Search for "cheap lan airlines december tickets phone number 1-800-299-7264"

Leaving Empire: The Risks of American Insularity

By Ryann Croken

…isthmus. As we approach the 20th anniversary of Operation Just Cause this December, one might think that the poetic power of smooth, whole numerals would provide us with a reasonable occasion to meditate on the contemporary relevance of the invasion. There is, after all, an eerie, almost genetic resemblance between George H.W. Bush’s stated motivations for invading Panama, and George W. Bush’s stated motivations for invading Iraq and Afghanistan….

Hail Santa! War-on-Christmas Outrage Over Satanic Tree Reveals the Self-Serving Ambiguity of ‘Religion’

By Joseph Laycock

…s that, since Christmas is a Christian holiday, Satanists participating in December festivities constitutes an attack on Christianity. Donohue concludes his essay, “There is no other way to interpret the TST anti-Christmas display at the Museum than to say that it is demonstrating hostility to Christianity.” First, the “Festival of Trees” is expressly not a Christmas celebration. Museum CEO Jacqueline Frank, who specified that all religions are we…

What Did the Puritans Have Against Christmas?

By Bruce David Forbes

…pproved of the wild partying that seemed widespread on Christmas Day in England. Thus, during the Puritan Revolution in England in the 1600s, Puritans banned special church services on December 25 and mandated that businesses remain open. In the American colonies the result was more complicated. Puritan New England actively discouraged Christmas: for a few years the Massachusetts General Court threatened fines for anyone found feasting, or absent…

Eid ul-Isa Mubarak. Happy Hanukah. Merry Christmas. Khushiali Mubarak. Eid Mubarak. Happy Kwanzaa

By Hussein Rashid

…ity that has a present, living Imam in the Aga Khan. His birthday falls on December 13th and is an important for us to recognize the Divine command that established Imamah amongst the Muslim community. As a result, December was always all holiday in my house. This is a special time that I spend in fervent and joyous prayers. Playing games with my friends—I’m working on teaching my kids dreidel now. And of course, a time to have the big family dinn…

Taking the Christ Back Out of Christmas: Secularizing the Season

By C. Joshua Villines

…ian observances of the birth of Christ held during the month leading up to December 25th. This claim has several flaws, most notably the fact that Christians do not celebrate the birth of Jesus at this time of year, and that our “Christmas” traditions pre-date Christianity quite a bit. The first of these points is perhaps the most important. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day is not, in fact, the “Christmas Season.” It has become the…

For International Human Rights Day, a Snapshot of LGBT Rights from the Vatican to Cape Town

By Peter Montgomery

…fic wave of extrajudicial killings being carried out by government and vigilantes in the name of fighting drug trafficking could be turned against others, including LGBT people. Malta: Ban on conversion therapy adopted along with law ‘depathologizing’ gender identity Two pieces of legislation were adopted on December 5 to depathologize transgender identities and ban so-called conversion therapies. Transgender Europe welcomed the legislation, sayin…

How End-of-Life Issues Are Being Used to Thwart Health Care Reform

By Ann Neumann

…, the strength of the aid in dying movement in other countries (notably England, Belgium, and Switzerland) has bolstered activists here. Public opinion on end-of-life choice is being tested in Georgia: in March, an undercover investigator lured Final Exit advocates into his home, claiming he wished to kill himself. They were arrested by local authorities and the case is pending hearing. A sentence of five years in jail accompanies conviction of as…

How Mormonism Built Glenn Beck

By Joanna Brooks

…, later started pitching Skousen’s 1981 book The 5,000 Year Leap on air in December, 2008. He wrote a preface for a new edition of the book issued a few months later and in his March 2009 kick-off of the 9/12 movement declared Skousen’s book to be “divinely inspired.” In a recent article for Salon.com, Alexander Zaitchik suggested that Beck “rescued [Skousen] from the remainder pile of history.” But Cleon Skousen was never remaindered among the mo…

Synod ‘Fight for Soul’ of Catholic Church, Flap On English Translation of Key Report; Anti-Gay Law Advances in Kyrgyzstan; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…The Scottish Parliament voted for marriage equality back in February. Now December 31 has been officially set as the start date for same-sex marriage ceremonies in Scotland. According to the announcement, couples in an existing civil partnership will be able to exchange that partnership for a marriage beginning on December 16. Kyrgyzstan: Anti-Gay Bill Advances; US Embassy and Activists Protest The Parliament of Kyrgystan voted its initial approv…

Reports of the Death of ISIS Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…e Iraqi government announced the end of ISIS control over its territory on December 9, 2017, there were a few celebrations in Baghdad. December 10 was proclaimed a public holiday, and a military parade marched down the main streets. But that was about it. The event was scarcely reported elsewhere. In the New York Times the report about the event was a small item obscured by more salacious reports related to Trump-dominated domestic politics. ISIS…