From the Editors
Where’s the courage?
Paul Ryan is using the deficit as an excuse to shrink the government via tax
relief for the rich and program cuts that largely target the poor—while
sparing military spending. That isn't courageous; it's simply wrong.
Tax benefit
Paying taxes in this country is ordinarily accompanied by much
grumbling. But paying taxes is not just a
legal duty but a moral opportunity.
Climate report
Many national leaders talk about cutting spending so as not to burden
future generations with deficits. They seem to have no problem, however, burdening the next
generation with an overheated Earth.
The union struggle
The attack on public unions could deliver a virtual knockout blow to the union movement, and that would be a blow to all workers.
Egypt's uprising
No one knows how the Egyptian drama will play out. But it has so far
confirmed the extraordinary power that can be exerted by ordinary people
when they are organized, determined and peaceful.
Going deeper
Formation in faith does not happen by accident. It happens when churches
puts commitment and creativity into the process and believe that the
Holy Spirit is sure to show up.
Gun fantasies
In the face of yet another gun massacre, Americans seem to think that there is only one answer: more guns.
Still exceptional?
With its widening gap between the rich and the poor, the decline of its middle class and crises in its health care and educational systems, the U.S. is no longer the golden land of opportunity.
Spreading lies
It may seem hyperbolic for the Southern Poverty Law
Center to add large and highly visible advocacy organizations to the list of hate groups it monitors. But not all hate comes from the fringe.
Church under siege
Christian history in the region goes back to the earliest days of the church. As late as the eighth century, Baghdad—not Rome or Constantinople—might have been declared the center of Christianity.
Reactive mood
The glory of American politics is that voters get to "throw the rascals
out"—whether or not they understand who the rascals are or the nature
of the crisis the nation is in. Very little could have done by any
government during this worldwide economic slowdown to address the high
unemployment, except more government stimulus, which is what voters say
they don't want.
Vital theology
Lists of the "best of" are inevitably somewhat arbitrary, reflecting individual views of what "best" might mean. Not surprisingly, the eight theologians we asked to name five essential theology books of the past 25 years came up with very different titles.
Unfinished business
So was the Iraq war worth it? Sixty percent of Americans say no. The claims that originally bolstered the resort to war—that Saddam Hussein's regime threatened the U.S. with weapons of mass destruction and was aligned with al-Qaeda terrorists—were discredited early in the war.
Mainstream Muslims
A recent cover of Time magazine asked: “Is America Islamophobic?” A Time survey discovered equivocal evidence on the question.
Doing business with Cuba
After decades, it's clear that the embargo of Cuba has had little political effect. George Schultz, secretary of state under Ronald Reagan, called the embargo "a failure by any measure"; it has served only to help impoverish Cubans while doing nothing to make them freer.