Posts By This Author

Cry Freedom!

by David Batstone 03-01-2007

The modern global slave trade and those who fight it.

'In You I Take Refuge'

by David Batstone 03-01-2007

Through faith and business savvy, the Hagar Project gives new life to freed slaves in Cambodia.

Seeking Something Bigger

by David Batstone 09-01-2006
This generation does not fear the sacred nor bow to the secular.

Taking Global Warming to Church

by David Batstone 07-01-2006
The archbishop is making global warming a personal challenge.

Katja's Story

by David Batstone 06-01-2006
Human trafficking thrives in the new global economy.

The HIV Trade-Off

by David Batstone 02-01-2006
Is 'cost-effective' the right criterion for judging AIDS drugs?

Spinning Wal-Mart

by David Batstone 01-01-2006
Wal-Mart is focused more on public relations than a reform of its business operations.

The System is Broken

by David Batstone 12-01-2005
We are stuck with half-baked measures to contain runaway medical costs.

Another Vietnam

by David Batstone 08-01-2005
Vietnam has moved beyond the Cold War mindset. We have not.

Forgive Us Our Debts

by David Batstone 07-01-2005
This is probably the biggest moral story of the year that went unnoticed.

Use the Rod, Spoil the Child

by David Batstone 04-01-2005
Is corporal punishment the proper way to nurture moral character?

What Price Security?

by David Batstone 02-01-2005
Rumsfeld would re-establish the military as a judge, jury and executioner.

School Without a Prayer

by David Batstone 01-01-2005
Everything I need to know I learned in my parent-teacher conferences.

A Different Kind of IPO

by David Batstone 10-01-2004
Google's 'democratic' launch hurt only the fat cats

The Machine Ate My Vote

by David Batstone 09-01-2004
E-voting may make us nostalgic for hanging chads.

Give Me Tortillas or Give Me Death

by David Batstone 08-01-2004
Revolutionary ideology is no match for rice and beans.

The Right Stuff

by David Batstone, by Mark Wexler 07-01-2004
Many people think the Religious Right has faded into obscurity and political powerlessness. In fact, it just might be stronger than ever.

In the mid-1990s, following Bill Clinton's second electoral ride to the White House, the vibrancy of Religious Right organizations appeared to be on the wane. Outside the sanctuary of the fundamentalist church, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson had become public caricatures of intolerance and zealotry. Pundits in the media and the liberal church deemed the movement torn, shattered, and perhaps dead.

How then, less than a decade later, has the Religious Right become a powerful sector of the Republican Party, holding veto power over most any GOP maneuver?

"The Religious Right has been institutionalized within the Republican Party," confirms Kenneth Wald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida at Gainesville. "Just look at the leaders of the GOP."

Note the top seven ranking Republicans in the U.S. Senate: Bill Frist, Tennessee; Mitch McConnell, Kentucky; Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania; Bob Bennet, Utah; Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Texas; Jon Kyle, Arizona; and George Allen, Virginia. Other than party affiliation, what do these senators all have in common? Each has earned a 100 percent rating on the Christian Coalition's scorecard, voting in accordance with that organization's positions on key legislation.

A similar pattern exists among the Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives. Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, who in part controls whether an issue will be even debated on the House floor, also receives a 100 percent on the Christian Coalition scorecard.

Time to Go Nuclear?

by David Batstone 06-01-2004
No magic elixir will solve our energy dilemma, short of radically changing our consumption.

Click Here for Cupid

by David Batstone 04-01-2004
Online dating brings out what's awry with romance and relationship.

Shamans, Lumberjacks, and Hunters

by David Batstone 03-01-2004

Who will save the Amazon?