Religion is becoming a political issue in the culture at large. Abortion, stem-cell research, euthanasia, homosexuality, intelligent design--even the "war on terror"--each of these debates is linked to religious beliefs. With the conservatives strengthening ties to the Christian religion and a Supreme Court that has
The ongoing controversy over the teaching of creationism in public schools is portrayed by some as a battle between superstitious ignorance and scientific enlightenment. So far, from this perspective, the race has gone to the swift and the battle to the strong: in the '80s,
Last December, a Pennsylvania Federal District court ruled that the Dover School District cannot teach "intelligent design"--the theory that the complexity of life indicates the existence of a divine "designer"--as a scientific alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution. Judge John E. Jones argued that intelligent
The buzz about Christian propaganda couched in Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe seems to have subsided. With the film's premiere, the suspense about ideology has largely been replaced by universal commendations of its "enchanting animations" and portrayal of "family values." Secular
I must confess, I love to go shopping. Although my meager grad student stipend doesn't generally afford outlandish spending sprees, I delight in simple, gratis pleasures such as testing lotion samples at Bath & Body Works and visiting boutiques to try on colorful, lush silk
On February 9th, the Daily Illini at the University of Illinois published the controversial cartoons of Mohammed that have exploded into a world-wide Muslim protest against the right to free speech. The original publishers of these cartoons are hiding in fear of their lives. Embassies
By now few of our readers have eluded the fairy dust that has settled all over the world since Harry Potter first cast its spell. This summer Rowling seemed to have yet again bewitched entire populations, as young and old, rich and poor, college professors
They call themselves "people of faith," and they are waging war against a basic principle of American government: the separation of church and state. Complaining that our secular culture has improperly banished God from government, religious conservatives are working tirelessly to inject faith-based decision-making into
We have forgotten 9/11. Back then, four years ago, we all swore to "never forget" the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Everywhere you turned, American flags, waved proudly in the wind and bumper stickers declared our solidarity as a nation and reaffirming that pledge: "We
Thousands of college freshmen across America wandered the tables of campus club fairs this fall. Many, staring at the sea of brightly colored posters, felt a pressure to find a niche--to adopt an identity by the act of joining a club, a religion, or a