Introduction This short posting on what the Jewish tradition has to say about Thanksgiving will strike some as surprising — so a word of background might be helpful. Traditional Jews do not celebrate holidays of another religion and have always shied away from even nominally secular holidays that are really about another religion, such as…
When Japan set out to reinvent itself as a modern nation-state in the second half of the 19th century, the new generation of policymakers had to navigate a plethora of foreign concepts as the vocabulary of Western thought was translated into Japanese. While many of these concepts were essentially new philosophical outlooks easily adapted to…
Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia. Source: DXR, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0. Currently, all eyes are on Georgia as the state prepares for the runoff elections on January 5th, which will determine which party has control of the Senate. While the battles between Jon Ossoff and David Perdue and Raphael G. Warnock and Kelly Loeffler are…
We the People … in order … to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Because neither the People nor their leaders are angels, the Constitution reflects a Calvinist theological perspective and embodies “obsessive distrust of government — all government…
By the 6th century CE, Christianity was a religion of empire that produced significant codices of imperial law, many of which regulated Jewish practice. Even so, however, Christian polemics against Jewish “legalism” and the perceived burden of the Mosaic-Pharisaic law were commonplace. According to foundational Christian writings, Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection had…
The right to vote is a contested concept in American society. The choices made by elected federal and state governments, on the behalf of “We the People” as to who is not included in our democracy both construct American citizenship and reflect American democratic values. The contest around the right to vote, called “the voting…
In the 2016 presidential election, 81% of white evangelical Christians voted for the GOP candidate Donald Trump, while only 16% gave their votes to Hilary Clinton.This significant margin has the potential to grow further in the 2020 election with the voting polls indicating that 82% of evangelicals would vote for Trump over Biden. To close…
“USA Bible” by Pastor Robert / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0 At a campaign event in early August 2020, President Trump made statements about his Democratic rival for the presidency, Joe Biden, that went beyond his typically disparaging remarks about Biden’s policies, cognitive abilities, or political record. Instead, Trump’s comments were decidedly religious. Trump informed…
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Right / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0 Florida is the most populous battleground state, famous for high-stakes contests, razor-thin margins, and trouble with electoral administration. Back in 2000, George W. Bush won Florida by 1,784 votes. In Florida, perhaps more than in any other state, every vote counts.…
Thirty years ago, when the Supreme Court decided Employment Division v. Smith, I never imagined that I’d ever respond with anything but enthusiasm to the news that the Court would be deciding a case squarely raising the question whether Smith should be overruled. In early November, however, the Court will be hearing oral argument in just…