1. Study: Conservatives Grow Wary Of Mixing Religion, Politics

Comment #235720 by umkomasia on August 23, 2008 at 12:37 pm

Of course I agree in general that religion and politics don't mix. However, I do think that at times it may be a luxury of the middle and upper classes of society. What would the civil rights movement that gave american blacks and their main leader Martin Luther King have been like if they did not have their churches as organizing centers? I never thought I would give religion and politics mixing any consideration at all, but after living in the deep south now for 10 years, I can see that there may be times when it works. In this context, don't forget about the Danbury Baptists letter to Thomas Jefferson - the very letter that gave us the phrase "wall of separation." Was this not a case of a religious group directly asking a politician for help? As I said, most of the time this is bad, but when a group is being attacked by a majority, religion can give them the tools to fight back in way that would not otherwise be possible

2. The Search for Truth, God and Braver Scientists in 'Expelled'

Comment #128200 by umkomasia on February 16, 2008 at 1:24 pm

What does it say about our culture that a minor B-list celebrity thinks he can challenge the modern science of evolution, and that at least some fools think enough of his views to make a movie out of it? I'm less concerned about Ben Stein being a "pompous ignorant fool" as #128197 points out, than I am in the fact that he seems to have a certain authority with many people.