…institutions like the 1788 Constitution, the presidency, and the military code of honor. But at what costs do we maintain a revered institution like the military code of honor? Holocaust levels of genocide threaten the Syrian Kurds. Why isn’t the prospect of mass murder enough to make Mattis reconsider the politics of personal honor? If that grim prospect is not enough, what is? Mattis’ deferral to presidential rights, for instance, should challe…
…re about the “film noir” feel of Caprica. It’s a cross between a 1930s pre-code movie and Metropolis. The cops, the smoking, the old-fashioned cars; I thought Caprica was supposed to be technologically savvy, not a cross between the future and the past. What does this say about its inhabitants—and the show’s creator? I agree with Diane, this week seems to be a placeholder for something to come, but in the process, I did not learn much. To be fair…
By Randall Balmer, Anthea Butler, Evan Derkacz, Jeff Sharlet, and Diane Winston
…But the center is an assertion, not a fact; an etiquette, not a place. Its code, its theology, is most fully embodied in Americanized Arminianism—a Protestant tradition of good works and propriety, “distinguished liberals” and polite realpolitik. “Arminian moralism,” notes historian Charles Sellers in his study of Finney’s age, The Market Revolution, “sanctioned competitive individualism and the market’s rewards of wealth and status.” It did not e…
…s basic. That part of the myth abides, and, while not pretty, is a kind of code of right masculinity. The note draws on a shorthand “WE SEE” regarding how Ennis is “exemplary.” You, we, can judge a man by how he treats “his animals” and, in this case, the animals he’s paid to keep alive. Ennis’s father had forced Ennis at age 9 to look at the body of a man dismembered alive, and he made sure Ennis knew why. Ennis and Jack each marry women not only…
…ubt that homosexuality is seen as a crime. Article 427 of the Afghan penal code refers only to “pederasty” – a sexual act between males, one of them understood to be a youth or a boy. The act is punishable with “long imprisonment”. However Dr Niaz Shah of Hull University in the UK, an expert in Afghan and Islamic law, says that the penal code reflects the underlying Islamic principle that homosexuality is banned. “Islamic law allows only one form…
…en.” In the military, the answer is quite clear: they are to obey military code, period. Otherwise, they won’t remain military chaplains for long. If President Obama makes good on his promise to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a group of conservative Christian chaplains expressed their fear in a letter to the president and Defense Secretary Robert Gates that they’ll “face a reduction in the free exercise of their faith.” The chaplains use the letter…
…with free will (though this may still be an illusion of free will, as the code for the game is likely to be quite deterministic). Since she is the only one in the game that suffers pain but no death, it will be interesting to see the evolution of her ethical code within the virtual world. The transformation of Tamara from a helpless lost soul to a gun-toting avenger sets up the stage for her probable showdown with Zoe—a continuation of Adama-Gray…
…ause Westerners have said this or that… The current provision of the Penal Code is a fair balance between conservative public opinion and an uncompromising international community on the protection of minorities.” Russia: Muslim ‘morality’ vigilante pushing for purge of LGBT teachers Timur Bulatov, a self-described pious Muslim is waging a campaign to out LGBT teachers and get them fired, according to BBC: He wages his “morality” campaign from St…
…orhood, one Hasidic man who wouldn’t give his name said that blaming dress code for the removal of the bikes lane “is just bullshit.” He is disappointed with how his people have been portrayed in news reports about this issue and insists that safety was a genuine concern. That’s what nearly everybody walking up and down Hasidic Bedford in daytime says as well. When asked directly about it, they concede that they believe many cyclists to be inappro…
…lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in Poland is contained in the Labor Code. This ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation was introduced as a requirement for EU accession. There is no similar measure covering gender identity. There are still no legal avenues allowing same-sex couples to register their relationships with the state. Children born to LGB Polish parents abroad are denied Polish citizenship. Due to a presidential veto of…
