Search Results for:

VIPREG2024 how to use promo code in 1xbet Sri Lanka

That Mercenary Feeling: What the Apparently Unlimited Use of “Contractors” Says About American Empire in Afghanistan and Iraq

…nley McChrystal, acknowledged recently that we are losing ground there because (surprise) ordinary Afghans appear to resent our casual killing in their country. In view of this you might think Gen. McChrystal would be worried about the impact of so many mercenaries; if he his, he is doing nothing to change it. But here is the part of Glanz’s piece I particularly like. He quotes Frederick Barton of the Center for Strategic and International Studies…

Read More

‘Culting’: From Waco to Fundamentalist Mormons

…n and mucous membranes and thereby compromises the respiratory system) and use tanks to dismantle the building, because of her concerns for the children, she was told that Koresh was abusing the children. (This allegation of abuse during the siege was retracted by federal agents after the fire.) Although CS gas is intended for use outdoors, Reno was assured that it would not injure the children. She approved the plan to assault the Branch Davidian…

Read More

RDBook: Apocalypse Without God

…ou suggest, the particular ethical-political question of water, partly because it’s not often thought of in ethical and political ways, and partly because I don’t think there’s an adequate realization of how critical this issue is. I think water will be the critical issue of the 21st century, even more so than oil. Why? Because there are substitutes for oil, even if they take a while to develop, and there is no substitute for water. The lack of aw…

Read More

How to Slow Down the Rush to War: What Obama Should Do About Syria

…t crisis in Syria, in which the U.N. is blocked from acting decisively because Russia and China will use their vetoes against any action that imperils Assad, President Obama should call a conclave of the world’s other countries, all of them, and let them together decide on what should be done with regard to saving the people of Syria from its rogue regime. The specific use of chemical weapons should be referred to the World Court for possible tria…

Read More

Did Jesus Help Ghanaian Women with Birth Control?

…ive use amongst women of the Kassena-Nankana ethnic group in Ghana. She focuses on a study of contraceptive use and childbearing amongst women who attended evangelical churches: To their amazement, they found that female Christian converts were three times as likely to use family planning as women who retained their traditional African faith, and had significantly smaller families. The churches certainly didn’t promote family planning. But, despit…

Read More

Reconsidering “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin”: An Interview with Ethicist Eric Reitan

…. Yes, there’s real value to this “love the sinner” notion, but we need to use it carefully if we’re going to avoid turning it into a slogan we use to protect ourselves from criticism that we have fallen short with respect to love. That reminds me of Walter Wink, who said that our fight is against powers and principalities. Same with King, who didn’t see the people acting in what he considered evil ways as bad people, but people caught up in the c…

Read More

Must James Foley and Steven Sotloff Be Martyrs to Not Have Died in Vain?

…understanding the political significance of these executions, though RNS’ use of the word “martyr” in the title still imbues their deaths with an ideological significance and intentionality that has the potential to elevate the message of ISIS by posturing over and against it. The propaganda of ISIS is heavy with references to martyrdom. For their opponents to use such language is, arguably, to capitulate to their terms. The reality is that the b…

Read More

Anti-Choice Activists to Use Planned Parenthood Vote as Campaign Issue

…ecades,” a false statement that even got it embroiled in litigation, and caused a group of Cincinnati-area nuns to call on it “to stop making the false claim that Congressman Steve Driehaus (OH-01) voted to expand federal funding of abortion.” Similarly, Charmaine Yoest of AUL falsely called the final health care law “the biggest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade.” Driehaus lost, as did about half of the House Democratic pro-life caucus, alt…

Read More

How Does an Atheist Come to Believe in God?: An Interview with Jacob Needleman

…ey have this capacity. They think listening is simply waiting for you to pause so I can come in. Speaking of listening, you use stories from your teaching experience to such great effect. It sounds as if teaching for you has been a laboratory… Absolutely. That is exactly the word I would use. And you teach courses in religion, spirituality, so you encounter every kind of opinion. I was so interested in that encounter you describe with the dogmatic…

Read More

Just Like January 6, One of the Most Disturbing Aspects of the Right-Wing Coup Attempt in Germany is Who Was Behind It

…ecial operations are particularly attractive to right-wing extremists, because they feel safe there, they have a structure, and because they can live out their beliefs that they’re better than everyone else. It makes sense to check closely that you don’t recruit the wrong people for this. But there’s another problem when you consider a unit like the KSK: You’re asking the people in it to do extreme things (…) Officers told me ‘you can’t be surpris…

Read More