Category: Current Issues

(Originally published on TheScoop2017, February 2017) This is a continuation of Valentine’s Day chocolates do not help beat the sugar addiction. If we want to be helpful to those who are trying to kick the sugar habit, let’s forgo the chocolates and reinvent Valentine’s Day. Reading about Saint Valentine serves as a launching pad to fresh ideas to celebrate the holiday in ways that are meaningful and relationship building. Read the whole story here Saint Valentine. St. Valentine…

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(Post 1 of 5) While the discussion of religious freedom may be water under the bridge, this and the following four posts give an overview of how our country came to allow only one narrow ideology to be taught to public school students. Violation of Church and State or Violation of Free Speech? In Badger Catholic, v. Walsh, (2010), the University of Wisconsin denied Badger Catholic, a Catholic student organization on the University of Wisconsin campus,…

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(Post 2 of 5) (Originally published on TheScoop2017.wordpress.com, March 2017) This post is a continuation of Religious Freedom: Brief history of church state debate. Please refer to that post to understand how the founders interpreted this discussion. In this post, we will look at the two different positions taken for and against a strict separation of church and state. Two Views Proponents of a traditional interpretation of the religion clauses are referred to in the Boisi paper…

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(Post 3 of 5) (Originally published in TheScoop2017.wordpress.com, March 2017) This is the third in a series of posts on religious freedom. The first post provides a history and definition of the church state debate. The second gives an overview of each argument. This post identifies the voice behind the strict separation position. Americans United for Separation of Church and State The same year Chief Justice Black resurrected the church-state phrase, and as a result…

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(Post 4 of 5) (Originally published in TheScoop2017, March 2017) This is the fourth in a series of posts on religious freedom and the separation of church and state debate. The first gave a history of religious freedom and explained the debate. The second focused on the two opposing positions taken. A third described the ideology behind those who promote a strict separation argument. Here, we’ll define the central issue from which the debate stems, religion. Defining…

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