issue and what they are doing about it. It was a generally upbeat afternoon. Heartening data from surveys suggest that most people, deep down, are ready for immigration reform. There's a mobilization for action despite the sad defeat of the DREAM Act in December. And religious communities across the country are engaged in the day-to-day work of helping new arrivals find their way and integrate into American society. The surveys, especially one by the Public Religion Research Institute, paint a picture of a http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/immigration_view_from_the_faith_side.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/immigration_view_from_the_faith_side.html Faith in Action Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:39:52 -0500 By Dean K. Lieberman One of most prominent questions facing international commentators today: are Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya (if Qaddafi falls) going to become the new Irans? Professor Samer Shehata, this week's guest on The God Vote with Sally Quinn and Jacques Berlinerblau, asserts Egypt is not going the way of theocracy. The year 1979, he says, is a false analogy to what just transpired in Egypt. Why? Islamist parties have emerged into new entities in recent years. Shehata points to their acceptance of the idea of citizenship as one example of this process of embracing modernity. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/islamist_politics_or_american_fears.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/islamist_politics_or_american_fears.html Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:52:55 -0500 A group of American Christians, most of them evangelicals, met for four days last weekend with a distinguished group of Moroccans at Eastern Mennonite University, concluding with a public session Monday at Georgetown University's Berkley Center. To an outsider, the point of the conclave was not easy to fathom. It opened with a showing of a terrifying film about nuclear threats: Countdown to Zero, and concluded with heartfelt statements of shared interests and values. What was it all about? Why did Morocco's busy ambassador to the United States and other distinguished Moroccans devote so much time to the discussion? Richard Cizik, founder of a new movement of evangelicals he describes as "young in spirit" (the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good) gave some clues as he spoke Monday. Quoting from a post-2010 election survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, he noted that while 45 percent of Americans said http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/evangelicals_and_islam.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/evangelicals_and_islam.html Faith in Action Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:50:26 -0500 By Patrick Deneen Unorthodoxy A woman holds Valentine's Day balloons to hand out on a street in Lisbon February 14, 2011. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante When we think of love today, we tend to think of it in dominantly private terms. Love is that intense emotion between lovers, between spouses, between parents and children, between siblings and immediate members of family or close friends. Love is a private emotion, usually dyadic or extendable to very few close intimates. This experience of love is understandable in the light of the dominant political philosophy that reigns today, liberalism. If, as many historians and political theorists have noted, liberalism was fashioned to make the public sphere safe from Christianity - that is, to transform religious belief from a deeply shared public concern to a private preference - then love, accordingly, had also to be safely secluded to the private realm. For, it was according to http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/love_cannot_be_earned.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/love_cannot_be_earned.html Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:45:51 -0500 The rapid-fire events in Tunisia and Egypt have caught people everywhere by surprise. That's especially true in the neighborhood (North Africa and the Middle East). As I headed for Morocco for a weekend conference, I hoped to emerge with a far clearer understanding, both of what sparked these popular upheavals now, and what might lie ahead. What I found were people torn between a euphoric hope, especially at the unleashing of freedom of speech, and uncertainty laced with fear for the future. It's very complicated and the tale is far from over. We rehearsed the familiar explanations for discontent: failures of leadership, repression of dissent, human rights abuses, massive and visible corruption - a political science litany. The geopolitics of it all are played out hour by hour in public statements and contradictions, so open and fast-moving that new events may best be seen on Facebook. The general wisdom seems http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/morocco_its_complicated.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/morocco_its_complicated.html Faith in Action Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:44:58 -0500 By Jacques Berlinerblau President Obama spoke on Thursday morning at the 59th annual National Prayer Breakfast. The gathering is one of those peculiar Washington pageants that elicits diametrically opposed reactions from those who bother to take note of its existence. Those hostile to the NPB view it as a raging Christ-fest. Those in support of it view it as good, clean, absolutely necessary, public worship of our God. I, as you may have surmised, could do without the NPB. But part of being what I might call a "new secularist" consists of dealing with reality as it is, not reality as it might have been fifty years ago. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/obama_at_national_prayer_breakfast_raging_christ-fest_secular_wake.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/02/obama_at_national_prayer_breakfast_raging_christ-fest_secular_wake.html Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:09:07 -0500 As the rich and powerful gathered in Davos last week, a Refugee Run (simulation of life as a refugee) aimed to bring home to a select group of delegates the contrast between their privileged lives and the uncertainties and misery of the world's refugees. My colleagues Michael Bodakowski and Melody Fox Ahmed made a visit that accomplished that goal far more effectively: to a camp in Bangladesh where Muslim Aid, a UK-based, Islamic-inspired group, works with the Rohingya people. The Rohingya situation is described as the world's most forgotten crisis and one of the most desperate. The Rohingya are a mostly Muslim people whose homeland is northwest Burma. Persecuted in Buddhist Burma, in large part because of their Muslim faith, waves of Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh. Some 28,000 are "official" refugees, living for close to two decades in United Nations refugee camps. But at least another 200,000 live http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/01/forgotten_crisis_stateless_in_bangladesh.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/01/forgotten_crisis_stateless_in_bangladesh.html Faith in Action Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:46:13 -0500 By Jacques Berlinerblau "So, Jacques, what's the over/under on tonight's 'Scripture bombs'?" That's a question reporters sometimes used to ask me before a major address by the president or a presidential candidate back in 2008. Let me explain. A "Scripture bomb" is my term for the citation, whether explicit or covert, whether verbatim or glossed, of words from the Bible by a politician during an important speech. Going into tonight's State of the Union I gave my standard prediction: "the over/under is three citations from the 'Good Book'" (if the speaker, however, is Mike Huckabee, George W. Bush, or Joseph Lieberman circa 2000, then the number raises to five). http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/01/obamas_state_of_the_union_bye_bye_faith_and_values_hello_education.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/01/obamas_state_of_the_union_bye_bye_faith_and_values_hello_education.html The God Vote Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:04:13 -0500 National pride is palpable in South Africa but so are the stunning challenges that face what is in many respects a new nation, reborn with the death knell to Apartheid in 1994. Nowhere are the roots of both more evident than on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. There sits a unique South African institution, its Constitutional Court, with 11 judges who can (and do) instruct political leaders on constitutional principles and uphold South Africa's young constitution, that took effect in 1997. A tour of the Constitutional Court as part of last week's Global Poverty Summit hardly seemed an intuitive top priority. But this spectacular building is indeed inspiring, a visual display of South Africa's hunger for justice in its finest sense and meticulous attention to symbolism and practice (there's a virtual tour). Every design feature, from lampshades to rugs to chair covers to paintings sets out to convey the message that http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/01/an_inspiring_constitution_south_africa.html?wprss=onfaithgeorgetown http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2011/01/an_inspiring_constitution_south_africa.html Faith in Action Mon, 24 Jan 2011 01:00:00 -0500