Category / 2018 / International / Religion
Articles from December 2017’s theme, “Religion.”
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Next Year in Jerusalem
President Trump’s decision to move the United States embassy to Jerusalem from its former location in Tel Aviv resulted in an immediate outcry from the international community. While one would expect this move to at least enjoy the backing of the Jewish-American community, it overwhelmingly lacked such forthright support. Far from gaining traction in the…
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Why the 2016 Election Was Not the Worst Election in American History
I generally despise using generalizations without near-encyclopedic citations. However, it must be stated: the 2016 election received universal criticism. Nobody beamed with pride at either set of candidates. Many Americans loathed both tandems and gritted their teeth at the ballot box. If an American did vote for one of the two sides enthusiastically, they firmly…
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What Is Sessions Smoking?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ memo reversing the hands-off approach to state laws allowing for the medical and/or recreational use of marijuana has introduced a great deal of tension between federal and state laws. While marijuana-friendly states were not given absolute freedom from federal law under Obama and former deputy Attorney General Jim Cole, they were…
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What Reading Joe Biden’s Memoir Taught Me
Promise Me, Dad recently joined the ranks of the few books written by modern American politicians that I have read from cover to cover. Joe Biden’s memoir covers the period from Thanksgiving 2014 to the months which followed his son Beau’s death in May 2015, and it is worthy of the praise that it has…
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The Case For the Trustee Model of Representation
The Trump era has created a new dilemma for Republican congresspersons, now forced to reconcile the preferences of their base with their potentially contradictory personal beliefs. This highlights an under-examined question in political theory. Namely, what should democratically-elected representatives do when their own moral compass points North, while their constituents’ points South? Can representatives ever…
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Transcending WUSTL’s Ignorance
“Have you ever had a professor make a joke about your genitals?” Ricki asked, beginning our conversation about Wash U’s “staggering ignorance” concerning the transgender community. Ricki (who asked for her last name to not be published) has now graduated from Wash U. An advocate for transgender students who struggled every day on campus and…
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Religious Minorities in Some of America’s Largest Cities
Despite the First Amendment’s role in the separation of church and state, the United States is far from a secular nation. God is invoked in our Pledge of Allegiance, dollar bills, and in nearly every inaugural address since James Monroe’s in 1817. Biblical references in these inaugural speeches, during elections, and following national tragedies suggest…
