Tag Archives: church-state separation

What Happened to Those Fiscal Priorities? (2)

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Via the New York Times (emphasis added): The state budget plan that moved toward enactment on Wednesday calls for 10 percent cuts in aid to public colleges and universities, but it would add about $18 million a year in tuition … Continue reading →

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Playing the Victim

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

This report caught my eye: Former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich screened his Catholic documentary “Nine Days That Changed the World” Monday night in Washington Hall and urged the audience to carry the film’s lessons into an increasingly … Continue reading →

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Obamacare & Religious Privilege

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

I don’t know what eventually happened to the curious  proposal  (via Senators Hatch and Kerry) that Obamacare should cover Christian Science prayer ‘treatments’, but it does appear that the notion of religious privilege is alive and well elsewhere in the new healthcare legislation: … Continue reading →

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You need to know history to talk about history

Posted on February 12, 2010 by David Hume

The New York Times Magazine has a long piece, How Christian Were the Founders?, which outlines the efforts of school board members of fundamentalist inclinations to shift the narrative about the founding of the American republic. In short, these activists … Continue reading →

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Less More, Please

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

During the course of his visit to Britain next year, the Pope will be addressing the country’s parliamentarians from the spot, reports the Daily Telegraph, where Sir Thomas More was sentenced to death in 1535. The choice of venue is, … Continue reading →

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A nation without divine favor

Posted on November 28, 2009 by David Hume

Reading Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism I am struck again by the peculiarity of the American nation, and its fundamental radicalism. I have already stated that this is implicitly an Anglo-Protestant nation. As a point of fact Protestant churches … Continue reading →

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Church & State

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

  England has a state church (a fact that–quite reasonably–gives that church, the Church of England, some privileges), but only the one. Now it seems luckless Brits are going to have to put up with this:  John Denham, the communities secretary, said … Continue reading →

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Dealing with the big colorful lie

Posted on November 10, 2009 by David Hume

The British ruling on “Who is a Jew” seems to have a lot of legs, see The Atlantic Wire for a link round-up. One of the problems with the intersection of religion and policy is that everyone has different standards … Continue reading →

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What separation of church & state?

Posted on November 6, 2009 by David Hume

Healthcare provision seeks to embrace prayer treatments: Reporting from Washington – Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 13 Comments

Religious diversity & its discontents

Posted on November 1, 2009 by David Hume

Over at ScienceBlogs I’ve put a comment up about tensions in New York City between a mosque & an establishment across the street which serves alcohol. The issues around public displays of religion, and the norms which are enforced around … Continue reading →

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