On April 28, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy will hold its eleventh annual conference, "U.S. Relations with the Muslim World: One Year After Cairo." Participants include leading scholars, policy analysts, and public intellectuals, including Tariq Ramadan, Brian Katulis, and Reza Aslan. In addition, there will be a concluding keynote address by Senator John Kerry.
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Announcements, events, and opportunities related to topics of interest to TIF readers are posted here. Additionally you may find round-ups of news items and brief commentary on current events.
For a listing of all of the events announcements, click here.
For a listing of announcements regarding books, click here.
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Catholics argue about waterboarding
by Nathan SchneiderIn the first New York Times Beliefs column since the departure of Peter Steinfels, Mark Oppenheimer discusses the outrage among Catholics across the political spectrum about Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen's claim that waterboarding in the war on terror is permissible for Catholics.
March 1, 2010
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Religion and healthcare
by Rebecca SagerIn the Huffington Post, Princeton Professsor Paul Raushenbush argues that he can't think of one religious reason to be against health care reform and that all arguments against such reform essentially come down to selfishness.
March 1, 2010
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America’s wealthiest religions?
by Ruth BraunsteinThe most popular post at GOOD last week, Transparency: America’s Wealthiest Religions, featured an infographic portraying the varying income levels of major religious groups compared to the national average income. A new post details some of the debate generated by the feature.
March 1, 2010
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On the role of religion in U.S. foreign policy
by Rebecca SagerSince the release last week of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' detailed and lengthy report (pdf) on the state of US engagement with religious communities at large, and its religious freedom agenda more broadly, there has been a sharp increase in attention to the role of religion in US foreign policy. The report itself argues that, because of the officially secular nature of US foreign relations, the government has failed to make connections with many countries in which the boundary between religion and affairs of state does not exist as such.
March 1, 2010
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Faith-based solutions
by Rebecca SagerIn the New York Times, Nicolas Kristoff suggests that if secular liberals and religious actors who are working to help those in need could bridge their differences on issues of sexual morality, the world would be much better off.
March 1, 2010
books
Can Islam in Europe be tamed?
by Nathan SchneiderAt Bookforum, David Wallace-Wells reviews Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents by Ian Buruma.
March 2, 2010
books
John Haught’s theology of evolution
by Nathan SchneiderAt the excellent evolution/creationism-junkie blog The Sensuous Curmudgeon, there's an announcement about Making Sense of Evolution, the new book by John Haught, a Catholic theologian who has become an outspoken advocate of welcoming evolutionary biology into Christian theology.
March 2, 2010
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David Bazan’s (break-up) record
by Lydia BrawnerThis month's Christianity Today features an interesting interview with (formerly) Christian indie-rock star David Bazan on his most recent release Curse Your Branches.
March 3, 2010
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The ethics of proselytism
by Nathan SchneiderAt On Faith this week, "the question" is whether religious groups proselytizing overseas amounts to "religious freedom" or to "coercion."
March 3, 2010