Clipmarks | enbar's Current events, politics, religion collection

An amicus brief for the validity of religious-law arguments in potential Eighth Amendment cases

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:04:59 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: I don't know quite how i feel about this. I have a lot of sympathy for their position, but I don't get the argument for including religious arguments in an amicus brief like this. The argument is that it violates key religious provisions (ideas like mercy and compassion) to give a juvenile a life-without-parole sentence for a non-homicide offense. Part of the argument rests on the notion that the values of rehabilitation, mercy, and hope are universal across religious traditions -- those sorts of claims always make me a little skeptical.

Clip Source: divinity.uchicago.edu

Sightings

November 12, 2009

Religion-Based Arguments in Juvenile Life Without Parole Cases

— Joan Gottschall

The legal position advanced by the brief is also remarkable, for amici argue that their shared religious values require the Supreme Court to reverse the Florida judgments and to hold that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment to sentence juveniles convicted of non-homicide offenses to life without the possibility of parole.

First, it reviews traditional religious recognition of the distinction between children and adults, both in religious teachings regarding crime and punishment and in other aspects of religious law.

Third, it argues that ignoring the special status of youth and condemning juveniles to die in prison contravenes the fundamental religious values of mercy, forgiveness, and compassion.

Tags: crime, ethics, justice, law, possible_blog_post, religion, via:sightings

Tamim Ansary on the future of the Iranian regime

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:36:44 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: Ansary believes that what he calls the "Khomeinist" regime has made such serious tactical mistakes in trying to control dissent that it is probably doomed at this point. Khamenei, in failing even to maintain the appearance of fairness and impartiality, has insulted the intelligence of the people and sacrificed his own legitimacy. Interestingly, Ansary remarks that only intervention from the West -- on behalf of the protesters, that is -- is likely to save the old guard at this point, by restoring their moral authority as the guardians of Iranian nationalism.

Clip Source: therumpus.net

Iran’s Regime: Marching Toward a Cliff

Tamim Ansary

Khatami, Mousavi, and Rafsanjani don’t propose to dismantle the Islamic Republic and replace it with a secular democracy. They’re out to save the Islamic Republic by changing its approach to the world and thus preserve its stature in world affairs. They see what Obama sees: that belligerent bullying ultimately weakens a nation. This doesn’t mean their commitment to Islam (or even Islamism) has weakened, any more than Obama’s willingness to talk with states like Iran means he no longer believes in democracy.

If a plurality of the nation comes to feel that these Khomeinist clerics are good Muslims but bad for Iran, they are finished.

Their only possible hope then will rest with some outside force inserting itself into the fray and giving them a convenient scapegoat, someone like John McCain, who incredibly enough said today that the United States “should lead” the Iranian revolution.

Tags: iran, iran_elections_2009, middle_east, politics

Another note from Iran: the "bullet fee"

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:15:49 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: I can't think of a single clever thing to say about this.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Son's Death Has Iranian Family Asking Why

Upon learning of his son's death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a "bullet fee"—a fee for the bullet used by security forces—before taking the body back, relatives said.

Mr. Alipour told officials that his entire possessions wouldn't amount to $3,000, arguing they should waive the fee because he is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. According to relatives, morgue officials finally agreed, but demanded that the family do no funeral or burial in Tehran. Kaveh Alipour's body was quietly transported to the city of Rasht, where there is family.

The details of his death remain unclear. He had been alone. Neighbors and relatives think that he got trapped in the crossfire. He wasn't politically active and hadn't taken part in the turmoil that has rocked Iran for over a week, they said.

Tags: death, iran, news, police, violence

"Jesus Didn't Tap Out": stepping into the octagon at SOSChurch.tv

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:59:33 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: A new kind of Easter observance -- "Jesus as Ultimate Fighter." The point is "relevance" and bringing young men back into the fold. Check out the awesome video at the source (complete with youthful pastor sporting shaved head and soul patch and his hottie wife, Darla). The church website is SOSChurch.tv.

Clip Source: www.cw11tv.com

This Easter Celebration Combines Ultimate Fighting And Prayer

" In the mixed martial arts arena there's an expression, and the expression is don't tap out and he didn't tap out "

You won't see fighters in an octagon, but perseverance becomes the message this Easter Sunday according to pastor Skiles.

" He took every blow and He wound up becoming victorious."

Pastor Skiles and his wife Darla are always looking for ways to make the religious experience relevant. Mrs. Skiles says the connection is clear.

"Christ did endure a beating. And when you watch that and you see those men, ..go at it, it gives you a picture of what Christ might have gone through. "

"We want a relevant message to teach to people. And we want to be able to take this ancient gospel and make it relevant to someone today. "

Tags: christianity, evangelicalism, religion, rels327, sports, violence

Orange County's new motel dwellers

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:02:22 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: As more middle-class families are evicted from their homes, many of them are ending up in low-budget motels. Via Crooks and Liars. Pretty depressing.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

As Jobs Vanish, Motel Rooms Become Home

COSTA MESA, Calif. — Greg Hayworth, 44, graduated from Syracuse University and made a good living in his home state, California, from real estate and mortgage finance. Then that business crashed, and early last year the bank foreclosed on the house his family was renting, forcing their eviction.

Enlarge This Image

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

The Garza family has been living since October in the Costa Mesa Inn, where 9-year-old Celine shares a bed with two younger brothers, toys and schoolbooks piled on the floor.

Now the Hayworths and their three children represent a new face of homelessness in Orange County: formerly middle income, living week to week in a cramped motel room.

The Hayworths tried staying with relatives but ended up last September at the Costa Mesa Motor Inn, one of more than 1,000 families estimated to be living in motels in Orange County alone.

Tags: economics, financial_crisis, news, bad_news, depressing, california

"Religious literacy" courses now required in Modesto, CA public schools

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:43:11 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: More religious knowledge has got to be a good thing, I think. On the other hand, a course like this has got to be fantastically easy to screw up. It would be interesting to study what they're doing and how it's working out. Thanks to ~C4Chaos at Friendfeed for the link.

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Teaching Not Preaching In CA Bible Belt

Most Schools Avoid Religion, But It's Required In Modesto Schools

Modesto, Calif., is home to the only school district in the country that requires the teaching of world religions to high school students. (CBS)

Like many other places, Modesto is becoming more religiously diverse.

But unlike any other place, religion is a required course in high school here.

"And now we're going to be looking at Judaism, Christianity, and Islam," Taylor said to her class.

"The United States is one of the most religious countries on Earth. And yet Americans know almost nothing about religion," said Stephen Prothero, author of a new book, "Religious Literacy."

But in Modesto, the lessons aren't about distant cultures, so much as about the student at the next desk.

While there are many religions here, the goal is to create one community where everyone is accepted.

Tags: religion, schools, education, teaching, california, pluralism, america, news

Christianity Today on torture

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:12:54 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: David Gushee for the evangelical Christian magazine Christianity Today on five theological grounds for the unequivocal and universal condemnation of torture by Christians, and why, from a Christian perspective, no exceptional circumstances can ever justify the use of torture. From February 2006.

Clip Source: www.christianitytoday.com

5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong

And why there should be no exceptions.

Clip Source: www.christianitytoday.com

Furthermore, while all "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment of detainees has been officially rejected by the administration (under pressure from Sen. John McCain and others), it is not clear who defines when treatment crosses that line. It also remains unclear how much latitude those on the front lines of interrogation have, and if and how they would be held accountable if they were to cross the line. In other words, there remain a number of loopholes for torture to be practiced in the war on terror.

Yet the prohibition on torture in international law admits no exceptions. The U.N. Convention Against Torture puts it this way: "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for torture."

Tags: torture, religion, christianity, evangelicalism, commentary, opinion, gwot, violence, rels327

"Lost" (the TV show) and religion

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:23:59 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: Bookmarking this mostly to read later.

Clip Source: www.beliefnet.com

The 'Lost' Tribe

One of TV's most popular shows is also one of the most spiritual. So why aren't the Jews getting any love?

Lilit Marcus

One reason that Lost resonates with so many viewers is that it incorporates elements from many world religions. The show frequently refers to a mysterious string of numbers that add up to 108, a sacred number in Buddhism that represents the number of beads on a mala, or prayer necklace. A secretive group that might be behind the mysterious happenings on the island is called the Dharma Initiative. Lost boasts one of the most diverse casts on TV, with the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 coming from a variety of backgrounds (Nigerian, Korean, Iraqi, etc.) However, religious diversity is where the program fails. Because the majority of the passengers are from the United States, the show assumes them all to be Christian or nonreligious. The Iraqi soldier, Sayid, is Muslim, and has been shown praying on several occasions.

Tags: via:friendfeed, religion, popular_culture, television, media, contemporary, commentary, !toread

The National Animal Identification System, food safety, and school lunches: cui bono?

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:12:29 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: A Wisconsin family farmer criticizes the NAIS, which requires all livestock to carry a RFID tag (prohibitively expensive for non-CAFO-type operations, i.e., small family farmers). To him, it looks like another agribusiness attempt to shut down small, organic producers.

Clip Source: www.madison.com

Jeff Pausma: Congress takes another potshot at family farmers

The scandal at the Hallmark/Westland plant in Chino, Calif., has sparked interest in the trend of securing local meat from sources that are grass-fed, organic and come from animals raised humanely. Our kids deserve the safest meat in their food. Sadly, Congress is now considering squashing such efforts to get local foods into the School Lunch Program.

In June, the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee, at the behest of Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said it was considering a provision that would force schools to buy meat for the School Lunch Program from sources enrolled in the federal government's National Animal Identification System. NAIS is hugely controversial among family farmers like me. The U.S. government wants us to inventory, identify and track the movement of all agriculture-related animals.

Is NAIS really about consumer safety or fattening the profits of corporate agribusiness and electronic tag companies?

Tags: food, health, safety, environment, politics, law, midwest, farming, opinion, via:energybulletin

DHS: Federal border agents can "detain" your computer indefinitely, without cause

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:59:31 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: Federal security agents can confiscate anyone's laptop or any information storage device (including any and all papers you're travelling with), share the contents with any third party they wish, and keep the material indefinitely, without cause.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border

No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes.

Customs Deputy Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern said the efforts "do not infringe on Americans' privacy."

Tags: computers, gwot, civil_rights, privacy, travel, dhs, news

American Sikh immigrants fear their tradition is slipping away

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:46:44 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: Many Sikh temples in the U.S. are alarmed at the relative absence of young people (mostly immigrants' children), who don't speak Punjabi and aren't interested in the old-country traditions.

Clip Source: www.myrtlebeachonline.com

Sikhs losing their tradition

By Vanessa Colon - McClatchy Newspapers

FRESNO, Calif. --

Over the last two decades, the Indian immigrants in California's Fresno area have built at least a dozen Sikh temples to serve a growing community.

But many temples are often short of one thing: young adults, some of whom say they feel like outsiders.

They don't like the temple politics and don't have command of Punjabi, the primary language of the service.

Singh said most of the parents are immigrants who observe the religion as they did in India, reciting memorized verses. Many of the youths want a more Americanized service that allows for discussion and explanation.

"The parents are not worried about that or are busy with other things - working and trying to settle down," he said. "That's what's causing the feeling among the youth."

"This is very typical of what happens in the second generation. The usual model is the immigrant church or religious institution is tied to the old country," Busto said.

Tags: religion_news, religion, sikhism, america, pluralism, immigration, south_asia

U.S. mainline Protestantism and the Institute for Religion and Democracy

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:12:11 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: Frederick Clarkson, in a 2006 article, outlines the activities of the Institute for Religion and Democracy since the eighties. Mainly funded by right-wing think tanks, he says, it has attempted to foment schism and disrupt governance in the largest denominations in the National Council of Churches.

Clip Source: www.publiceye.org

The Battle for the Mainline Churches

By Frederick Clarkson
The Public Eye Magazine - Spring 2006

The Institute remains a well-funded and influential hub for a national network of conservative factions called the Association for Church Renewal. The member organizations, called “renewal” groups, variously seek to neutralize church tendencies of which they don’t approve; drive out staff they don’t like; and seek to take over the churches, but failing that—taking as many churches and assets out as possible. The network’s spokespersons are treated as credible voices of conservative dissent by mainstream media.

IRD’s program is currently focused on the NCC’s three largest denominations, together comprising 14 million members: the United Methodist Church, The Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA). They also find the time to target the NCC, and the World Council of Churches.

Tags: religion, america, protestantism, evangelicalism, church, conservatives, contemporary, criticism, politics

Australia's Hillsong Church and the "beauty gospel" for teenage girls

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 03:23:18 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: In Australia, a church-run program for troubled teenage girls emphasizes "natural make-up, hair care, nail care" as a way of discovering girls' "created uniqueness." Peculiar.

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

Hillsong hits schools with beauty gospel

EVERY Tuesday afternoon during the first term at Matraville Sports High School, a group of young women take part in classes intended to boost their self-esteem. Some have personal problems, others have behavioural issues, while a few simply go because their friends do.

For the next two hours they learn a range of skills including how to put on make-up, do their hair and nails, and walk with books balanced on their heads.

The program, called Shine, was created by the Hillsong Church. It is being run in at least 20 NSW public schools, numerous small community organisations and within the juvenile justice system.

"Through skin care, natural make-up, hair care, nail care girls discover their value and created uniqueness," the material says.

Tags: via:socialmedian, religion, evangelicalism, christianity, education, schools, australia, gender

"Fusion centers": another step on the road to the "total surveillance society"

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:35:59 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: A "fusion center" is a domestic intelligence-gathering facility which involves police, federal agencies, the military, and in some cases also private contractors in gathering as much data as possible about people suspected of undefined "illicit activity." No chance of abuse there, of course. None.

Clip Source: www.progressive.org

ACLU Highlights Risk of “Fusion Centers”

On the heels of the Maryland State Police spying scandal, the ACLU is ringing the alarms over “fusion centers.”

The fusion centers represent an attempt to create a “total surveillance society,” the update says.

It notes that the LAPD fed into its fusion center an array of ““suspicious activity reports” that included such innocuous activities as “taking notes” or “drawing diagrams” or “using binoculars.” (Since one out of six Americans is a birdwatcher, this last item could really swell the files.)

Frighteningly, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has called the LAPD program “a national model.”

The ACLU notes that “other illicit intention” is not defined, and that fusion centers are fed intelligence before “reasonable suspicion” is established.

For those living in Virginia, it’s already too late: The Virginia General Assembly passed a law in April 2008 exempting the state’s fusion center from the Freedom of Information Act.

Tags: domestic_spying, civil_rights, law, politics, gwot, bad_news, commentary

Passion Fest 2008, Pottstown, PA (July 19)

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:23:32 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: I'm seriously thinking about going to this. Out of curiousity, really. My understanding is that it has a heavily evangelical, proselytizing flavor, but that isn't really indicated by the website.

Clip Source: www.passionfest.org

We Build It, You Come!

Between 10 and 14 thousand people attended Passion Fest '07! We can't wait to top that number this year!

Check Out Who Else Will be There

What?

A FREE Community Festival

When?

July 19, 2008

Where?

Grounds of Pottstown High School, PA Click Here for Map

Who?

Bands, Extreme Athletes and More will be Performing
It'll be an Experience for the Whole Family to Enjoy

Why?

Our goal with Passion Fest is to increase the quality of life of Southeastern PA, by developing unity between the people, churches, businesses and organizations within the Community.

How?

Passion Fest can't be a success without your help!
We'd love to have everyone volunteer their time and help sponsor the festival so we can put on a great free event for the community, but even more, we'd just love to have you come out and enjoy yourself at the third annual Passion Fest!

Tags: events, local, pennsylvania, pottstown, christianity, evangelicalism, music, sports