In The Wall Street Journal, Molly Ziegler Hemingway comments on a new Gallup Organization study.
here & there
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.
Faith-based initiatives
by Ruth BraunsteinThe Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has organized two Q&A sessions about the future of President George W. Bush's controversial faith-based initiatives. John DiIulio and Stephen Goldsmith discuss how Barack Obama and John McCain, respectively, might implement their own faith-based and community initiatives plans.
Otherizing Obama
by Nicole GreenfieldNicky Loomis looks at the attempts to "unmask" Barack Obama and calls on journalists to stop perpetuating the prejudices,
An evolution textbook from the ID camp
by Nathan SchneiderOver at Ars Technica, John Timmer has an excellent review of the anti-evolution movement's latest high school textbook, Explore Evolution. Following the Dover, PA trial that in 2005 stacked precedent against teaching Intelligent Design theory, this book emerged to slip through the legal cracks.
The power of negative thinking
by Laura DuaneBarbara Ehrenreich reflects on our current economic woes.
Secularism: the next big idea
by Nicole GreenfieldTerry Sanderson, president of England's National Secular Society, argues for the disestablishment of the Church of England and a new secular British constitution.
Human rights in Gulf Coast
by Ruth BraunsteinIn a statement released on the occasion of the third anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 108 evangelical, mainline Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders called for "not just a charitable response but for a just moral response to driving for resident-led human rights based federal solutions helping families."
Rowan Williams and Karl Marx
by Daniel VacaRowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, responds to the financial crisis in the Spectator:
Analyzing media coverage of Palin’s faith
by Ruth BraunsteinThe Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life have released a report that analyzes how the media has covered the issue of Sarah Palin's faith.