Noah Feldman — Pope Francis Sends Wrong Message to Kim Davis

We already knew that Pope Francis went out of his way while in the U.S. to visit the Little Sisters of the Poor, who object to filling out a form that would guarantee their organization an exemption from providing contraceptive care under the Affordable Care Act. But we found out Wednesday the pope also met with Kim Davis, in an event that did more than just signal support for Catholic conscientious objectors -- he was, unfortunately, giving succor to the very un-Catholic idea that public officials should break laws they don't like rather than resigning to avoid a conflict between faith and professional obligation.…

When Francis met with Davis -- who let it be noted is an evangelical Protestant, although her parents apparently are Catholic -- he was sending the wrong message, namely that there's something sympathetic or even legitimate about public official refusing to do his or her job when religious teaching goes the other way.

Running for president, John F. Kennedy had to overcome the Protestant allegation that as a Catholic he would obey the pope and not the laws and Constitution of the U.S. In a famous speech, Kennedy made it clear that he wouldn't take instructions from Rome. And he said he would be a president “whose fulfillment of his presidential oath is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation.” That's exactly what’s required of all public officials. And no one should undercut it, pope or otherwise.

Bloomberg View
Pope Francis Sends Wrong Message to Kim Davis
Noah Feldman | professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard University

See also

France 24
Pope secretly met gay marriage row clerk Kim Davis on US trip

The pope, speaking to reporters as he returned home from his 10-day trip to the US and Cuba on Monday, said government officials had a “human right” to refuse to discharge a duty if they felt it violated their conscience.

Doubling down.

Nicolai N. Petro — Russia's Orthodox Soft Power

For many analysts the term Russky mir, or Russian World, epitomizes an expansionist and messianic Russian foreign policy, the perverse intersection of the interests of the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church.

Little noted is that the term actually means something quite different for each party. For the state it is a tool for expanding Russia's cultural and political influence, while for the Russian Orthodox Church it is a spiritual concept, a reminder that through the baptism of Rus, God consecrated these people to the task of building a Holy Rus.

The close symphonic relationship between the Orthodox Church and state in Russia thus provides Russian foreign policy with a definable moral framework, one that, given its popularity, is likely to continue to shape the country's policies well into the future.....

It's not possible to understand current events involving Russia, Russians, and Russophones in other countries without understanding the significant of the concept of Russky mir. Otherwise it is just projection. Religious people of the West were praying for the conversion of Russia. Well, they got it and now will have to deal with it.

Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
Russia's Orthodox Soft Power
Nicolai N. Petro | Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island

Saker — Uniat priests calls for depriving Orthodox from basic civil rights

Saker advises not overlooking the religious dimension in the Ukrainian conflict. Religion is always a complicating factor.

For example, Jewish exceptionalism is based on being God's (YHVH) chosen people. Zionism is a political outgrowth of this notion. American exceptionalism is based on reinterpreting this belief as the belief that God — and Jesus is God — has favored the US as nation among nations. While Jews tend to be tribal rather than evangelical, a substantial segment of Christianity is hyper-evangelical. Some ultra-conservative Christians believe that it is the mission of the US to convert the world to their conception of Christianity and open the way for the Second Coming. Christianity is a significant force in US politics, however, it is also somewhat diverse and only unites temporarily on some issues.

Islamic exceptionalism is based on the belief that the world will eventually be converted to Islam and live under sharia. The real danger of the Caliphate aka Islamic State is that many Muslims will view its success as the fulfillment of this belief and enthusiastically jump on board.

The most conservative of all three believe that God's law is superior to and supersedes human law. These ideas are strong forces geopolitically today.

In Christianity, the split between the Latin (Roman) Church and the Orthodox churches in 1054, a split that is largely forgotten in the West but not in the East, eventually led to war. Some of the bloodiest European wars were at least in part religious wars. Similarly, the Protest Reformation also led to war and the conflict has persisted in some places, notably Northern Ireland.

These are powerful forces that should not be overlooked or underestimated, especially because the religious factor is closely combined with other factors such as nationalism and ethnicity. People have been willing to fight and die over these differences. The stage is set for Ukraine to become another Northern Ireland.

The Vineyard of the Saker
Uniat priests calls for depriving Orthodox from basic civil rights
Vineyardsaker

CJ Werleman — Some Folks Say It's the Beginning of the End for the Christian Right -- Dream On, They're Getting More Powerful

The Christian Right is seizing control of state legislatures and governors' mansions while we laugh at Ted Cruz….

The progressive agenda has already paid a massive price for failing to take the Christian Right seriously when Democrats sat out the 2010 election. In 2014, the Christian Right will be as passionate as it was four years ago, as they see this as the final opportunity to wound a president for whome they have a pathological hatred. They really do believe the Christian agenda is under attack in this country—one only had to witness the vitriol that spewed from the Right in defense of Phil Robertson’s biblically supported bigotry. Angry white Christians feel their way of American life is threatened by gays, women, atheists, liberals, and scientists. When an animal feels cornered, it's even more vicious.

Chris Hedges, author of American Fascists, writes, “All ideological, theological and political debates with the radical Christian right are useless. It cares nothing for rational thought and discussion. Its adherents are using the space within the open society to destroy the open society itself. Our naive attempts to placate a movement bent on our destruction, to prove to it that we too have 'values,' only strengthen its supposed legitimacy and increase our own weakness.”

Progressives still have no idea how to talk to the beast that is the Christian Right, for fear of sounding politically incorrect or equally intolerant. But it’s time to call a shovel a shovel; the ideology of the Christian Right has nothing to do with love and compassion, and everything to do with violence and hatred. The movement draws its power from our complacency and timidity. Political op-eds that foretell the Christian Right’s demise serve only to make it an even greater threat to our democracy.

AlterNet
Some Folks Say It's the Beginning of the End for the Christian Right -- Dream On, They're Getting More Powerful
CJ Werleman

The source of divisiveness is not only class and power structure grounded in wealth and income disparity but religious tribalism. The US is involved in a culture war that is reflected in many other parts of the world as different social groups interface and modern liberalism threatens tribalism. Many tribals proclaim liberty, but liberty is only for their tribe. E pluribus unum is still only a slogan in the US and yet to be realized. That will require overcoming tribalism.

It is important to note also that this is not about Christianity per se, since many of the policies advocated by tribalists are in conflict with Christ's teaching. It is about a politcal interpretation of Christianity that could be called Christianism, comparable to Islamism, Zionism, and Hindutva. Identifying any of the major religions with a political interpretation that is intensely nationalistic and exclusive rather than inclusive would be a grave mistake. All religions and wisdom traditions, to the degree they are true to the spirit, have the same foundation in universality.

Travis Gettys — Muslim scholar Reza Aslan: Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin would call Jesus a ‘Marxist’ (via Raw Story )

Muslim scholar Reza Aslan: Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin would call Jesus a ‘Marxist’ (via Raw Story )

Religious scholar Reza Aslan said American conservatives are basing their criticism of recent comments made by Pope Francis on a “profoundly unhistorical view of Jesus.” The pontiff has ruffled the feathers of U.S. conservatives with comments suggesting…

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David Ferguson — American Atheists’ Dave Muscato: Christians don’t want equality, they want supremacy (via Raw Story )

American Atheists’ Dave Muscato: Christians don’t want equality, they want supremacy (via Raw Story )

Dave Muscato, director of media relations for American Atheists, Inc., said that Christians who complain about persecution in the public square don’t actually want equality with other viewpoints, they want supremacy over them. In an interview with…

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Travis Gettys — Creationist Ken Ham: Vote for godly candidates, not for policies that benefit you (via Raw Story )

Creationist Ken Ham: Vote for godly candidates, not for policies that benefit you (via Raw Story )

A prominent creationist urges Christians to cast their ballots for candidates who agree with their interpretation of The Bible. Ken Ham, president of Answers In Genesis and the Creation Museum, said in a recorded message that Christian voters must choose…

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Eric Dolan — Illinois Republican: Same-sex marriage debate should be about the Bible, not human rights (via Raw Story )

Illinois Republican: Same-sex marriage debate should be about the Bible, not human rights (via Raw Story )

Illinois state Rep. Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) on Tuesday complained that supporters of same-sex marriage frequently spoke about human rights but neglected the Biblical scriptures. “The other thing I didn’t hear today was the fact that this nation…

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Eric Dolan — Pope Francis describes ‘ideological Christians’ as a ‘serious illness’ within the Church (via Raw Story )

Pope Francis describes ‘ideological Christians’ as a ‘serious illness’ within the Church (via Raw Story )

Speaking at daily Mass last Thursday, Pope Francis warned Christians against turning their faith into a rigid ideology. “The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology,” he said, according to Radio Vatican. “And ideology…

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Liberal v. conservative divide in the US and Russia

Seems like major countries are divided within on conservative and liberal lines. Based on demographic data, it also seems that this division may be based in part on age, with older people being more conservative, religious, and nationalistic than up and coming generations.

As the father of one of the accused glumly noted, there were two Russias present in the courtroom, and they clearly hated each other's guts. 

The Russia of liberal opponents of the regime's collusion with the church had few problems with the sacrilegious performance of a song referring to the supreme head of the Russian Orthodox Church as a "bitch" and to the Orthodox faithful as those who "crawl to bow" to both the priests and the state.

The traditionalist, nationalist Russia instead called for the Pussy Riot members to be jailed, thrown out of the country, physically punished and the like. This part of society, while not necessarily opposed to freedom of expression, clearly does not see it as a paramount value that must take precedence over the right to religious freedom or the state's obligation to protect a religious association from assault and indignity.

Asia Times Online
Pussy Riot divides Russian society
Mikhail A Molchanov

Led by Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) and featuring other Tea Party stars like Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the committee approved a draft of the platform McDonnell said “will reflect the heart and soul of the Republican Party” and one committee member called “the most conservative platform in modern history.”

Think Progress
GOP Approves ‘Most Conservative Platform In Modern History’
Aviva Shen

Victoria Bekiempis — Paul Ryan Is In Love With St. Thomas Aquinas; What Does This Mean?

Since Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan as a running mate, many media outlets have pointed out the Wisconsin Rep's interest in Ayn Rand.

And they should -- Ayn Rand's basic schtick is that selfishness is a virtue and as such, the only ethical economic system is pure capitalism. Under Rand, any social safety net is wrong and unjust and for "moochers " and "collectivists;" true moral exemplars are ultra-rich egoists. What's important about Ryan's Rand affiliation, then, is its fiscal implications (and not-so-subtle dislike of the poor.)

Ryan might have realized that aligning himself with a pro-choice atheist might piss off GOP fundamentalists and partially renounced the pop philosopher, saying before VP talk: "If somebody is going to try to paste a person's view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas. Don't give me Ayn Rand."

Of course, this is complete bullshit. He hasn't abandoned his interpretation of Rand's economic policies (see first link.) More importantly, though, there's no way Ryan could read Aquinas -- and adhere to his beliefs -- without lying to himself and/or doing some serious mental gymnastics. And that's because Aquinas would have fucking hated Ryan's capitalism.

Let's get down to business.

The Village Voice | Blogs
Paul Ryan Is In Love With St. Thomas Aquinas; What Does This Mean? (UPDATE)
Victoria Bekiempis

Good analysis. And I do know something about Aquinas. Paul Ryan is no Aquinas.

BTW, the news of Ryan's throwing Rand overboard for Aquinas is all over the news and blogs today. Do I sense a row brewing? I don't think that Ryan can have this both ways.

Moreover, Ryan's glibness is dealing this indicates a lack of political acumen. He is creating more problems for himself than he is resolving. Palin II?