Monthly Archives: September 2010

What Americans Know about Religion

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How many of the symbols can you identify?

Today the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a survey testing a broad range of religious knowledge, including knowledge of major religious texts, core teachings of various faiths and major figures in religious history.  According to an AP article summarizing the results, the survey found that

atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.
Forty-five percent of Roman Catholics who participated in the study didn’t know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ.
More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. And about four in 10 Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the greatest rabbis and intellectuals in history, was Jewish…
The study also found that many Americans don’t understand constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools. While a majority know that public school teachers cannot lead classes in prayer, less than a quarter know that the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that teachers can read from the Bible as an example of literature.
“Many Americans think the constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools are tighter than they really are,” Pew researchers wrote.

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FactChecking ‘The Pledge to America'

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Get a load of that title! Click for text, with pictures.


FactCheck.org is the website of a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics for voters

by monitoring the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

They are a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and not related to any political party.  They simply check facts.  In these midterm elections, they are a good place to turn for the truth behind the spin in any given campaign.  This post, for example, shows that both the Republican and Democratic candidates for Senator in Nevada are making false claims about each other.
So what about the Pledge to America that Republican Party leaders recently made?
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Health Care Reform Provisions Take Effect Today

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Key provisions of the new health care law that was ratified six months ago went into effect today.   Critics say they will raise the cost of insurance unbearably.  The White House acknowledges there will be increases, but they estimate premiums to go up by 1-2%.  Most independent estimates don’t expect huge huge increases.
Moreover, the benefits and protections of the reforms may be worth small premium increases to most people.  Some of them already went into effect yesterday!  There’s not been very much coverage, but what there has been has focused on these provisions.

  • Parents may keep their children on the family health insurance to age 26, if the child is not offered coverage through an employer.
  • Children can no longer be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
  • Lifetime limits on essential benefits like hospital stays are abolished.
  • Insurers must cover preventive services such as immunizations, mammograms and colonoscopies, without charging consumers deductibles, co-pays or co-insurance fees.

    • All of those provisions are valuable and important protections.
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    In Memory of Mohamed Arkoun

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    Few of Arkoun's Books are available in translation, but this is on Amazon.

    Mohamed Arkoun, a great philosopher and scholar, particularly on the role of Islam in the development of Maghrebi society and on the relationship of Islam and the West, died Tuesday September 14 in Paris and was buried the following Friday, September 17 in Achouhada cemetery in Casablanca. He was 82 years old. In Robert Altman’s cinema adaptation of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, the angel of death whispers to a woman weeping over the discovery that a loved one has died peacefully, “The death of an old man is not a tragedy.”
    That struck me as fundamentally true. But I thought to myself that it doesn’t make it less painful to those close to him. And while it may not be a tragedy, it is certainly still a loss, especially when the man is a figure of the stature of Mohamed Arkoun. I remember reading his writing when researching my dissertation, and it returned to my mind in the weeks and months after 9-11. It comes to mind again now, as we see nasty rhetoric against heating up again in this country.
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    Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

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    September 11 – September 17, 2010
    The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here or at the SAR website. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.
    For-Profits Give Thousands to Politicians Who Oppose ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule
    The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/17
    Harassment of historian raises censorship fears
    Natalia A. Feduschak, Kyiv Post, 9/17
    Do Students Listen to Others’ Views? /
    Allie Grasgreen, Inside Higher Ed, 9/17
    Appeal to Free Colombian Professor
    Network for Education and Academic Rights, 9/15
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    Music Makes Life Good!

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    When I was young I had fantasies of being a rock star, but I was a failure in guitar lessons and couldn’t really hold a tune, so that didn’t really work out.  But I’ve stayed pretty obsessed with music.  I like to be surrounded by it, and in my mind my life is accompanied by a soundtrack.  Somehow music makes even the darkest situation bearable.
    Yes, life is good when there is music around and life was great this weekend.  I spent Saturday and Sunday a the Life is Good Festival in Canton, MA and I heard some amazing artists.
    The festival raises money for the Life is Good Foundation to help kids overcome life-threatening challenges such as violence, illness and extreme poverty.  Pretty much everything anyone did on the festival grounds those two days somehow contributed to the work of the foundation.  Even if you bought a beer and threw a dollar into the tip jar, the proceeds and the tip went to the Foundation.  An awful lot of the work that had to be done those days was done by volunteers.  Some of them were employees of Life is Good giving a little extra time, others, like me, did not and were just volunteering their time.
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    American Muslims Still Victims of 9-11

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    Media Matter for America reports:

    On what is rapidly becoming a regular feature, Fox & Friends this morning continued their incessant attack on Islam. Co-host Alisyn Camerota this morning hosted anti-Islam blogger and founder of the ironically named Americans Against Hate organization Joe Kaufman to attack Muslim Family Day at Six Flags Great Adventure. Camerota called it “insensitive” that they would host the event on September 12, “just hours after the anniversary of the September 11th attacks,” and added “but what’s even more controversial are the allegations that the Muslim group organizing the event could have been involved in financing the September 11 terror attacks.” Kaufman went further, employing what is becoming a familiar phrase among anti-Muslim bloggers: “The fact that they’re having it on September 12th, I believe they are actually spitting in the face of Americans.”

    This kind of criticism is disgusting!  The event is being held on September 12 because that is the first weekend after Ramadan ends.  The event celebrates the Eid el-Fitr or festival of the end of Ramadan, the most holy month in the Islamic calendar.  The Muslim group organizing the even is the Islamic Circle of North America, established in 1968,

    as a response to the growing need for a supportive Muslim community in North America. The organization initially focused on educating its growing membership about Islam, the goal being to adhere to Islamic values amongst a religiously diverse community.

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    Life is Good Festival, Day One

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    Today was the first day of the the Life is Good Festival in the Blue Hills in Canton, MA.

    The festival is a two-day celebration of music and optimism, featuring three stages of diverse live music, hands-on games, interactive arts activities and the “Good Kids” zone — home to the top acts in kids entertainment. The Life is Good Festival is a unique music event that every age group can enjoy.
    100% of Life is Good’s profits from the Festival will go towards The Life is good Kids Foundation, helping kids overcome life-threatening challenges such as violence, illness and extreme poverty.

    It was a great line up today. I really enjoyed Ozomatli, Mavis Staples and Ben Harper. I liked Dr. Dog, too. But I didn’t get to hear as much of it as I would have liked as I was working as a volunteer and had to get back to the Bocce station!

    More check-ins at Prowse Farm

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    Academic Freedom Media Review, September 4-10

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    The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

    Religious Scholar In Iran ‘Summoned To Court’
    Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 9/9

    Into Africa
    Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed, 9/9

    No-brainer: top British scientists may flee funding famine for feasts abroad
    Simon Baker, Times Higher Education, 9/9

    America’s tenure track derails
    Sarah Cunnane, Times Higher Education, 9/9
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    Thank You for Your Support! Maybe I Can Raise Just a Bit More!

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    For several months I’ve been working to raise funds for the Life is Good Kids Foundation to support children struggling to overcome life-threatening challenges.  I pledged to raise $1000 and have successfully met that goal, even slightly exceeded it.  Though I’ve not raised it to  $1500 and there is still time to help, I thought it a good time to publicly acknowledge those who’ve helped me so far!  The names below are listed according to the order in which I received their donations.  Those who were the earliest to support me at at the top, and it continues on through the most recent.
    I hope all of you on this list know how much this means to me.  Thank you for supporting a good cause, but thank you, also, for responding so generously to my request.   Continue reading →