The Common Good

God's Politics Blog

Middle East Christians Keep Wary Eye on Arab Spring

by Oren Dorrell and Sarah Lynch (USAToday) 02-02-2012

CAIRO, Egypt — From her home, Samia Ramsis holds a key chain bearing the face of the Virgin Mary as visitors outside come to look upon the spot where Egypt's Coptic Christians believe Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus found refuge after fleeing Bethlehem.
   
Once crowded with Christians, Cairo's Coptic quarter where she lives with her husband, Mounir, and two children is now home to fewer than 50 Christian families.
   
"We know many Christians have left," said Mounir Ramsis, speaking not only about this quarter but about all of Egypt. "But we love this country and will stay until death."
   
The Arab Spring uprisings that toppled secular dictatorships have unleashed long-suppressed freedoms that have allowed Islamic parties to gain a share of political power they have been denied for decades. Their rise is creating near-panic among ancient Christian communities that dot the Muslim world and predate Islam by centuries.

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Mormons Confront 'Epidemic' of Online Misinformation

by Peggy Fletcher Stack (Salt Lake Tribune) 02-02-2012
LDS temple in San Diego, Calif. Image via http://bit.ly/zivRxd
LDS temple in San Diego, Calif. Image via http://bit.ly/zivRxd

A Mormon student surfs the Internet for a school assignment and discovers that Mormon founder Joseph Smith had multiple wives, even marrying a 14 year old.

A returned Mormon missionary, preparing a Sunday school lesson, comes across a website alleging that the Book of Mormon was plagiarized from a novel.

Surprised by what they find so easily online, more and more Mormons are encountering crises of faith. Some even leave the fold and, feeling betrayed, join the ranks of Mormon opponents.

It's a growing problem, acknowledges Marlin Jensen, the outgoing historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it's one Mormon leaders are working to confront.

"Never before have we had this information age, with social networking and bloggers publishing unvetted points of view," Jensen said. "The church is concerned about misinformation and distorted information, but we are doing better and trying harder to get our story told in an accurate way."

The church "has made no effort to hide or obscure its history," Jensen said, but some aspects — such as polygamy — "haven't been emphasized often because they were not necessarily germane to what is taught at present."

Can the LDS church do better to explain its history, even to its own members? Sure, Jensen said.

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Super Bowl XLVI: Real Battles Off the Field

by Duane Shank 02-01-2012
"Super Bowl XLVI: You're Doing it Right." Image via Wylio http://bit.ly/wFjGGY
"Super Bowl XLVI: You're Doing it Right." Image via Wylio http://bit.ly/wFjGGY

America’s annual sports extravaganza, the pro football Super Bowl, will be played Sunday in Indianapolis, IN. And everything about it becomes a “super” excess.

Television commercials this year cost $3.5 million for a 30-second spot during the game's broadcast, which has become the most-viewed show on television. Last year, an estimated 111 million people tuned in to watch the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in Superbowl XLV, setting a new viewership record for a single event. In fact, of the five most watched events in U.S. television history, four are Super Bowl games (the fifth was the final episode of M*A*S*H* in 1983). Last year, $87.5 million was legally wagered on Super Bowl XLV, mostly via Las Vegas, and the amount is expected to be even higher this year.

Given the game's role as the preeminent icon of American popular sports culture, it’s not surprising that the struggles and problems of the larger society intrude on Super Bowl Sunday. Two new laws were signed this week by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels — one good and one bad — that directly relate to this Sunday's game.

First, the good. The seamy underside of the Super Bowl is the increase in sex trafficking that accompanies it. Like any large gathering of people, it attracts traffickers peddling their victims, many of them minors.

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Who Did Evangelicals Vote for in the Florida GOP Primary?

by God's Politics Editor 02-01-2012

“New analysis of the Florida primary by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life based on results from the National Election Pool (NEP) shows that Mitt Romney received strong support from Catholics and from voters who do not describe themselves as white born-again/evangelical Christians. Among the four-in-ten Florida primary voters who described themselves as white evangelical Christians, 38% voted for Gingrich (who is Catholic), while 36% supported Romney (who is Mormon). About one-in-five Florida evangelicals (19%) supported Santorum (a Catholic), while 5% voted for Ron Paul (who is Baptist). Romney was the clear favorite of non-evangelicals, receiving 54% of their support.”

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BREAKING: Panetta says U.S. Combat in Afghanistan to End Next Year

by Duane Shank 02-01-2012
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in October 2011 via Wylio [http://www.wylio.co
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in October 2011 via Wylio [http://www.wylio.com/credits/Flickr/6210921998]

On his way to a NATO defense meeting in Brussels, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told reporters the U.S. now plans to end combat operations in Afghanistan by next year. It is the first time an administration official has said that an end to direct U.S. involvement in combat could come that soon. In his policy speech on Afghanistan last summer, President Barack Obama said the transition to Afghan troops would take place in 2014.

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Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: Feb. 1, 2012

by Joshua Witchger 02-01-2012

Groundhog's Day 101, five-year-old on advertising logos, more on the Puppy Bowl, and dogs delivering receipts to customers at a veterinary clinic. Plus several posts on books, including Jonathan Franzen's thoughts on eBooks, and a look at 2012 Oscar nominee The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmorin. Click to see more.

http://youtu.be/7-Nl4JFDLOU

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Afternoon News Bytes: Feb. 1, 2012

by God's Politics Editor 02-01-2012

Searching For The Common Good In Political Discourse; Afghans Fear Downturn As Foreigners Withdraw; Romney: "I'm Not Concerned About The Very Poor"; Reducing Poverty Will Help Bring About The Kingdom Of God, Bishop Says; Introducing The Ifactory; Get Off Our Butts! (OPINION); Saudi Oil Minister Calls Global Warming “Humanity’s Most Pressing Concern”; Linebacker’s Faith Pulls Him Through Tough Spot; National Prayer Breakfast Gets A Rival: The People's Prayer Breakfast.

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On Asperger Syndrome and Broken Hearts

by Christian Piatt 02-01-2012
"Broken Heart" via http://www.wylio.com/credits/Flickr/132922595
"Broken Heart" via http://www.wylio.com/credits/Flickr/132922595

Our son, Mattias, is eight years old. Everyone thinks their kid is special, and in a lot of ways, he’s just a regular kid. He loves fart jokes, enjoys riding his scooter and is obsessed with video games. But we’ve known he was different from a very early age.

Mattias started reading almost as soon as he began to talk. By age four, he could name any musical pitch or chord structure by name that he heard. He memorized his books after only hearing them a couple of times.

He also struggled to make friends, still has frequent bathroom accidents four years later, and he has meltdowns when things don’t go his way that would rival Bobby Knight’s chair-throwing basketball tirades.

But now, he’s finally starting to realize he’s different.

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Our Budget-Busting Foreign Policy Disconnect

by Aaron Taylor 02-01-2012
Robert Baer. Photo by Getty Images.
Robert Baer speaks at the 'Spies Like Them' panel discussion at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Photo by Getty Images.

A recent Gallup poll shows that 81 percent of Americans want the President to be focused on domestic issues, while 9 percent say they want him to focus on foreign policy issues. Not too surprising ... until you consider that the fastest growing domestic priority is the deficit (69 percent).

The lopsided number between the importance of the deficit and the importance of foreign policy is the first clue that, for most Americans, there’s a disconnect between domestic policy and foreign policy.

Clue number two is a bit more alarming.

The same poll indicates that 54 percent favor a “strong” stance — read: military attack — against Iran versus 39 percent who say that it’s more important to avoid a military conflict with Iran. Put these facts together and a disturbing picture emerges: the less Americans care about foreign policy, the more willing they are to go to war, and the less they’re able to see that war = skyrocketing deficits. 

The disconnect couldn’t come at a worse time.

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