Tag: Politics Articles

Reach Out of the Darkness: New Examiner Series

With this week being the start of the Holy Week of Easter, I am relaunching a popular article series that ran locally on Examiner.com last year. This year the series is entitled “Reach Out of Your Darkness” and is about appreciating differences. The series first ran this time last year as “No Matter Our Differences: God Loves Us All” and was hugely popular. 

This year, I am using the old Friend & Lover song, “Reach Out of the Darkness” as my inspiration. It’s a great song about peace and learning to appreciate our differences. So much of what we focus on these days is what divides us (our religious differences, our political differences, our sexual orientation, our citizenship status, etc…). What the bible reminds us time and time again is that we are all God’s creation. All created for good. This needs to be our theme for this Easter season.

Who did Christ die for this Easter season? A select group? He died for the salvation of everyone. In the spirit of this, I launch this series this week.

Click here to read \”Reach Out of the Darkness: God Loves Everyone!\”

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Does Environmental Activism Violate the Separation of Church & State?

Do public school teachers have the right to include their opinions on social issues in schools? If the separation of church and state  in schools protects parents from having their children “educated” on religious values that are opposed to their own personal religious values, what about socially moral values that include “religiously-fervored” beliefs about non-religious issues like the environment, health and sex education? If the principle of the separation of church and state is to hold government institutions neutral on religious issues why not also on social issues that have no place in academia.

There was a recent story in Canada about a kindergarten student afraid of taking his sandwich to school in a zipper-style plastic bag because his teacher had told the class than anyone “caught” using these type of bag would be ineligible for a teddy bear contest the class was having. If this isn’t a clear case of  propaganda that has not association with the fundamentals of education (reading, writing, math, history and science) then I don’t know what does.

In my new article for Examiner.com, I talk about how social issues should be included in the principle of the separation of church and state in public schools. As always, I close the article with a very tongue-in-cheek reference.

Click here to reach \”Does Environmental Activism Violate the Separation of Church & State?\”

 

 

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Is the U.S. a Democracy Hypocrite?

As the protests turn violent today, the question of the United States not actively supporting democracy in Egypt seems hypocritical. Supporting dictators never seems to be in the best interest of the United States. Whether its support for the Shah of Iran, Saddam in Iraq, or now the Egyptian president, when will the U.S. learn that when we don’t support and push for democracy, we end up the villain.

I’ve written a two-part article today for Examiner.com where I talk about how hypocritical it is for the U.S. to sit by and wait for an outcome in Egypt. Read today’s article and let me know what you think.

Click here to read \”Is the U.S. a Democracy Hypocrite?\”

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The War on Christmas: Much Ado About Nothing?

Is the “War on Christmas” a “vast Right-Wing conspiracy” or a “Liberal attempt to secularize America”? Actually, it seems ripe to be much ado about nothing. We love to make mountains out of ant hills these days (see “War on Christmas: People Love War”).

The “War on Christmas” is the perceived battle between Christians and non-believers on the significance the Christmas holiday gets this time of year. Sited evidence that Christmas is being attacked includes the replacement of “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays,” some government agencies calling them “holiday trees” instead of “Christmas trees” and this year, Atheists billboards calling for a “season for reason.” Christmas observers state that political correctness has simply gone too far.

Click here to read the full article \”The War on Christmas: Much Ado About Nothing\” Available on Examiner.com, Associated Content and various other syndicated websites.

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War on Christmas: Why People Love War!

Examiner.com asked that all religion writers focus on the “War on Christmas” during this month. I’m committed to three articles. One article appears today titled “Let’s Face It People Love War”. It’s about how as humans we seem to crave this need for conflict. I think that’s what’s at the heart of this ‘War on Christmas” between those who celebrate Christmas and those don’t. Two more articles will appear next week to complete my assignment. One is titled “The War on Christmas: Much Ado About Nothing” and the other is “The War on Christmas: Lessons from Dr. Seuss”.

Click this link for \”War on Christmas: Lets Face It People Love War\” article

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Part 3 of “Youth & Religion” posts today

I used to love on television mini-series when they would say “And now the stunning conclusion of…” to promote the last of a series.

I’d like to think this last portion of the interview and series is the best. Of course, it’s where you’ll find the bulk of my commentary.

From here, you’re likely to see my article sweep through atheism for a while. Like I’ve said before I tend to run article in series (with articles on gay rights, Muslim rights, immigrant rights). Right now, I’m focused on atheism, agnosticism and skepticism. I wrote an article (scroll down) focused on skepticism earlier this month. This series on “Youth & Religion” featured an atheist and I’m looking for opportunities with Thanksgiving next week to feature a story on who are atheists thankful to – themselves? I will also be part of Examiner.com’s forthcoming series “War on Christmas”. Until then…click the link below to read the finale to the “Youth & Religion” series and interview. Thanks for reading.

Click here to read \”Youth & Religion, Part 2: For Better or Worse?\”

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