Religion
June 26, 2017 — Steven Hayward
I’m on the road today, departing shortly on a flight to Munich, and then connecting on to Bulgaria tomorrow (long story—I’ll try to post updates when I get internet access), but I’m keeping an eye out for Supreme Court news, especially the hoped-for retirement announcement of Justice Kennedy. One announcement from the Court today is important: they are taking up the appeal of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, which had
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April 9, 2017 — Steven Hayward
I’m from the Christian half of Power Line’s ecumenical conference, but as we approach Passover I have to give a hat tip to this Passover observance from Technion (Israel’s CalTech):
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February 2, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The answer, it appears, is: sort of. According to newsletter put out by our congregation, survey data shows that 34 percent of American Jews are certain that God exists. Another 38 percent think He does, but are less than certain. 23 percent don’t believe in God, and 5 percent don’t know. Conservative Jews (in the religious, not the political, sense) have more faith. 41 percent are certain God exists; 46
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January 29, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Reasonable people can disagree about the wisdom of the Trump administration’s immigration order [NOTE: And the way it was implemented arguably left much to be desired]. But before agreeing or disagreeing, it’s important understand what the order does and does not do, and how it compares to recent policy. David French does a good job of separating the facts from the hysteria. For the hysteria, French cites the usual suspects:
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October 12, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
During the two presidential debates (or should I say debates between presidential candidates?) Hillary Clinton has lambasted Donald Trump for attacking women, Hispanics, African-Americans, Muslim-Americans and the disabled. Trump has, indeed, attacked members of these groups, sometimes in disgusting ways. However, his attacks have not been categorical ones directed at entire classes of Americans. By contrast, Hillary Clinton and her close advisers have attacked broad swathes of the American population
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August 11, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Professor Richard Samuelson’s closely argued Mosaic essay “Who’s afraid of religious liberty?” is must reading. In it Professor Samuelson explains the assault on our religious freedom under the ever expanding regime of anti-discrimination law and practice. I urge readers who care about the subject to read the whole thing; there is no substitute for it. I invited Professor Samuelson to write a brief introduction for Power Line readers. Professor Samuelson
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August 9, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
In a post below, Scott directs attention to Richard Samuelson’s Mosaic column “Who’s afraid of religious liberty?” I agree with Scott that Samuelson’s piece, which discusses the danger to freedom inherent in anti-discrimination law, should be required reading. In conjunction with that column, I recommend David Bernstein’s response in Mosiac, “How Anti-Discrimination Became a Religion, and What It Means for Judaism.” Both parts of the column — the “how” (which
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August 5, 2016 — Steven Hayward
One of the surprises of the GOP primary campaign season was the strong support Donald Trump received from many—though not all—evangelical Christian voters. Maybe the so-called “religious right” isn’t as monolithic as the media supposes. In this edition of the Power Line Show, Steve Hayward interviews one of the most insightful observers of the religious right, Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. We talk about theology, journalism,
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May 16, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
The Supreme Court has issued a unanimous per curiam opinion in the Little Sisters of the Poor case. Rather than deciding the legal issues before it, the Court vacated the judgment of the Court of Appeals, which was adverse to the Little Sisters, and sent the case back to that court so the parties can be given “sufficient time to resolve any outstanding issues between them.” Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor
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May 14, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
I’m back from my trip to “New Europe,” specifically to Prague and Krakow. I highly recommend both cities to potential tourists, and I find the concept of New Europe apt. Poland and the Czech Republic suffered grievously from the two great scourges of the 20th century — Nazism and Communism. So far, they have avoided the scourge of the present century — radical Islam. They have avoided it because Muslims
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February 18, 2016 — Scott Johnson
Donald Trump’s progress toward the Republican nomination is beginning to look fated. When it comes to good luck, or divine intervention, can anything beat Pope Francis’s condemnation of Donald Trump today for supporting a wall protecting the southern border of the United States? Answering questions posed to him on the papal plane on his way back from Mexico to Vatican City, Pope Francis was asked what he thought of Trump’s
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February 4, 2016 — Scott Johnson
President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. this morning. The White House has posted the text of Obama’s remarks here. I’ve embedded the White House video below; Obama’s speech begins at about 01:49:00 and runs to 02:17:00. C-SPAN has posted the video here. I transcribed quotes from the video before the White House posted the text; they may not be perfectly accurate. Those who say that
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January 29, 2016 — Steven Hayward
Michael Cromartie (“the Crom” to me for 30 years now) is the most significant person in Washington DC that you’ve never heard of. And that’s just the way he likes it. Not because he’s a backroom K Street wire puller from the shadows of House of Cards. To the contrary: he is the rarest thing you can find in Washington: a truly honest broker; a person of faith, understated on
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December 25, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
I have never celebrated Christmas because I’m Jewish. But Christmas has always been a big day for me. My father and my first-born daughter were born on December 25. For years, we hosted a party on Christmas afternoon to celebrate the family birthdays. Our guests were mostly Jews but with a few Christians. You might be surprised by how many people are looking for something to do Christmas afternoon. During
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December 22, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
After seven years of perhaps the most disappointing presidency in American history, I thought the era of Obama worship was over. At a minimum, I thought we’d seen the last story about how badly Obama wants to unite the country. But no. In a strong last-minute entry for silliest news story of the year, Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post gives us “The Quiet Impact of Obama’s Christian faith.” Jaffe’s
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December 12, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
If this account of the White House Hanukkah party is accurate, then President Obama’s politicization of everything has reached a new low. According to Daniel Greenfield: Obama’s own remarks were boilerplate inoffensive stuff. Israel’s President Rivlin, a political hack who desperately sucks up to the media, was equally insipid. But the White House chose Susan Talve to light the Menorah. Talve is a member of the anti-Israel group T’ruah which
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December 10, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
We’ve all seen movies in which an old-timer hears a phrase, and suddenly his thoughts take him back in time to when he heard the same words as a youngster. This is starting to happen to me. The other day, when someone wished me a happy Hanukkah (it’s still allowed, I think), I thought of an incident from 1962 (probably) involving a friendly acquaintance I’ll call Bob and a friend
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