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News Archive

November 2003


The Quebec Secular Movement (MLQ) awards Janette Bertrand its Prix Condorcet 2003

Mouvement laïque québécois, 2003-11-30

Janette Bertrand is known throughout Quebec as a TV host, playwright, actress, public speaker, educator, and committed activist. This multi-faceted woman has influenced several generations and succeeded in kindling their social conscience.
...
However, the MLQ is particularly interested in highlighting her efforts to eliminate prejudice, to include the excluded and to foster a climate of tolerance and respect by encouraging open public debate of various moral issues. In word and deed, Ms. Bertrand has promoted freedom of conscience and the right to behave in ways considered to lie outside the norms of society, provided that the rights of other citizens are respected.
When Janette Bertrand came on the scene, public discussion of many questions was taboo because of the generally accepted moral standards that were proclaimed by major religious institutions, in particular Christian Churches....
From our perspective, her merit lies in her having helped sweep aside these taboos without evading the important moral issues associated with them. She did this by bringing everything out in public. She offered a different point of view, an alternative to a morality founded on simplistic strictures handed down from on high. She put forward a moral viewpoint founded on respect for the individual human being with emphasis on fundamental rights and freedoms.


Critic discusses liberals, Iraq —  Need for racial profiling, 2004 election predictions top conservative's agenda
Samantha NELSON

Daily Northwestern —  Evanston, Illinois, USA, 2003-11-21
Some Christian chauvinism from Ann Coulter, formerly of the very conservative National Review.

More than 600 students filled the Owen L. Coon Forum on Thursday with intermittent applause and nervous conversation as conservative author and political activist Ann Coulter spoke on the war in Iraq, liberals and racial profiling....
Some audience members said they were shocked by Coulter's comments on the role of religion in relation to the war on terror as well as U.S. government and society.
"This is a religious war, not against Islam but for Christianity, for a Christian nation," Coulter said. "When this nation was founded, there was nothing like it. Our founders said there is a God and we are all equal before God. The ideal of equality and tolerance is like nothing that has ever existed in the world before. That, too, is a Christian value. The concept of equality, especially when it comes to gender equality, was not invented by Gloria Steinem -- it was invented by Jesus Christ. As long as people look long enough, they will always come to Christianity."

Webmaster's comment:
Jesus Christ invented gender equality? This is reminiscent of those Muslims who claim that the Koran contains information about many modern scientific discoveries. If Christianity teaches tolerance, Coulter must have missed that lesson.
The United States was not founded as a Christian nation. It is constitutionally secular, although in practice this secularism is far too often blatantly flouted.
Although American government leaders may not always express themselves with the same bluntness as Coulter, they unfortunately share her Christian crusade mentality.


Ten Commandments judge removed from office

CNN, 2003-11-14

MONTGOMERY, Alabama (CNN) -- Alabama's judicial ethics panel removed Chief Justice Roy Moore from office Thursday for defying a federal judge's order to move a Ten Commandments monument from the state Supreme Court building. The nine-member Court of the Judiciary issued its unanimous decision after a one-day trial Wednesday.
The panel, which includes judges, lawyers and non-lawyers, could have reprimanded Moore, continued his suspension or cleared him. The ethics panel said Moore put himself above the law by "willfully and publicly" flouting the order to remove the 2.6-ton monument from the state judicial building's rotunda in August.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled the granite carving was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Moore refused to obey the order but was overruled by his eight colleagues on the state Supreme Court.

See also:


Afghans to have Islamic republic

BBC News, 2003-11-03

A draft Afghan constitution has been unveiled, setting out a new political system and defining Islam's role in the country. It calls for the creation of an Islamic republic, with a presidential system, and where citizens have equal rights.
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"The draft is based on Islamic principles and recognises that no law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam," the commission said in a statement. Our correspondent says the draft makes no mention of sharia law.
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Hardliners have sought assurance that the constitution will not turn the country into a secular state. Others were pressing for the adoption of civil laws but in conformity with Islamic principles.

See also:

Webmaster's comment:
An Islamic Republic again? Let us hope that this new government is not just Taliban Two.



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