“We want a level playing field with a fair conversation,” said Burns Strider concerning the recent organization of the Democrats as a party that will be able to use their faith and religion like the Republicans have over the past twenty years. The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Religion and Ethics Newsweekly held a discussion about the role of religion in the 2008 election season and how it has differed from previous elections. Strider, a member of the panel, was the Director of Faith Outreach for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and has watched the Republicans lose their former comfortableness in speaking about their faith publicly. Now the Democrats have organized positions such as his, to help religion become a more talked about and present topic on the minds of candidates.

Julian Zelizer, another member of the panel, is a professor of history and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School. Zelizer said that the “crisis of the Bush presidency has been equivalent to a crisis for religious groups.” He also compared the current shift of political strength from conservatives to liberals to Reagan’s usurpation of the religious discussion, only in reverse. Both men believed that the evangelical base is a cultural one and has thus been divided by this election. Also, unlike the usual dependence of values voters to support the conservative vote, the economy has taken center-stage as the issue at hand, and many people, conservatives and liberals, are voting Democratic.

Despite the ease that the Democrats have found, particularly Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama, when speaking about their faith, many evangelical Christians are still voting for Sen. McCain because issues like abortion and same-sex marriage are considered deal breakers.

Zeyno Baran, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, says that we must not confuse religious Islam and politcal Islamism. She says that all Islamist terrorists start with non-violent Islamism. (1:12)

 

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Arthur Brooks, author of the newly released Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America—and How We Can Get More, says that “all religious practicing groups are on average much, much happier than secularists.” (0:25)

 

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Arthur Brooks, author of the new release Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America—and How We Can Get More of It spoke at the Heritage Foundation to discuss his ideas on how America’s reported happiness levels are related to its various religious, political, and cultural perspectives.
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The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom announced their 2008 recommendations to Secretary of State Rice on CPC’s, or countries of particular concern. Their 2008 annual report was also released to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress on U.S. policy. The countries that the commission designated as CPC’s include Burma, North Korea, China, Sudan, and Turkmenistan among others. (more…)

A passionate news conference to condemn human rights abuses by China only 99 days before they host the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing was held today., The news conference included speeches by prominent senators such as Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Sam Brownback (R-KS), and human rights activists from organizations including SaveDarfur.org and Amnesty International.

The crowd, activists, and each of the speakers was incredibly passionate about protesting the United States’ involvement in the Olympic games. The press conference’s attendees called for President Bush to not attend the opening ceremonies, and described the Chinese as oppressive people, who violate human rights and are the biggest supporters of the genocidal Sudanese government in the world. (more…)