The Institute on Religion and Democracy released their report Yokefellows that examines the funding sources for the National Council of Churches (NCC). It’s not pretty. The Tides Foundation and other leftwing groups contribute a good chunk of change. Read the Executive Summary.
I got an advance copy a month or so ago. Read my comments.
Christopher Hitchens Slate Magazine Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007
What the founder really thought about Islam.
It was quite witty of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., to short-circuit the hostility of those who criticized him for taking his oath on the Quran and to ask the Library of Congress for the loan of Thomas Jefferson’s copy of that holy book. But the irony of this, which certainly made his stupid Christian fundamentalist critics look even stupider, ought to be partly at his own expense as well.
Powerline January 9, 2007
Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi is an Iranian teenager who was sentenced to be hanged for murder by an Iranian court. I had been unaware of her case until I read about it in the Power Line Forum last night. According to her account, Nazanin was with her sixteen-yeare-old niece and their two boyfriends when they were approached by three men who tried to rape them. The boyfriends fled, and Nazanin defended herself with a knife she carried in her purse. She stabbed one of the men, who later died. So far, at least, I haven’t seen any version of the facts that differs materially from Nazanin’s account.
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New Criterion
Roger Kimball January 2007
I think I know man, but as for men, I know them not.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau
In a memorable passage at the beginning of The Critique of Pure Reason, Kant evokes a soaring dove that, “cleaving the air in her free flight,” feels the resistance of the wind and imagines that its flight “would be easier still in empty space.” A fond thought, of course, since absent that aeolian pressure the dove would simply plummet to the ground.
How regularly the friction of reality works that way: making possible our endeavors even as it circumscribes and limits their extent. And how often, like Kant’s dove, we are tempted to imagine that our freedoms would be grander and more extravagant absent the countervailing forces that make them possible.
New York Times Margalit Fox January 7, 2007
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, a noted historian and women’s studies scholar who roiled both disciplines with her transition from Marxist-inclined feminist to conservative public intellectual, died on Tuesday in Atlanta. She was 65 and had lived in Atlanta for many years.
Ms. Fox-Genovese’s husband, the historian Eugene D. Genovese, confirmed the death, citing no specific cause. He said that his wife had lived with multiple sclerosis for the last 15 years and that her health had declined after she underwent major surgery in October.
Detroit Free Press Niraj Warikoo January 5, 2007
Detroit native Keith Ellison, the first Muslim Congressman, told the Free Press Friday that he used the Quran during his oath of office because the Islamic holy book helped influence the founding fathers of America.
Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, garnered international attention Thursday when he used a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson during his ceremonial swearing-in ceremony for the House of Representatives.
In 2006, Orthodoxy Today had 892,124 visits. I was hoping to break a million, but no such luck. Maybe next year. Still, not too shabby.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer January 4, 2007
The parents of a mentally disabled girl have had a Seattle hospital give her treatments to keep her child-size so that she’ll be easier to care for.
Nine-year-old named Ashley recently completed 2 1/2 years of treatments.
The treatments included a hysterectomy, the removal of her breast buds, and a course of estrogen.
KING-TV reports the treatment was approved by the ethics board at Children’s Hospital. Dr. Benjamin Wilfond said the hospital agreed to the treatment to benefit the child.
She has a severe brain impairment called static encephalopathy. She can’t walk or talk. She’s fed through a tube and has the developmental ability of a baby.
Ashley’s parents bring her to Children’s Hospital every three months so that doctors can monitor her height, weight and estrogen levels.
Townhall.com Dennis Prager January 3, 2007
Contrary to what you learned at college, America from its inception has been a religious country, and was designed to be one.
Jewish World Review Michelle Malkin January 3, 2007
It’s official: The editors of The New York Times have no shame. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to the Times’ own ombudsman, Byron Calame.
On Sunday, Calame wrote a stunning column debunking an April 9 New York Times Magazine cover story on abortion in El Salvador. The sensational piece by freelance writer Jack Hitt alleged that women there had been thrown in prison for 30-year terms for having had abortions. Hitt described his visit to one of them, inmate Carmen Climaco. “She is now 26 years old, four years into her 30-year sentence” for aborting an 18-week-old fetus, Hitt reported.