The Immanent Frame, a blog on secularism, religion, and the public sphere run by the Social Sciences Research Council, recently asked a handful of scholars from across the nation to sound off on the impact of hurricane Sandy to the presidential campaigns. Ebrahim Moosa sees the president’s deployment of troops to help with relief efforts as a turn to the proverbial “swords into ploughshares.”
Duke’s ongoing video podcast series “Office Hours” has featured KIE Senior Fellow and Divinity School Associate Professor of Theological Ethics Luke Bretherton. In the interview, Luke Bretherton: A Theological View of US Politics, the topic of Christianity’s role in politics is discussed, including the tension of church and state as competing mechanisms for social cohesion and the role of Christianity as an agent for civil reform.
Open to Duke and UNC Faculty:
Before the basketball season divides us again into bitter foes, let’s use this opportunity to gather together for refreshments and a lively discussion among all of us with Philip Goff, author, director of the Center for the Study of American Religion and Culture, and senior editor of Religion and American Culture. Professor Goff will be speaking on the role of religion in the presidential election for 15 to 20 minutes, followed by a discussion with everyone as we collectively think through this complex and controversial issue. We will fortify our efforts with wine and hors d’oeuvres.
Tuesday, October 30th, 5 – 6:30 p.m., Duke Divinity School, Alumni Memorial Common Room.
For further information contact - Kate Bowler: kbowler@div.duke.edu
Ebrahim Moosa spoke with Capital Tonight’s Tim Boyum about the bombastic viral video attacking Islam and the unrest caused by reactions to the video in Egypt and Libya.
Luke Bretherton spoke on both the usefulness and polemic nature of religious-based moral arguments in public discourse during his interview with Rev. Welton Gaddy on the weekly radio show State of Belief.
In reaction to the recent mobbing incident involving a young girl and her family in Pakistan, Senior Fellow Ebrahim Moosa addresses components of this particular case and the polemic nature of blasphemy cases in general in this blog post.
Senior Fellow Barak Richman is fighting against the system by which the Conservative movement places rabbis, calling it a “professional cartel” that controls the job market illegally. His work and the reactions of other parties is featured in this New York Times article.
New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the nation’s most prominent Catholic prelate, will deliver the closing blessing to the Republican National Convention in Florida. It is seen as a huge coup for Mitt Romney, the party’s presumptive nominee, but the move has also prompted a sharp debate within the church over the increasingly close ties between leading bishops and the GOP. Read more on Religion News.