Israeli President Shouted Down By Protesters

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

Israeli President Shimon Peres spoke today in favor of peace in the Middle East, but some in the audience likely couldn’t hear his call, as protesters within the room shouted him down. Three eruptions of protesters in the audience were stopped by police. The protesters shouted from tabletops and waved signs saying “stop the occupation” and “free gaza.” This all transpired at the Washington DC Convention Center, at a conference led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Peres spoke of his commitment to the peace process, saying that one of the big challenges they all faced was to “disconnect religion from terror”, so extremists are not killing in the name of a higher power.

“History is on the side of peace... history’s on our side,” Peres said. He continued that the extremists leading Iran “are on the wrong side of history.” Peres acknowledged that most Iranians are good people whom he respects, but pointed his finger at extremists like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as being the problem.

“Iran is not threatened by anybody,” Peres said, and continued that Iran’s new missile programs are unnecessary. He said that Iran’s missile development and nuclear program are a threat to Israel “and the global community at large.”

Peres said that he trusts President Obama to make meaningful bilateral negotiations, and to contribute significantly to the peace process.

Democrats and religion: not so scary after all

"We want a level playing field with a fair conversation," said Burns Strider concerning the recent organization of the Democrats as a party that will be able to use their faith and religion like the Republicans have over the past twenty years. The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Religion and Ethics Newsweekly held a discussion about the role of religion in the 2008 election season and how it has differed from previous elections. Strider, a member of the panel, was the Director of Faith Outreach for Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and has watched the Republicans lose their former comfortableness in speaking about their faith publicly. Now the Democrats have organized positions such as his, to help religion become a more talked about and present topic on the minds of candidates.

Julian Zelizer, another member of the panel, is a professor of history and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School. Zelizer said that the "crisis of the Bush presidency has been equivalent to a crisis for religious groups." He also compared the current shift of political strength from conservatives to liberals to Reagan's usurpation of the religious discussion, only in reverse. Both men believed that the evangelical base is a cultural one and has thus been divided by this election. Also, unlike the usual dependence of values voters to support the conservative vote, the economy has taken center-stage as the issue at hand, and many people, conservatives and liberals, are voting Democratic.

Despite the ease that the Democrats have found, particularly Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama, when speaking about their faith, many evangelical Christians are still voting for Sen. McCain because issues like abortion and same-sex marriage are considered deal breakers.

Religious people "much, much happier" than secularists

Arthur Brooks, author of the new release Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America—and How We Can Get More of It spoke at the Heritage Foundation to discuss his ideas on how America’s reported happiness levels are related to its various religious, political, and cultural perspectives.

Brooks said that in America, “all practicing religious groups are on average much, much happier than secularists,” the two happiest being evangelical Protestants and Orthodox Jews. Exceptions to this rule include those who have “harsh and controlling images of God” and those who believe in a religion but practice it infrequently. Brooks also said that people who fear death most are least happy, and that very religious people and atheists are least afraid of death.

Based on a 4 to 1 ratio of religious conservatives to religious liberals, and the assumption that religious people are happier than secularists, Brooks said that conservatives and Republicans are happier than liberals and Democrats. He said that even though there is a “good chance” that a Democrat will be elected to the White House this November, conservatives will find this depressing but will “still be happier people.” Brooks also said America is unlikely to secularize because religious people reproduce more than nonreligious people and are more likely to pass their views on to their children. According to Brooks, there is a 40 percent “baby gap” between religious and secular people, which means religious people have 40 percent more children than secularists. Between religious conservatives and secularist liberals, the baby gap is 80 percent. However, he said that while single, married, and widowed women are all happier than their male counterparts, divorced men are “much happier” than divorced women because the women typically have primary custody of children which increases unhappiness.

Possible reasons for religious people’s high happiness rates, according to Brooks, are “the hand of God” that directly makes them happy, increased “social collateral” that religious people tend to have through their spiritual communities, and a possible “genetic link” between faith and happiness.” Brooks said religious people are less likely to commit crimes, and more likely to stay married and display patterns of “good parenting.”

Brooks also mentioned European countries that have high levels of reported happiness despite a low 5 to 10 percent place of worship attendance rate, and said that while secularization can perhaps work for these countries, it cannot work for America.

US Commission on International Religious Freedom give recommendations to Secretary Rice

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom announced their 2008 recommendations to Secretary of State Rice on CPC's, or countries of particular concern. Their 2008 annual report was also released to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress on U.S. policy. The countries that the commission designated as CPC's include Burma, North Korea, China, Sudan, and Turkmenistan among others.

The event, which was held at the National Press Club, was over an hour in length and commission members were on hand to give brief summaries on some of the CPC countries giving reasons as to why certain countries were placed on the list. Most countries were cited as having little or no religious freedom including violations of human rights and international treaties. When Vietnam was discussed, their recent acceptance into the World Trade Organization was spoken of, but the commissioner speaking about Vietnam said they had "regressed" since that point and added that their economic improvements were short lived and simply a hoax.

North Korea was noted as having religious establishments and temples as a show of religion for visitors to the country, but that these establishments are merely fakes and not used. Religious movement has been forced to the underground in North Korea.

Eritrea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan were also designated as CPC's.

Brownback, others condemn China human rights violations at Olympic protest

A passionate news conference to condemn human rights abuses by China only 99 days before they host the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing was held today., The news conference included speeches by prominent senators such as Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Sam Brownback (R-KS), and human rights activists from organizations including SaveDarfur.org and Amnesty International.

The crowd, activists, and each of the speakers was incredibly passionate about protesting the United States’ involvement in the Olympic games. The press conference’s attendees called for President Bush to not attend the opening ceremonies, and described the Chinese as oppressive people, who violate human rights and are the biggest supporters of the genocidal Sudanese government in the world.

Menendez said that since the Chinese received the honor of hosting the games they have continuously “abused the basic human rights of their people.” Congessman Frank Wolf (R-PA) focused on the relationship the Chinese have with other oppressive nations, such as Korea, mentioning that China is actively engaged in espionage efforts against our nation.

Speakers described the painful lengths the Chinese take to enforce strict religious policies that limit what religion their people can legally worship. Congressman Chris Smith (R- NJ) called the attacks the Chinese have held against pregnant females, in which they force them into terrible abortions, “gender-cide.”