Iraq Does Not Fit Jewish Tradition of 'Just War'
There are, of course, various examples of a 'just war', and the Jewish tradition has always believed that such a thing is possible and, indeed,actual.
Religion & Politics Archives
January 15, 2007 11:06 AM
Comments (25)January 25, 2007 4:06 PM
Full Religious Disclosure on Political Issues
I was not going to take part in this week's debate, as I live in the UK.
But since the question was posted, there has been a great political
brouhaha over the question of whether our government can and should except Catholic adoption agencies when it comes to the adoption of hard-to-place children by same-sex couples.
February 1, 2007 5:11 AM
West's Waste Causes Environment Damage in Poor Countries
The environment has to be an issue for all people of faith. If one believes, as people of faith do, that our world is God-given, then it is clearly given to us to take care of it. If all we do is 'mess it up', then we are behaving irresponsibly and arguably recklessly.
June 25, 2007 8:27 AM
Arrogance Got us There, Keeps us There
There is now no absolute moral position. It was clear, in my view, that we
should not have gone into Iraq. We did so on the understanding that there
were 'weapons of mass destruction'.
August 6, 2007 7:45 AM
In UK, Hindus Don't Have a Prayer
It is a very good thing if a Hindu chaplain opens the senate proceedings with prayer.
We are just beginning to try to move away from the only prayers (every day, before proceedings start) in the House of the Lords in the UK being conducted by the Church of England bishops. There is no sign of a move. I cannot comment on church and state divides, but in terms of
having prayers at all, it is a huge improvement to have people of all faiths conducting the prayers from time to time, and it works very well in the Scottish parliament.
October 8, 2007 7:42 AM
Religious Background Should Stay There
A candidate's religious background- whatever faith or none- is not something that would affect my choice in how to vote. However, what would affect my choice is the degree of extremism, the questions about tolerance, religious and otherwise, the way religion is used- or not- in political speeches, and the extent to which religion is seen as a 'defining' factor.
Our Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, makes much of being a 'son of the manse'- and his attitudes have been strongly shaped by his Scottish Christian upbringing. He does not, however, choose to surround himself with others who share those attitudes alone, nor does he do religion publicly-we do less of that anyway in the UK. His strong moral stance is very welcome, and I warm to it- if he were intolerant, he would drive many of us away- whether that were religious or other intolerance. I think we would also be uncomfortable here in the UK with public prayer breakfasts etc- despite our established Church, religion is quite a private matter here.
January 1, 2008 5:38 AM
We Need More Tell, Less Show
As the presidential primary season begins, Americans increasingly want to know about the religious affiliation and beliefs of the candidates. It's a system very different from ours in the UK.
Just before Christmas, the first item on the BBC and other broadcasters' national news was that former Prime Minister Tony Blair had converted to Roman Catholicism and been received into the Church.
In the UK, the Queen is Defender of the Faith- the Church of England. Her heir, the Prince of Wales, has stated he wishes to be defender of faith, rather than The faith, including other people of faith in his status.
And, when asked, at the end of the week before Christmas, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats in the UK, Nick Clegg, admitted openly that he was not a believer.
The custom used to be to say that faith was a personal matter. "None of your business," was the standard reply to journalists who asked. But that will no longer do. Faith- of all varieties- plays a much larger role in the largely irreligious UK, and it clearly plays a far greater role in the deeply evangelized United States.
