I hope I’m not too late to the party, but I wanted to address Sam and Kathy on Newsweek’s Harvard and religion article. They both agree that Harvard should implement a religion requirement, but a careful look at General Education’s mission reveals no room for such a requirement. In specific, I took issue with Kathy’s argumentation here: Undoubtedly for some ... Read More
So the Senate passed a jobs bill today by a vote of 70-28. In policy terms, this isn’t big news. The CBO estimates the bill will cost some $15 billion, a fortune to you and I, but a pittance in Washington terms. In any case, the moneys allocated pale in comparison to the $500-600 billion worth of stimulus which has ... Read More
In his post “Harvard’s Supposed Crisis of Faith,” Sam Barr criticizes Lisa Miller’s recent Newsweek article about the study of religion at Harvard: “Of course religion is important to study, …even or especially if you’re a nonbeliever. But I also said, or implied, that she was wasting her time with this article, because religion is not in nearly such dire ... Read More
HuffPost College, a new offshoot of the budding online media empire, launched today. Like the regular HuffPost, it is a strange but fascinating blend of serious news and opinion (“Majoring in Debt,” “Why Historically Black Colleges Remain Relevant”) and scintillating gossip and tabloid fare (“Camo Condoms to Infiltrate College Campuses,” “Cornell Mistakenly Disposes Animal Remains in Sewer System”). I’m conflicted ... Read More
Newsweek’s Lisa Miller spills a lot of ink and raises a lot of dust in her article on “Harvard’s Crisis of Faith.” But her conclusion is small-bore and uncontroversial. Of course Harvard and all other colleges should offer and even require some exposure to religion and its attendant issues and debates. I have seen no evidence that Harvard thinks otherwise. ... Read More
Ahmadinejad’s recent announcement that Iran will proceed to weapons-grade enrichment of uranium has brought much of the Western world to its senses about talking the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism into giving up its nuclear quest. On Obama’s recent call for sanctions, the BBC reports (emphasis mine): The president sounded not unlike his predecessor George W Bush, who worked ... Read More
Last summer, Sam Harris, one of the Four Horsemen of New Atheism, released a broadside in the New York Times against Obama’s appointee to head the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins. Collins, in addition to heading the Human Genome Project, has been a vocal advocate for the reconciliation of science and faith — indeed, for the view that scientific ... Read More
Faith-based initiatives face tough political realities
A positive official tone masks U.S.-China tensions “We have laid the foundation for a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship for the 21st century,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the conclusion of the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue this past July. But three months later, the Obama administration leveled a tariff on Chinese tires. China ... Read More
You know who is one of the most dependable Democrats in the Senate right now? Arlen Spector (D-PA). It does not take any great insight to figure out why that is; Spector is rightly afraid of a successful primary challenge from Joe Sestak over his insufficient progressivism. On the Republican side of the aisle is further proof positive: the threats ... Read More
The dangers of translating comics to the big screen Watchmen, a legend among comic books, has long been thought unfilmable, not only by its author, Alan Moore, but also by the comic’s rabid fans, who point to its intricate comics-within-comics, flashbacks, and rapid shifts in focus, all ill-suited to the big screen. After 20 years of abortive efforts, we finally ... Read More
It’s hardly surprising to learn that after Congress demonstrated in 2008 that there were no penalties for overstepping the bounds of domestic spying, the NSA continued to overstep the bounds of domestic spying. In the summer of 2008, Congress passed the FISA Act, which immunized telecom carriers for their past violations of privacy, and ex post facto legalized some of ... Read More
Can a powerful Iran advance American national interests? Former CIA officer Robert Baer’s new book, The Devil We Know: Dealing With The New Iranian Superpower, is sure to make waves. Baer contends the erratic Islamic Republic of 1979 has vanished; modern-day Iran may be secretive, but it is a rational, clever actor that harbors an “unshakable belief in its right ... Read More
